DeSilva-Andrade eyes recovery after opening World Cup setback
The Montreal 2026 World Boccia Cup has delivered an early reality check for one of the game’s rising stars, as Bermuda’s Yushae DeSilva-Andrade suffered a frustrating opening-day defeat in Quebec.
DeSilva-Andrade, the 2025 Female Athlete of the Year and currently ranked 7th in the world, entered her BC1 Pool A clash against Simona Blazkova as a heavy favourite. However, the world number 17 from the Czech Republic produced a disciplined, tactical display that left the Bermudian struggling for her usual clinical rhythm, eventually securing a 6-2 victory.
Despite the result, DeSilva-Andrade remained resilient, taking to social media to acknowledge the “nature of the game” and shift focus toward her next must-win encounter.
“It wasn’t the result I wanted,” she posted. “But I’m still in it—I play my second game tomorrow against Israel.”
The road to the knockout stages remains open, but the margin for error has vanished. To secure her pathway, the Bermudian standout must find a result against Israel’s Orit Kelner later today before a looming showdown with Japan’s Hiromi Endo. For a player who has spent the last year storming into the world’s elite top ten, the pressure is now on to prove she can handle the heat of a World Cup recovery.
Three men on trial accused of arson attacks linked to UK PM Starmer
Over five days last May, police were called to fires at a house in north London connected to Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a Toyota car that also used to belong to the British leader
International News via Reuters:
Three men with links to Ukraine carried out a series of arson attacks on property connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on behalf of mystery figure “El Money”, prosecutors told a London court on Wednesday.
Over five days last May, police were called to fires at a house in north London connected to Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a Toyota car that also used to belong to the British leader.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said the man blamed for starting the fires, Roman Lavrynovych, had been offered money to do so by someone called “El Money.”
“It is no part of your considerations to decide who ‘El Money’ is and what reason he might have had to co-ordinate the actions of these defendants against these properties and this car associated with the prime minister,” Atkinson told the jury at London’s Old Bailey court.
He said three fires in the same area in five days would be unusual but all involving property linked to one person was beyond coincidence.
“The RAV4 car had once belonged to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer,” he said. “The house in Ellington Street was managed by a company of which the prime minister had once been director and shareholder. The house in Countess Road still belonged to the prime minister, and was occupied by his sister-in-law.”
Ukrainian Lavrynovych, 22, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life or being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
He and the other two, fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 35, and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, who was born in Ukraine, are also accused of conspiracy to commit arson.
They deny the charges.
Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Sarah Young
EU allows more subsidies for firms hit by Iran war fuel, fertiliser price spikes
The jump in oil and fertiliser prices following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, has disrupted businesses worldwide
International News via Reuters:
The European Union will let governments spend more on subsidising companies affected by soaring fuel and fertiliser prices triggered by the Iran war, EU competition regulators said on Wednesday.
The jump in oil and fertiliser prices following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, has disrupted businesses worldwide.
In response, the EU will temporarily loosen its state aid rules, to let governments compensate companies in agriculture, fisheries, rail and road transport and shipping inside Europe for up to 70% of the fuel and fertiliser price increases they have paid since the Iran war began two months ago.
These companies can receive up to 50,000 euros ($59,000) under the temporary rules, which will apply until the end of the year, the Commission said.
EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said the changes targeted “those sectors that are directly and most heavily affected by fuel price spikes, and that are particularly exposed to fuel price volatility”.
Governments will also be able to compensate heavy industries for up to 70% of their electricity costs, rather than the 50% currently permitted under EU rules.
By selecting certain sectors, the rules aim to avoid massive, untargeted subsidies straining public budgets – which happened in 2022, when energy prices surged after Russia cut gas deliveries in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Still, most EU governments have already moved ahead with subsidies in response to the Middle East crisis – spending more than 13 billion euros on fuel tax cuts and other measures, most of them not targeted to hardest-hit companies or communities, according to the Jacques Delors Institute think tank.
The EU plans have also raised concerns among some governments that they could deepen divisions between wealthy and poorer countries, by mostly benefiting bigger countries like Germany.($1 = 0.8547 euros)
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Bart Meijer and Keith Weir
Greece says it agreed with Qatar to deepen trade, energy and defence ties
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani discussed bilateral ties and investment opportunities in Greek infrastructure, energy and data centres, Mitsotakis’ office said
International News via Reuters:
Greece said on Wednesday it had agreed with Qatar to bolster cooperation in areas including trade, energy and defence, extending a deal first struck in 2024.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani discussed bilateral ties and investment opportunities in Greek infrastructure, energy and data centres, Mitsotakis’ office said.
“There are also other areas of cooperation we have been discussing lately such as defence cooperation,” Al Thani said in translated remarks after meeting Mitsotakis in Athens. “Taking into consideration the events taking place around the world, I believe it is very important to strengthen these ties as well.”
Greece has been seeking to attract investment from Qatar, a leading global gas supplier, since the two countries agreed in 2024 to strengthen ties.
