The introduction of a reporting and response app is one of four solutions announced in the House of Assembly today
A raft of new measures to strengthen the Government’s response to “fast growing” and “uncontrolled” feral chicken populations, were announced in the House of Assembly today.
Jache Adams, Minister of Public Works and Environment said the invasive species has become a “serious concern for our farmers, our environment, our neighbourhoods and even our public health.”
He explained that officers within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources remove more than 1,300 feral chickens each month but that the scale of the issue exceeds what the team can manage.
Among solutions shared today, Minister Adams said the Government will roll out a new reporting and response app, and a pilot programme that will train select farmers to address feral chickens on their own properties.
Bermuda’s recently crowned National Women’s Singles champion, Imani Phillips, began her campaign at the Total Health Cayman Islands Open at Pickleball Cayman in Grand Cayman, facing tough competition in the Open Women’s Singles category.
Phillips, who demonstrated her dominance locally by winning the Bermuda National Pickleball Women’s Singles title, faced a steep challenge in her opening international match.
In the Open Women’s Singles Quarter-Finals, Phillips took on American player Alexa Schull. The American proved too strong, and Phillips ultimately went down in straight sets, losing 11-2, 11-2.
Following the Quarter-Final loss, Phillips took to the court for a Back Draw match where she faced another American player, Riley Bohnert.
Phillips put up a determined fight in the subsequent match but was narrowly defeated, going down 15-11.
Despite the defeats, competing against high-level opponents from the United States provides crucial international experience for Phillips as she continues to raise her game on the regional circuit.
Inquiries are underway after a serious two-vehicle collision involving a motorcycle and a car on South Road in Paget Thursday morning.
The crash occurred around 9:30 a.m. on 4th December 2025, in the vicinity of Bermuda College. A car, driven by a 30-year-old Sandys woman, was travelling east when she attempted to overtake a motorcyclist near College Road. That rider was not involved in the collision.
At the same time, a second motorcyclist, understood to be a 44-year-old Warwick man, reportedly attempted to overtake the car. The two vehicles made contact, and the rider was ejected from his motorcycle, landing on the sidewalk in the opposite lane.
He was rushed to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital by ambulance for treatment of leg and other injuries and was last said to be in critical condition. Traffic diversions were in place for approximately three hours while the scene was processed.
Police are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the collision, or who has relevant information, to contact Inspector Caleb Jn Pierre on 717-2368 or via email at cjnpierre@bps.bm
Warwick Academy finished the day with a perfect record to win the Bermuda School Sports Federation’s Middle School Girls Volleyball tournament, defeating Saltus in straight sets in a tight final contested at the Mount Saint Agnes Academy Gym.
Warwick Academy demonstrated complete dominance throughout the tournament, concluding the round-robin stage with a perfect 5-0 record. This flawless performance earned them the top seed heading into the final stages. Saltus finished close behind in the round-robin, securing second place with a 4-1 record.
The final match was a highly competitive affair, but Warwick Academy held their nerve to secure the championship in straight sets.
Warwick Academy edged past Saltus 22-20 in a tight first set.
They sealed the victory with a more comfortable 21-16 win in the second set.
In the third-place match, MSA Blue defeated Warwick Academy White with a score of 25-14.
The undefeated run solidifies Warwick Academy’s position as the dominant force in this year’s Middle School Girls Volleyball competition.
Even when U.S. President Donald Trump made a landmark visit to China early during his first term in 2017 the trip was confined to the Chinese capital
International News via Reuters:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron to Chengdu on Friday, a rare gesture seemingly reserved for the head of Europe’s second-largest economy that highlights Beijing’s focus on Paris in its ties with the European Union.
Even when U.S. President Donald Trump made a landmark visit to China early during his first term in 2017, and Xi lavished him with a private dinner within Beijing’s Forbidden City, the trip was confined to the Chinese capital.
But despite the apparent bonhomie between Xi and Macron, the French president’s visit so far has resulted in little beyond bolstering Beijing’s diplomatic credentials, as world leaders turn to China seeking economic assurances due to Trump’s tariffs, analysts say. It has also provided Macron with a chance to project statesmanship after a tough summer in domestic politics.
