Team Bermuda concluded their campaign at the highly competitive 2025 Global Team Race Regatta (GTRR) at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, securing a respectable seventh-place finish out of 12 elite international teams.
The Bermudian squad, featuring Josh Greenslade, Sammy Dill, Alan Frith, and Ruth Mello-Cann, showed great fighting spirit on the final day of the round-robin. They posted a 2-1 record, securing crucial victories against the Italian team and the New York Yacht Club (NYYC).
However, their push for the knockout quarter-finals fell agonizingly short. Bermuda finished tied for the final knockout spot with England (Royal Thames Yacht Club), but the English side held the crucial tiebreaker advantage after defeating Bermuda twice during the preliminary rounds.
Despite missing the cut, the team’s strong performance against a world-class field, which included nations like Australia, Japan, and Sweden, marks a significant and valuable outing for the Bermudian crew.
The 60-year-old defendant elected to be tried in the Magistrates’ Court
A man was charged in Magistrate’s Court today with sexual assault.
Appearing during this morning’s plea court session, the 60-year-old pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman on the 1st of October last year.
He was also charged with intruding on the privacy of the same woman, causing alarm, insult and offense on a date between October 1st and 10 October 2024. The defendant also denies this charge.
The defendant elected to be tried in the Magistrates’ court and is represented by lawyer Marc Daniels.
Magistrate Maria Sofianos granted the defendant bail in the amount of $3,000 with one surety, and was ordered to have no contact with the complainant nor any crown witnesses.
He is due to reappear in Magistrates’ court on November 10th.
Police officers were attending a road traffic collision near the Manor House on Harrington Sound Road around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 5, 2025, when a motorcar driven by a male, approached the area.
Officers attempted to stop the driver, but he ignored their instruction and instead attempted to drive through the scene.
The driver eventually complied and officers observed he showed signs of impairment.
As the officers attempted to arrest him for driving while impaired, he became combative and had to be restrained.
Following his arrest it was discovered that the 27-year-old was disqualified from driving all vehicles until January, 2026.
He was further arrested for offensive and threatening behaviour as well as driving while disqualified.
He has since been bailed.
It is anticipated he will soon appear before the Courts.
Defenceman Blake Montgomery and his No. 19/20 University of Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Hockey teammates completed a dominant season-opening sweep, crushing the Lindenwood Lions 7-2. The victory gives the Badgers a perfect 2-0-0 record for the season.
Senior forward Christian Fitzgerald was the star, scoring his first collegiate hat-trick to lead the offensive explosion.
Wisconsin took control early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period with two goals from Fitzgerald and one from freshman Luke Osburn.
Lindenwood fought back to make it 4-2 in the second period, but Fitzgerald completed his hat-trick to maintain the Badgers’ cushion. The Badgers sealed the sweep with three unanswered goals in the final period from Quinn Finley, Simon Tassy, and Finn Brink, showcasing clinical finishing with four power-play goals on the night.
The performance, which saw Fitzgerald’s offensive power backed by a solid defence featuring Montgomery, sends a strong message for the season ahead.
Govt issues planning guidelines for property repairs after Hurricane Imelda
Press release:
The Department of Planning recognises the urgency of repairing storm damage following Hurricane Imelda and is committed to assisting property owners through the process. Technical officers are available to provide guidance and support.
Repairs to Buildings
Repairs using the same materials and design (e.g., windows, doors, or roof slate) do not require planning permission or a building permit if the damage is limited to non-structural issues. Owners may proceed immediately with these repairs.
Where structural damage has occurred, a building permit is required before work can begin. These applications will be prioritised and processed as quickly as possible. In cases of dangerous structural damage, emergency work may proceed without a permit provided the Department is notified, and a permit application is submitted promptly thereafter.
Under Class IV of the Development and Planning (General Development) Order 1999, a Permitted Development Permit may be used for storm or fire damage if no more than 60% of a building/structure has been destroyed and the replacement is no larger than the original building/structure.
Repairs to Listed Buildings and Historic Protection Areas
For non-structural repairs using identical materials and designs (e.g., doors, windows, or roof slate), no permit is required.
All structural repairs require a building permit, but these applications will be expedited.
The materials must replicate the style and detailing of the original structure.
Replacements ordinarily require only a building permit to ensure compliance with the Bermuda Building Code 1998.
As seawalls and docks can affect the natural foreshore, planning permission may also be required in some cases. Property owners are encouraged to consult the Department before beginning repairs.
Need Help or More Information?
Building permit information: Miglena Yaneva at 246-7913 or myaneva@gov.bm
Development applications: Paul McDonald at 444-0917 or pamcdonald@gov.bm
General assistance: Call 297-7756 or visit the Department of Planning’s website.
