Chubb Bermuda Triangle Challenge Day 2: Ryan Outerbridge finished 3rd in today’s Allshores 10K
Men’s Allshores 10K Results
Andrew Wacker is the 2026 Allshores 10k champion. A clearly delighted Wacker leapt across the finish line in a time of 30:10.41, well ahead of second place finisher JP Flavin, who crossed the line in a time of 30:47.9.
Local fans had plenty to cheer about today as Bermuda’s own Ryan Outerbridge took third in a time of 31:51.54.
Women’s Allshores 10K Results
Ellie Stevens followed up her 3rd place finish in last night’s mile in style as she topped the field in the women’s division in today’s 10K, crossing the line in a time of 35:17.48.
Anna Vess added a second runner-up finish in as many days, crossing the line in a time of 35:51.28.
Natalie Whitty finished 3rd in a time of 36:59.80.
AJ Ernst takes the men’s elite title; Gina McNamara win’s the women’s elite title
AJ Ernst is the 2026 Butterfield Mile Champion
The American delivered a thrilling performance tonight, beating out last year’s champion, Ben Claridge of the UK, and coming within 5 seconds of breaking the four-minute barrier. Roared on by a packed Front Street crowd, Ernst surged to the line to secure the win, just missing out on the ten-thousand-dollar bonus for a sub-four-minute mile.
After the race, Ernst said he was delighted with the result, adding that had he known how close he was to breaking four minutes, he would have pushed a little harder down the stretch.
Ryan Outerbridge was the first Bermudian across the line, finishing fifth in a time of 4:14.99. Kallan Richardson placed eleventh, while Sean Trott finished fifteenth.
Gina McNamara is the 2026 Women’s Elite Champion
In the women’s elite race, Gina McNamara claimed the title. After finishing third in 2025, the 31-year-old American returned stronger this year, crossing the line in 4:50.60 — nearly four seconds ahead of defending champion Anna Vess and seven seconds clear of last year’s runner-up Ellie Stevens.
New Record in Girls U13
Naomi MacGuiness sets at new course record in the 2026 girls U13 Butterfield Mile in a time of 5:15.97. Collette Durkin finished second in a time of 5:24.46. Evelyn Fahy rounding out the podium in a time of 5:25.35
The Japanese currency weakened to an 18-month low against the dollar on Wednesday on concerns that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will have more leeway to introduce fiscally expansionist policies
International News via Reuters:
The yen rose on Friday after Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Tokyo would not rule out any options to counter weakness in the currency, including coordinated intervention with the U.S.
The Japanese currency weakened to an 18-month low against the dollar on Wednesday on concerns that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will have more leeway to introduce fiscally expansionist policies.
Takaichi plans to dissolve parliament next week and call a snap parliamentary election, the secretary general of her party said on Wednesday, as she seeks public backing for her spending plans.
“That’s probably the key factor orchestrating the extension of the Takaichi trade and the new dollar/yen highs,” said Vassili Serebriakov, an FX and macro strategist at UBS. But “we have to weigh the upside in dollar/yen against risks of FX intervention.”
Katayama said she shared the view with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that recent currency moves have been excessive, when they met in Washington on Monday.
The yen was last up 0.41% against the greenback at 157.98 per dollar.
Serebriakov sees an intervention as more likely in the 160-162 area.
Noah Buffam, director in FICC strategy at CIBC Capital Markets, also sees potential for the yen to continue to weaken, noting that Japanese officials are not yet showing full urgency in their warnings.
Some Bank of Japan policymakers also see scope to raise interest rates sooner than markets expect with April a distinct possibility, as a sliding yen risks adding to already broadening inflationary pressure, four sources familiar with its thinking said.
DOLLAR NEAR SIX-WEEK HIGH
The dollar ebbed against the euro on Friday, after reaching a six-week high on Thursday.
The greenback has been boosted by data showing an improving U.S. labor market, which has pushed back expectations of further Federal Reserve rate cuts until June.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.12% to 99.23, with the euro up 0.1% at $1.1618.
The U.S. currency could face weakness this year on expectations that other central banks hike rates, said Buffam, noting that this could support the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars.
Fed funds futures traders are pricing in 39 basis points of hikes in Australia this year, for example, compared to 47 basis points of cuts by the Fed.
The Australian currency is also being supported by strength in the Chinese yuan, said Serebriakov.
The Australian dollar is linked to China due to Australia’s commodity exports to the country and the Aussie is often seen as a proxy for Chinese growth.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 0.32% to $95,240.
