Bermuda will host Round One of the 2026 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers
Bermuda has been selected as a host nation for Round One of the 2026 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers, marking a significant boost to the island’s football programme.
The initial phase of the competition, which serves as the first step towards the next FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, will take place on the island from January 24th to February 2nd, 2026.
Bermuda will host Group B and will be looking to capitalise on home-field advantage against four regional rivals in the round-robin format:
Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Suriname
Bonaire
The group winner will advance to the Final Round of the qualifiers, where the region’s places for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will be decided.
The selection marks a major vote of confidence in Bermuda’s ability to stage international youth tournaments.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service unexpectedly dropped charges last month against two British men who were accused of spying for Beijing
International News via Reuters:
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s attempt to draw a line under a collapsed China spying case by publishing witness statements has prompted more questions for the legal system and for a leader who is struggling with low popularity ratings.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service unexpectedly dropped charges last month against two British men, former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry, who were accused of spying for Beijing between 2021 and 2023. They had denied passing politically sensitive information to the Chinese state.
The CPS said the case was dropped because it needed evidence showing Britain considered China a threat to national security, but the government had not provided it after months of requests.
STATEMENTS DID NOT UNEQUIVOCALLY LABEL CHINA AN ENEMY
Following accusations that ministers may have interfered in the case to appease China, Starmer’s government released late on Wednesday three witness statements from Britain’s deputy national security adviser.
While the newly published documents detailed Chinese malign activity, they did not unequivocally state that Britain saw China as an enemy power – a phrase Starmer says was necessary for the legal system to pursue the case and one which the former Conservative government in power at the time had not used.
In his first statement, dated December 12, 2023, Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins said: “It is my assessment that the suspects’ alleged activities were prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK, and the information and material passed would be directly or indirectly useful to the Chinese state.”
In a second statement, Collins added: “It is important for me to emphasise, however, that the government is committed to pursuing a positive economic relationship with China.”
SEEKING CLOSER TIES IN PURSUIT OF GROWTH
Starmer’s government has been trying to forge closer ties to China in its pursuit of economic growth, employing what it calls a “three Cs approach” – to compete, cooperate and confront.
After the release of the documents, a spokesperson for the opposition Conservatives said there were “many unanswered questions about this scandal – from the role of the national security adviser, to the potential involvement or knowledge of ministers”.
Starmer, whose popularity has sunk to the lowest on record since winning power last year, has said ministers and his national security adviser had played no role in the case, and Collins, a government official, had offered all the evidence he could.
Some analysts said questions still remained for the CPS.
Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg wrote on the publishing platform Substack: “It is hard to see how specific allegations of espionage could not be a threat to national security. Answers are needed from prosecutors.”
Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Alex Richardson
Analysts said oil deliveries and other cargo flows were still being disrupted even though Flemish sea pilots have temporarily suspended strike action that began on October 5
International News via Reuters:
Oil deliveries are being disrupted by congestion at the Belgian Port of Antwerp-Bruges after a harbour pilots’ strike, analysts said, with the port authority counting up to 188 vessels still waiting to berth or depart.
Analysts said oil deliveries and other cargo flows were still being disrupted even though Flemish sea pilots, who play a key role in navigating ships through congested or dangerous waters, have temporarily suspended strike action that began on October 5 in a protest against federal pension reforms.
The backlog has forced shipping lines to reroute or delay cargo, straining supply chains.
S&P Global Commodity Insights cited market participants as saying that strikes had slowed arrivals into Europe, with Antwerp a major discharge location for jet fuel and diesel.
As of Wednesday, the logistics chain in Antwerp was running at about 70% of normal capacity, as a national strike the day before caused further disruption, port authorities said.
The pilots’ union on Wednesday agreed to suspend its strike until October 24, but an ongoing go-slow action is hindering traffic resumption, port authorities said, adding that action is expected to continue until Sunday.
As of Wednesday evening, 128 ships were waiting to enter port, and 60 were still queued for departure. Towage services are fully operational, and all locks and bridges are functioning, but clearing the backlog is expected to take several days, the port said.
