Daniel Phillips experienced a day of mixed results on the opening day of the Division One American Fall Individual Tennis Championships, suffering a singles exit before delivering a commanding performance in the doubles draw.
Representing Tulane University, Phillips faced a challenging outing in the Men’s Singles, going down in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to Alejandro Jacome from Wichita State University. Phillips was unable to break his opponent’s consistency, leading to an early exit from the singles bracket.
However, the Bermudian swiftly rebounded in the Men’s Doubles. Teaming up with partner Hady El Kordy, the Tulane pair were in dominant form, showcasing seamless teamwork to dismantle the University of South Florida duo of Elijah Cham and Guglielmo Verdese. Phillips and El Kordy cruised to an impressive 8-1 victory, securing their passage into the next round of the competitive doubles tournament.
The focus now shifts entirely to the doubles draw, where Phillips and El Kordy will look to continue their winning run.
The Bentley Women’s Swimming & Diving team secured a dominant victory in their home opener, surging past Assumption University with a commanding score of 132-71 at the Dana Center.
The win was spearheaded by a superb individual performance from Bermudian swimmer Taylor White, who showcased impressive versatility by clinching victories across two distinct disciplines.
White first won the demanding Women’s 1000 Yards Freestyle, clock clocking a swift time of 10 minutes, 54.56 seconds (10:54.56). She then demonstrated her speed by recording the fastest time in the Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke, touching the wall at 1 minute, 1.03 seconds (1:01.03).
White’s contribution was crucial to the Falcons’ success, which was further boosted by her swimming the lead-off backstroke leg for the winning 200 Yard Medley Relay team. The comprehensive victory improves Bentley’s season record and sends a strong statement to their Northeast-10 rivals.
The move takes Intuitive Machines beyond its lunar niche as the company aims to become a full-service space firm that can design, build and operate spacecraft
International News via Reuters:
Lunar lander maker Intuitive Machines said on Tuesday it will buy Lanteris Space Systems, a spacecraft maker formerly known as Maxar Space Systems, from private equity firm Advent International in a deal worth $800 million.
The move takes Intuitive Machines beyond its lunar niche as the company aims to become a full-service space firm that can design, build and operate spacecraft for government and commercial customers.
The deal includes $450 million in cash and $350 million in Intuitive Machines stock and is expected to close in the first quarter next year, pending regulatory approval. Its shares fell about 5% in premarket trading.
CEO Steve Altemus said the deal “moves Intuitive Machines beyond the Moon and into a wider range of space projects.” The combined company is expected to bring in more than $850 million in annual revenue and hold $920 million in future contracts as of September 30.
Lanteris builds satellites and spacecraft used for defense, communications and scientific missions. Advent will retain an undisclosed stake in the combined company.
Lanteris Space Systems was the satellite manufacturing arm of Maxar Technologies, which was taken private by Advent for about $4 billion in 2023.
The acquisition follows Intuitive Machines’ recent purchase of deep-space navigation company KinetX and several U.S. government contracts.
Separately, Intuitive Machines reported third-quarter revenue of $52.4 million, missing analysts’ estimates of $68.1 million, according to data compiled by LSEG. It posted a net loss of $10 million, with a backlog of $235.9 million as it continues work on NASA and U.S. Air Force contracts.
Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed
China’s Shein will open its first-ever permanent shop in the BHV department store in central Paris on Wednesday
International News via Reuters:
Online retail platforms Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Wish are being investigated in France over alleged dissemination of contents including child pornography on their marketplaces, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.
China’s Shein will open its first-ever permanent shop in the BHV department store in central Paris on Wednesday, but French Finance Minister Roland Lescure threatened a countrywide ban of the brand after a consumer watchdog spotted childlike sex dolls sold on its marketplace.
Shein spokesperson for France Quentin Ruffat told RMC radio on Tuesday that the company would do everything in its power to collaborate with the investigation, including sharing the names of vendors and buyers of the dolls.
A Temu spokesperson told Reuters that accusations against the company were connected to minors accessing certain products on its platform, and that Temu was not being probed for child pornography.
The other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
PROBE FOLLOWS CONSUMER WATCHDOG COMPLAINT
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it received a complaint from the consumer watchdog known as DGCCRF and referred the case to the National Office for Minors to investigate.
The companies are being investigated on suspicion of the dissemination of violent, pornographic or degrading messages accessible to minors, which can lead to up to three years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros for individuals involved, the office said.
Shein and AliExpress are also being investigated for the dissemination of images or representations of minors of a pornographic nature, which can lead to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros, the prosecutor’s office said.