Reporitng by Karen Brettell; Additonal reporting by Joice Alves and Rocky Swift; Editing by Susan Fenton
The previously unreported system follows a year-long pilot in Britain
International News via Reuters:
TikTok will start rolling out new age-detection technology across Europe in the coming weeks, it told Reuters on Friday, as the ByteDance-owned platform faces regulatory pressure to better identify and remove accounts belonging to children under 13.
The previously unreported system follows a year-long pilot in Britain. It analyses profile information, posted videos and behavioural signals to predict whether an account may be underage. Accounts flagged by the technology will be reviewed by specialist moderators rather than automatically banned, TikTok said.
The rollout comes as European authorities scrutinise how platforms verify users’ ages under strict data-protection rules, amid concerns that current approaches are either ineffective or overly invasive.
Australia last year imposed the world’s first social media ban on children under 16, while the European Parliament is pushing for age limits on social media platforms. Denmark wants to ban social media for those under 15.
The UK pilot led to the removal of thousands of additional accounts under 13.
REGULATORY CHALLENGE
Underscoring the tensions, a U.S. state judge in Delaware on Friday will hear TikTok’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit filed last year by the parents of five British children who died while allegedly performing prank and challenge videos.
The lawsuit alleged that TikTok’s algorithms promoted dangerous content to children, including a so-called “blackout challenge” that encouraged people to choke themselves.
“ByteDance harmed these children after its leadership knew that its programming decisions were resulting in the accidental deaths of children,” the lawsuit filed in the Delaware Superior Court said. Some of the children were below 13 years old.
“Our deepest sympathies remain with these families,” a TikTok spokesperson said. “We strictly prohibit content that promotes or encourages dangerous behaviour.”
TikTok in 2022 secured the dismissal of a separate lawsuit accusing it of causing the death of a 10-year-old girl.
BUILT FOR EUROPE
Despite extensive efforts, there is no globally agreed way to confirm a person’s age while preserving privacy, TikTok said. For appeals against bans, the company will use facial-age estimation from verification provider Yoti, along with credit-card checks and government-issued identification.
Meta also uses Yoti to verify users’ ages on Facebook.
TikTok said the new technology was built specifically for Europe to comply with the region’s regulatory requirements. The company has worked with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, its lead EU privacy regulator, while developing the system.
European users will be notified as the technology launches, TikTok said.
Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm, additional reporting by Mike Scarcella in Washington. Editing by Adam Jourdan and Mark Potter
The first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017, Carney is seeking to rebuild ties with his country’s second-largest trading partner after the United States following months of diplomatic efforts
International News via Reuters:
Canada and China have struck an initial trade deal that will slash tariffs on electric vehicles and canola, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday, as both nations promised to tear down trade barriers while forging new strategic ties.
The first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017, Carney is seeking to rebuild ties with his country’s second-largest trading partner after the United States following months of diplomatic efforts.
Canada will initially allow in up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at a tariff of 6.1% on most-favoured-nation terms, Carney said after talks with Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping. He did not specify a time period.
That compares with the 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles imposed by the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2024, following similar U.S. penalties. In 2023, China exported 41,678 EVs to Canada.
“This is a return to levels prior to recent trade frictions, but under an agreement that promises much more for Canadians,” Carney told reporters.
Trudeau justified his tariff on the grounds that there was an unfair global market edge for Chinese manufacturers benefiting from state subsidies, a scenario that threatened domestic producers.
“For Canada to build its own competitive EV sector, we will need to learn from innovative partners, access their supply chains, and increase local demand,” Carney said.
He pointed to a stronger partnership with China in clean energy storage and production, driving new investments.
Carney said he expected the EV pact would drive “considerable” Chinese investment into Canada’s auto sector, create good careers and speed it towards a net zero future.
AGRI-FOOD PARTNERSHIP
Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, Canada’s main auto manufacturing province, complained China now had a Canadian foothold and would take full advantage.
“The federal government is inviting a flood of cheap made-in-China electric vehicles without any real guarantee of equal or immediate investments in Canada’s economy, auto sector or supply chain,” he said in a post on X.
Last March, in retaliation for Trudeau’s tariffs, China levied tariffs on more than $2.6 billion of Canadian farm and food products such as canola oil and meal, followed by tariffs on canola seed in August.
That led to a slump of 10.4% in China’s 2025 imports of Canadian goods.
Under the new deal, Carney said, Canada expects China will lower tariffs on its canola seed by March 1, to a combined rate of about 15%.
“This change represents a significant drop from current combined tariff levels of 84%,” he said, adding China was a $4 billion canola seed market for Canada.