Zeebrugge, part of the same port complex, has experienced more limited disruption, with delays expected to be cleared by late afternoon.
Reporting by Alban Kacher; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
The Nikkei share average rose as prospects appeared to brighten for Takaichi to become Japan’s first woman premier, stoking bets on a revival in big spending and loose monetary policy
International News via Reuters:
Sanae Takaichi, the newly-elected head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, held talks about a possible coalition with leaders of the right-leaning Innovation Party on Thursday, in a bid to clinch a prime ministerial vote expected next week.
The Nikkei share average rose as prospects appeared to brighten for Takaichi to become Japan’s first woman premier, stoking bets on a revival in big spending and loose monetary policy.
Takaichi’s path to succeed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had seemed all but certain until the LDP’s junior partner, Komeito, quit their 26-year coalition last week, setting off a flurry of negotiations with rival parties to select the next premier.
“We’ve made significant progress in aligning our values,” said Fumitake Fujita, co-head of the Innovation Party, following the talks that also included policy chiefs of both parties.
He said the parties would meet again on Friday but cautioned that it was not clear whether they could reach a deal. A final decision would likely be made on Monday, he said.
The LDP’s policy chief, Takayuki Kobayashi, said the sides were aligned on key topics including security and energy policies.
Taken together, the two parties would be just two seats short of a majority in the lower house, which has the deciding vote to choose the prime minister, but the government has yet to agree a date.
The Innovation Party’s plans include designating a second capital in addition to Tokyo, restarting nuclear power plants and setting limits on the number of foreign residents.
On security, it calls for a more robust defence posture and plans to revise Japan’s war-renouncing constitution, aligning with the views of Takaichi, a nationalist from the LDP’s right wing.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party has also sought to draw the Innovation Party into a three-way tie-up with the Democratic Party for the People (DPFP), and enable a premiership bid by DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki.
However, those talks were inconclusive on Wednesday.
The LDP has proposed October 21 for a parliament vote on parties’ choices for the next premier, but the opposition has pushed back, citing coalition discussions.
Any candidate securing a simple majority in the first round of such a vote will win approval. If not, the two with the most votes go into a run-off.
“Although the situation remains fluid, there is a strong 75% probability that Takaichi will be named Japan’s next premier,” EurAsia Group analysts said in a note, citing the potential tie-up with the Innovation Party.
Reporting by Mariko Katsumura, Chang-Ran Kim and John Geddie; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Thomas Derpinghaus.
Odinga, a major figure for decades in Kenyan politics who was once a political prisoner and ran unsuccessfully for president five times, died on Wednesday aged 80 in India
International News via Reuters:
Thousands of mourners briefly stormed Nairobi’s international airport on Thursday, interrupting a ceremony for the body of veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, with crowds also flooding nearby roads and trying to breach parliament.
Odinga, a major figure for decades in Kenyan politics who was once a political prisoner and ran unsuccessfully for president five times, died on Wednesday aged 80 in India where he had been receiving medical treatment.
With Odinga’s supporters taking to the streets in his honour, President William Ruto and other officials went to the airport to receive his body with military honours.
But as the coffin was being removed from the plane’s cargo, mourners waving twigs and flags – some on motorbikes – overran the airside, interrupting part of the ceremony, according to a Reuters reporter and footage.
The crowd later backed away from the plane, but the chaos prompted a two-hour suspension of airport operations.
Elsewhere, some Odinga supporters climbed on the gates of parliament, where the government had scheduled a public viewing of his body. The venue for that was changed to a Nairobi sports stadium, his party said.
Though mainly known as an opposition figure, Odinga did become prime minister in 2008 and also struck a political pact with Ruto last year in a career of shifting alliances.
He commanded passionate devotion among his Luo tribe, based in western Kenya, many of whom believe he was cheated of the presidency by electoral fraud.
