The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have said their spy stole Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s underwear which was then DNA tested and used to prove his identity before he was killed.

A senior SDF commander claimed their source also played a vital role in tracking down the Islamic State (IS) leader’s location before an operation by US special forces in Syria. Baghdadi killed himself in the raid. US President Donald Trump has downplayed the role of Kurdish forces.

When announcing the raid on 27 October, Mr Trump said the Kurds provided “helpful” information but added that they had not carried out “a military role at all”.

But Polat Can insisted the SDF played an important part in the raid in a Twitter thread posted on Monday. “All intelligence and access to al-Baghdadi as well as the identification of his place were the result of our own work. Our intelligence source was involved in sending coordinates, directing the airdrop, participating in and making the operation a success until the last minute,” he said. (BBC)…[+]

The Maternity Ward of the Skeldon Hospital has received a $3M (US$14,000) upgrade through a successful public-private partnership between the Public Health Ministry and the Florida-Guyana Hope Incorporated and their local counterparts Guyana-Florida Hope Incorporated.

According to a report from the Department of Information (DPI) the Ward is now fully air-conditioned and equipped with five beds, five recliners, five bedside cabinets and a private bathroom.

Mohamed Yasin, the head of the donor agency is reported as saying that the project, while initiated in January, actually got underway in March of this year. The goal, he noted, was to provide a more comfortable space and privacy for the expectant mothers who use the facility.(Stabroek News)…[+]

Thousands of Los Angeles residents have been told to evacuate because of a fast-moving wildfire that began in the early hours of Monday morning. The Getty fire broke out shortly after 02:30 (09:30 GMT) and has spread to more than 400 acres near some of the city’s most expensive homes.

California’s governor has declared a state-wide emergency as wildfires continue to rage in many other areas. NBA star Lebron James was among those forced to flee the LA fire. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced he would sign an emergency declaration to draw more resources to fight the Getty fire. Some 3,300 homes are in the mandatory evacuation zone.

The wildfire is threatening LA’s affluent Brentwood neighbourhood and a local resident told the LA Times he was debating whether or not to leave, and which car of his two cars should be left behind. “I have to figure out what I’m going to do with my Ferrari,” the 47-year-old man said.

Meanwhile wildfires are continuing to sweep through northern California. Some 180,000 people have been ordered to leave homes, with roads around Santa Rosa north of San Francisco packed with cars as people tried to flee.(BBC)…[+]

The longest-serving black member of the US Congress, John Conyers, has died at home at the age of 90, police in Detroit say. The Democrat resigned under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations in December 2017 after a career lasting nearly 53 years. In office, he was known for his liberal stance on civil rights and liberties.

He memorably fought for 15 years to make the birthday of Martin Luther King what it is today – a national holiday. Conyers was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.Born on 16 May 1929, he grew up in Detroit and served in the military for nearly a decade, including 12 months in Korea during the war there (1950-53) when he was a Combat Engineers officer.

“I like to think that my worldview was broadened by my military experience,” he later reflected, according to USA Today. Going on to train as a lawyer, he became involved in the civil rights movement. In 1964, he narrowly won his first election in Michigan, becoming one of just six black members of the House of Representatives.

He began his campaign to create “MLK Day” (a movable holiday which next falls on 20 January) just days after the civil rights champion was assassinated in 1968.(BBC)…[+]

Songbird Tessanne Chin has tied the knot with Brandon, the father of her unborn child. The marriage appears to have taken place on October 6, based on the caption on her Instagram post in which a wedding photo of the couple was revealed. Tessanne, in September, revealed that she is expecting a child. That revelation was met with an outpouring of positive comments and congratulatory messages from fans and admirers. Many, at the time, wondered who was the father of the child. Their question was answered shortly thereafter as Tessanne soon revealed the name of her baby’s daddy.“Brandon and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who offered such warm words of encouragement and congratulations over the past few days !!! We are honestly so grateful and blown away by your kindness in our journey to becoming parents for the very first time,” she posted.