The Department of Planning thanks the public for their cooperation and assures property owners that all storm-related applications will be given priority treatment. Please review the attached Planning Guidelines for Hurricane Repairs document for more details.
Student numbers are the highest since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic
Pictured above Dr David Sam, President of Bermuda College
Press release:
Bermuda College has seen a sharp rise in student numbers to the highest level since the onset of Covid-19.
Overall, the Fall 2025 enrolment reached 592 students — a five per cent rise over the previous year and the highest since the start of the pandemic.
The College also recorded a 10 per cent increase in full-time equivalent students, with a total of 534, reflecting high student engagement and commitment across both full- and part-time study tracks.
“This increase in enrolment is deeply encouraging,” said Dr. David Sam, President of Bermuda College.
“It reflects the confidence students are placing in us, as a destination for academic excellence, practical skills training, and meaningful career pathways.
“I’m particularly pleased to see strength across both our academic and technical divisions, showing that students are choosing what works best for their future.”
Dr. Sam noted that the College’s strategic investments in advising, course delivery, and partnerships with overseas institutions were continuing to pay off.
Bermuda College now has 40+ articulation agreements with universities in the US, UK, Canada, and the Caribbean, making it easier for students to transfer and complete bachelor’s or graduate degrees.
It has also successfully earned accreditations from world-recognised institutions such as the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) and the American Culinary Federation (ACF).
Dr. Sam added: “We’ve made significant gains, but our work is not done. The challenge now is to continue to grow, to make Bermuda College even more accessible, relevant, and attractive to students of all ages and backgrounds.”
Key highlights from the Fall 2025 report include:
· A five per cent increase in student headcount to 592.
· Full-time students now make up 53 per cent of enrolment.
· Applied Technical Education grew by 31 per cent, the strongest of all divisions.
· Retention rate returned to a high of 71 per cent, matching the 2016 peak.
· APACE programme participation jumped 18 per cent from the Fall of 2024.
“Our goal remains to be Bermuda’s premier gateway to higher education,” Dr. Sam said. “These numbers show we are on the right track.”
Nasir Wade, Chairman of the Board of Governors, echoed the President’s remarks: “This latest enrolment increase reaffirms our belief in the strategic direction of Bermuda College.
“It speaks volumes about the leadership of Dr. Sam and the hard work of faculty and staff across the institution.
“The Board is proud of the strides being made and remains committed to supporting initiatives that foster student success and national development.”
Residents have until October 31 to submit their feedback online
Press release:
The Ministry of Home Affairs today announced the opening of a public consultation on the draft 2025 Landlord and Tenant Bill, inviting feedback from residents, landlords, tenants, and industry stakeholders.
The public consultation opened today and will remain active until October 31, 2025. Feedback can be submitted online at www.forum.gov.bm.
The proposed legislation repeals and replaces the Landlord and Tenant Act 1974 and the Rent Increases (Domestic Premises) Control Act 1978. It marks a key step in delivering on the Government’s commitment to “complete the amendments to the Landlord and Tenant Act to support mutually positive rental relationships”.
The draft Bill proposes a single, modern framework to govern rental housing in Bermuda. It aims to enhance fairness, increase transparency, and protect the rights of both tenants and landlords.
Notably, it expands the enforcement powers of the Rent Commission, enabling stronger oversight and faster resolution of complaints.
Today the Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Alexa Lightbourne, JP, MP, said, “Bermuda must evolve its laws to meet present-day realities. This Bill modernises our rental legislation in direct response to what we’ve heard; from renters struggling to get repairs addressed, to landlords calling for greater consistency and clarity. By reducing red tape, clarifying rights and responsibilities, and strengthening resolution processes, we believe this Bill lays the foundation for a more stable and equitable rental market.”
This consultation is part of the Government’s broader housing agenda, which includes expanding affordable housing, offering targeted duty relief for construction, and delivering sustained cost of living relief.
It also builds on months of targeted engagement by the Ministry with stakeholder groups, including realtors, landlords’ associations, and tenant organisations.
Minister Lightbourne concluded, “This reform demonstrates our commitment to deliver meaningful relief and reflect the lived realities of our people. We are focused on creating a clear and fair framework that works for Bermuda today. All residents are invited to share their views to help ensure that the final Bill reflects the needs of the entire community. With your help, we will deliver people-first reform and solutions.”
Philippe, once a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, said he favoured new presidential elections in an interview with radio station RTL
International News via Reuters:
Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Tuesday that he was in favour of an early presidential election, due to the current political crisis engulfing the country.
Philippe, once a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, said he favoured new presidential elections in an interview with radio station RTL, following the Monday resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, whose government was rejected by both allies and opponents.
