Today we attended a BEDC & Greenrock joint press conference to highlight their new partnership, which is designed to inspire entrepreneurship and support local businesses during Bermuda’s Global Entrepreneurship Week 2025.
Representatives from both organizations talked about events planned for the week, as well as how they will work together to encourage growth and sustainability.
They also shared what the community can expect at an event on Sunday.
Competition brought together the business leaders of tomorrow to make unique pitches
The BEDC Wave of Opportunity Pitch Competition brought together nine ambitious entrepreneurs last night, each stepping onto the stage with a powerful vision for the future of their business.
Five finalists were awarded $25,000 grants, giving them a major boost toward achieving their goals.
BEDC says the event highlights the strength of Bermuda’s entrepreneurial spirit and the bold ideas shaping the next generation of business leaders.
Following the competition, Kendal Trott interviewed all five winners, capturing their excitement, gratitude, and plans for what comes next.
In his remarks at last night’s even, Minister of Economy and Labour Jason Hayward highlighted the significance of Global Entrepreneurship Week, noting that it is celebrated in more than 200 countries and serves as a global platform to inspire innovators and strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems.
“Here in Bermuda, we begin the week by spotlighting those who are taking bold ideas and turning them into businesses,” said Minister Hayward. “This competition exemplifies the values at the heart of our Economic Development Strategy—strengthening small business development, increasing access to capital, and fostering an environment where Bermudian entrepreneurs can build, grow, and thrive.”
The Minister commended the more than 60 applicants who entered this year’s competition, acknowledging the discipline, creativity, and courage required to reach the finalist stage. He also recognised the partnership between BEDC and Global Atlantic, now in its third year, noting that collaboration between the public and private sectors is essential to developing Bermuda’s innovation ecosystem.
Minister Hayward further emphasised the Government’s commitment to entrepreneurship as a pathway to shared prosperity: “By combining sound public policy with strong private-sector collaboration, we continue to build the foundation for growth and good jobs for Bermudians. Tonight’s finalists demonstrate the talent and ingenuity that will drive our economy forward.”
Global Entrepreneurship Week Bermuda 2025 features a full calendar of events, workshops, and networking opportunities designed to equip founders with the tools, networks, and insights needed to succeed.
Minister Hayward closed by congratulating the finalists and encouraging all entrepreneurs to stay committed to their vision. “Whether you walk away with funding or renewed momentum, know that Bermuda believes in you. Your work inspires us, and this Government will continue to champion the entrepreneurial spirit.”
The machine, named after French computer scientist Alice Recoque, will be installed in France, with construction expected to start by the end of 2026
International News via Reuters:
Eviden, a division of French IT group Atos, said on Tuesday it had won a contract together with U.S. chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to build a new supercomputer in Europe, as the region moves to close the technology gap with the U.S.
The machine, named after French computer scientist Alice Recoque, will be installed in France, with construction expected to start by the end of 2026.
It will be the second exascale supercomputer in Europe, after Jupiter in Germany, with a total cost estimated at 554 million euros ($642.5 million) over five years, Eviden said.
Supercomputers are vastly more powerful than traditional ones, and are considered exascale when their peak performance exceeds one exaflop, a metric used to measure computing power.
Eviden said the Alice Recoque, which can surpass one quintillion calculations per second, has computing power equalling that of 10 million personal computers connected together.
The global tech industry is scaling up computing and energy investments to meet the demands of artificial intelligence.
While U.S. tech giants have dominated this space, Europe is expanding its computing capacity through initiatives like EuroHPC JU, which pools resources from EU member states.
The new supercomputer project is led by France’s high-performance computing agency GENCI and operated by state research organization CEA. Funding will be provided by EuroHPC and by the Jules Verne consortium.
Philippe Lavocat, CEO of GENCI, told Reuters that sovereignty was a main request from EuroHPC and the French government.
The computer will be used to advance AI models, climate change modelling and medical research, he said.
Eviden will incorporate AMD’s MI430X chips, part of the MI400 family, and the same generation of graphics processing unit slated for use by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
About 70% of the machine’s components will be produced in Europe, compared with about half for Jupiter.
“We are embedding a new networking technology that replaces Nvidia networking used in Jupiter,” said Emmanuel Le Roux, Eviden’s head of advanced computing and AI.
($1 = 0.8622 euros)
Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak
Young leaders, scientists, and global advocates unite at BUEI this week to turn climate ideas into real action
This week, Bermuda’s young environmental trailblazers are gathering for the fifth annual Youth Climate Summit.
