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Photo by Nelson A. King Julissa Suah (2nd from right) receives scholarship award flanked by, (from left) Alexandrine Sampson, Brenda Youmams and Pamela Roberts-Griffin. By Nelson A. King Share on TwitterTweet Share on Facebook Subscribe Three aspiring Caribbean registered nurses were awarded US$1,000.00 scholarships from the Bronx, Manhattan and Westchester Chapter of the Caribbean American Nurses’ Association, Inc. (CANA) during the group’s 24th Annual Vernese Weekes Scholarship Luncheon, at Eastwood Manor, on Eastchester Road, in the Bronx on Saturday, Oct. 19. The recipients were Guyanese Ancella DeFreitas, Jamaican Racquel Thompson and Julissa Suah, of Jamaican parentage. The CANA chapter said the Vernese Weekes Scholarship is named after the late Barbadian-born Registered Nurse Vernese Weekes, who died in 1994 and had “demonstrated a great love and passion for the nursing profession.” “In remembrance of her dedication and outstanding service to mankind, this memorial scholarship was established in 1995 by the members of the Bronx, Manhattan, Westchester Chapter of CANA, Inc.,” the group said. It said Weeks was an active member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in the Bronx. The Bronx, Manhattan, Westchester Chapter said funding for the scholarship comes from its annual fundraising luncheon, and is awarded to undergraduate nursing students who meet certain criteria. Pamela Roberts-Griffin, Chapter president said, over the past 23 years, the group awarded a total of 55 scholarships and issued numerous awards to “our colleagues and outstanding citizens for their contributions to their community.” “Scholarship recipients, we are very proud to support your dream to become a registered nurse,” she said. “May God continue to bless you in all your endeavors.” DeFreitas, a licensed practical nurse (LPN), who is enrolled in the Accelerated Baccalaureate Program at Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY), told Caribbean Life that she felt “honored and proud to be a recipient of this award. “I just try to be the best nurse I can be,” she said. Thompson, who is also a Licensed Practical Nurse and enrolled in the Accelerated Baccalaureate Program at Lehman College, said she was “excited” to receive the scholarship. “I’m so grateful!” she told Caribbean Life. “This is a wonderful experience.” Suah, who comes from a family of nurses, said she is looking forward to completing her studies as a registered nurse. “I feel very grateful and honored and motivated to do my best in nursing school, so I can help others, especially young girls,” she said. DeFreitas said her first encounter with the field of nursing began when she enrolled in a class to become a nursing assistant, and developed a love and passion for nursing. She said the experience as a nursing assistant “became the catalyst” for her enrollment in a program to become an LPN after a year of “vigorous training.” DeFreitas said her passion for the nursing profession grew, as did her knowledge and deeper understanding, that “caring was all about patients.” She said her reward came from “satisfying the simple needs of patients, in addition to providing nursing care.” Passionate about learning more about disease, disease processes and methods of prevention, DeFreitas said she enrolled in the Accelerated Baccalaureate Program at Lehman College. She said she hopes to gain the skills and knowledge to teach her patients, and provide nursing care in “a more holistic, effective, nonjudgmental manner to patients and family members.” DeFreitas anticipates “building enriching nurse- patient interactions, trustworthy relationships, and ultimately providing holistic care with every patient encounter,” as she advances on her journey on a “fulfilling career path.” Thompson said she chose a career in nursing because “it gives me the opportunity to mix my professional life with my passion to help others obtain the best quality of life that is possible. “I strongly believe that if I could help someone as I travel along, then my living will not be in vain,” she said, using a popular adage. Thompson said she worked for the past 13 years in the Montefiore Outpatient Clinic as an LPN in pediatrics. “I have had the privilege of participating in several community enhancement collaborative projects, and the knowledge I have acquired also fueled my desire to return to the Accelerated Baccalaureate Nursing Program at Lehman College to continue the educational journey that I started years ago,” she said. “Through my work and learning experience, I find that there is a dire need to educate our young people about the care of their bodies, minds and souls,” she added. “Young people caught my attention because they are the future adults, employees and potential leaders of the future.” Suah said her mother, who is a nurse, “inspired and encouraged” her to join the family tradition. She said she felt grateful that she began her own journey towards becoming a nurse. Suah said she witnessed her mother’s “demonstrat­ion of compassion and sacrifices to care for two children in Jamaica, who were orphaned after their mother was killed.” She said her mother experienced the impact that caring for these children had on their physical and emotional development. In addition, Suah said her mother’s her firsthand experience with how depressive states affect all aspects of a person’s life “led to a deep interest in helping young females who are battling depression.” Suah said she regards nursing as “one of the most selfless professions, in that it allows the opportunity to demonstrate caring to the most vulnerable; and, in so doing, demonstrates that they (nurses) matter.” She plans to extend her skills and resources to “anyone in need.” Suah said she is “especially interested in helping young females who are battling depression.” Posted 5:17 pm, October 28, 2019 ©2019 Today’s news: Share on TwitterTweet Share on Facebook Subscribe