Philippe’s comments were echoed by Jordan Bardella, the leader of the far-right party National Rally, who said in a separate interview on BFM TV that he supported first a dissolution of the parliament, followed by parliamentary elections or early presidential elections.
Reporting by Inti Landauro, Bertrand Boucey and Nicolas Delame;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta
Shell had approved development of the 820,000 metric tons-per-year biofuels plant in 2021
International News via Reuters:
Shell expects to report a $600 million hit in the third quarter after abandoning its biofuels project in Rotterdam, bringing total impairments and provisions related to the venture to $1.4 billion, it said on Tuesday.
Shell had approved development of the 820,000 metric tons-per-year biofuels plant in 2021, but paused construction last year and cancelled the project entirely in early September because it would not have been competitive.
The decision to exit the project is the latest in a series of steps by fossil fuel producers retreating from earlier pledges to expand cleaner energy.
In February, BP announced it would sharply reduce its investment in renewables, while Equinor said it was scaling back its renewable energy ambitions.
SHELL RAISES LNG PRODUCTION OUTLOOK
Shell also signalled a stronger performance in its liquefied natural gas business, raising its third-quarter production outlook to between 7 million and 7.4 million tons, it said in a quarterly trading update.
The company had previously forecast LNG production of about 6.7 million to 7.3 million tons, the oil major said in July, compared with 6.7 million tons in the second quarter.
It expects trading results to be significantly higher in its integrated gas division.
Energy majors typically never divulge detailed results of their trading divisions saying that publishing such details would lessen their competitive advantage.
Shell also said it expects its indicative refining margin in the third quarter rising to $11.6 per barrel from $8.9 in the previous three months.
Lower gas trading results and lower oil prices had weighed on Shell’s second quarter net profit, which dropped by about a third.
Global benchmark Brent crude prices averaged around $68 a barrel during the July-to-September quarter, compared with $67 in the second quarter and $79 in the same period of last year.
Shell, which is seeking new partners or buyers for some of its chemicals assets, said its chemicals division is expected to record a loss in the quarter.
It also flagged a $200 million to $400 million hit from a decrease of its share of production from Brazil’s Tupi fields to reflect updated reservoir data, which a Shell spokesperson said was normal course of business.
“We see this as a strong update from the company, with improvement in operational indicators across its two key upstream divisions, as well as better trading q-o-q despite weaker market conditions more broadly,” according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets.
Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Shadia NasrallaEditing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan and Louise Heavens
Between them Boeing and Airbus have delivered more than 25,000 such jets, originally designed to feed large hubs and later widely adopted by low-cost carriers
International News via Reuters:
Europe’s Airbus broke a major commercial barrier on Tuesday when its A320 family of planes overtook the Boeing 737 to become the most-delivered jetliner in history. Boeing’s decades-old record fell as a jet was delivered overnight to Saudi carrier Flynas, bringing deliveries to 12,260 since the A320 began service in 1988, according to benchmark data from UK-based consultancy Cirium, used across the industry.
Airbus did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the data, tracked by aircraft supply analyst Rob Morris.
Between them Boeing and Airbus have delivered more than 25,000 such jets, originally designed to feed large hubs and later widely adopted by low-cost carriers, which Airbus courted after Boeing cut output during a downturn in demand post-9/11.
Airbus is already the world’s largest planemaker by total annual deliveries, but the shattered ceiling in the narrow-body market caps a 40-year transatlantic battle for market share after early disagreements over strategy and the share of jobs between partner nations, France, Germany, Spain and Britain.
DECADES OF TRANSATLANTIC RIVALRY
The A320 was launched in 1984 at a time when many questioned whether Airbus would last another decade after painfully launching two wide-body jets. It first flew three years later.
Airbus engineers in Toulouse, France, gambled on introducing fly-by-wire computer controls for the first time to a mainstream airliner, a pioneering technology that faced resistance from unions and some carriers but later became widely accepted.
Airbus is now expanding production in the U.S. and China.
Boeing set the standard for narrow-body aircraft production with its popular 737, first introduced in the 1960s, but plunged into crisis following fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019. The company is gradually restoring output under regulatory limits.
The two plane giants are expected to introduce new models sometime next decade but both told the ISTAT conference in Prague on Monday they were unlikely to start development any time soon as they wait for advances in engine technology.
Reporting by Tim Hepher, Editing by Louise Heavens
Israel said it expelled 171 activists on Monday including Thunberg, bringing the total deported over so far to 341, out of 479 people it detained
International News via Reuters:
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg arrived in Greece to a cheering pro-Palestinian crowd on Monday after she and hundreds of other activists captured by Israel on the high seas were deported following an attempt to bring aid to Gaza.
