Staff Editor

(Trinidad Express) A pensioner and a security guard were denied bail yesterday when they appeared before a court charged with the rape of a 12-year-old girl.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Reggae immortal Bob Marley has joined Barack Obama and Elvis Presley in the elite club of those who have biological species named in their honour.

Miners at a special meeting this afternoon declared no confidence in Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud following intense exchanges on the ministry’s decision to halt the processing of river claims.

The police say that at about 1015h today the body of Khemraj Dass, 47 years of Bella Dam, Pouderoyen, WBD, was found in the vicinity of the koker at Wales, WBD.

The police are investigating the murder of Wendell Freso called `Country’, 35 years of Yarrow Dam, Ruimveldt, which occurred at about 0400h today at Alexander Street, Lacytown, Georgetown.

Repeated requests from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment for a status update on the drilling campaign of Repsol’s exploratory operation at Jaguar have been futile.

The Guyana Power and Light Inc today said that as a precautionary measure, the Onverwagt Power Station was shut down at 09:10 hours yesterday due to unsafe water levels resulting from heavy and persistent rainfall along with the high tide.  

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – A cholera outbreak in Cuba blamed for at least three deaths has been mostly contained so far to the eastern city of Manzanillo and surrounding towns, with just a few scattered cases confirmed elsewhere in the country, a public health official told Reuters today.

(de Ware Tijd) SIPALIWINI – Police commander Soenieldath Sanchit of Apoera concludes that crime is worsening in Washabo, Section and Apoera.

(de Ware Tijd) SIPALIWINI – “We will never accept garimpeiros (illegal Brazilian gold miners) polluting our river with mercury.

(Trinidad Guardian) Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley says the independence of the office of the Commissioner of Police is now under threat.

(Trinidad Express) Environmental Management Authority CEO, Dr Joth Singh, said yesterday only a few hundred sea turtle eggs and hatchlings were lost during remedial works to halt massive erosion of the beach front by the Grande Riviere River.

(Trinidad Express) A pilot project aimed at providing an opportunity for non-violent drug dependent offenders to be rehabilitated, as an alternative to immediate incarceration when convicted, is expected to be rolled out in September.

(Trinidad Express) The State has been ordered to pay more than TT$10 million in compensation to persons who, between September 16, 2005 and May 31, 2012, took legal action against the State after being assaulted and battered by police or prisons officers.

(Trinidad Express) Government did not tell the truth when Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced the proposal for a phased withdrawal from the Privy Council earlier this year.

JERUSALEM,  (Reuters) – Israel’s Ehud Olmert was acquitted of major corruption charges yesterday but convicted of breach of trust, a lesser offence, in what was widely seen as a stunning victory for the former prime minister.

THE HAGUE,  (Reuters) – Delivering its first sentence, the International Criminal Court jailed Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for 14 years today for recruiting child soldiers.

(Trinidad Express) Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs said yesterday the failure of key stakeholders to work together had an impact on the escalating crime rate.

(Trinidad Express) A man known among members of the local entertainment fraternity has defrauded hip-hop artiste Trinidad-born Nicki Minaj and the producers of her music video “Pound the Alarm” which was filmed here last week.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes settled their divorce today, taking less than two weeks to end a nearly six-year marriage that captivated the world and prompted questions about raising their daughter in the Church of Scientology.