Venezuela’s opposition has sworn in three of its MPs suspended for alleged election fraud, in its first full session in control of congress. The move defies a supreme court ruling and gives the opposition a two-thirds super-majority.

The supermajority gives the opposition extra powers such as removing judges from the top court. The new speaker, Henry Ramos Allup, has also said that he would seek a government change within six months. Mr Ramos Allup of the opposition MUD coalition was speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the new lawmakers on Tuesday.

LIBYA-At least 47 people have been killed by a truck bomb targeting a police training centre in the western Libyan city of Zliten, reports say. Media in Libya said the attack struck the al-Jahfal training camp. The training centre had been a military base during the rule of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Libya has been hit by instability since his overthrow in 2011, and there is concern Islamic State (IS) militants are gaining a foothold there. The country has been run by two governments – only one of which is recognised by the international community.

A spokesman for the ministry of health of the rival government based in the capital, Tripoli, told the BBC that 47 people were killed and more than 100 people were injured in the blast, which was reportedly heard 60km (40 miles) away in Misrata. Other news agencies have put the death toll at 50. It is being reported that it was a water truck rigged with explosives which caused the bombing.(BBC)…[+]

(CNN)Police shot and killed a man Thursday after he tried to enter a northern Paris police station wielding a knife, a French Interior Ministry spokesman told CNN affiliate BFMTV.

The man was shouting “Allahu Akbar,” Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said. He was wearing what appeared to be an explosive vest, but it turned out to be a fake, a police source told CNN. The attack, which occurred in Barbes, near the police station in Goutte D’Or, took place on the one-year anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo killings, the first of deadly jihadist attacks that have roiled the French capital over the past 12 months.In those attacks, two gunmen killed 12 people in an assault on the offices of the French satirical magazine, which had angered Islamists for its irreverent approach to Islam and publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed…[+]

Brent crude sank by 4.6% to $34.76 a barrel, surpassing its late December fall and taking it to its lowest level since 1 July 2004.

The price of US crude dropped 3.7% to $34.65 a barrel. The sharp falls followed a short-lived rally on Monday after Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic ties with Iran. Analysts said fears over the worsening relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had initially raised concerns about possible supply disruptions and boosted the oil price, had now gone away.

(CNN)Canadian model Winnie Harlow, born Chantelle Brown-Young, did not have an easy childhood. At the age of four she was diagnosed with vitiligo, an incurable skin pigmentation disease that causes colorless patches to develop on a person’s body.

Bullied for the way she looked, her peers at school taunted her with cruel nicknames such as “cow” and “zebra”. “The bullying was so bad that I was forced to drop out and be home schooled,” Harlow recalls.

Fast-forward to 2016 and Harlow has over one million followers on Instagram, she’s the face of Spanish fashion label Desigual and she’s been shot by fashion photographer and director of online platform SHOWstudio Nick Knight, whose portfolio includes Kate Moss, Lady Gaga and Kanye. From social pariah to global “it” girl…[+]

INDIA- The Government announced a clutch of measures – including a stake sale on Coal India, revival of stalled projects, and interest relief for exporters, – aimed largely at propping up sagging revenues in the face of a global demand slump.

At a time when markets remain volatile due to global cues, the Cabinet cleared a 10% disinvestment in the Coal India Ltd (CIL), besides approving an initial public offer (IPO) for Cochin Shipyard, power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a post-Cabinet meeting briefing. The move came at a time when the Government is finding it hard to raise even half of the budgeted Rs 69,000 crore from disinvestment and strategic sales. (India Digest/ Business Standard)…[+]

The governor of Mexico’s Morelos state, Graco Ramirez, has taken command of police services in 15 towns and cities following the murder of a newly-elected mayor on Saturday. “The government will not be intimidated by organised crime,” he said. The mayor, Gisele Mota, was shot dead at her home less than 24 hours after taking office in the town of Temixco. She promised to try to clean up the city, where problems associated with drugs and organised crime are rife. Her murder “is a message and a clear threat for the mayors who recently took office to not accept the police coordination scheme that we have supported and that is being built at a national level,” said Mr Graco.  Ms Mota, a left-of-centre former federal congresswoman, was shot dead on Saturday morning. Police shot two of the attackers and arrested two others. Several Mexican mayors were killed last year by alleged drug traffickers.(BBC)…[+]

President Maduro approved the changes on Wednesday, but it only became public on Monday.  The president will now no longer need legislative approval to hire and fire Central Bank directors. The change was announced shortly before a new assembly, controlled by an opposition coalition, is due to be sworn in later on Tuesday. Mr Maduro approved the change to the law governing Venezuela’s Central Bank on 30 December, one day before his power to legislate by decree expired. He was granted the power to govern by decree in March by the National Assembly, which at the time was dominated by his supporters.

The amended law not only curtails the powers of the assembly over Central Bank appointments, it also allows the bank to withhold data if it deems its publication a threat to national security or economic stability. Opposition lawmakers, who won a landslide victory in elections on 6 December, had said they would press for the publication of key data. Inflation figures, estimated to be among the highest in the world, have not been made public since December 2014.(BBC)…[+]

Kuwait has announced it is recalling its ambassador to Iran as a regional row over the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia deepens. Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran was ransacked and set alight on Saturday, after it executed Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others. Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in response, followed on Monday by its allies Bahrain and Sudan. The US, UN and Turkey are among those calling for calm in the region. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran are major rivals for power in the Middle East and back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.  Saudi insists peace efforts should not be affected by the dispute but has criticised Iran’s contribution to the process. Iran has reiterated its condemnation of Saudi Arabia, with President Hassan Rouhani saying it cannot “hide its crime of beheading a religious leader by severing political relations with Iran”.(BBC)…[+]

It has been over two months since British born, Dominic Bernard landed in Guyana via the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on his second solo trip out of England. But since then he has not been seen or heard from. On October 14, 2015 Bernard departed London, England on Caribbean Airlines (CAL) Flight BW 903 destined for Port of Spain, Trinidad. From the Twin-Island Republic, the18-year-old then boarded CAL BW 483 which arrived in Georgetown the same day.(Kaieteurnews.com/photo:Kaieteurnews.com)…[+]