Staff Editor

Former People’s Progressive Party/Civic  (PPP/C) parliamentarian Alister Charlie  was granted bail this morning after he was charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy and attempting to pervert the course of justice by paying the grandmother of the alleged victim $500,000 to drop the matter.

DUBAI/BAGHDAD,  (Reuters) – Dozens of people were killed in a stampede as crowds of mourners packed streets for the funeral of a slain military Iranian commander in his hometown of Kerman today, forcing his burial to be postponed, state-affiliated media reported.

 (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake followed by strong aftershocks stuck Puerto Rico early today, killing at least one person, knocking out power and causing significant damage, authorities and media reported.

A 54-year-old shopkeeper was early this morning fatally stabbed at Graham Street, Plaisance and the suspect; her neighbour has since been arrested.

DUBAI,  (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wept while leading mourners in prayer for the funeral today of slain military commander Qassem Soleimani, whose death in a U.S.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Ricky Skerritt has hit back at his critics for what he says is a misinterpretation of his comments concerning the hiring of overseas coaches after recent appointments to the West Indies coaching set-up.

Police in Region Three are probing the discovery of two lifeless bodies in a room at the Aracari Resort  Versailles, West Bank Demerara.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s parliament today swore in legislator Luis Parra as its new leader after government security forces blocked opposition leader Juan Guaido from entering parliament, in what Guaido’s allies called a “parliamentary coup.”

TOKYO,  (Reuters) – Kane Tanaka has extended her record as the world’s oldest person by celebrating her 117th birthday at a nursing home in Fukuoka in southern Japan.

(Trinidad Express) He tried saving two drowning girls, but paid with his life.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said today the United States has targeted 52 Iranian sites that it would strike if Iran attacks any Americans or any U.S.

The police today provided details of a hair-raising robbery last night at Tuschen that left one of the bandits dead and they said that a serving member of the joint services also took part in the attack and was held at a roadblock at Den Amstel.

BAGHDAD,  (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people marched in Baghdad today to mourn Iran’s military chief Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, killed in a U.S.

(Trinidad Express) The teachings of a 20th-­century American Pentecostal and so-called “doomsday prophet”, who had ties to the dreaded Ku Klux Klan (KKK), are part of the sermons of Pastor Vinworth Dayal, controversial head of the Third Exodus Assembly Church in Longdenville.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The Guyanese man of accused of going on a stabbing rampage at the New York-area home of a Hasidic rabbi during a Hanukkah celebration was indicted on Friday on six counts of attempted murder, up from five counts the suspect was charged with previously.

Former GDF Chief of Staff Mark Phillips has been unanimously endorsed as the PPP/C’s prime ministerial candidate.

The Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels says that an attempt to break out of the Camp Street jail had been discovered today and the two suspected masterminds will be secured at another location.

Bishop Juan Edghill today said that he was standing down as a possible candidate for the prime ministerial candidate for the PPP/C at the upcoming general elections.

Citing the need to preserve press freedom, the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) has called on the Guyana Government to review its current practice of the distribution of official advertising to ensure “neither  Stabroek News or any other media house is adversely affected.”

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Oil prices jumped more than $3 today after a U.S.