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Opposition supporters took to the streets in Dominica on Friday, defying a police ban on illegal demonstrations, as they demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and the Chairman of the Electoral Commission over electoral reform in Dominica. Opposition Leader Lennox Linton said he had delivered a letter to the Office of President Charles Savarin asking him to secure “the resignation of Roosevelt Skerrit as prime minister or the alternative his removal from office on the grounds of gross misconduct in the Office of the Prime Minister that has severely injured the national interest of the Commonwealth of Dominica”. Linton said while he had not been granted an audience with the head of state “I left the correspondence with his security at the front gate of the President’s residence”. Asked whether he had given any ultimatum to President Savarin, Linton replied “not in this letter, we are asking him to act with haste. We did not specify any date”. The opposition had also delivered a letter and petition to the Electoral Commission addressed to the chairman, Gerald Burton, calling for his resignation Earlier, Police Commissioner, Daniel Carbon, had said that the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) did not have any authority to stage a protest march in the capital on Friday and warned people against breaking the laws of the island. “It is my understanding that the United Workers Party is planning to have a procession, a march, a demonstration or a protest action…Friday, 25th October 2019. According to what I have been observing the people are to gather at the Pottersville, Savannah (on the outskirts of the capital). “I want to inform the general public that I have not received a request from the United Workers Party to have their activity. By law, anybody or any organisation wishing to have a march, protest action, a demonstration or a procession should write to the Chief of Police three days prior to holding that activity.” Carbon said he has not received such a request and that the activity of the UWP “is unlawful.” But Linton said he was pleased with the turnout by supporters “notwithstanding the scare tactics …by members of the Police Force on behalf of the (ruling) Dominica Labour Party. “This turn out means that people in Dominica have effectively broke the fear barrier, they are not scared of the antics of the police. They recognise the rights they have under a democracy which are entrenched in the Constitution, the supreme law of the Commonwealth of Dominica. ‘They recognise that this is a democracy they need to get involved in protecting and maintaining and that this what this turn out this afternoon is all about,” Linton said. Police had erected barriers on the road leading to the residence of the President as well as the Electoral Commission and attorney Gideon Richards, who is representing a number opposition politicians in matters before the courts described the turn out as “remarkable”. He said the demonstrators were “peacefully obeying the police whom we love,” adding he was certain that “not all police officers were pleased with what’s going on. “Our peaceful presence is the best way to fight them,” the former police officer turned attorney, said. The opposition said they want electoral reform to be undertaken before the next general election that Skerrit told a public meeting of his DLP last would take place “within the next 100 days”. The DLP controls 15 of the 21 seats in the Parliament.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – The Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, has congratulated St. Vincent and the Grenadines on its 40th Anniversary of political Independence from Great Britain on October 27. In a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, the Secretary-General said the people can look back with pride and satisfaction at 40 years as an independent nation and of being a haven of peace, progress and stability. “This fact no doubt was instrumental in the recent election of St. Vincent and the Grenadines as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,” the Secretary-General said. “That the nation is the smallest ever to have been granted that responsibility, is another achievement of which the country and the Community can be proud,” he added. LaRocque also applauded St. Vincent and the Grenadines as a strong and dedicated advocate of regional integration,noting that the Caribbean Community has benefitted from its steadfast contribution to furthering that process, in particular through its responsibility for Transportation in the CARICOM quasi-cabinet. “The Community looks forward to St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ continued commitment to the development of this Caribbean Civilization, as well as to the country’s further progress in the social and economic spheres as it proudly celebrates forty years of freedom,” the Secretary-General said. The 40th-anniversary celebrations is being held under the theme – “With strength, honour and dignity, we stand resolute at forty and beyond”.

