It happened this week in 2011

Sunday, July 10

• Jamaica ended the final day of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille, France, in truly amazing fashion, mining four medals to push their final tally to nine, equalling the country's best-ever showing at the meet. Chanice Porter showed her amazing fighting qualities to jump from sixth position to first with her final attempt in the girls' long jump, with a distance of 6.22m; while, as expected, the girls medley team also delivered - setting a new record in the event with anchor Olivia James taking the team across the line in 2:03.42, replacing the old best of 2:03.83. Odail Todd rounded out an impressive showing for himself when he won silver in the 200m final to add to his 100m gold, with a personal-best time of 21 seconds flat and Shericka Jackson recovered from a nightmare start to win bronze in the female equivalent in 23.62 seconds.

• The Jamaica Labour Party's newest candidate for the next general election is Spanish Town Mayor Dr Andrew Wheatley. Wheatley, polling 306 of 345 delegate votes, defeated Dr Sandra Nesbeth and Howard Chams to become the party's candidate for the newly created South Central St Catherine constituency. The new seat is being formed through changes to the boundaries of South West St Catherine, represented by Everald Warmington, and Central St Catherine, represented by his JLP colleague Olivia 'Babsy' Grange "My mandate going forward is to continue to build on the work of those whose boundaries have been cut to build this constituency," Wheatley, the current councillor for the Naggo Head division in the St Catherine Parish Council, declared after his victory.

Monday, July 11

• Rupert Murdoch touched down in London yesterday to take charge of his media empire's phone-hacking crisis as his best-selling Sunday tabloid, the News of the World, published its last. The scandal lives on despite his sacrifice of the 168-year-old paper at the heart of it.

The scrapping of the News of the World has not tempered British anger over improprieties by journalists working for Murdoch, and his US$19-billion deal to take full control of satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting remains in jeopardy. The 80-year-old News Corp CEO was seen reading the paper's last issue in a red Range Rover.

Tuesday, July 12

• For the second time in the history of Jamaica's bicameral legislature, a woman was installed as speaker of the House of Representatives. Marisa Dalrymple Philibert, a first-term Jamaica Labour Party member of parliament for Trelawny South, was elevated to the speaker's chair after being designated by House leader Andrew Holness and seconded by former speaker Delroy Chuck, without challenge. The People's National Party's Violet Neilson, who created history in 1997 when she was selected House speaker, held that position until 2002 under the P.J. Patterson administration.

• The United States Embassy in Kingston revoked the visitor's visa of Justin O'Gilvie, former business associate of alleged drug kingpin Christopher Dudus Coke. The Gleaner received a copy of correspondence from the embassy to several airlines which fly out of Jamaica to US ports. "The Embassy of the United States in Kingston, Jamaica, is in the process of revoking the visas of the following citizen of Jamaica." read the letter titled 'Revocation of US visas'.

• Alleged Jamaican drug kingpin Christopher 'Dudus' Coke begins his fight for freedom in earnest as he appears in a New York court to attempt to convince a judge to throw out the wiretap evidence against him. United States prosecutors will to rely heavily on the wiretap information which, they say, records Coke - "one of the world's most dangerous narcotics kingpins" - planning drug and gun deals. If the wiretap information is not allowed into evidence, the prosecutors will have a hard time proving their case against Coke, who they accuse of conspiracy to traffic in ganja and cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in illegal firearms.

• Flamboyant Jamaica Labour Party politician Karl Samuda, who refused to accept a transfer in the Bruce Golding-led Cabinet from the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce to the Ministry of Energy and Mining, took his new seat in Gordon House with the backbenchers. Samuda. who was formerly seated among the senior Cabinet ministers on the front benches on the Government side in Parliament, now joins former Minister of Mining and Energy James Robertson, who resigned from that post in the wake of revelations that the United States Embassy had revoked his visa, on the backbenches.

Wednesday, July 13

• The Gleaner Company walked away with top honours at the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica Awards luncheon, held at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston. Taking home five awards, the 177-year-old company got the trophy for Media of the Year for the 14th time since 1989. and Print Media of the Year for 2010. Ticoan Myrie got an award for Best Service Agent - alternative marketing representative for Gleaner Online, while Abena Banton got the runner-up certificate for service agent for print. The award for Best Service Agent - alternative media house, rounded it out for Gleaner Online.

Thursday, July 13

• Councillors boycotted the Hanover Parish Council's monthly meeting as they await legal advice following an injunction filed by Mayor Lloyd Hill to prevent them from ousting him as their chairman. Hill stood alone in the council's chambers with members of other government agencies, as he apologetically announced the cancellation, and that council meetings would resume in September after their annual break. "I was in formed this morning that the councillors would not be attending the meeting as they are seeking further legal advice on the injunction that was filed in the Supreme Court," a soft-spoken Hill revealed.

Friday, July 15

• The Supreme Court struck down controversial amendments to the Bail Act. The amendments allowed for persons charged with serious offences to be disqualified for bail for a maximum of 60 days. Supreme Court judges Horace March, Patrick Brooks, and Leighton Pusey heard the motion and granted declarations that the amendments were unconstitutional and void.