 Coming to you from our GIS Studios, I am Anicia Antoine and this is your Midday News Brief. The United States Naval Ship Comfort USNS Voluntary Medical Mission has commenced operations in St. Lucia. The USNS Comfort Team of approximately 1,000 personnel is expected to conduct approximately 100 onboard surgeries and provide basic medical services at the OKEU Hospital and at the National Cultural Center. The USNS Comforts will also work closely with various government and non-government agencies to host health fairs and community outreach programs to address various public health topics. During the opening ceremony, Commander Ryan Debold of Task Force 4-9 of the US Navy noted that the objective of the humanitarian mission is to improve public health, strengthen security and promote prosperity. Felix St. Hill, Permanent Secretary in the Department of Health and Wellness, expressed gratitude to the government of the United States for the services rendered to the people of St. Lucia. The USNS Voluntary Medical Mission visit to St. Lucia commenced operations on Wednesday, September 25th and is scheduled to end on Monday, September 30th, 2019. The first India-Caricom Summit with the Indian Prime Minister and leaders of Caricom has just been concluded. The primary focus of the meeting was climate change, the blue economy and how India can partner with the Caricom in achieving the development goals. Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney expressed gratitude on behalf of the Caribbean community to the government and the people of India for their continued partnership and dialogue over the past years. Hon. Shastney stated that the Caricom has enjoyed diplomatic and technical cooperation relations in a wide diversity of areas which have brought a direct benefit to our people in the areas of agriculture, health, disaster management, ICT, education and training. In many ways, this has been a shining example of South-South cooperation. Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney continued to lobby on behalf of small island developing states, since when it comes to the issue of blacklisting and climate resilience during a bilateral meeting with Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister, His Excellency Simon Coveney. Prime Minister Shastney engaged the Ireland Deputy Prime Minister on the sidelines of UNGA 74 about EU decisions that directly impact the ability of small islands to be competitive. He explained the issues faced by the Caribbean with correspondence banking and the EU's blacklisting of St. Lucia and other islands when it comes to taxation. The two leaders also discussed the access to funds for resilience building and encouraging the OECD to use the vulnerability index for countries established by the Commonwealth. Ireland expressed interest in assisting St Lucia in finding practical solutions to climate resilience and cooperation in the areas of agriculture and education. This has been your Mayday News Brief. Thank you for watching.