Bermuda’s football hierarchy was in the spotlight this weekend as Managua, Nicaragua, hosted the 41st Ordinary Congress of Concacaf, marking a decade of transformation for the regional governing body.
Representing the island at this milestone event were Bermuda Football Association (BFA) President Mark Wade, General Secretary David Sabir, and Executive member Jibri Smith. Their presence underscored Bermuda’s continued role in shaping the future of football across the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions.
The Congress also served as a celebration of ten years of leadership under Concacaf President Victor Montagliani. Interestingly, Montagliani first assumed the presidency in 2016 after defeating former BFA President Larry Mussenden in a high-profile election.
Reflecting on a decade of rebuilding the confederation on “stable foundations,” Montagliani told delegates:
“Today we have earned the right to think long term, invest with confidence, and aim higher than ever. As we step toward 2026, this is a moment to break through ceilings.”
The assembly was a pivotal working session where Member Associations reviewed and approved the 2026 budget. Elections for the Concacaf Council also took place, with St. Lucia’s Lyndon Cooper was elected unopposed as Vice President for the Caribbean.
With the FIFA World Cup 2026 looming, attention turned to the qualifying nations, while Bermuda’s representatives utilized the platform to align with regional priorities. Following the World Cup, the island’s senior men’s team will shift their focus to the fifth edition of the Concacaf Nations League, eyeing promotion and a spot in the finals.
Bermudian middle-distance prospect Nirobi Smith-Mills faced a stern season debut, finishing seventh in a high-quality Men’s A 800m field at the BMC Sheffield Indoor Grand Prix.
Competing at the National Indoor Athletics Centre, the Nottingham Trent University student clocked 1:55.06 in the event’s headline race. The contest was won by Tobias Cheesbrough, who spearheaded a compact leading pack to cross the line in 1:52.46.
The race served as a first look at the revised World Athletics indoor regulations, which now utilize a break point similar to an indoor 400m. Smith-Mills maintained his position within the main pack for much of the four laps but found himself unable to respond when the leaders ignited their kick in the final 200 meters.
Despite finishing outside his personal best, the outing serves as a vital rust-buster for the Bermudian. Smith-Mills is coming off a stellar 2025 campaign highlighted by:
Podium Finish: A standout performance at the Birmingham Grand Prix.
New Heights: A lifetime best of 1:48.39 set in Watford.
Bermuda’s Under 17 Women’s National team have rewritten the history books, securing their place in the final round of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers for the second consecutive year.
The achievement was confirmed after a dramatic 2-2 draw against Group B favorites Panama at the Dame Flora Duffy National Sports Centre. Despite narrowly missing top spot on goal difference, Bermuda progressed as one of the best group runners-up.
Head Coach Gary Adams praised his squad’s clinical nature following dominant wins over Suriname (7-0) and Bonaire (7-1).
“It’s a good sign that we did it last year, but there’ve been a lot better performances this year,” Adams remarked. “Progress is being made. We’ll take the lessons we learned last year into this Championship Round”.
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Owen Darrell, expressed delight at the team’s high-energy performances and technical composure. He noted the “spirit” and heart shown until the final whistle, describing it as a “proud moment for Bermuda”.
BFA President Mark Wade added that this success validates long-term strategic work: “Maybe we can go one better this time and qualify for the World Cup proper”.
The final round takes place in late March 2026. Bermuda will be among 12 teams competing for a spot at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco later this year.
Marketplace: ‘This is how our groceries get to Bermuda’
Marketplace has praised the crew of the Oleander for battling through rough seas to get to Bermuda.
This is what they said in a social media post.
“Look at those waves. That’s not drama — that’s dedication. When winter storms rage and the Atlantic shows its teeth, this is still how our groceries get to Bermuda. Through swells, wind, and relentless conditions, our partners at Bermuda Container Line keep showing up — because serving Bermuda isn’t optional, it’s a responsibility. Every crossing is about more than cargo. It’s about commitment to an island, to families, to keeping life moving no matter what the ocean throws back. We’re deeply grateful for the crews who brave these waters so Bermuda can keep thriving.”
