Trinidad Prime Minister Eager To Rebut Allegations

We have received a response with an updated news article that the Prime Minister of Trinidad, Patrick Manning strongly disputes allegations reported in a news summary that we linked to from this site. In most cases, this site simply aggregates brief summaries of stories from a variety of national and world online news sources and provides links to the actual publishers. This story appears to be related to a much older story that has resurfaced recently, amid unproven allegations. The Prime Minister has denied all allegations.

In light of this new article and our own research of several other newer articles we have removed the story summary. National Terror Alert apologizes if anyone, for any reason felt that the story or headline implied that Prime Minister Manning was involved with the group or the NYC case, in any manner. This is not the case, nor was it, or should it be inferred.

The Attorney General of Trinidad has made a statement to Parliament saying that both the Court of Appeal and Privy Council had rejected the affidavit as been scandalous, irrelevant and had ordered it be struck off the record.

In addition to the story itself, there is a separate issue of the headline, part of which was inadvertently cut off due to the structure of the blog. We are working on a solution to prevent that from being an issue in the future. The partial headline caused part of the confusion and concern.

The summary/story has been removed from our database and archives, and again we apologize.

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NYC to Expand Emergency Notification System

After what New York City authorities are calling a successful terror drill over the weekend at the World Trade Center site, the city is moving to expand a “Notify NYC” system that alerts residents and businesses by e-mail, text message and telephone to emergencies either city wide or in a targeted area or borough.

New York City is moving to expand a “Notify NYC” system that alerts residents and businesses by e-mail, text message and telephone to emergencies, including terror attacks, either city wide or in a targeted area or borough.

Often called “reverse 911″ the system has been used or tested successfully in a number of other cities across the country as a way to move residents to safety in the face of natural calamities — hurricanes, flooding or dam collapse and is also intended to work in terror or other “man made” emergencies, officials say.

In New York it has been successfully used, city officials say, in a pilot program across four neighborhoods. It was launched following the former Deustche Bank fire right off the site of Ground Zero. In that case residents did not know what was the source of smoke, or whether they needed to take shelter or evacuate.

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Feds Warn Of Possible al Qaeda Terror Threat To New York Subway Trains

Feds Warn Of Possible NYC Terror Plot, FBI: “Plausible But Unsubstantiated” Report Of Al Qaeda Plans To Attack Subway System

The FBI has warned New York area law enforcement of a “plausible but unsubstantiated” al Qaeda suicide bomb attack against the area’s commuter rail systems over the holiday.

An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a “plausible but unsubstantiated” report that al Qaeda terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said the warning was issued as a routine matter, but added that there may be an increased police presence in New York and other large metropolitan areas.

A US official said the FBI report had been issued “out of an abundance of caution” and that “there is nothing concrete to suggest the plot went beyond the talking stage.”

The report indicates that al Qaeda terrorists “in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City. These discussions reportedly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives placed on subway/passenger rail systems,” according to the document.

“We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season,” states the warning, which is dated Tuesday.

While federal agencies regularly issue all sorts of advisory warnings, the language of this one is particularly blunt.

Intelligence and homeland security officials are working with local authorities to try to corroborate the information “and will continue to investigate every possible lead,” the memo says.

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NYC Hearing On Nuclear Terror Threat

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, testifying a few blocks from where terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001, warned Wednesday that the city needs help as the “last line of defense” against a potentially far more devastating attack.

Kelly, Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton and FBI Deputy Director John Pistole were among several witnesses called by a congressional committee studying the threat posed by nuclear, chemical and biological attacks. Read more

New York City 911 and 311 Hot Lines Accept Videos, Cell Phone Images

It’s a new era for tipsters as officials announced Tuesday that city hot lines are now able to receive photos and video from computers and cell phones.

Callers to the city’s 911 and non-emergency 311 lines will now be able to send in photos and video to report crimes and complain about quality-of-life problems like uncollected garbage.

While hundreds of cities accept text messages to emergency hot lines, New York is believed to be the first with the capability to accept images, officials said.

By next year, photos sent by bystanders will be made available to patrol cars, and pictures could even be used as evidence in prosecutions, officials said.

“This technology should put a scare into every would-be criminal, because the chances of getting caught in the act is now better than ever,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

He stressed, however, that the most important thing to do first when something bad happens is still to call 911.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said major improvements to technology within the department in the past six years have helped reduced crime, which is down more than 3 percent so far this year from last year.

More than 12,000 new computers have been installed in precincts around the city, technology in radio cars has been improved and the department is better able to share information.

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