Shein pulled the dolls from its website on Sunday, and on Monday it imposed a total ban on sex dolls and suspended the “adult products” category from the platform.
French Senator Marie-Claire Carrere-Gee asked on Monday that the Paris prosecutor’s office open a probe into the sellers and clients of child pornographic material, and on Shein for complicity, demanding “exemplary sanctions” on those found in breach of the law.
Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Gabriel StargardterEditing by Tomasz Janowski
Robinson, 42, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has become a flag-bearer for some British nationalists and one of Britain’s most high-profile anti-migration campaigners
International News via Reuters:
British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson was cleared on Tuesday of committing an offence under counterterrorism laws by refusing to give police his phone PIN, thanking billionaire Elon Musk who he said funded his defence.
Robinson, 42, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has become a flag-bearer for some British nationalists and one of Britain’s most high-profile anti-migration campaigners.
He was stopped by police in July 2024 as he drove through border security at the Channel Tunnel train terminal in southeast England.
Prosecutors told London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court at a trial last month an officer had become suspicious because of his demeanour, he was driving a high-value vehicle, a friend’s silver Bentley, and was heading to Benidorm in southern Spain having only bought a ticket on the day.
He and colleagues seized Robinson’s phone and asked him to provide the passcode to unlock it. But he refused, saying he was a journalist and it contained privileged material.
Giving his verdict on Tuesday, Judge Sam Goozee said it appeared the police had detained Robinson because of his political views and so the decision to stop him was unlawful.
“First of all, thank you, Elon Musk … why has it taken an American businessman to fight for our justice here and our fight against terrorism charges for journalists?” Robinson said outside court.
Musk often reposts his messages on X and appeared by videolink at a recent rally in London attended by about 150,000 people that Robinson organised. Before his trial, he said Musk had paid for his defence.
Robinson says he was targeted by the state for exposing wrongdoing, but is denounced by critics as a far-right rabble-rouser with a string of criminal convictions.
“I’m so glad that judge has given such a powerful judgment now that says it how it was – I was targeted because of my political beliefs,” he said. “On behalf of the government, counterterrorism (police) targeted me to try and get access to my phone as a journalist.”
Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Alex Richardson
Amazon has watched Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google snatch big-ticket contracts with their AI-steeped clouds
International News via Reuters:
Amazon’s $38 billion cloud deal with OpenAI marks a major endorsement for the e-commerce giant’s cloud business after recent setbacks, including ceding market share to rivals and an outage that disrupted large parts of the internet.
After years of leading the cloud computing industry with its highly profitable Amazon Web Services (AWS) business, Amazon has watched Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google snatch big-ticket contracts with their AI-steeped clouds.
Its lead in the cloud market slipped to 29% as of September, from 34% a few months before ChatGPT was launched in 2022, according to data from Synergy Research Group.
Amazon was considered a laggard in the AI race by many investors because it was late to launch a flagship large language model and for failing to offer a consumer-facing chatbot like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Recently, though, the company has ramped up spending on its AI efforts, and last month opened an $11 billion AI data center in Indiana called Project Rainier, where startup Anthropic’s models are being trained using Amazon’s own Trainium chips.
Monday’s deal with OpenAI, a marquee customer, coupled with strong quarterly results last, suggests AWS is regaining momentum, analysts and investors said.
“While it is small relative to other deals OpenAI has made with other cloud providers, it represents a key first step in Amazon’s effort to partner with a company that is spending over a trillion dollars on computing power in the coming years,” said Mamta Valechha, analyst at Quilter Cheviot.
Amazon’s stock rose 5% after the deal to a record high after it traded little changed for most of the year, lagging the gains seen in other Big Tech stock that have surged on cloud-computing deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars with AI startups.
Microsoft last week disclosed a $250 billion OpenAI commitment for its Azure cloud services under a new arrangement that allowed OpenAI to restructure itself, while Oracle has signed a $300 billion deal with the startup. Google has a chip agreement worth tens of billions with Anthropic among other AI tie-ups.
HIGHER AI SPENDING TO DRIVE GAINS
Amazon’s efforts have in part been hampered by executive losses. A key vice president helping oversee generative AI development left for another company, Reuters reported in June.
To stay competitive and fund the costly data centers needed to support the technology, CEO Andy Jassy has tried to cut through management layers and even installed an anonymous complaint line for identifying inefficiencies.
The company said last week it would reduce its corporate workforce by about 14,000 in one of its biggest layoffs. It is also spending more on AI, with its capital expenditure expected to total around $125 billion this year and more the year after.
