TIL about the "jab" word in this context (English is not my first language). I thought the author had misspelled "lab".
I think the British media goes for the colloquial version a bit more, but it's hard to say for sure.
I sympathize with your pain of learning a new language (or system or whatever): It's hard to tell if it's a mistake on their part, a mistake on your part, some kind of regionalism, some kind poetry...