Hosted by the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the summit brings together internationally recognised climate scientists, youth activists, and more than 150 local students.
YCS alumna Leeya Jeremy has been hosting live virtual sessions on BUEI’s YouTube channel. She hopes the conversations will inspire her peers and help transform ideas into meaningful climate action.
For Leeya, years of participating in the summit helped her discover her passion … and her future path.
BUEI CEO Traci Burgess says that beyond raising awareness, the summit’s core mission is empowerment – giving young people the platform and support they need to lead.
Police Commissioner says the contribution will bring in crime investigators and analysts, possibly before Christmas
The UK government has committed funding that will help the Bermuda Police Service boost its manpower.
At the third and final town hall meeting on gun and gang violence last night, officials acknowledged that the service is currently operating below its optimal staffing levels.
Since the formation of the Governor’s Council – established to explore ways to reduce violent crime – Police Commissioner Darrin Simons told attendees that additional support is now confirmed, and may even arrive before Christmas.
“One of the things that we’ve been able to do, arising out of the Governor’s Council … is that we have received some assistance from the UK in the form of a financial contribution to the tune of about £750,000,” said Commissioner Simons. “We plan to use that to bring in about nine individuals to assist us, to help bring our numbers up: four serious crime investigators, three crime analysts, and two financial crime investigators, along with some additional covert equipment.”
Separately, Commissioner Simons said they’re also exploring ‘boots on the ground’ options with overseas partners in the Caribbean.
“I can’t say too much about that right now, it’s still in ongoing discussions but definitely before Christmas we will see many, if not all, of this additional assistance in the form of the serious crime investigators, crime analysts, and financial crime investigators.”
In terms of front-line visibility, Commissioner Simons says more than three dozen officers are expected to join the ranks by the second quarter of next year.
“For me, this is one of the biggest issues facing the Bermuda Police Service – it’s just sheer numbers. When I joined this organisation, there were 480 police officers. Today, we’re at 378. That’s 100 officers less.”
For context, he explained that when firearms incidents spiked in 2010, the BPS had 456 officers.
“If I had a dollar for every member of the community that said, ‘We don’t see you,’ I’d be a very rich individual. And those aren’t feelings – that’s the reality.
“We are simply not as visible as we were going back in the 2000s and beyond. That’s why we’re putting a lot of effort into recruiting. We’re constantly recruiting. I would imagine that by the end of the first quarter of 2026, or early in the second quarter, we should be up around 420 officers, which is going to make a significant difference in terms of our visibility.”
WATCH the full broadcast of last night’s town hall meeting below.
Eleven expandable units set for installation by March will test whether alternative construction can deliver hundreds of homes by next year
“A couple of hundred homes by the end of next year,” – it could be possible if the government explores alternative construction methods.
That’s according to Minister of Housing and Municipalities Zane DeSilva.
Recently, Minister DeSilva announced the procurement of eleven modular and expandable container homes, which are expected to be installed by next March on Government land.
The units are intended to provide immediate relief for families in the most critical need, while also serving as a live pilot to assess modular construction as a long-term housing solution.
Speaking to Alisa Bernardo, Minister DeSilva says he believes this approach can help alleviate homelessness.
35 sites across the island have already been identified as potential locations for this type of housing, with the pilot set to be placed in the west end.
The units will include electricity, sewage, and water connections, as well as assessment numbers.
The total cost to government is estimated between $550,000 and $600,000.
Michael Holding, the legendary former West Indies fast bowler, has provided a massive boost to Bermudian youth cricket, throwing his influential support behind the FrayStar Cricket development programme.
The iconic paceman, known as ‘Whispering Death,’ sent a message of endorsement that FrayStar’s founder, Terry Fray, described as both “humbling and inspiring.”
FrayStar Cricket aims to instil the core values of excellence, discipline, and integrity—principles synonymous with Holding’s own illustrious career—in Bermuda’s young players.
Terry Fray emphasised the significance of the backing: “His words carry the weight of a lifetime dedicated to excellence… To have someone of his stature acknowledge the work we are doing for Bermuda’s youth is both humbling and inspiring.”
Holding’s acknowledgment of the grassroots programme is seen as a validation of FrayStar’s mission to develop talent and character both on and off the field.
The endorsement from the highly respected commentator will shine a greater spotlight on the initiative, assisting its efforts to ensure a bright future for cricket in the island nation.
Bermuda’s World Championship preparations are in peak condition, with National Team bowler Lamar Richardson rolling his 14th career perfect 300 game during Week 11 of the Continental Bowling League.
