Has it ever been determined whether Bermuda better off having its own shipping lines, as opposed to partnering with overseas companies?
This is a question Gary Foster Skelton raised with Opposition Leader Ben Smith, as he highlighted the importing of goods as a primary driver of the cost of living.
In the first part of an extended interview, the OBA Leader told us that his team’s engagement with the community is leading them to focus on trying to find solutions to three main issues affecting Bermudians – cost of living, healthcare and community safety.
OBA Leader suggests big picture approach to living costs
Tug boat relief due to arrive this weekend
The Department of Marine and Ports Services and the Ministry of Public Works and Environment provided a joint statement on the service impacts from repairs to Faithful
A commercial ship carrying aggregate for asphalting and road paving has been unable to deliver its load to the island while one tug boats undergoes repairs.
A fire broke out on the Tug Faithful on September 24, 2026, injuring two Marine and Ports Services staff members.
Responding in a joint statement to our queries, the Department of Marine & Ports Services and the Ministry of Public Works and Environment confirmed today that Marine & Ports continues to provide assistance with the Tug Powerful, while the Tug Faithful remains out of service following the fire.
They said. “Commercial shipping requiring two tugs for safe berthing has experienced delays. There has been no impact to the supply of aggregate.”
Relief is expected to arrive tomorrow and restoration of the full two-tug capability is expected by noon. However, the timeline on repairs to Faithful and associated costs remain under assessment.
Meyer Agencies Freight company, the operator of the commercial vessel, declined to comment when approached.
With regard to the tug fire last month, one injured staff member has returned to work while the other continues to recover at home.
Oil jumps 2%, settles at 6-month highs on fears of escalation in Iran
Brent crude futures for December, which expired on Friday, settled up $2.76, or 2.4%, at $117.64 a barrel, after touching a high of $118
International News via Reuters:
Oil prices jumped more than 2% on Friday and settled at their highest levels since the end of April, as traders braced for a potential escalation in the Iran war after the US midterm elections, with an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz highlighting supply risks.
Brent crude futures for December, which expired on Friday, settled up $2.76, or 2.4%, at $117.64 a barrel, after touching a high of $118. The more active January contract gained $2.63 to $113.43.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled $2.12, or 2.08%, higher at $104.12.
For the month, Brent finished 13.6% higher, while WTI rose 15.2%.
“Traders will remain focused on oil flows out of the Middle East and the likely escalation by US and allied forces,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.
On Friday, a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was hit by explosive devices attached by a small boat, said the UKMTO, the British maritime security service. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack in the strait, the key sea outlet for Gulf crude and fuel supplies.
It was the first known successful strike in the waterway using limpet mines, explosives that are attached to a ship’s hull from a small boat, since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February, maritime sources said.
‘HIGHER LIKELIHOOD OF AN ESCALATION’
The US ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia effective October 23 due to safety risks, the US embassy in Riyadh said on Friday, citing Houthi attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi militants said on Thursday they had attacked several sites in Saudi Arabia, including the large Ras Tanura oil refinery, the Rabigh refinery and a production facility in Abqaiq owned by state oil company Saudi Aramco.
A Saudi-led coalition also said it had intercepted a cruise missile launched by the Houthis towards the kingdom’s western region.
Meanwhile, Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday as part of coordinated efforts to reach a deal between the US and Iran, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Vice President JD Vance had reached out to Iran to help the country get medical supplies, after US media reported Vance had written to Tehran’s top security official to revive peace talks.
Iran has received a letter from Vance, but it has not responded to it yet, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, adding that Tehran wants the US to meet its conditions and “any position that contradicts this framework is unacceptable.”
Oil prices could become even more volatile in the next couple of weeks due to Israel’s recent elections and the US midterm elections on November 3, according to a Saxo Bank briefing on Thursday.
The Danish bank said crude is expected to trade in a higher range of $70 to $90 a barrel even after the conflict ends, compared with a pre-war range of $60 to $70.
SAUDI EXPORTS RISE
Saudi Arabia’s crude exports rose in October from September, two of three ship-tracking companies said, despite Iranian attacks on shipping in the Gulf and claims by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis of attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
The US oil rig count, an indicator of future output, rose by two. US crude oil output increased in August, while demand for crude oil and petroleum products declined, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Petroleum Supply Monthly report on Friday.
Meanwhile, Libya’s National Oil Corporation said an armed group shut a valve on Friday on the main Hamada crude oil pipeline, which links the Hamada field to the Zawiya refinery. It said the closure of the valve had halted the flow of about 15,000 barrels per day.
Reporting by Anna Hirtenstein in London; Additional reporting by Helen Clark and Siyi Liu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Jan Harvey, Paul Simao and David Gregorio
US plans to ban Chinese telecom firms from direct access to US phone numbers
The US Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday that it will vote on November 19 on a proposal to ban China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom and other IP-enabled service providers from direct access
International News via Reuters:
The United States plans to soon ban Chinese telecom firms from direct access to US phone numbers on national security grounds — a measure designed to prevent scam-related robocalls.
