I understand that it's not nearly as fascinating as all the meta on the wreck list, but there is a gun battle between Jamaican army and police on one side and the Shower Posse gang controlling Tivoli Gardens in West Kingston on the other. According to Jamaica Observer,
In the third day of violence, at least 30 civilians were killed and 25 injured during battles with police and soldiers on the streets of Tivoli Gardens, an inner city community of West Kingston where the reputed kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke is believed to be hiding, the Jamaica Constabulary Force said.
The original cause for the violence is the attempt to extradite Christopher "Dudus" Coke to the United States. Coke is the son of Lester Coke, the leader of a gang called the Shower Posse for their indiscriminate use of automatic weapons. Since the 1980s, the gang is responsible for at least a thousand murders. Coke Jr. became the de facto leader of the Shower Posse in 1992, after Coke Sr. "mysteriously died" after being arrested and held to be extradited to the US, and Coke's brother was shot to death.
"Dudus" Coke is wanted in the US on drug charges. According to the Guardian profile,
Until recently he enjoyed substantial protection from the ruling Labour party and the Jamaican prime minister, Bruce Golding, whose local constituency is Tivoli Gardens.
Pressure from the Obama administration on the Jamaican government to prove it is serious about combating drugs has forced Golding's hand. Hence the order to arrest Coke, and the ensuing violence intended to keep him out of jail.
What's happening now though is that Coke and his supporters are barricaded up in a "bad" neighborhood of Kingston in Jamaica called Tivoli Gardens, and fighting a battle with the police, which now has been joined by the JDF (Jamaica Defense Force). Dozens of people have already been killed in gun battles, with casualties on both sides, schools are closed, Air Jamaica is canceling flights, and there are reports that the fighting is spreading from Tivoli Gardens to other neighborhoods. There also was a claim (which is now officially denied) that the rebels captured Kingston Public Hospital.
The government of Jamaica declared a state of emergency two days ago, which does not seem to be helping much.
This is a mess, and it is aggravated by many factors, including the "war on drugs" in the US and the staggering corruption and inequality in Jamaica. According to the same Guardian profile on Christopher Coke...
To the residents of Tivoli Gardens, the poor west side of Kingston where his gang has immense support, he is the benefactor who provides them with food, acts as mediator in disputes and even sends their children to school. They call him Presi, Bossy, Shortman or, most commonly, Dudus.
A bit of hilarity illustrating the government's ineptitude:
Government blames social networks over Tivoli
Establishes media centre in response
BLAMING users of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter for spreading what it says is 'inaccurate and misleading' information, Government has established a media centre at the Hilton Hotel in New Kingston.
See, it's all Facebook's fault!
Click here for some video.
Final Update. BBC reports the government's offensive finally seems to work.