The remarkable feat at Warwick Lanes provides Richardson with the ideal warm-up as the six-man squad finalises their plans for the International Bowling Federation (IBF) World Bowling Championships in China.
Richardson was not the only National Team member to find top form. LeVinc Samuels also delivered a stellar performance, compiling a magnificent 813 high scratch series from games of 279, 276, and 258, underscoring the team’s strong preparation.
The impressive individual scores coincided with drama on the league front. In a major upset, the third-placed Under Dawgs stunned league leaders Nifty Rollers with a convincing 17–10 win, blowing the title race wide open.
Elsewhere, the second-placed Astronauts secured a valuable 15.5–11.5 win over the Cubs, while the Odd Balls defeated Spicenix 17–10. The Invaders narrowly defeated New Hope 14–13 in the night’s other close contest.
The perfect game by Richardson and the strong series from Samuels will give the Bermuda squad considerable confidence heading into the global competition.
The company said the outage that began around 6.30 a.m. ET was caused by an automatically generated configuration file, designed to manage potential security threats
International News via Reuters:
Cloudflare has fully restored its services after an outage on Tuesday at the web-infrastructure company prevented thousands from accessing major internet platforms, including X and ChatGPT.
The company said the outage that began around 6.30 a.m. ET was caused by an automatically generated configuration file, designed to manage potential security threats.
The file grew too large and crashed the software system handling traffic for several Cloudflare services, the company, whose network handles around a fifth of web traffic, said.
The company said it has started to investigate and has deployed a fix but some customers might still be impacted as it recovers service globally. Its shares were down 2.3% in morning trading.
Cloudflare said there was “no evidence that this was the result of an attack or caused by malicious activity”. It runs one of the world’s largest networks that helps websites and apps load faster and stay online by protecting them from traffic surges and cyberattacks.
Last month, an outage at Amazon’s cloud service caused global turmoil as thousands of popular websites and apps, including Snapchat and Reddit, were inaccessible due to the disruption.
The latest outage at Cloudflare prevented thousands of users from accessing platforms such as Canva, X, Grindr and ChatGPT, prompting users to log outage reports with Downdetector.
X and ChatGPT-creator OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment. Reports about issues with Cloudflare dropped to about 2,800 by 10:20 a.m. ET from a peak of over 11,000, the outage-tracking tool showed.
Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources. Since the numbers are based on user-submitted reports, the actual number of affected users may vary.
“We saw a spike in unusual traffic to one of Cloudflare’s services beginning at 11:20 UTC. That caused some traffic passing through Cloudflare’s network to experience errors,” the company said earlier in the day.
Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Anil D’Silva and Arun Koyyur
There has also been much debate among analysts about whether AI valuations are sustainable
International News via Reuters:
Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said no company would be unscathed if the artificial intelligence boom collapses, as soaring valuations and heavy investment in the sector fuel concerns of a bubble.
Pichai said in an interview with the BBC published on Tuesday that the current wave of AI investment was an “extraordinary moment” but acknowledged “elements of irrationality” in the market, echoing warnings of “irrational exuberance” during the dotcom era.
There has also been much debate among analysts about whether AI valuations are sustainable.
Asked about how Google would cope with a potential bursting of a bubble, Pichai said he thought it could weather the storm but added: “I think no company is going to be immune, including us.”
Alphabet shares have surged about 46% this year, as investors bet on its ability to compete with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
In the United States, concerns about lofty AI valuations have begun to weigh on broader markets, while British policymakers have also flagged bubble risks.
In September, Alphabet pledged 5 billion pounds over two years for UK AI infrastructure and research, including a new data centre and investment in DeepMind, its London-based AI lab.
Pichai also told the BBC in the interview conducted at Google’s California headquarters that Google would begin training models in Britain, a move Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes will bolster the country’s ambition to be the world’s third AI “superpower” after the United States and China.
Pichai also warned of the “immense” energy needs of AI and said Alphabet’s net-zero targets would be delayed as it scales up computing power.
Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
Oxford-based Bermudian gymnast, Aria Divine, secured two medals at the Independent Gymnastics Association’s (IGA) National Finals at Kingston Gymnastics Centre, Milton Keynes, England.
The 13 year old qualified for the finals during the IGA South Regional Qualifications competition.
Divine won gold on Beam with her flawless routine that saw her top her group. She also won a determined Bronze on Floor in the WAG Level 6 Trailblazers category.
After moving to Oxford, England with her family in 2018, Divine has won two National All Around titles and was the runner up last year. All Around scores have not yet been released for the competition.
