Leo, the first U.S. pope, told the Church’s senior-most officials that Francis, who died in April, had been a “prophetic voice” who strived to create “a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest”
International News via Reuters:
Pope Leo indicated on Monday that he plans to follow the reform agenda of his predecessor Francis, praising the late pontiff’s attempts to make the global Catholic Church more inclusive in an annual Christmas address to Vatican cardinals.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, told the Church’s senior-most officials that Francis, who died in April, had been a “prophetic voice” who strived to create “a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest”.
Francis, who led the 1.4 billion-member Church for 12 years, often used his annual Christmas speech with the cardinals to deliver blistering critiques of their work.
In several lengthy speeches over the years, he listed what he called the “illnesses” and “diseases” of the Vatican’s central bureaucracy, known as the Roman Curia.
Leo, who has a more diplomatic style than his Argentine predecessor, spoke for only 15 minutes and offered no such rebukes. But he repeated many themes central to Francis’ papacy.
The pope warned officials against “falling into rigidity or ideology” in enforcing Church teachings and said the Vatican’s complex structure “must not weigh down or slow the progress” of their work.
He lamented that interpersonal conflicts sometimes mar Vatican operations.
“We observe with disappointment that certain dynamics – linked to the exercise of power, the desire to prevail, or the pursuit of personal interests – are slow to change,” Leo said.
“We then ask ourselves: is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia?”
Leo called for “an ever more missionary Roman Curia, in which institutions, offices and tasks are conceived in light of today’s major ecclesial, pastoral and social challenges, and not merely to ensure ordinary administration.”
Reporting by Joshua McElwee. Editing by Mark Potter
A total of 15 Bermuda sailors are preparing to fly the island’s flag at the 2025 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Florida. The prestigious event, hosted by the Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami, is the largest youth regatta in the United States and serves as a vital proving ground for the world’s burgeoning sailing talent.
Bermuda’s contingent will be heavily represented in the massive Optimist Fleet, where 12 sailors are set to test their tactical skills against hundreds of international rivals. The squad includes Leo De Couto, Hudson Pitcher, Benjamin De Couto, Aaron Riker, Miguel Leite, and Ishmael Dill. They will be joined on the start line by Thomas McBain, James De Couto, Alfie Jansma, Rex Henagulph, Calypso Coulter, and Ethan Adelsberg.
While the main Optimist fleet battles for top honors, Thatcher Coulter will be the island’s sole representative in the Green Fleet, a category specifically designed to provide high-level competitive experience for less seasoned sailors.
Bermuda will also have a presence in the high-performance ILCA classes. Sean Pedro is set to battle in the ILCA 4 fleet, while Miguel Power will compete in the more physically demanding ILCA 6 Division.The regatta, which traditionally runs between Christmas and the New Year, offers these young athletes the chance to gain invaluable international experience as they navigate the challenging currents and competitive start lines of Biscayne Bay.
The estimated sales for “Avatar: Fire and Ash” landed in line with pre-weekend forecasts of at least $340 million
International News via Reuters:
Director James Cameron’s third “Avatar” movie adventure racked up roughly $345 million in global box office sales over its opening weekend, distributor Walt Disney said on Sunday.
The estimated sales for “Avatar: Fire and Ash” landed in line with pre-weekend forecasts of at least $340 million.
U.S. and Canadian box offices accounted for $88 million of the total, Disney said.
Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington voice the lead characters in the “Avatar” series, the story of a clan of 9-foot-tall blue people known as Na’vi who are forced to fight to protect their family and their planet.
The first “Avatar” film, released in 2009, leads all-time box office charts with $2.9 billion in global ticket sales. The 2022 sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” ranks third with $2.3 billion.
Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
The programme, known as “Porte-Avions Nouvelle Génération” (PANG), is predicted to cost around 10.25 billion euros ($12 billion)
International News via Reuters:
President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Sunday plans to build a new, larger and more modern aircraft carrier to replace the ageing Charles de Gaulle carrier and strengthen France’s maritime power.