Investors are watching to see whether a day that began with the French president surprising fellow joggers in the city’s Jincheng Lake Park, before joining Xi at a historic dam site, will end with major commercial deals or a thaw in EU-China trade tensions, given that Macron has been joined on his fourth state visit to China by the heads of some of France’s biggest firms.
A meeting in the Chinese capital on Thursday only resulted in 12 cooperation agreements covering areas such as population ageing, nuclear energy and panda conservation, and no monetary total was disclosed.
“I think they (France) thought that Xi would be in a position to offer a lot because Europe is really preparing this economic security doctrine,” said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, senior fellow at the think tank Bruegel.
“Macron probably felt that given his weight and the fact that France is clearly the one that is pushing the most on economic security, that they would get a deal, but nope.”
Still, the French president will take the publicity win from receiving a rock-star welcome from students at Sichuan University, who crowded around him before a speech in which he urged China to reflect on its role in global affairs.
“We are at a moment of unprecedented rupture,” Macron said. “The world we built after World War II, which was based on what we call multilateralism and therefore cooperation between powers is cracking, fracturing.”
Macron also took aim at China’s notion that the West’s power is waning.
“Plenty of people will try to tell you that Europe is old,” he said. “That the rich countries you find in the G7 are arrogant. That the West is looking down on the Global South. But all of that is a narrative, a fabrication.”
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FACE POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS
Beijing may see friendly ties with France as a way into expanding its influence within the 27-strong EU, but is very constrained in its ability to offer Paris major concessions.
The Chinese leader was not expected to sign off on a long-anticipated 500-jet Airbus order, for example, as that would reduce China’s leverage in trade talks with the U.S., which is pressing for new Boeing commitments.
Xi is also unlikely to ease conditions for French cognac makers or pork producers, as doing so would weaken Beijing’s negotiating position with Brussels over tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
Nor can Xi offer Macron a breakthrough on the war in Ukraine for him to take back to Europe, with China having recently reaffirmed its support for Russia.
Recent visits by Spain’s King Felipe VI and German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil were similarly low on tangible outcomes.
Chinese government advisers say Beijing feels it has the upper hand and is waiting for Brussels to yield and accept a minimum price plan for its EVs rather than the tariffs currently levied on them.
“They (the EU) now recognise the complexity of the issue. After Trump became president again, they realised they are too dependent on the U.S…. Europe is now in need of more reciprocal trade with China,” one advisor said, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak with media.
“The EU should really reflect on its China policy and not tie it too closely to Russia and Ukraine,” he added.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
Xi also did not raise the prospect of a trade deal with the EU with Macron – which China’s top diplomat Wang Yi brought up when Estonia’s foreign minister visited last month and the Chinese commerce ministry has touted – despite talks over a landmark EU-China investment pact having been frozen since 2021.
The vote on whether to adopt the European Commission’s EV tariffs divided the member states, with France voting in favour of the duties while Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, voted against.
China could seek to exploit such divisions.
“It is interesting that they (China) keep raising it (a trade deal) with the member states,” said a European Commission official. “We have no plans whatsoever to have any kind of trade agreement with China,” they added, also requesting anonymity.
Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Thomas Derpinghaus
The torch, ignited last month in ancient Olympia, the Greek birthplace of the ancient Games, was handed over in Athens to Italian organisers earlier this week
International News via Reuters:
The Olympic flame will be lit on Friday morning in the square of Italy’s presidential palace before starting its journey across the country ahead of the 2026 Winter Games.
The torch, ignited last month in ancient Olympia, the Greek birthplace of the ancient Games, was handed over in Athens to Italian organisers earlier this week.
A lantern holding the flame was brought to the Quirinale Palace on Thursday evening and put on display in the Sala delle Vetrate, the palace’s ceremonial hall.
The Olympic flame will be lit in a cauldron set in Piazza del Quirinale in a ceremony that Italian President Sergio Mattarella and International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry are expected to attend.