Reporting by Angeliki KoutantouEditing by Ros Russell
BoE to tighten capital treatment of funded reinsurance
British life insurers will have to increase the amount of capital they hold against these transactions to about 10%, up from about 2% to 4% currently, the Prudential Regulation Authority said
International News via Reuters:
The Bank of England’s regulatory arm on Wednesday set out plans to tighten the capital treatment of funded reinsurance, a type of deal in which life insurers pass on risk to offshore reinsurers.
British life insurers will have to increase the amount of capital they hold against these transactions to about 10%, up from about 2% to 4% currently, the Prudential Regulation Authority said.
• The move is the latest step by the Bank of England to address risks arising from the growing links between private investors and the banks and insurers it regulates.
• Funded reinsurance has been growing rapidly, with the PRA estimating current exposure of UK firms at around 40 billion pounds ($54 billion), and is expected to grow to 100 billion pounds over the next decade.
• Offshore reinsurers are increasingly backed by private equity. Firms including Apollo, KKR, CVC and Carlyle are among those that have expanded into the sector.
• The regulator has concluded the current approach underestimates the risks and unduly favours funded reinsurance structures over other similar exposures.
• “We want to act now to correct this imbalance before it grows to pose more material risks across the sector,” said Gareth Truran, an executive director at the BoE.
• The regulator has previously described the regulatory treatment of funded reinsurance as a “quirk” and said the deals appear to be driving investment away from assets that support the UK economy and instead towards internationally based reinsurers.
• The UK is not the only jurisdiction examining the growing ties between private investors and insurance, with regulators in Europe and the United States also scrutinising reinsurance.
• The PRA’s proposals will be put to a consultation with responses requested by July 31. The changes would apply to deals completed from October this year.
($1 = 0.7408 pounds)
Reporting by Phoebe Seers and Iain WithersEditing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Sharon Singleton
Octogenarian Athens shooter acted in ‘protest and despair’, lawyer says
The man opened fire with a shotgun at a branch of Greece’s EFKA social security agency, wounding an employee in the leg before travelling by taxi to a court building where he fired several more shots
International News via Reuters:
An 89-year-old gunman arrested for wounding five people in two shootings in Athens on Tuesday acted in “protest and despair” against Greek public services, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
The man opened fire with a shotgun at a branch of Greece’s EFKA social security agency, wounding an employee in the leg before travelling by taxi to a court building where he fired several more shots, lightly wounding four female court clerks.
He was later arrested in a hotel in the city of Patras, some 200 km (124 miles) from Athens.
“It was an act of protest and despair,” his lawyer, Vassilis Noulezas, told Reuters.
Noulezas said the man worked for 40 years as an engineer in Chicago and was previously hospitalised at a psychiatric clinic in Athens. He had applied for a supplementary pension in Greece but his request was rejected, he said.
A public prosecutor on Wednesday charged the man with attempted murder and illegal possession of a gun.
Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis late on Tuesday admitted that there were security gaps at some court buildings but that Greece was a safe country overall.
EFKA workers walked out on Wednesday to protest over security after the shooting incident, which they said they viewed as another act of “people’s frustration” over understaffed public services.
Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Hugh Lawson
Euro zone economic confidence plunges, price pressures soar
The euro zone economy has been hit hard from the fallout of the war and a raft of surveys this week are offering some early glimpses into just how bad the 21-nation currency bloc may be hit
International News via Reuters:
Euro zone economic sentiment plunged to a three-and-a-half-year low this month as the Iran war hit the services sector hard and inflation continued to rise, even as lending figures showed modest signs of resilience, a raft of data showed on Wednesday.
The euro zone economy has been hit hard from the fallout of the war and a raft of surveys this week are offering some early glimpses into just how bad the 21-nation currency bloc may be hit.
The figures point to surging prices and plunging economic growth, a dilemma for the European Central Bank as it is keen to arrest inflation but any policy tightening is bound to hurt already fragile growth.
The European Commission Economic Sentiment Indicator fell to 93.0 this month from 96.6 a month earlier, coming well below expectations as the services component plunged to a five-year low.
“The decline of the Economic Sentiment Indicator was driven by plummeting confidence among consumers, as well as managers in services and retail trade,” the European Commission said. “Services confidence declined by a lot, reflecting managers’ more negative assessments across all … components.”
INFLATION SOARS BUT ECB ON HOLD FOR NOW
Selling price expectations meanwhile soared, after an already steep increase in the previous month, indicating that firms anticipate continued acceleration in overall inflation given high energy costs and possible supply shortages.
“April’s EC survey suggests the Iran war may hit euro zone activity a bit harder than we are forecasting,” Franziska Palmas at Capital Economics said. “Services firms’ selling price expectations rose further but not enough for the ECB to take action at its meeting tomorrow.”
The drop in consumer confidence was driven by a deterioration in consumers’ views on their households’ past and future financial situation, their intentions to make major purchases, and their expectations about the general economic outlook, the Commission said.