That is more than Alphabet’s planned outlay of up to $93 billion, and roughly in-line with what Wall Street expects Microsoft to spend this year.
Analysts said the OpenAI deal offers a credible path for Amazon to recoup its spending. Brian Pitz, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, estimates that this may boost AWS’s backlog by about 20% in the fourth quarter ending December, from $200 billion as of September end.
“It clearly seems like they (Amazon) are finally in the flow of what is happening with these large language models versus before,” said William Lee, an investor at SuRo Capital that holds equity in OpenAI.
Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese and Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Writing by Aditya Soni; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty
Seattle-based Getty accused Stability AI of using its images to “train” its Stable Diffusion system, which can generate images from text inputs
International News via Reuters:
Getty Images largely lost its landmark lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Stability AI over its image generator at London’s High Court on Tuesday.
Seattle-based Getty, which produces editorial content and creative stock images and video, accused Stability AI of using its images to “train” its Stable Diffusion system, which can generate images from text inputs.
The company had sued Stability AI for breach of copyright on the grounds Stable Diffusion was trained using Getty’s images, and that images generated by Stable Diffusion reproduced its copyrighted images.
But Getty dropped that part of its case mid-trial, partly due to a lack of evidence about where Stable Diffusion was “trained”, which intellectual property lawyers said could limit the wider significance of Tuesday’s ruling for the law on AI.
Getty’s claims of trademark infringement and for secondary copyright infringement, alleging that Stability AI imported into the United Kingdom an AI model which breached its copyright remained live ahead of the court’s decision.
Judge Joanna Smith said in a written ruling that Getty had succeeded “in part” on trademark infringement in relation to Getty watermarks generated by users of Stable Diffusion, but that her findings were “both historic and extremely limited in scope”.
She dismissed Getty’s secondary copyright infringement claim.
Getty Images said in a statement that the ruling “confirms that Stable Diffusion’s inclusion of Getty Images’ trademarks in AI-generated outputs infringed those trademarks”.
The statement added that the ruling “established a powerful precedent that intangible articles, such as AI models, are subject to copyright infringement claims in the same way as tangible articles”, which Getty said it would use in its parallel lawsuit against Stability AI in the U.S.
The company’s shares were down 3.6% in premarket trading on the NYSE as of 1140 GMT.
Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Sarah Young, Alexandra Hudson
The blue-chip FTSE 100 dipped 0.7% by 1120 GMT, on track for its biggest one-day drop in over two weeks, if losses hold
International News via Reuters:
London stocks dipped on Tuesday despite a sharp drop in the pound following finance minister Rachel Reeves’ comments, as equities around the world tumbled in a broader risk-off move.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 dipped 0.7% by 1120 GMT, on track for its biggest one-day drop in over two weeks, if losses hold. The midcap index also slid 0.5%.
Industrial metal miners bore the brunt of the selling pressure, down 2.3%, as a stronger dollar sent copper prices tumbling more than 2%.
Heavyweight banks lost 1.2%, with HSBC, Standard Chartered and Barclays all down more than 1% each.
The sentiment was grim all across Europe, with bourses in Germany, France and Italy down with the pan-continental STOXX 600 hitting its lowest since mid-October.
U.S. stock index futures were also down more than 1% each.
Meanwhile, the pound and UK government bond yields dipped after Rachel Reeves warned of “hard choices” in an unusual speech for a finance minister to make just three weeks before delivering her second annual budget.
“Her speech was as much about managing expectations as setting direction,” said Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group in a note.
Looking ahead, the Bank of England is expected to pause its rate-cutting cycle on Thursday, though recent softer inflation and wage data could strengthen the case for a cut.
Among individual stocks, Diversified Energy jumped 9.6% after the oil and gas company hiked its annual profit forecast.
Energy giant BP reported a smaller than expected fall in third-quarter underlying profit. Its shares, however, were last down 0.5% after rising about 1% earlier in the day.
Associated British Foods fell 2.6% after the company said it could separate its Primark fashion shops from its food businesses and reported a 13% drop in full-year profit.
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Utkarsh Tushar Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber
Failure to agree could undermine the European Union’s claims to leadership at the COP30 talks
International News via Reuters:
EU climate ministers will make a last-ditch attempt to pass a new climate change target on Tuesday, in an effort to avoid going to the U.N. COP30 summit in Brazil empty-handed.
Failure to agree could undermine the European Union’s claims to leadership at the COP30 talks, which will test the will of major economies to keep fighting climate change despite opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump.
But the EU, which has some of the world’s most ambitious CO2-cutting policies, has struggled to contain a backlash from industries and governments sceptical that it can afford the measures alongside defence and industrial priorities.