His death marks the second road traffic fatality of 2026
The Bermuda Police Service issued the following media release.
Shortly before 12:30 p.m., Monday, 2nd February 2026, police received a report of a collision involving a motorcycle and a water truck on Verdmont Road, near the junction with St. Mark’s Road, Smith’s.
It was reported that the motorcycle rider, a 19-year-old male, was travelling east, when he appeared to have lost control of the bike and went into the path of the water truck, which was travelling in the opposite direction.
Police officers and other first responders were dispatched to the collision and upon their arrival, discovered that the motorcycle rider was unresponsive, and had sustained life-threatening injuries.
Life saving measures were immediately commenced and continued while the victim was transported by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.
Sadly, he was later pronounced dead.
It does not appear the truck driver was injured.
An investigation into this incident has now commenced.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Constable Ralshon Douglas on 717-0964 or, via email at rdouglas@bps.bm, as soon as possible.
Liberty Global said the deal would support new consumer services, including AI-powered search and discovery on its Horizon TV platform, as well as customer-service automation
International News via Reuters:
Google Cloud, one of Alphabet’s fastest-growing businesses, and Liberty Global have agreed a five-year strategic partnership to deploy Google’s Gemini AI models and other cloud tools across the cable group’s European operations.
Liberty Global, which has about 80 million fixed and mobile connections across Europe, said the deal – reported by Reuters for the first time on Tuesday – would support new consumer services, including AI-powered search and discovery on its Horizon TV platform, as well as customer-service automation.
“Our expanded partnership with Google Cloud represents a significant milestone for Liberty Global,” Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, said in a statement.
The companies will also offer more Google products such as Pixel phones and watches as well as smart-home devices through Liberty’s operating units, which include Britain’s Virgin Media O2, Belgium’s Telenet, the Netherlands’ VodafoneZiggo and Switzerland’s Sunrise.
The agreement expands existing collaborations between the two firms.
Liberty Global said the new programme aimed to improve network reliability and security, pursue autonomous network operations, and potentially allow Google Cloud to use spare capacity in Liberty’s data centres, including via its AtlasEdge joint venture.
The companies said the partnership would also target small-business customers with cloud, cybersecurity and AI services, and look at ways to monetise Liberty’s telecoms data while maintaining privacy requirements.
“Our goal is simple: to use technology to cut through complexity and bring value to our customers and partners,” Tara Brady, Google Cloud president for the EMEA region, said.
AI partnerships have increased across the telecoms sector as operators seek to reduce network costs and develop new revenue streams while continuing to invest heavily in fibre and 5G.
The victory for a seat vacated by a four-term Republican followed a string of wins in recent months for the Democratic Party in local and state elections across the country
International News via Reuters:
A Democratic candidate won a special election for the Texas state senate by a double-digit margin, taking control from Republicans for the first time in decades in a result the losing candidate on Sunday called “a wake-up call” for the midterm elections.
The victory for a seat vacated by a four-term Republican followed a string of wins in recent months for the Democratic Party in local and state elections across the country, offering hope for national Democrats looking to claw back power later this year.
Taylor Rehmet, a union machinist and U.S. Air Force veteran, won on Saturday in the conservative area in Tarrant County near Dallas by more than 14 percentage points over Republican activist Leigh Wambsganss, whom President Donald Trump had urged voters to rally behind.
Democrats cited it as evidence of rising momentum heading into the midterm elections in November, when control of Congress is at stake. “Democrats are building on our historic overperformance, and we’re not slowing down,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin wrote in a social media post.
In a Sunday statement, Wambsganss said she congratulated Rehmet on his victory and called the Democratic win a “wake-up call” for local and national Republicans.
“The Democrats were energized,” Wambsganss said. “Too many Republicans stayed home.” She blamed a weekend storm for lowering voter turnout.
Trump on Saturday touted Wambsganss as a “true MAGA Warrior” and tried to rally voters to the polls on her behalf.
But on Sunday he distanced himself from the loss, saying he was not involved as it was a “local Texas race.”