Canada also expects its canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas to have anti-discrimination tariffs removed from March 1, until at least year-end, he added.
The deals will unlock nearly $3 billion in export orders for Canadian farmers, fish harvesters and processors, Carney said.
He also said Xi had committed to ensuring visa-free access for Canadians travelling to China, but did not give details.
In a statement announced by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, the two nations pledged to restart high-level economic and financial dialogue, boost trade and investment, and strengthen cooperation in agriculture, oil, gas and green energy.
Carney said Canada will double its energy grid over the next 15 years, adding there were opportunities for Chinese partnership in investments including offshore wind.
He also said Canada was scaling up its LNG exports to Asia and will produce 50 million tonnes of LNG each year – all destined for Asian markets by 2030.
CARNEY SAYS CHINA ‘MORE PREDICTABLE’
“Given current complexities in Canada’s trade relationship with the U.S., it’s no surprise that Carney’s government is keen to improve the bilateral trade and investment relationship with Beijing, which represents a massive market for Canadian farmers,” said Beijing-based Trivium China’s Even Rogers Pay.
“Meanwhile, it’s difficult for Washington to criticise Carney for striking a beneficial trade deal when Trump himself just did so in October.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has also imposed tariffs on some Canadian goods and suggested the longtime U.S. ally could become his country’s 51st state.
China, similarly hit by Trump’s tariffs, is keen to cooperate with a Group of Seven nation in a traditional sphere of U.S. influence.
“In terms of the way our relationship has progressed in recent months with China, it is more predictable, and you see results coming from that,” Carney said when asked if China was a more predictable and reliable partner than the U.S.
Carney also said he had discussions with Xi about Greenland. “I found much alignment of views in that regard,” he said.
Trump has in recent days revived his claim to the semi-autonomous Danish territory as NATO members scrambled to counter U.S. criticism that Greenland is under-protected.
SINO-U.S. RIVALRY
Analysts say the rapprochement could reshape the political and economic context in which Sino-U.S. rivalry unfolds, although Ottawa is not expected to dramatically pivot away from Washington.
“Canada is a core U.S. ally and deeply embedded in American security and intelligence frameworks,” said Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy.
“It is therefore very unlikely to realign strategically away from Washington.”
But if Ottawa took a more pragmatic and autonomous economic policy toward China, Beijing could point to it as evidence that U.S.-led decoupling was neither inevitable nor universally accepted among America’s closest partners, he added.
Reporting by Maria Cheng; Additional reporting by Joe Cash, Ethan Wang, Ella Cao, Xiuhao Chen, Shi Bu, Yukun Zhang and Liz Lee in Beijing and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Clarence Fernandez, Hugh Lawson and Nia Williams
Newly appointed Lady Mayor of London Susan Langley said that while maintaining dialogue with the EU remained important, Britain should work with all nations that share its values and respect the rule of law
International News via Reuters:
The prospect of Britain realigning its financial rules with the European Union has passed, and the country should avoid linking its regulations to any single jurisdiction, the ambassador for London’s financial services sector told Reuters.
Nearly a decade after Brexit, newly appointed Lady Mayor of London Susan Langley said that while maintaining dialogue with the EU remained important – particularly on defence – Britain should work with all nations that share its values and respect the rule of law.
Langley, born in London’s historically working-class East End, is the third woman to hold the centuries‑old, year‑long role, and the first to use the title “Lady Mayor.”
“We’ve still got huge alignment with Europe, cash flows between us are huge… Would we ever go back in terms of regulation? I think we’ve moved away from that,” she said.
Debate over closer regulatory alignment has resurfaced after Prime Minister Keir Starmer signalled a more cooperative approach with Brussels.
Many in the City, however, argue the UK should use its post‑Brexit freedoms to adopt rules tailored to domestic priorities.
CRIME SLURS ‘JUST NOT TRUE’
Ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Langley said she would champion London’s financial hub and counter misconceptions about the city, including perceptions about crime. Figures including U.S. President Donald Trump have portrayed London as unsafe, but Langley said “that’s just not true.”
Langley, who took office in November, said London was a great place for women to build a career, citing her own path from the East End to chair of insurer Gallagher and now Lady Mayor. While diversity matters, she does not support regulatory diversity targets.
She acknowledged that harassment occurs, but said she believes its prevalence is overstated.
Reporting by Phoebe Seers; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Aidan Lewis
Red Imported Fire Ants in Bermuda. Credit: Justin Tavares.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is urging continued public vigilance following the second confirmed discovery of red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) in Bermuda, identified in late December 2025 at the Hamilton cargo dock.