Renato Mariotti is the legal affairs columnist for POLITICO Magazine. He is a former federal prosecutor and host of the “On Topic” podcast. It’s hard to overstate how much damage the testimony of William Taylor, the U.S. envoy to Ukraine, inflicted on President Donald Trump’s defense in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. On its face, Taylor’s testimony Tuesday established the quid pro quo that Trump has denied for weeks. But more importantly, Taylor’s detailed notes of the “highly irregular” policymaking that he witnessed over the summer provide a road map to future testimony that could be even more harmful. Republicans have already begun to retreat from their “no quid pro quo” line, but they will have to keep retreating, because Taylor has almost single-handedly decimated the few witnesses who have provided some testimony that is favorable to Trump. Story Continued Below If I were one of the president’s lawyers, I would counsel him to admit the obvious—essentially to plead guilty and admit this was, in fact, a quid pro quo—and try and convince Congress and the public that it is not as bad as it looks. In my experience, defendants who stubbornly try to deny the obvious in the face of overwhelming evidence rarely convince anyone. Taylor, a Trump appointee who served as an Army officer in Vietnam before embarking on a long government and diplomatic career in both Republican and Democratic administrations, testified that military aid to Ukraine appropriated by Congress—and a White House meeting sought by the Ukrainian government—were both conditioned on a public announcement of investigations that would have aided Trump politically. Taylor was crystal clear on that point. He testified that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland—a hotel tycoon and major Trump donor—told him that Trump wanted to put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “in a public box” by forcing him to make a public statement ordering investigations of Ukraine’s alleged role in the 2016 U.S. election as well as the gas company, Burisma, where Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, was a board member. “Everything,” Taylor said he was told, was dependent on that public announcement. This demand was communicated to the Ukrainian government. Sondland told Taylor that he told Zelensky and one of his top advisors, Andrey Yermak, that if Zelensky did not speak publicly, Ukraine would not receive the military aid it needed, according to Taylor. Somehow, Sondland, in a now well-known text to Taylor, still tried to insist that the president did not consider this kind of conditional agreement a quid pro quo. Taylor, operating in the normal diplomatic channel rather than the one run by Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, testified that he and others—including Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)—advised the Ukrainian government not to jeopardize bipartisan support for Ukraine by getting drawn into U.S. domestic politics. The Ukrainians told Taylor that President Zelensky “did not want to be used as a pawn in a U.S. re-election campaign.” After the ultimatum was conveyed to Ukraine, Zelensky agreed to make a public statement, although the aid was released without a statement after its holdup was made public. On multiple occasions, Taylor confronted Sondland and tried to persuade him to halt this effort. Sondland and former U.S. diplomat Kurt Volker explained to Taylor that Trump is a businessman, and “when a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something,” he “asks that person to pay up before signing the check.” As Taylor noted, this “made no sense” because the Ukrainians “did not owe President Trump anything” and “holding up security assistance for domestic political gain was crazy.” Trump was holding up tax dollars, appropriated by Congress, to force Ukraine to announce an investigation into the son of his political rival—and risking Ukrainian lives in the process. Given Taylor’s devastating testimony, it’s unsurprising that some Republicans are backing off the “no quid pro quo” line that has been part of Trump’s defense for weeks. Some of Trump’s defenders, such as Senator Lindsey Graham, continue to argue that there was no quid pro quo because the Ukrainian president publicly denied that there was one. This line is unlikely to hold up in the upcoming weeks. Taylor’s testimony is a road map that strongly suggests additional investigative steps that will undercut attempts to contradict his testimony that Trump conditioned military aid on an announcement of investigations. For one thing, Taylor’s testimony undercuts the prior testimony of other witnesses, like Sondland and Volker. At best, their prior testimony was incomplete and misleading. At worst, it was materially false, which could lead Congress to hold them in contempt—an option some members have already suggested. Even Congressman Will Hurd (R-Texas) has suggested that Sondland needs to come back to testify again. (On Wednesday, associates of Sondland tried to align his story more closely with Taylor’s by suggesting Sondland was unaware initially of the linkage between the military aid and Trump’s request for investigations.) But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Taylor testified that he raised these concerns with then-national security adviser John Bolton, who Taylor said referred to Trump’s pressuring of Ukraine as a “drug deal” and opposed a call between Trump and Zelensky because he feared it “would be a