“I’m not on the ballot, so you don’t know whether or not it’s transferable,” Trump said.
The district is more Republican than overall Tarrant County, which Trump won by 5 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election but Joe Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 2,000 votes.
Wambsganss said she expects to defeat Rehmet when they face off again in the November election for the seat’s full four-year term.
Saturday’s outcome wasn’t entirely unexpected. In the November election that led to the runoff, Rehmet had the top result with 48%, while Wambsganss and John Huffman split the Republican vote.
TEXAS FOLLOWS RECENT DEMOCRATIC WINS
Rehmet’s election follows a series of victories for the party nationwide since Trump started his second term last year.
In November, Democrats won governors’ races in Democratic-friendly New Jersey and flipped back the gubernatorial control in Virginia.
In December, Democrats won special elections in more conservative Kentucky and Iowa, but Republicans held off a Democratic upset in a special election victory for a Tennessee congressional seat after U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, concerned about his slim Republican majority, rallied national Republicans.
The November 2026 midterm election includes races for Congress and is often seen as a referendum on the White House, as well as some gubernatorial elections across the country.
Democrats, currently the minority party in both chambers of Congress, hope to flip Republicans’ majorities.
With a handful of open seats, Republicans currently hold a slim 218-213 edge in the U.S. House, but that will narrow further after the swearing-in of Representative-elect Christian Menefee, a Texas Democrat who also won on Saturday to fill a vacancy in a longtime Democratic district whose previous representative died in March.
The 53-47 Republican-controlled U.S. Senate will pose a bigger challenge for Democrats, but party leaders are encouraged by their candidates who have won before in competitive states like North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and even Alaska.
Trump has encouraged primary challengers to some incumbent Republican senators, such as Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, and suggested on Sunday he will make an endorsement in the three-way Republican contest in Texas that includes another incumbent, Senator John Cornyn, state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Representative Wesley Hunt.
“I like all of them,” Trump said.
Democratic strategists urged their party to continue emphasizing affordability and pocketbook issues.
“This win is another rejection of the chaos that Trump is creating, and people don’t want chaos in their communities,” Meghan Hays, a former Biden campaign and White House official, said in a Sunday interview with Reuters.
“Ahead of November, Democrats need to focus on kitchen-table issues and they need to have real solutions. That’s what you’re seeing in these local races.”
Reporting by Bo Erickson in Washington; Editing by Sergio Non and Cynthia Osterman
Senior Thai military officials said the O’Smach complex had housed thousands of people, many of them victims of human trafficking who were forced to scam strangers or face punishment
International News via Reuters:
The Thai military said on Monday it had recovered a trove of evidence of transnational fraud from a Cambodian scam compound seized during clashes last year between the two countries along their disputed border.
Briefing reporters and foreign delegates in Surin province, senior Thai military officials said the O’Smach complex had housed thousands of people, many of them victims of human trafficking who were forced to scam strangers or face punishment.
Soldiers later showed reporters around one of several buildings in the complex that were bombed and occupied by the Thai military late last year. The six‑storey building was strewn with documents, including long lists of what appeared to be potential targets and their contact details, as well as scripts for scam dialogues.
CEASEFIRE ENDED BORDER CLASHES IN DECEMBER
O’Smach has previously been named as a base for scam operations including by the United States, which cited trafficking and forced criminality.
“The reason we are showing this place today is that we want the world to see how it’s being used as a criminal base against humanity,” Lieutenant General Teeranan Nandhakwang, director‑general of the Royal Thai Army’s Directorate of Intelligence, told reporters.
Touch Sokhak, a spokesperson for Cambodia’s interior ministry, told Reuters Thailand had used scam centres as a pretext for military attacks. He said Cambodia was carrying out a crackdown on scams and had pledged to eradicate the illicit industry before April.
Thailand and Cambodia ended weeks of fierce border clashes in late December with a ceasefire — the second in recent months — that halted the worst fighting in years between the Southeast Asian neighbours.