Perched on one of Rome’s seven hills, the 16th-century Quirinale Palace was a papal and royal residence before becoming the home of Italy’s head of state in 1946.
The Games will be co-hosted by Milan and the Dolomite resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo and run from February 6 to February 22.
Italy, a winter sports powerhouse, last hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006 in Turin.
The flame will leave Rome’s Stadio dei Marmi on December 6 for a 12,000-km relay through Italy’s 20 regions, 110 provinces and 60 cities, involving 10,001 torchbearers.
Reporting by Antonio Denti and Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Kate Mayberry
The lower delivery data caps a challenging week in which the company said it faced a quality issue with metal fuselage panels on some planes in its best-selling A320 family of jets
International News via Reuters:
Airbus delivered 72 planes in November to reach 657 so far this year, the European planemaker said on Friday.
The figure, underscoring a weak November cited by Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury after an industrial glitch, means the world’s largest planemaker has to deliver a near-record 133 planes in December to meet a newly revised 2025 goal of 790.
November’s tally was down from 78 in the previous month and 84 in November last year, confirming a Reuters report this week.
The lower delivery data caps a challenging week in which the company said it faced a quality issue with metal fuselage panels on some planes in its best-selling A320 family of jets, only days after a surprise recall to fix a computer bug.
On Wednesday, the planemaker cut its full-year commercial delivery target by 4% to “around 790” jets, down from around 820, but maintained its financial goals. Airbus has previously said it considers “around” to mean a 20-aircraft margin of error.
Airbus also said on Friday that it had booked 75 new orders in November, bringing the total this year to 797, or a net 700 after cancellations.
Even after the fuselage problem linked to a Spanish supplier, Airbus deliveries remain ahead of rival Boeing as the U.S. planemaker recovers from its own prolonged crisis, though Airbus is lagging behind on new orders.
For January to October, the latest period for which data is available, Boeing reported a net 782 orders after cancellations.
BAT held a 15.3% stake in the company, which it sought to dilute to reduce debt and exit a non-strategic asset
International News via Reuters:
British American Tobacco has sold more than half its stake in ITC Hotels for about 38 billion rupees ($424.70 million), the tobacco giant said on Friday.
BAT held a 15.3% stake in the company, which it sought to dilute to reduce debt and exit a non-strategic asset. After the 9% stake sale, it now holds 6.3%.
The maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes was the second-biggest shareholder in ITC Hotels before the sale, according to LSEG data. It inherited the stake when ITC Ltd spun off its hotels business in January while holding the largest stake.
BAT sold 187.5 million shares in ITC Hotels through an accelerated bookbuild process.
Shares of the India-listed company were down 1% on Friday.
($1 = 89.9450 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Ankita Bora and Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Harikrishnan Nair
Halifax said house prices were flat in November, down from 0.5% growth in October
International News via Reuters:
Britain’s housing market slowed in November in both annual and monthly terms in the run-up to the government’s budget, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Friday.
Halifax said house prices were flat in November, down from 0.5% growth in October.
Compared to a year ago, house price growth slowed to 0.7% from an annual increase of 1.9% in October, the weakest rate since March 2024.
The lender said the annual slowdown largely reflected the impact of stronger house price growth a year ago.
“Annual growth has slowed to +0.7%, the weakest rate since March 2024, though this largely reflects the base effect of much stronger price growth this time last year,” Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said.
“Even with the changes to Stamp Duty back in spring and some uncertainty ahead of the Autumn Budget, property values have remained steady.”
Some other measures of Britain’s housing market have suggested a slowing in house price growth which has been attributed to caution among homebuyers ahead of finance minister Rachel Reeves’ November 26 budget.
Figures from rival mortgage lender Nationwide published on Tuesday showed that prices rose by 0.3% in November, and annual house price growth slowed to 1.8%.
Bryden said affordability was the strongest since 2015, and expected property prices to grow gradually next year, supported by steady activity and interest rate cuts by the Bank of England.