Specialist assessment indicates the dock colony is likely to be the original founding colony, from which the smaller colony discovered in Hamilton Parish in November likely spread.
The discovery suggests the ants arrived through imported bulk cargo. As a measure of precaution, DENR is asking anyone who imported bulk cargo within the past six to twelve months, particularly from the southeastern United States, to inspect their properties
Noel Tawato discovered red imported fire ants on the Hamilton cargo dock. Credit: Dr Mark Outerbridge.
To date, 62 locations across Bermuda have been surveyed, with inspections ongoing.
Fire ants are aggressive and can sting when disturbed. Anyone who suspects a fire ant mound, sighting, or unusual ant sting is urged to report it immediately
Reports, including photographs where possible, should be emailed to fireants@gov.bm, along with the location or GPS coordinates.
Members of the public are reminded not to disturb suspected ant mounds.
Minister of Public Works and Environment, the Hon Jaché Adams, JP, MP, said, “Early detection is critical and so I strongly urge the public to report any possible sitings as it would give us the best chance to prevent the spreading of these ants”
Dr. Ewart Brown served as Premier of Bermuda from 2006 to 2010
It was a packed room at the Progressive Labour Party’s headquarters last night, as dignitaries and supporters gathered to celebrate the life and living legacy of Dr. Ewart Brown.
During the celebration, an official portrait of the former Premier and PLP Leader was unveiled. The evening also recognised Dr. Brown’s leadership and his contributions to national development, social progress, and the advancement of the party.
Premier David Burt described Dr. Brown as a mentor, a friend, and someone who has had an incredible impact on his own life.
He told attendees that Dr. Brown “has always been about progressive change for the underdog and those left behind.”
Dr. Brown served as Premier of Bermuda from 2006 to 2010.
Upon assuming office, Dr. Brown recalled telling public officers not to view his term as four years, but as 48 months, with every month presenting an opportunity to do something that would “change Bermuda”.
He said this approach guided their work and added that, moving forward, the country should look to people who want to bring about meaningful change.
A PLP spokesperson said Dr. Brown’s portrait will take its place among those of other leaders who have shaped both the party and Bermuda’s modern political landscape.
Government says Bermuda will contribute to global dialogue on the future of finance, governance, and risk management
The Premier and Minister of Finance, the Hon. David Burt, JP, MP, will travel to Davos, Switzerland to participate in the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which convenes heads of state and government, global business leaders, and innovators to address the world’s most pressing economic and technological challenges.
While in Davos, the Premier will participate in high-level discussions focused on financial inclusion, digital transformation, and the role of emerging technologies in building resilient economies. These engagements will highlight Bermuda’s leadership as a globally respected, regulated hub for digital assets and its commitment to ensuring that technological innovation delivers tangible benefits for Bermudians.
The Premier is scheduled to participate in several panels and sessions, including “Frontiers of Digital Governance: From DPI to Next-Gen GovTech”, “Stablecoin Adoption for Humanitarian Action”, “Insurability in a Changing World”, and “Insurance & Asset Management Leadership.”
Through these sessions, Bermuda will contribute to global dialogue on the future of finance, governance, and risk management.
In addition, Premier Burt will hold bilateral meetings with policymakers and leaders in global finance & technology, to advance Bermuda’s strategic objectives in digital finance & innovation. He will share the stage with senior leaders from leading global organizations, including Marsh, Swiss Re, AXA, State Farm, Franklin Templeton, Aon, Allianz, as well as digital asset and blockchain firms such as Coinbase, Circle, Filecoin, and Stellar.
Premier Burt said, “This event offers a global platform to share Bermuda’s story, how a small jurisdiction can become a global leader through innovative regulation. In Davos, we will build on the progress Bermuda has made over the last eight (8) years to announce new partnerships that will deliver continued investment into Bermuda, which will create jobs for the economy of the future.”
King of the world’s biggest oil exporter and a major U.S. ally in the Middle East, he had received medical care for lung inflammation in 2024
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired a virtual cabinet meeting from his office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 28, 2024. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
International News via Reuters:
Saudi Arabia’s 90-year-old King Salman was undergoing medical tests in a hospital in Riyadh, the state news agency said on Friday.
King of the world’s biggest oil exporter and a major U.S. ally in the Middle East, he had received medical care for lung inflammation in 2024.
He last chaired a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, according to state news agency SPA.
Reporting by Ahmed Elimam;Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Cawthorne
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