In their haste to strike a compromise before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets other world leaders in Brazil on November 6, EU countries are considering weakening the Commission’s proposed target to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040.
“We have a lot at stake. We are risking our international leadership, which is fundamental in this extraordinarily complicated context,” Spanish environment minister Sara Aagesen told reporters on Tuesday.
DIFFICULT MEETING AHEAD
Weakening the target to less than a 90% emissions cut was a “clear red line” that Spain could not accept, she added.
Polish deputy climate minister Krzysztof Bolesta said he expected a difficult meeting. Poland wants 10% of the 90% emissions target to be met by buying foreign carbon credits, which would significantly reduce the efforts required by European industries.
“We don’t want to destroy the economy. We don’t want to destroy the climate. We want to save both at the same time,” Bolesta said.
Support from at least 15 of the 27 EU members is needed to approve the new target on Tuesday. EU diplomats said they expected hours-long negotiations and a tight vote that could depend on one or two countries flipping positions.
OPPOSING VIEWS
Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic are among those warning 90% is too restrictive for domestic industries struggling with high energy costs, cheaper Chinese imports and U.S. tariffs.
Others, including the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, cite worsening extreme weather and the need to catch up with China in manufacturing green technologies as reasons for ambitious goals.
A deal would require ministers to agree on the share of the 90% emissions cut countries can cover by buying foreign carbon credits.
France has said credits should cover 5%, more than the 3% share originally proposed by the Commission that Germany supports. Other governments say money would be better spent on supporting European industries.
“When you propose 5%, you are in a position of compromise,” French environment minister Monique Barbut said. Other EU member states were pushing for a higher share to come from carbon credits.
The draft compromise, seen by Reuters, also includes a clause demanded by France allowing a weakening of the 2040 goal in future, if it becomes clear EU forests are not absorbing enough CO2 to meet it.
Other measures in the draft which attempt to win buy-in include controlling prices in the carbon market and considering weakening the EU’s 2035 combustion engine ban, as requested by Germany.
Ministers will try first to agree the 2040 goal, and from there come up with an emissions pledge for 2035 – which is what the U.N. asked countries to submit ahead of COP30.
Reporting by Kate Abnett, Inti Landauro, Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Alexander Smith and Ros Russell
In an unusual speech for a finance minister to make just three weeks before delivering the budget, Reeves set out the difficult economic backdrop she was wrestling with
International News via Reuters:
British finance minister Rachel Reeves paved the way for broad tax rises to avoid a return to “austerity” on Tuesday, framing her second annual budget as one of “hard choices” to protect public spending while reducing Britain’s debt.
In an unusual speech for a finance minister to make just three weeks before delivering the budget, Reeves set out the difficult economic backdrop she was wrestling with, pointing to high debt levels, low productivity and stubborn inflation.
This meant, she said, the government would most likely have to take “hard choices” in the budget on November 26, ones which would force “all here to contribute” to secure jobs, and the future of the health and education sectors which she described as the nation’s priorities.
EASY ANSWERS ARE ‘IRRESPONSIBLE’
“As I take my decisions on both tax and spend, I will do what is necessary to protect families from high inflation and interest rates … to protect our public services from a return to austerity,” she told a news conference.
“I understand the urge for easy answers. Politicians of recent years have become addicted to shelling out for short- term sticking plaster solutions, rather than making long-term economic plans. They were irresponsible then, and those who continue to push for easy answers, they’re irresponsible now.”
Her words, which firmly put the blame for the state of the economy on previous Conservative administrations, suggested the Labour government could break the party’s election manifesto not to raise key taxes — income tax, VAT or National Insurance.
The Resolution Foundation think tank – whose former head Torsten Bell is now a minister advising Reeves – predicts she will need to increase taxes by 26 billion pounds ($35 billion).
Reeves declined to directly answer questions on whether she was readying Britain for tax rises, saying she would set out policies in the budget later this month.
She said the Labour government had fixed the economic foundations in a first tax-raising budget last year but that the economic backdrop had deteriorated since then.
INCREASING THE FISCAL BUFFER
Reeves also again indicated she would like to increase the fiscal buffer she has against meeting her fiscal targets.
Economists believe Reeves, who raised taxes by 40 billion pounds at her first budget, has lost all of the 9.9 billion pounds she gave herself against meeting her target of bringing day-to-day spending into balance with tax revenue by 2029.
Tax rises would be needed to rebuild that buffer. Reeves, however, said if she got her decisions right, she would build “more resilient public finances with the headroom to withstand global turbulence, giving business the confidence to invest and leaving government freer to act when the situation calls for it”.