Euro zone inflation data, due on Thursday, is expected to show an increase to 2.9% this month from 2.6% in March and regional data from Spain and several key German states on Wednesday appear consistent with this projection.
This figure is not high enough for the ECB to raise interest rates on Thursday but will put the bank on high alert and policymakers are likely to keep a June rate hike squarely on the table.
In a modestly hopeful sign for economic growth, separate data showed that credit growth to businesses accelerated to 3.2% in March month from 3.0% a month earlier, despite banks warning that credit growth is likely to fall off a cliff given the war.
Still, lending volumes are likely to fall in subsequent months and credit standards will tighten, given increased funding costs and uncertainty.
Lending is also seen taking a hit as inflation is accelerating on higher energy costs, quickly hitting corporate margins and households’ disposable incomes.
Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Ros Russell and Toby Chopra
EU urges fast rollout of age-verification app to protect minors online
The call followed the EU’s announcement earlier this month that the app was ready, amid a broader push by member states to limit children’s access to social media
International News via Reuters:
The European Commission on Wednesday urged member states to quickly adopt its new age verification app to protect minors from harmful content online, and to make sure the technology is available everywhere before the end of the year.
The call followed the EU’s announcement earlier this month that the app was ready, amid a broader push by member states to limit children’s access to social media.
The commission now said its blueprint for the app had been finalised, and enabled users to prove they meet a required age threshold without revealing their exact age, identity or any other personal details.
“It will allow everybody to keep browsing the internet in full privacy while ensuring that children do not have access to content that is not meant for them,” EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters in Brussels.
The Commission said it was now up to countries to create national age verification solutions inline with the blueprint.
The EU age verification can be used as a standalone app, it said, but can also be customised and be integrated into a so-called ‘digital identification wallet’ which member states are required to provide their citizens by the end of the year.
According to EU regulations, online platforms are required to ensure the privacy and safety of minors online.
Earlier on Wednesday, Facebook and Instagram were charged with breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act for failing to prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing their services.
The European Commission in February said preliminary findings had shown that TikTok’s addictive design was in breach of the DSA.
Reporting by Alexander Chituc, editing by Bart Meijer
London stocks slip as investors parse earnings mixed bag
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index dipped 0.7% by 0950 GMT, slipping for the seventh time in eight sessions
International News via Reuters:
UK shares drifted lower on Wednesday as traders digested mixed earnings, before turning their attention to global central bank policy decisions, including the Bank of England.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index dipped 0.7% by 0950 GMT, slipping for the seventh time in eight sessions. The midcap FTSE 250 eased 0.1%.
• AstraZeneca and GSK fell 1.4% and 2.1%, respectively, after both drugmakers stuck to their full-year forecasts despite posting better-than-expected quarterly profit.
• Lloyds Banking Group dipped 1.4% despite reporting a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter profit.
• Earnings season is in full swing with investors cautious of any impact stemming from the Iran war.
• Efforts to end the Iran war were at an impasse with U.S. President Donald Trump unhappy with the latest proposal from Tehran as he wants nuclear issues dealt with from the outset.
• The war stalemate gives way to a Federal Reserve meeting later on Wednesday, followed by results from megacaps Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, which could set the tone for markets.
• With geopolitical uncertainty still high, the BoE is set to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday.
• Tentative hopes of a resolution to the U.S.-Iran war have helped steady the FTSE 100, putting it on track for a marginal April gain after the conflict drove its worst monthly slump in six years.
• Among other moves, DCC surged 16% after the sales and marketing services provider said it was reviewing a cash takeover proposal from a consortium comprising U.S. investment firms Energy Capital Partners and KKR.
Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore
U.S. Ambassador in Bermuda
Press Release from the U.S. Consulate General
The U.S. Consulate General in Hamilton, Bermuda will welcome U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s, Warren Stephens, for his first official visit to Bermuda.
During his visit from April 29th to May 1st, Ambassador Stephens will meet with Governor Andrew Murdoch and Premier David Burt to discuss the long-standing ties among the United States, United Kingdom, and Bermuda as well as issues of shared interest.
Ambassador Stephens will meet with members of the business community to discuss the strong U.S.-Bermuda economic relationship. He also will visit cultural and historic locations that demonstrate the four centuries of shared bonds between the United States and Bermuda.
“I am delighted to embark on my first trip to Bermuda as U.S. Ambassador. We collaborate with Bermuda on a range of issues including trade, security, aviation, science and technology, maritime operations, educational exchange, and much more. My visit is also significant as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence and I look forward to experiencing historic sites that reflect our long-time connections,” stated Ambassador Stephens.
“The United States is Bermuda’s closest neighbor and largest trading partner. Whether it is our Coast Guard helping Bermuda maritime authorities with search and rescue operations or our Preclearance officers at the airport ensuring a safe travel experience for all U.S.-bound passengers, our relationship has a significant impact,” he added.
Ambassador Stephens was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 29, 2025, and was sworn in by President Trump on April 30, 2025. His visit to Bermuda follows his participation in King Charles III’s State Visit to the United States.