The programme, known as “Porte-Avions Nouvelle Génération” (PANG), is predicted to cost around 10.25 billion euros ($12 billion).
The French government said the new vessel would be operational by 2038, when the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is expected to retire. Work on nuclear propulsion components began last year, and the final order must be placed under the 2025 budget.
The PANG, which would be the largest warship ever built in Europe, is central to France’s nuclear deterrent and Europe’s drive for greater defence autonomy amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s reluctance to support the continent’s security.
MACRON SPEAKING TO TROOPS
Macron was speaking to troops based at a French military base in Abu Dhabi located near the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint for global oil flows.
“The decision to launch this vast programme was taken this week,” Macron said, adding that the project would boost France’s industrial base, in particular small and medium-sized businesses.
Army Minister Catherine Vautrin said on X the carrier would enter operation in 2038 to replace the Charles de Gaulle, which entered service in 2001 after 15 years of planning and construction.
Some French lawmakers from the centre and the moderate left have recently suggested that the project to build a new aircraft carrier be postponed due to France’s strained state finances.
EUROPEAN CARRIER CAPABILITIES
France, the EU’s only nuclear power, is among the few European nations owning an aircraft carrier alongside Britain, Italy and Spain.
European capabilities remain limited compared with the United States’ fleet of 11 carriers and China’s three.
“The Chinese have just developed electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft,” armed forces chief Fabien Mandon told the Senate in October, adding that France will buy such systems from the United States, as domestic production is not “compatible with our schedule and cost control.”
($1 = 0.8541 euros)
Reporting by Tassilo HummelEditing by Gareth Jones and Ros Russell
The demonstration, part of a wider movement confronting political interference in higher education, was the first of its kind in Novi Pazar, a town with a majority Bosniak Muslim population
International News via Reuters:
Several thousand activists from across Serbia joined student protests in the country’s southwest on Sunday, rallying against what they describe as government pressure on state universities.
The demonstration, part of a wider movement confronting political interference in higher education, was the first of its kind in Novi Pazar, a town with a majority Bosniak Muslim population.
It is among many protests organised after the collapse of a railway station roof last year in the northern city of Novi Sad, which killed 16 people.
Students from Novi Pazar have become famous countrywide after walking for days to join mass protests in Novi Sad to mark the first anniversary of the roof collapse on November 1.
Now they say the university administration has revoked regular student status for those absent due to protests and dismissed dozens of lecturers.
“I came here to express support to Novi Pazar students,” said Momcilo Zelenbaba, who travelled from the town of Jagodina 190 km (120 miles) north of Novi Pazar. “I came because 200 students lost their status and 30 professors lost their jobs.”
Protesters are demanding the resignation of the university’s managing board and the election of a new rector.
“We are here today to send a message to Serbia that we fight for an interim management and the survival of our university,” said Dzenana Ahmetovic, a protester. “This concerns all of us, not only Novi Pazar.”
Throughout the day-long protest, participants observed a moment of silence for the victims of the roof collapse. They waved flags representing their towns and universities, whistled, and chanted their signature slogan: “Pump up!”
The protest movement – led by students, academics, and opposition figures – accuses Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his populist nationalist party of fostering corruption, poor public services, nepotism, and restrictions on media freedom. Vucic and his party deny the allegations.
Novi Pazar is Serbia’s youngest town demographically, with 60% of its majority Muslim population under the age of 30. Despite its distinct ethnic make-up, no clashes with Orthodox Serb neighbours have been reported since the breakup of Yugoslavia more than three decades ago.