Israel said it expelled 171 activists on Monday including Thunberg, bringing the total deported over so far to 341, out of 479 people it detained when it captured the flotilla attempting to break its naval blockade of Gaza.
The Greek Foreign Ministry said 161 of the activists arrived on a flight to Athens on Monday, including Thunberg, 22. They included 27 Greeks, as well as citizens of nearly 20 other countries.
“Let me be very clear. There is a genocide going on,” Thunberg told the crowd at the Athens airport referring to Israeli military action in Gaza.
“Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are not even able to prevent the worst war crimes from happening,” she said. “What we aimed to do with the Global Sumud Flotilla was to step up when our governments failed to do their legal obligation.”
The activists attempted to reach Gaza in scores of vessels to bring aid supplies and draw attention to the plight of Gaza, where most of the 2.2 million residents have been driven from their homes and the United Nations says hunger is rampant.
Israel, which rejects accusations it is carrying out genocide in Gaza and says reports of hunger there are exaggerated, has dismissed the flotilla as a publicity stunt benefitting Hamas. It had previously detained Thunberg at sea in a similar attempt to breach the blockade in June.
Earlier, Swiss and Spanish activists from the flotilla said they were subjected to inhumane conditions during their detention by Israeli forces.
Israel’s foreign ministry issued a statement, accompanied by photos of Thunberg at the airport, saying all participants’ legal rights had been upheld and the only violence involved an activist who bit a female medic at Israel’s Ketziot prison.
DEPORTED ACTIVISTS ALLEGE MISTREATMENT
Among nine members of the flotilla who arrived home in Switzerland, some alleged sleep deprivation, lack of water and food, as well as some being beaten, kicked, and locked in a cage, the group representing them said in a statement.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson rejected the allegations.
Spanish activists also alleged mistreatment on their arrival in Spain late on Sunday after being deported.
“They beat us, dragged us along the ground, blindfolded us, tied our hands and feet, put us in cages and insulted us,” lawyer Rafael Borrego told reporters at Madrid’s airport.
Swedish activists said on Saturday that Thunberg was shoved and forced to wear an Israeli flag during her detention, while others said they had clean food and water withheld and had their medication and belongings confiscated.
After she arrived in Athens, Thunberg said she could “talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me, but that is not the story”.
“What happened here was that Israel, while continuing to worsen and escalate their genocide and mass destruction with genocidal intent, attempting to erase an entire population, an entire nation in front of our very eyes, they once again violated international law by preventing humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza while people are being starved.”
ISRAEL SAYS CLAIMS ARE COMPLETE LIES
Israel’s foreign ministry has described widespread reports of detainees being mistreated after the flotilla was intercepted as “complete lies”.
A spokesperson told Reuters over the weekend that all detainees were given access to water, food, and restrooms, adding: “they were not denied access to legal counsel and all their legal rights were fully upheld”.
On Sunday, the Swiss Embassy in Tel Aviv visited 10 Swiss nationals and said all were “in relatively good health, given the circumstances”.
Former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, who was also on the flotilla, said there had been “mistreatment, but that was nothing compared to what the Palestinian people suffer every day”.
Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, David Latona, Alexander Cornwell and Howard GollerWriting by Charlie Devereux and Howard GollerEditing by Alexandra Hudson and Peter Graff
Leo, the first U.S. pope, will visit Turkey from November 27-30 before heading to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2
International News via Reuters:
Pope Leo will travel to Turkey and Lebanon in late November, the Vatican announced on Tuesday, in the first visit outside Italy by the new leader of the 1.4-billion-member global Catholic Church.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, will visit Turkey from November 27-30 before heading to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2, where he is expected to speak about the plight of Christians in the Middle East and to make appeals for peace across the region.
Leo was elected by the world’s Catholic cardinals on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, who had planned to visit both countries but was unable to go because of health issues.
The pope is expected to meet in Turkey with Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians, for celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of a major early Church council, which took place in Nicaea, now called Iznik.
“It is profoundly symbolical that Pope Leo … will visit (the patriarch) on his first official journey,” Rev. John Chryssavgis, an advisor to Bartholomew, told Reuters.
“Pope Leo is doubtless seeking to express and affirm his identity as a Christian in a world of many different creeds, where all people, regardless of religion and race, are called to live together in mutual understanding,” said the priest.
Travelling abroad has become a major part of the modern papacy, with popes seeking to meet local Catholics, spread the faith, and conduct international diplomacy.
A new pope’s first travels are usually seen as an indication of the issues the pontiff wants to highlight during his reign.
Leo had been expected for months to travel to Turkey for his first trip abroad, but the additional visit to Lebanon only emerged in discussions in recent weeks.
Vatican officials say the pontiff wants to make appeals for peace and commemorate at the Beirut port that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.
Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Alvise Armellini
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