The BoE is widely expected to reduce borrowing costs by 25 basis points to 3.75% in December.
Reporting by Suban Abdulla; editing by Sarah Young
A revival in tourism has helped Sri Lanka recover from its debilitating economic crisis, which peaked in 2022, but the extensive damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah has been a setback
International News via Reuters:
November to January are usually the busiest season for Herath Gedara Rohan Anil Kumara’s three-bedroom homestay in Sri Lanka’s hill country, famed for its tea plantations, historic sites and quaint villages.
But after Cyclone Ditwah tore through the island last week, killing nearly 500 people, Kumara now finds himself in a relief centre, uncertain when he can rebuild his business.
His now-damaged house used to earn him more than $30 a night, enough to support his family, but the 37-year-old has been forced to cancel all bookings for December and January.
“I’m still getting inquiries, but we can’t accept them,” Kumara said from the Kithulbedda relief centre, where he moved with his family of six last Friday. “I don’t know when we will be able to rebuild and return to normal.”
His story underscores the vulnerability of small operators who form the backbone of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, the country’s third-largest foreign exchange earner after remittances and apparel, amounting to 4% of GDP.
WIDESPREAD DAMAGE
A revival in tourism has helped Sri Lanka recover from its debilitating economic crisis, which peaked in 2022, but the extensive damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah has been a setback.
It has affected nearly 10% of Sri Lanka’s 22 million population, damaged or destroyed thousands of houses and killed at least 486, with hundreds still missing.
The cyclone also hit roads, power lines, and telecom networks, alongside significant losses to agriculture.
The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, however, is hopeful of a fast recovery because cancellations have remained low at about 1%, said association president Asoka Hettigoda.
“Hotels across the island are operational,” he told Reuters. “Even in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya (among the worst-affected areas), tourists are safe and enjoying their stay, though access is still difficult due to blocked roads.”
Tourist arrivals crossed two million by mid-November, and the government hopes to reach 2.6 million by the end of the year, the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by visitors from India, Russia, Germany, France, and the UK.
STRANDED TOURISTS AIRLIFTED
Authorities have airlifted stranded tourists, waived fees for overstaying visas, and allowed free flight rescheduling. The industry is also pushing for an expanded visa-free programme and launching social media campaigns to reassure travellers. Tour guides have adjusted itineraries to avoid the worst-hit areas.
For Estelle Burgess, a 71-year-old tourist from Australia, the cyclone became just another chapter in her Sri Lankan adventure. She arrived about a week ago and plans to stay for another six days.
“We’re hoping the weather improves so we can enjoy the beach,” Burgess said outside Kandy’s Temple of the Tooth, one of Sri Lanka’s most sacred Buddhist shrines and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Sri Lanka truly is an adventure. You never know what’s going to happen next.”
($1 = 308.6000 Sri Lankan rupees)
Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe in KandyEditing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Michael Perry
Visa is relocating its European headquarters to London’s Canary Wharf financial district, the Canary Wharf Group said on Friday.
The firm is leasing 300,000 square feet on a 15-year term at One Canada Square, and is set to relocate from Paddington in the summer of 2028, the group added.
Canary Wharf Group, which runs the wider financial district and is co-owned by QIA and Canada’s Brookfield, was hit hard by the pandemic-induced fall in office demand. The area is now enjoying a rebound as more firms push staff to return to office.
“Canary Wharf continues to attract a diverse range of global businesses. We are delighted to welcome Visa who have chosen the Wharf for their European headquarters as the best location to support their business growth,” Shobi Khan, Canary Wharf Group CEO, said.
JPMorgan Chase last week unveiled a plan to build a tower in the Canary Wharf financial district that will contribute 9.9 billion pounds ($13.2 billion) over six years to the local economy – including the cost of construction – and create 7,800 jobs.
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is revising plans for a revamp of its HSBC skyscraper in the east London district to retain more office space, Reuters reported in November.
($1 = 0.7494 pounds)
Reporting by Gursimran Kaur and Rajveer Sigh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Harikrishnan Nair
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