Additional reporting by Branko Filipovic, writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Ros Russell
Trump has already surged immigration agents into major U.S. cities, where they swept through neighborhoods and clashed with residents
International News via Reuters:
U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing for a more aggressive immigration crackdown in 2026 with billions in new funding, including by raiding more workplaces — even as backlash builds ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Trump has already surged immigration agents into major U.S. cities, where they swept through neighborhoods and clashed with residents. While federal agents this year conducted some high-profile raids on businesses, they largely avoided raiding farms, factories and other businesses that are economically important but known to employ immigrants without legal status.
ICE and Border Patrol will get $170 billion in additional funds through September 2029 – a huge surge of funding over their existing annual budgets of about $19 billion after the Republican-controlled Congress passed a massive spending package in July.
Administration officials say they plan to hire thousands more agents, open new detention centers, pick up more immigrants in local jails and partner with outside companies to track down people without legal status.
The expanded deportation plans come despite growing signs of political backlash ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Miami, one of the cities most affected by Trump’s crackdown because of its large immigrant population, elected its first Democratic mayor in nearly three decades last week in what the mayor-elect said was, in part, a reaction to the president. Other local elections and polling have suggested rising concern among voters wary of aggressive immigration tactics.
“People are beginning to see this not as an immigration question anymore as much as it is a violation of rights, a violation of due process and militarizing neighborhoods extraconstitutionally,” said Mike Madrid, a moderate Republican political strategist. “There is no question that is a problem for the president and Republicans.”
Trump’s overall approval rating on immigration policy fell from 50% in March, before he launched crackdowns in several major U.S. cities, to 41% in mid-December, for what had been his strongest issue.
Rising public unease has focused on masked federal agents using aggressive tactics such as deploying tear gas in residential neighborhoods and detaining U.S. citizens.
‘NUMBERS WILL EXPLODE’
In addition to expanding enforcement actions, Trump has stripped hundreds of thousands of Haitian, Venezuelan and Afghan immigrants of temporary legal status, expanding the pool of people who could be deported as the president promises to remove 1 million immigrants each year – a goal he almost certainly will miss this year. So far, some 622,000 immigrants have been deported since Trump took office in January.
White House border czar Tom Homan told Reuters Trump had delivered on his promise of a historic deportation operation and removing criminals while shutting down illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border. Homan said the number of arrests will increase sharply as ICE hires more officers and expands detention capacity with the new funding.
“I think you’re going to see the numbers explode greatly next year,” Homan said.
Homan said the plans “absolutely” include more enforcement actions at workplaces.
Sarah Pierce, director of social policy at the center-left group Third Way, said U.S. businesses have been reluctant to push back on Trump’s immigration crackdown in the past year but could be prompted to speak up if the focus turns to employers.
Pierce said it will be interesting to see “whether or not businesses finally stand up to this administration.”
Trump, a Republican, recaptured the White House promising record levels of deportations, saying it was needed after years of high levels of illegal immigration under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. He kicked off a campaign that dispatched federal agents to U.S. cities in search of possible immigration offenders, sparking protests and lawsuits over racial profiling and violent tactics.
Some businesses shut down to avoid raids or because of a lack of customers. Parents vulnerable to arrest kept their children home from school or had neighbors walk them. Some U.S. citizens started carrying passports.
Despite the focus on criminals in its public statements, government data shows that the Trump administration has been arresting more people who have not been charged with any crimes beyond their alleged immigration violations than previous administrations.
Some 41% of the roughly 54,000 people arrested by ICE and detained by late November had no criminal record beyond a suspected immigration violation, agency figures show. In the first few weeks in January, before Trump took office, just 6% of those arrested and detained by ICE were not facing charges for other crimes or previously convicted.
The Trump administration has taken aim at legal immigrants as well. Agents have arrested spouses of U.S. citizens at their green card interviews, pulled people from certain countries out of their naturalization ceremonies, moments before they were to become citizens, and revoked thousands of student visas.
PLANS TO TARGET EMPLOYERS
The administration’s planned focus on job sites in the coming year could generate many more arrests and affect the U.S. economy and Republican-leaning business owners.