While not a lot is known about Brandon, Tessanne is a household name in Jamaica. She shot to stardom following her win of Season 5 of NBC’s reality TV singing competition, The Voice in 2013. She was previously married to Michael Cuffe Jr. That relationship ended in  divorce in 2015, after four years of togetherness.(Jamaica Star)…[+]

A war of words has intensified between the police and the magistracy with Police Commissioner Gary Griffith directly calling on a magistrate to not bully his officers, and the magistrate accusing policemen of pedalling misinformation about the courts. Griffith’s latest salvo comes in a release this weekend in which he claims a magistrate, Aden Stroude, is picking a “cat fight” with the police.

The CoP’s ire arises from an article published in Newsday under the headline, PoS Magistrate scolds police for blaming courts. The magistrate was angered by policemen who were claiming that the judicial officers were not in court to deal with their matters. Stroude’s concerns stemmed from an excuse allegedly made by police, on Tuesday, as to why Valsayn businessman Emile Sanowar did not appear before a magistrate, although he was taken to court that day.(Trinidad Newsday)…[+]

The Education Ministry has confirmed that it has received “isolated reports” of the hand, foot and mouth disease across the island. However, it says the Health Ministry, which has been monitoring the reports, has indicated that “there is no general outbreak of the disease.”

“Surveillance data indicate that there is no unusual number of cases in any area in the island,” the education ministry said in a statement today. In the meantime, the ministry urged school administrators to take every precaution to prevent the spread of the disease and monitor their students for symptoms. (Jamaica Gleaner) …[+]

The father and brother of a British student who disappeared after a beach party on a Cambodian island have arrived to join searches for her. Amelia Bambridge, 21, from Worthing, who was on her gap year, was last seen in the resort of Koh Rong on Wednesday, but did not return to her hostel.

Her mother Linda is also on her way to the island, where divers and drones are being used to find Ms Bambridge. Sussex Police said they were supporting the family. On Sunday, Ms Bambridge’s sister Georgie said her father and brother had arrived on Koh Rong late at night when searches had halted overnight.

“They’ll join the police and start searching tomorrow,” she said. “There was a search today, with the number of people up to 90, and they are using divers and drones.”

She said her mother had arrived in Cambodia and was hoping to get a ferry to the island first thing on Monday. She and Ms Bambridge’s two other sisters have remained in the UK where they were working to raise money for extra searches and trying to spread awareness of the family’s plight, she added.(BBC)…[+]

The Police say they are investigating the murder  of Shurlon Errol Cutting, age 48 years, a sailor of lot 2529 Layou Street, North Ruimveldt which occurred yesterday about 6.30 pm at the Parika Ferry Stelling by a 28 year-old labourer of lthaca  Village, West Bank Berbice who is in custody assisting with the investigation.

As a result an argument ensued and Cutting armed himself with a piece of wood and lashed  the suspect who reportedly took a pair of scissors and  stabbed the deceased under his left armpit area. The victim was escorted to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he succumbed to his injury whilst receiving treatment. The suspect was arrested at the Parika Stelling with the suspected murder weapon. He was seen with injuries about his left abdomen and left knee and was escorted to Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was treated and discharged.(stabroeknews)…[+]

A Russian woman who admitted acting as an agent and infiltrating US political groups has been freed from a Florida prison and will be deported. Maria Butina was sentenced to 18 months earlier this year after admitting to a single count of conspiracy, but was given credit for time already served.

The 30-year-old pro-gun activist tried to infiltrate the National Rifle Association (NRA) to influence policy. Russian officials say she is expected to arrive in Moscow on Saturday. Butina was released from a low-security prison in Tallahassee, and is being transferred to a migration centre in the city of Miami to be deported. Her lawyer, Robert Driscoll, earlier said he had been given little information about her release. “They tend to do these things like they’re moving a nuclear bomb, and they’re not,” he told the Washington Examiner.

Mr Driscoll said two US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would escort Butina until she was on her way to Moscow.

Who is Maria Butina?

According to her social media profiles, Butina was born in the southern Siberian city of Barnaul in 1988 and studied political science at university. She is said to have been a weapon enthusiast since childhood and went on to be involved in politics and promoting gun rights – founding a Russian lobby group called the Right to Bear Arms. Butina also travelled back-and-forth to the US for NRA conventions. In 2015 she attended a Trump campaign event in Las Vegas, asking the presidential candidate about his views on US sanctions in Russia.(BBC)…[+]