disaster.” Bolton, who has since resigned, has not spoken publicly. What would he say if called to testify? Taylor privately met with Bolton and expressed his serious concerns to him during this process, and, according to Taylor, Bolton recommended that he write a cable directly to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Taylor wrote that cable on August 29, calling the Trump pressure effort “folly” and stating that he “would not defend such a policy.” Taylor said Pompeo never responded to him but he heard that Pompeo carried the cable with him to a White House meeting. Pompeo has a lot of explaining to do. When interviewed on Sunday by George Stephanopoulos, Pompeo looked like a deer in the headlights, awkwardly pausing and refusing to answer fundamental questions about his role. Pompeo argues executive privilege, and it’s unlikely a court battle to compel his testimony would be resolved quickly, but pressure could mount for his testimony as the impeachment inquiry advances. Unlike some others in Trump’s inner circle, Pompeo has future political aspirations and reportedly has weighed a run for U.S. Senate in Kansas. He can’t afford to be Trump’s fall guy. Neither can Sondland, who in his prior testimony didn’t display the defiance and disdain that characterized the congressional testimony of Trump allies like former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Taylor’s testimony was full of damaging details about Sondland, such as his insistence that calls with Zelensky not be transcribed. In Taylor’s account, Sondland comes off like someone trying to hide conduct that he knew was wrongful. He will have difficulty explaining why our nation’s envoy to Ukraine was not permitted to read the transcript of Zelensky’s call with Trump until it was released publicly two months after the fact. It is clear from Taylor’s testimony that there is more to come. A smart defense team would get ahead of this by admitting that there was a quid pro quo, falling back to the argument advanced by some on the right, like Tucker Carlson, that the conduct was wrong but impeachment is too severe of a remedy. If Republicans quickly admitted what Trump did but insisted that they wanted the American people to decide Trump’s fate in December, they might reduce the damage and move past this episode, assuming they had the votes in the U.S. Senate to prevent conviction. If Trump refuses to allow them to adopt that strategy, he becomes Republicans’ own worst enemy. Because if Taylor’s testimony is any guide, they will reach that point eventually, and the road getting there will be rocky for the administration. This article tagged under: Show Comments More from POLITICO Magazine

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC –The Bahamas government has reiterated its steadfast position regarding the deportation of Haitian nationals following the passage of Hurricane Dorian last month, insisting there ‘was adherence to all due process; and the requisite procedures for proper documentation”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement, comes less than a week after the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called on the Hubert Minnis administration to halt the deportation of illegal Haitian nationals from the country. The OHCHR, responding to the deportation of more than 100 Haitians less than two weeks after Prime Minister Minnis warned illegal migrants they should either leave the country voluntarily or be “forced to leave”, urged the government to “refrain from deporting individuals who lack documentation, without the individual assessments and due process guarantees to which they are entitled under international law”. The human rights group noted that many of the Haitians lived in informal settlements that were destroyed by the hurricane, losing their documents, jobs and belongings. But in its statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said it “wishes to inform that pre, during and post-Hurricane Dorian, The Bahamas government relaxed its immigration deportation and repatriation policies and procedures to ensure the safety, security and well-being of all persons – irrespective of nationality – within its borders. “During the search and rescue phase of the humanitarian efforts, all displaced persons were carefully accommodated in safe abode, whether with family members or an authorized shelter, irrespective of their immigration status.” The government said that all illegal migrants, irrespective of their origin, were removed from the country “in compliance with the statute laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, in accordance with the Immigration Act, consistent with the international standards of the rule of law and in compliance with international human rights norms and standards. “The government of The Bahamas wishes to assure that there was adherence to all due process; and the requisite procedures for proper documentation via captured biometrics were followed to determine every individual’s constitutional right to reside lawfully in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.” It said all individuals found in violation of the Immigration Act were “lawfully removed” from The Bahamas “in accordance with the requisite court orders”. Hurricane Dorian slammed in the Bahamas on September 1, killing at least 60 people and causing widespread destruction in Grand Bahamas and Abacos islands, where many Haitians had lived before the storm. The OHCHR noted that Bahamian authorities had initially said immigration enforcement activities would be suspended in the affected islands, but that ‘this position was publicly reversed at the end of September, when they announced that all migrants without valid documents would be apprehended and deported. “This has led to panic among Haitians affected by Hurricane Dorian, and reports are emerging of people leaving temporary shelters for fear of arrest, and of people failing to avail themselves of necessary humanitarian services or going into hiding,” OHCHR noted. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “The Bahamas resumed lawful implementation of its statute laws after careful analysis, at a time when it was deemed appropriately humane and necessary to do so. “Contrary to what has been alleged by OHCHR, the government has received no reports of ‘people leaving temporary shelters for fear of arrest and or persons failing to avail themselves of necessary humanitarian services or fleeing into hiding.’ “The international community may rest assured, the government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas is a country that adheres strictly to the rule of law both locally and internationally, especially with respect to the rights of every man, woman, and child in its jurisdiction. “Any person entitled to be in The Bahamas legally will be accorded every fundamental right under its statute laws. Any person in violation of the Immigration Act will be dealt with in accordance with the statute laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Last week, Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans, said she was prepared illegal migrants to adopt a harsher line of action after indicating that fines do not seem to be a deterrent. The magistrate sentenced several undocumented migrants to prison for immigration offenses, including five Haitian men who were sentenced to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for illegal migrants entering the country. At one stage during the court proceedings, she told a clergyman, who pleaded for a noncustodial sentence for two of the men, “that’s why they keep coming, because we just keep fining them. “Just couple of dollars, all the time, all the time. When is it going to stop? Because everybody is going to find the couple dollars for the fine. It’s beyond that for me now. It’s not getting through. The fine is not a deterrent, it’s making things worse. And that is why. And if more keep coming, the more they’ll go to jail for a longer time,” she added.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is urging Dominican voters residing in the French-island of Guadeloupe to vote in the upcoming general elections, even as the campaign continues for electoral reform ahead of the polls. Speaking at a public meeting in the French-island on Sunday night, Skerrit, who is seeking to lead his ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) into a fifth consecutive victory in the general election, said that Dominicans whose names are on the voters list should disregard attempts to prevent them from returning him to cast their ballots. “I am saying to you once your name is on the voters list you can vote in the elections in Dominica and nobody can stop you from doing that,” Skerrit told the public meeting. “Nobody can stop you. I know the vast majority of Dominicans who reside in Guadeloupe are voting Labour of course and I say to Dominicans here in Guadeloupe that this election is not about Roosevelt Skerrit, this is not about Labour Party, (and) this is about the future of Dominica. “The welfare and well-being of your children, and their parents and grandparents and their family in Dominica. That’s what it is and those of you who are not on the voters list, call your family back home and let them know that the only choice in this elections is Roosevelt Skerrit and the Dominica labour Party (DLP), said Skerrit, who has promised that the poll will be held “within the next 100 days”,. But as he campaigned in the French island, the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) staged another rally in the capital, demanding electoral reform ahead of the elections. The CCM has been critical of the government’s rejection of recommendations made by a Joint CARICOM-OAS-Commonwealth Special Mission that looked at the electoral system here at the invitation of the government in August. The CCM is calling for voter ID Cards and the cleansing of the voters’ list before the next general election and former attorney general, Henry Dyer, who addressed the rally, said “we want free and fair elections in Dominica. “That’s what we want and the only way we can get free and fair election in my view now, is if we have electoral reform. And we are not asking for all electoral reform, we are asking…asking for three, one cleaning the list, two issuing voter ID cards and in my view the third one, we want access to DBS the national radio station”. Former government press secretary Sean Douglas urged opposition parties not to participate in the elections “unless there are sweeping forms for the electoral system. “It would be a sham to participate in an election without voter ID card, without a cleansing of the voters list, without equal access to state media and without starting the process for the enactment of campaign finance regulation,” he said. The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) has been critical of Dominicans residing overseas being brought back here to vote in previous general elections and has also supported moves for electoral reform.