Reporting by Monicah Mwangi, Vincent Mumo, Edwin Waita, Humphrey Malalo and George ObulutsaEditing by Ammu Kannampilly and Andrew Cawthorne
In a visit to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, the Catholic pontiff also condemned the use of hunger as a weapon of war
International News via Reuters:
Pope Leo made an urgent plea on Thursday for global leaders to end world hunger, saying in a speech to a United Nations agency that allowing millions to go without food each day represented “an ethical derailment”.
In a visit to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, the Catholic pontiff also condemned the use of hunger as a weapon of war, without naming any specific conflicts or nations.
Leo cited U.N. figures that around 673 million people do not eat enough each day, calling that number “the clear sign of a prevailing insensitivity, of a soulless economy… and of an unjust and unsustainable system of resource distribution”.
“In a time when science has lengthened life expectancy … allowing millions of human beings to live – and die – struck by hunger is a collective failure, an ethical derailment, an historic offence,” said the pope.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, spent much of his career before the papacy as a missionary in Peru and has made caring for the poor an early focus of his five-month tenure.
He spoke on Thursday to some 125 delegations attending a week-long forum coinciding with FAO’s 80th anniversary.
The pope, speaking mainly in Spanish, said that today’s conflicts “have seen the re-emergence of the use of food as a weapon of war”.
“International humanitarian law, without exception, prohibits attacks on civilians and on goods essential to the survival of populations,” he said.
“This seems forgotten, for, painfully, we witness the continued use of that cruel strategy,” said the pope. “We cannot continue like this, since hunger is not humanity’s destiny but its downfall.”
Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Gareth Jones
The BoE’s quarterly Credit Conditions Survey showed lenders reported no change in demand for loans for home purchases in the July-to-September period
International News via Reuters:
British lenders expect to see unchanged demand for mortgages in the last three months of 2025, according to a Bank of England survey published on Thursday that added to other signs of a cooling of the housing market.
The BoE’s quarterly Credit Conditions Survey showed lenders reported no change in demand for loans for home purchases in the July-to-September period and a similar flat picture was expected between October and December.
Karim Haji, global and UK head of financial services at KPMG, said mortgage activity appeared more mixed than earlier in 2025 with some signs of easing demand for house purchases.
“This suggests the market may be pausing for further clarity on rate cuts rather than an abrupt downturn in buyer interest,” Haji said.
The BoE held its benchmark Bank Rate at 4% in September and it has said the outlook for further reductions in borrowing costs depends on how the persistent inflation pressures in the economy develop.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said last week that Britain’s housing market lost momentum for a third month in a row in September, potentially due to worries about tax increases in finance minister Rachel Reeves’ November budget.
The BoE’s survey on Thursday showed lenders expected overall demand for unsecured lending to be unchanged in the fourth quarter, suggesting consumers were turning more cautious about borrowing.
Writing by William Schomberg, Editing by Paul Sandle
The lawsuit was filed at the English High Court on Tuesday against J&J and Kenvue UK Limited, a subsidiary of Kenvue, J&J’s former consumer health unit which was spun off in 2023
International News via Reuters:
Johnson & Johnson is facing the first lawsuits in Britain over allegations that its talc products cause cancer, as it fights tens of thousands of similar claims in the United States.
The lawsuit was filed at the English High Court on Tuesday against J&J and Kenvue UK Limited, a subsidiary of Kenvue, J&J’s former consumer health unit which was spun off in 2023.
KP Law said it filed the case on behalf of more than 3,000 people who allege their ovarian cancer, mesothelioma or other diseases were caused by use of J&J’s baby powder between 1965 and 2023.
The firm says J&J’s talc products contained carcinogenic fibres, including asbestos, which has been linked to deadly mesothelioma. J&J has long maintained that its talc products are safe and do not contain asbestos.
J&J referred queries to Kenvue, which it said “retained the responsibility and any purported liability for talc-related litigation outside of the United States and Canada”.
Kenvue said in a statement that J&J baby powder “did not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer”.