The US Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday that it will vote on November 19 on a proposal to ban China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom and other IP-enabled service providers from direct access.
For telecom firms providing Voice over Internet Protocol — technology that converts voice into digital data and transmits it over broadband connections — direct access is a much cheaper option and makes it easier to offer advanced features.
“With this decision, the FCC will be strengthening our first line of defense against bad actors and illegal robocallers,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington criticized the action, saying it “severely hinders normal economic and trade cooperation between Chinese and American businesses and is not in the interest of any party including US companies and consumers.”
The FCC also said on Thursday that it plans to bar IP-enabled service providers that use equipment from companies on the FCC’s list that pose national security risks, including Huawei or ZTE.
The agency added that it would ban all Chinese labs from testing US electronics in December 2028 and may also revoke direct number authorizations for Chinese companies that it deems to pose national security risks.
The FCC has previously barred China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom from providing international telecommunications services to the United States.
Other measures under consideration include barring them from connecting to US networks and from operating their data centers in the US.
Concerns about the potential for spying and other harms to arise from Chinese access to US telecom data and infrastructure have grown in recent years.
In late 2024, Washington said a Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage group known as Salt Typhoon stole consumers’ call records, US call data and infiltrated US telecommunications and telecom infrastructure firms.
The FBI said this year that threats from Salt Typhoon are “still very much ongoing.”
In July, the FCC added California-based Digitalsystem Technology to a list of companies posing risks to US national security, citing links to Chinese telecom firms and its ownership by a Chinese national.
China has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Edwina Gibbs
Britain bars entry to Swedish academic ahead of appearance with Palestine Action founder
Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry) said it did not comment on individual cases
International News via Reuters:
Swedish climate academic Andreas Malm said on Friday he had been denied entry to Britain, where he was due to speak alongside the co-founder of Palestine Action, a group banned as a terrorist organisation.
Malm, an academic at Sweden’s Lund University, has been a vocal critic of Israel and expressed strong support for the Palestinian movement.
Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry) said it did not comment on individual cases.
Malm told the BBC’s Radio 4 he had received a message from the Home Office saying his “presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good” with no further clarification.
He said he suspected he was barred because he had been due to appear at an event next Wednesday organised by a socialist magazine alongside Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori, where he said he had been due to speak about the war in Iran. He added he had not publicly endorsed, promoted or financially supported Palestine Action.
“I’ve been going back and forth to the UK for years, for decades, to do my scientific work, my archival research, my participation in conferences. This is the main purpose of my visit to the UK this time too,” Malm said.
“What this means is that I am banned from doing my work as an intellectual, as an academic.”
Asked by the BBC whether the ban could be linked to previous comments he made calling Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel “an act of liberation”, Malm said “it could be”.
Malm is most known for his book “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”, which argues radical action is necessary to stop fossil fuel extraction.
Britain’s Supreme Court is due to hear an appeal next week on the proscription of Palestine Action under terrorism laws, which has made expressing support for the group a criminal offence.
Earlier in October, Irish novelist Sally Rooney said her books will no longer be sold in Britain over her plans to use her royalties to support Palestine Action.
In June, Britain blocked left-wing Turkish-American media personality Cenk Uygur and his nephew Hasan Piker from entering the country to speak at events.
Britain has also imposed travel bans on far-right Israeli ministers and banned Israelis from attending a prestigious London defence studies college.
Reporting by Yoruk Bahceli; editing by William James and William Maclean
Two men dead, baby critically ill after migrant boat reaches Spain’s El Hierro island
The vessel, carrying 113 people, was located about 37 nautical miles south of the tiny island of El Hierro after emergency services received distress calls late on Thursday
International News via Reuters:
Two men were found dead aboard a migrant boat that reached Spain’s Canary Islands early on Friday after departing from Gambia, and a baby was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition, Spanish rescue services said.
The vessel, carrying 113 people, was located about 37 nautical miles south of the tiny island of El Hierro after emergency services received distress calls late on Thursday. Rescuers brought 110 survivors ashore, including eight women and eight minors.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings. Thousands of migrants attempt the journey each year in overcrowded boats, seeking to reach Spanish territory despite rough seas, strong currents and long distances.
Arrivals typically pick up in the autumn months, when sea conditions along the route are generally calmer and more favourable for crossings.
Migrant arrivals have declined so far this year compared with 2025, but crossings increased sharply this month, putting additional pressure on reception and emergency services on some of the Canary Islands, particularly the smaller and less populated ones.
Migrant arrivals in the archipelago fell 18% year-on-year to 11,527 people to date, according to the office of the Spanish government’s representative in the Canary Islands.
Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by David Latona and Timothy Heritage
Mathews and Tucker open Pan American Bowling Costa Rica campaign with blistering 290 highlight
Mathews and Tucker represent Bermuda against Americas’ elite at Country Club lanes
Bermuda’s Damien Mathews and Dayvon Tucker have opened their campaigns on the international stage at the 2026 Pan American Bowling Champion of Champions in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Competing at the Costa Rica Country Club, the island pair lined up against the Americas’ elite in the Men’s Singles division, with the week-long championship running through 31 October.
Mathews delivered the standout performance for Bermuda, claiming 18th place overall with a 3,343-pin total.
His highlight arrived in game 14, where Mathews came agonisingly close to a perfect 300, stringing together consecutive strikes to card a blistering 290—one of the tournament’s top single-game scores.
Tucker secured 26th position on 2,969 pins, similarly finding his range in the 14th frame with an event-best 228.
Action in San Jose continues throughout the week with the doubles and team competitions.
Top seeds Bicknell and Chopra advance amid ITF Bermuda M15: rain delays
Bicknell and Chopra secure quarter-final spots as organisers navigate persistent rain delays
Top seeds Blaise Bicknell and Keshav Chopra booked their quarter-final berths on Thursday as tournament organisers navigated persistent rain delays at the ITF M15 Bermuda.
Inclement weather played havoc with scheduling at the WER Joell Tennis Stadium in Pembroke, but ground staff pushed through seven of the eight scheduled second-round matches during dry spells.
Jamaican top seed Bicknell withstood a fierce early challenge from American Matisse Farzam, taking a tight opening tie-break before closing out a 7-6, 6-3 victory. Second seed Chopra enjoyed a clinical outing, dispatching compatriot Kian Vakili 6-0, 6-1 in under an hour.
Third seed Matt Kuhar saw off Carel Ngounoue 6-2, 6-4, while eighth seed Paul Colin swept aside Nathan Cox 6-4, 6-1.
Barbadian veteran Darian King exited in straight sets, falling 6-3, 6-4 to Poland’s sixth seed Kacper Szymkowiak. Fifth seed Noah Schachter and seventh seed Jacob Brumm both survived second-set tie-breaks to advance.
Organisers will complete the final second-round clash on Friday morning ahead of the quarter-finals.
Bermuda name four-strong squad for historic Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games
Elite junior contingent to represent Bermuda across track and field, swimming, and triathlon
Four of Bermuda’s brightest young sporting prospects will take to the global stage after being confirmed in the island’s contingent for the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.
The Games mark a watershed moment in Olympic history, with Dakar staging the first Olympic sporting event ever to be held on the African continent.
Bermuda will feature across three sports in the Senegalese capital, fielding an elite quartet spanning track and field, swimming, and triathlon.
Tatiana Sousa spearheads the field contingent in the athletics stadium as she lines up in the javelin, while Maggie Mewett and Noah Maranzana mount a dual assault in the pool against the world’s quickest emerging junior swimmers.
On the road, Gianluca Bortoli will test his endurance across the swim, bike, and run legs in the triathlon.
Chef de mission and former international swimmer Ashley Yearwood hailed the historic milestone, noting the Games offer a “wonderful opportunity for our athletes to compete, learn, build lifelong friendships, and experience the rich culture and hospitality of Senegal.”
World-class kitesurfers to showcase their skills in Bermuda
Bermuda is preparing to welcome 16 world-class kitesurfing athletes for the inaugural Freestyle Legends Tour, taking place February 2-7, 2027, at Cambridge Beaches.
The international competition will bring together some of the sport’s top athletes, showcasing their skills through freestyle kiteboarding and high-flying aerial performances.
Kendal Trott spoke with Freestyle Legends founder Gray Robinson, who shared more about the upcoming competition and what spectators can expect. He is encouraging residents and visitors to secure their tickets early and experience the action first-hand.
Bermuda sweep Bahrain aside to reach FIFA U-15 World Cup Festival Tier D Final
Under-15s blend defensive discipline and ruthless finishing to book Jordan final
Bermuda’s Under-15 national team will contest the Tier D final of the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku on Friday morning after sweeping aside Bahrain 4-0.
The young Gombey Warriors faced an early test of character at the Hovsan Competition Complex, suffering a chastening 5-0 quarter-final defeat against a clinical North Macedonia side on Pitch 6B.
Rather than folding, Bermuda responded with real authority hours later on the very same turf.
Taking control from the opening whistle, Bermuda blended defensive discipline with ruthless finishing. Adam Barritt spearheaded the attack, continuing his prolific tournament form with a sharp brace.
Composed strikes from Krayvon Bean-Burchall and Legend Robinson sealed the four-goal rout.
The victory sets up a showpiece clash against Jordan, with Tier D silverware on the line as the week-long global tournament reaches its climax in Azerbaijan.