Replacing immigrants arrested during workplace raids could lead to higher labor costs, undermining Trump’s fight against inflation, which analysts expect to be a major issue in the closely watched November elections, determining control of Congress.
Administration officials earlier this year exempted such businesses from enforcement on Trump’s orders, then quickly reversed, Reuters reported at the time.
Some immigration hardliners have called for more workplace enforcement.
“Eventually you’re going to have to go after these employers,” said Jessica Vaughan, policy director for the Center for Immigration Studies, which backs lower levels of immigration. “When that starts happening the employers will start cleaning up their acts on their own.”
Reporting by Ted Hesson and Jeff Mason in Washington, Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Craig Timberg and Aurora Ellis
The Parliamentary Registry Office advises that Nomination Day for the extraordinary municipal elections in the Corporation of Hamilton will take place on Tuesday, 30 December 2025, from 11:00a.m.to 1:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s AME Church Centennial Hall.
Nomination forms can be obtained in person from the Parliamentary Registry, located at #42 Victoria Street, or downloaded online from the Registry’s website at www.elections.gov.bm.
Prospective candidates are encouraged to ensure that all nomination requirements are met prior to submission.
For further information, please contact the Parliamentary Registry.
The Bermuda Police Service (BPS) can now confirm Jai Simmons as the 17-year-old male, who succumbed to injuries sustained in a single vehicle collision which occurred on Parson’s Road, near the junction with Roberts Avenue, Pembroke, on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
The BPS extends condolences to his family and loved ones.
A BPS Family Liaison Officer is providing necessary assistance to his family during this difficult time.
Mr. Simmons, along with another 17-year-old male, were found lying next to a motorbike on the roadway, around 2:35 a.m. on the above date, by officers who were on mobile patrol.
They were both attended to at the scene by EMTs and subsequently transported by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for further treatment.
The second male was eventually discharged.
Mr. Simmons had to be transferred to an overseas medical facility for further medical treatment, but recently succumbed to his injuries while at that facility.
We are once again appealing for anyone with information on the initial collision, to please contact Inspector Anthony Smith, on 247-1431 or, via email at, asmith@bps.bm. You may also call the main police number 295-0011.
What’s your favourite Christmas memory? And does your family have any unusual Christmas traditions? Kendal Trott was in Hamilton today to ask islanders about their festive customs.
Mixed fortunes for Bermudian footballers in UK leagues
Bermudian goalkeeper Nathan Trott was a notable absentee as League One leaders Cardiff City suffered a 2-1 defeat at Lincoln City.
Trott, whose consistent form has been a cornerstone of the Bluebirds’ promotion charge this season, missed the foggy trip to the LNER Stadium due to a hand injury sustained during a heroic midweek cup performance against Chelsea.
Despite the setback, Cardiff remain at the summit of the division, though the defeat brings an end to their recent momentum in the final away game of the year.
In a clash featuring two Bermudian internationals, Willie Clemons and Leiston FC secured a narrow 2-1 victory away at Halesowen Town. The match at The Grove saw Milan Butterfield anchor the midfield for the hosts, but it was Clemons and his teammates who managed to edge the contest to take all three points back to Suffolk.
It proved to be a difficult afternoon for several other Bermudians competing in the English non-league pyramid as results went against the island’s contingent.
Keziah Martin and his Buxton FC teammates suffered a 2-0 home defeat against AFC Telford United at the Tarmac Silverlands Ground, while Ayleal Dill was on the wrong end of a 1-0 result as Southwell City FC went down to Coalville Town FC.
Veteran Reggie Lambe and Needham Market FC were defeated 3-1 by Harborough Town in their Southern League Premier Central fixture, and Ajani Burchall was overwhelmed 4-0 with Wimborne Town at Havant & Waterlooville. Finally, Roger Lee and Heanor Town fought a close battle with Harrowby United but eventually succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at the New Manor Ground.
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