While she would not copy a former Conservative government by bringing in “austerity” by cutting public services, Reeves said she wanted to reduce government debt with Britain now facing the highest borrowing costs of any G7 country.
And she would stick by her fiscal rules, saying that the markets could make borrowing even more expensive if they were broken.
Saying that some people had suggested Reeves should sidestep those rules and borrow more without consequence, she noted that Britain was constrained by the basic fact that government debt was sold on financial markets.
Henry Cook, senior Europe economist at MUFG in London, said the markets would view the speech as making “the right noises”.
“She says the decisions will be focused on keeping inflation falling – the conditions for interest rate cuts – and says there’s an iron-clad commitment to the fiscal rules, but I think the devil will be in the detail,” he said.
“It is also notable she said the government will be committed to reforming the welfare state.”
Writing by Elizabeth Piper and David Milliken; additional reporting by Sam Tabahriti, Sarah Young, Suban Abdulla, editing by Kate Holton and Susan Fenton
Six cadets from the Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps proudly represented the island at the National Trafalgar Day Parade on Trafalgar Square in London, UK. The parade was held on 19th October and marked the 220th anniversary of Admiral Lord Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.
The parade was made up of more than 350 Sea Cadets, Royal Navy Volunteer Cadets, Royal Marine Cadets, Army Cadets and Air Cadets from across the United Kingdom, including a 77-strong Sea Cadet massed band. The Bermuda Sea Cadets took pride of place as part of the elite 48-cadet honour guard, leading the parade and escorting the Sea Cadet Colour.
Led by Sub-Lieutenant (SCC) Sam Bennett RNR and Petty Officer (SCC) Ani Douglas, the Bermuda contingent included Petty Officer Cadet Laura Frith, Able Cadets Nathan Cassidy Baras and Xavier Vezina and Ordinary Cadets Lexie Taylor, A’Lia German Pitcher, and Christian Fox. Each of them earned their place through months of intense training and preparation, mastering ceremonial drill and uniform presentation to the high standards required for such a parade.
“From the moment we arrived in London, our cadets were thrown straight into the deep end — and they rose to the challenge brilliantly,” said S/Lt (SCC) Bennett. “Their professionalism, confidence, and teamwork were second to none. Seeing them stand proudly in Trafalgar Square representing Bermuda was a truly special moment. To say we were proud of them all would be an understatement.”
The Bermuda Sea Cadets made a strong impression during the parade, with their immaculate uniforms and distinctive “BERMUDA SCC” cap tallies sparking interest and admiration from the gathered dignitaries and spectators. The inspecting officer, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC, made a point of speaking personally with all six Bermuda cadets — a moment that underscored both the island’s contribution and the high standard of training delivered locally.
The Captain of the UK Sea Cadet Corps, Capt. Neil Downing RN, spoke to the Cadets at the conclusion of the final rehearsal before the parade. Emphasising his pride in all of the Cadets and adult volunteers for their hard work and dedication in preparing for the event, he noted the historic participation of the Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps, saying, “We are especially delighted to have the Bermuda Sea Cadets on parade with us this year for the first time, making this event even more special. Bravo Zulu to you all!”
Following the parade, the Bermuda Cadets travelled to Scotland to take part in additional training experiences. They did some rowing training and even tried windsurfing, all on the Clyde River – wearing dry suits!
When asked about the walterborne training experience, Ordinary Cadet Christian Fox said, “It was great to see what the cadets in the UK get to experience and try some new activities. The water is really cold. I don’t know how they do activities in that water all the time!”
The Bermuda Cadets also took part in a parade night with one of the local Scottish Sea Cadet Units, T.S. Fife, based on HMS Caledonia, and finished off their visit with a traditional Scottish dinner and ceilidh dancing.
After a busy trip and intensive drill training for the parade, the Bermuda Sea Cadets are now preparing to put their experience on show for the upcoming Remembrance parades. As they do every year, they will march in the National Remembrance Parade at the Cenotaph on Front Street, and will also lead the very poignant HMS Jervis Bay commemoration at Albuoy’s Point at 9.00am on 11 November. The lessons learned and connections made in the UK will stand them in good stead for those parades and their continued training, and strengthen the Corps’ mission to inspire Bermuda’s next generation of leaders through maritime adventure, discipline, and service.
The Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps will hold its next recruitment night, open to girls and boys between the ages of 10 and 17, on Friday, January 16th. For more information or to be added to the waiting list for enrolment, email bermudaseacadets@gmail.com
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