keith rowley kamla persad-bissessar PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The main opposition United National Congress (UNC) has denied any involvement in any plot to assassinate Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley or members of his administration, describing the allegations as “a last-ditch, desperate attempt to fool the electorate” ahead of the next general election in 2020. Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar, in a statement, said that the allegations were akin to those made in the so-called e-mail gate scandal, when in 2013, Rowley, then Opposition Leader, told legislators that he had received in December the previous year, a total of 31 emails, from a “whistle blower” indicating how operatives within the government had sought to undermine those institutions including the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the media.. He said he had passed them on to the Office of the President. The police earlier this year ended their probe into the “emailgate” without laying charges against anyone. In her statement, Persad Bissessar said that Prime Minister Rowley is aware that he cannot win the next general election “fair and square” and “from the producers of Emailgate comes a last-ditch, desperate attempt to fool the electorate in 2020 with a sequel” Rowley, speaking at a public meeting of his ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) last Friday, linked opposition operatives to a plot to assassinate Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and warned the population of Trinidad and Tobago that they should not consider the threats to be a joke. “Understand what we are dealing with in this country. I tell you this not because I am being irresponsible, because I want you to know (and) you can’t say you don’t know. I want you to know because I am the Chairman of the National Security Council,” Rowley added. He also disclosed that in 2015, “on two occasions they hired a killer to kill me. The first killer refused and determined that somebody has to know this and went and told a government official. The government official came and told us. We told the police.” During the public meeting, National Security Minister, Stuart Young, spoke of a “disturbing” pattern being observed involving known members of the UNC) and the members of the criminal underworld. Young, indicating that he was coming out of the Parliament where he could have been afforded parliamentary immunity to make the statement, said that he had been informed that “very high ranking members of the opposition, the UNC opposition, at the highest, highest levels…are engaging in active conversations and communication…with the criminal elements in our society. “I stand here tonight without fear of contradiction to tell you that at the highest level of the opposition they are engaging the criminal elements,” Young, who is also an attorney said, pointing a finger also at sitting opposition members of both houses of Parliament. NEWSDAY newspaper Monday quoted Police Commissioner Gary Griffith as confirming “Al-Rawi and Rowley’s lives were at risk and the necessary precautions were taken to protect them”. He told the newspaper that he received “a few months ago”, the report of the threat against Al-Rawi. But in her statement, Persad Bissessar said that Rowley and the ruling party are “in panic mode they will throw the entire kitchen sink of lies because they believe that is the only way that they can win. “They will not speak about job creation instead they will focus on lies about emails and murder. They will not speak about the thousands that have been killed under their watch instead they will tell you that they needed special branch protection. Who protected the thousands who died under Stuart and Rowley?” The Opposition Leader said that she has no “intention of falling for these distractions and distortions who wants to go and watch Mission Impossible Rowley style good luck with that. “I wish to wholly condemn the latest round of wild scandalous allegations of an assassination plot made by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on his political platform on Friday, October 18, 2019,” Persad Bissessar said, adding ”these allegations are baseless and are being made for the purpose of fear-mongering and scoring cheap political points”. She said the latest talk of assassination plots “bears the hallmark of Dr Rowley’s wild, irresponsible, ranting and dangerous style of politicking, which has long been his trademark. “It is a return to his emailgate style of politics, make wild accusations with no evidence and hope that something sticks. In the past, when he served as a mere mouthpiece for the PNM, he was easily dismissed as attention-seeking by the population” She said Rowley was moving to revive his “dying political career,” adding “the fact remains that this is the *first* time Dr Rowley has mentioned these alleged plots, even though he has been through several national elections since they were allegedly made in 2015. “The question on the lips of people, now, therefore, is simply—*why now,” she added.

(Washington, D.C.) - When confronted with a swarming drone attack, defenders need to operate with the understanding that each mini-drone could itself be an incoming explosive, a surveillance “node” for a larger weapons system or even an electronic warfare weapon intended to disrupt vital command and control systems.Defenders under drone attack from medium and large drones need to recognize that the attacking platform can be poised to launch missiles or find targets for long-range ground based missiles, air assets or even approaching forces. Modern technology enables drones to use high-resolution sensors and targeting systems to both find and attack targets at very long ranges, thus compounding the threat. Drones can increasingly operate with less and less human intervention and be programmed to enter enemy airspace, crossing into well-defended areas with decreased risk. Many of them can now fire weapons with little human intervention, due to technical advances in autonomy.For instance, should an Army armored convoy be “moving-to-contact” with an enemy, consisting of heavy, medium and light combat vehicles supported by dismounted infantry - they might be vulnerable to a fast -emerging drone attack from multiple angles. It might even be an extremely sudden attack emerging from an obscured location such as behind a mountain. Many counter-drone systems now under development by the Army and its industry partners such as Raytheon, are engineered to address this kind of circumstance; they are designed to use new applications to destroy, jam or disable attacking drone swarms as well as medium and even large-scale unmanned systems.Not only are attack drones easily purchasable on the commercial market, but they are rapidly becoming more and more advanced given the lightning speed at which technology is now advancing. Video can be gathered with much higher fidelity at longer ranges, navigational systems can more accurately merge with sensors and targeting technologies and larger numbers of drones can increasingly operate in tandem - in a more coordinated fashion. Battery technology, to cite another example, is progressing so quickly that drones are increasing dwell time over targets, complicating any effort to defend against them.Read the original article. Story continues

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