During the clashes the Thai military struck several casino complexes it alleged were scam compounds, saying they were also used to store weapons and launch attacks.
FAKE POLICE OFFICES
Parts of Southeast Asia, including border areas between Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia, have become hubs for online fraud in recent years, generating billions of dollars annually.
Among the items seized at O’Smach were 871 SIM cards enabling anonymous international communication, dozens of smartphones, counterfeit police insignia and police uniforms, the Thai military said.
Reporters visiting the complex also saw several rooms set up to resemble police offices from different countries, including Brazil, China and Australia.
UPDATE, 4 PM: Good news this evening about a yacht that was stranded at sea …
Three men were rescued this afternoon and taken on board a bulk carrier that is now on its way to Baltimore.
Bermuda Maritime Operations had received a distress alert from the French sloop Zion, yesterday, reporting its position about 48 miles east-northeast of the island. Due to rough weather, the Maritime Operations Centre briefed the U.S. Coast Guard East District on the possible need for a search aircraft.
After the men were rescued today, the stranded yacht was left to drift.
The rescue of the French sailing yacht Zion, just off Bermuda, remains ongoing.
Bermuda Maritime Operations said it received a distress alert from the vessel yesterday, reporting its position approximately 48 miles east-northeast of the island.
Due to rough weather conditions, the Maritime Operations Centre briefed the U.S. Coast Guard East District on the possible need for a search aircraft.
Later in the afternoon, a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft departed Air Station Cape Cod, located the yacht, and observed three crew members on deck, reportedly in apparently good condition.
Attempts to drop marine VHF radios to the yacht were made during two separate parachute drops but were unsuccessful.
The vessel is described as a 35-foot white sloop, believed to be equipped with a liferaft and a dinghy.
Bermuda Maritime Operations also reported that the nearest merchant vessel, the Marshall Islands-registered bulk carrier Genco Bourgogne, diverted to assist.
At the time of diversion, the ship was approximately 160 miles southeast of the island and was estimated to be about 24 hours from the distress position, given sea conditions and a best speed of six knots.
Bermuda Broadcasting understands that, as of 8:45 am this morning, the bulk carrier is now located 74 miles east of the island.
The complex surgery involved transplanting composite tissue from the central part of the face and required the participation of around 100 professionals, including psychiatrists and immunologists
International News via Reuters:
A hospital in Barcelona said on Monday it had performed a pioneering facial transplant in which the donor, in a world first, had offered her face for donation before undergoing an assisted dying procedure.
The complex surgery involved transplanting composite tissue from the central part of the face and required the participation of around 100 professionals, including psychiatrists and immunologists, the prestigious Vall d’Hebron hospital said in a statement.
The hospital’s transplant coordinator, Elisabeth Navas, said the donor had showed “a level of maturity that leaves one speechless”.
“Someone who has decided to end their life dedicates one of their last wishes to a stranger and gives them a second chance of this magnitude,” Navas said.
GLOBAL LEADER IN ORGAN TRANSPLANTS
The recipient – identified only by her first name Carme – had suffered facial tissue necrosis from a bacterial infection caused by an insect bite, affecting her ability to speak, eat and see.
“When I’m looking in the mirror at home, I’m thinking that I’m starting to look more like myself,” Carme told a press conference on Monday, adding her recovery was going very well.
For such cases requiring facial transplants, donor and recipient must share the same sex, blood group and have a similar head size.
With a population of 49.4 million, Spain has been a global leader in organ transplants for more than three decades. In 2021, it became the fourth European Union country to legalise euthanasia.
Half of the six facial transplants ever done in Spain have been performed by Vall d’Hebron staff. The Catalan hospital also carried out the world’s first full face transplant back in 2010.
A spokesperson for the hospital declined to say the exact date of the procedure for privacy reasons, but told Reuters it took place during the autumn of 2025.
Some 6,300 organ transplants were performed last year in Spain, according to Health Ministry data, with kidney transplants being the most common.
In 2024, 426 people received assistance in dying, government data shows.
Reporting by Paolo Laudani; Editing by David Latona and Alex Richardson
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