LATEST LAWSUITS OVER TALC
J&J is separately facing tens of thousands of lawsuits in the U.S., where claimants allege they were diagnosed with cancer after using baby powder and other company talc products.
J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product. It did the same in the United Kingdom in 2023.
The company has sought to resolve the litigation through bankruptcy, a strategy that has been rejected three times by federal courts.
Last week, J&J was ordered to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died from mesothelioma, one of the largest awarded against the company that could be reduced on appeal.
Damages awarded by courts in England are generally limited to compensation for losses caused by a defendant’s actions, whereas $950 million of last week’s award in the U.S. was for punitive damages.
In England, courts can award so-called exemplary damages where, for example, a defendant has wilfully wronged a claimant, though sums are typically far smaller than in the U.S.
KP Law said it had estimated the value of the lawsuit at around 1 billion pounds ($1.34 billion).
Significantly, these lawsuits – like virtually all civil suits in England – will be determined by a judge, rather than a jury.
Kenvue said in its statement that it believed a judge will conclude its talc-based baby powder does not cause cancer.
($1 = 0.7472 pounds)
Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot
The British currency barely moved after data showed that the economy grew by 0.1% in August after dipping by 0.1% in July
International News via Reuters:
Sterling climbed on Thursday to its highest level in more than a week against the dollar, as expectations for a more dovish Federal Reserve outweighed concerns about the UK economy and next month’s budget.
Meanwhile, growing optimism in France that Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu could survive a no-confidence vote helped lift the euro, putting it on track for a second straight gain against the pound.
The British currency barely moved after data showed that the economy grew by 0.1% in August after dipping by 0.1% in July.
Sterling <GBP=D3> was up 0.3% versus the greenback at $1.3438, after hitting $1.3443, its highest since October 7.
US DOLLAR ON TRACK FOR ANOTHER LOSS
The U.S. dollar was on track for a third straight daily loss against the euro while edging up versus the yen on Thursday, as concerns over U.S.-China tensions and dovish remarks from Federal Reserve officials continued to weigh on sentiment.
The euro posted strong gains earlier this week as investors began positioning for a potentially earlier-than-expected rate cut by the Bank of England, while two-year gilt yields dropped sharply.
The single currency dropped 0.18% to 86.73 pence.
Short-dated UK government bond yields held steady around 3.88% on Thursday, after falling more than 15 basis points earlier in the week.
The move followed data showing a slowdown in wage growth, a key metric the Bank of England is watching as it weighs the timing of its next rate cut.
Bank of England policymaker Alan Taylor said on Tuesday that he saw an increasingly likely risk of a “bumpy landing” for Britain’s economy with inflation falling too low.
Economists, however, remain sceptical about a BoE rate cut this year.
“Despite persistent growth concerns, still-elevated earnings growth and the prospect of headline inflation rising to 4% in September are likely to rule out a further interest rate cut this year,” said Raj Badiani, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“The first rate cut is expected to occur in February 2026 and the Bank rate to stand at 3.25% at the end of next year,” he added.
Traders are pricing in a 44% chance of a 25 basis-point rate cut by the Bank of England in December, with full expectations for easing by March 2026. Markets also see cumulative cuts totalling 53 basis points by the end of 2026.
Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo; editing by Ed Osmond
This past weekend, Bacardi hosted its second annual Art of the Pour at its Global Headquarters in Hamilton, celebrating Bermuda’s cocktail culture with style and creativity. It was all part of City of Hamilton’s Taste of Bermuda Festival. Kendal Trott reports.
Rutte said the EU and NATO had different roles, with NATO providing capabilities on the military side and the EU holding the soft power of the internal market
International News via Reuters:
NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday before a meeting with defence ministers that the military alliance and the European Union were working together in their efforts to set up a drone wall to protect member countries from drone incursions.
Asked if they were doubling efforts, Rutte said the EU and NATO had different roles, with NATO providing capabilities on the military side and the EU holding the soft power of the internal market and making sure the money is there.
Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Sabine Siebold; Writing by Inti Landauro; Editing by Makini Brice
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