Bermuda Evening News at 7pm.
Causeway is closed as Hurricane Imelda’s winds intensify
The Government’s Emergency Measures Organisation announced that the Causeway would be close at 6pm Wednesday
Works & Engineering machinery finishes laying concrete slabs to block access to the Causeway. Photo: Government of Bermuda
The Causeway has officially closed ahead of ‘dangerous’ cat 2 Hurricane Imelda this evening.
As part of safety plans announced by the Emergency Measures Organisation today, the Causeway – linking St. George’s parish to the mainland, would be closed to all traffic at 6pm Wednesday.
The island is expected to be impacted by tropical storm force winds as early as 9pm as Hurricane Imelda tracks to be within 25 nautical miles tonight.
The island is currently in ‘safety mode’, according to the EMO’s latest update.
They stated, “Tropical storm-force winds are already affecting the island, with hurricane-force winds expected later this evening (9:00 pm and 10:00 pm), lasting into the early hours of Thursday.”
Elevated and exposed areas can expect the strongest winds which are expected to reach as much as 90 knots with gusts to 110 knots near the closest point of approach – 1am Thursday, as of the latest forecast.
Forecasters at the Bermuda Weather Service describe Imelda as a ‘dangerous category 2 hurricane’.
Minister of National Security Michael Weeks said, “We are a resilient people. Bermuda has weathered many storms, and we will weather this one too.
“Let our strength be in our unity, our safety in our preparation, and our hope in the calm that always follows the storm.”
The emergency broadcast radio station can be found at 100.1FM and keep abreast of the latest weather updates at weather.bm.
The Causeway will remain closed until assessments are carried out following the passage of the storm.
The EMO Operations Centre number at 444-1447 is active.
The Causeway, St. George’s parish. Photos: Qian Dickinson
Hurricane Imelda: 6pm Update
Bermuda experienced increasingly strong winds and intermittent showers as ‘dangerous category 2’ Hurricane Imelda rolled towards Bermuda this afternoon.
Observers were out around John Smith’s Bay at 4pm to observe the high surf. However, Government have advised the community to be off the roads, and the road next to John Smith’s Bay was closed just before 6pm.
The Causeway also closed at 6pm.
Government has warned that no one should attempt to swim or enter the water, and lifeguard services have been suspended.
As of 5:50pm, BELCO reports 1,241 customers without power.
The Bermuda Weather Service advises that conditions are expected to quickly deteriorate tonight as hurricane force winds and gusts arrive along with rain, heavier showers, and a risk of thunderstorms.
Elevated and exposed areas can expect the strongest winds which are expected to reach as much as 90 knots with gusts to 110 knots near the closest point of approach – 1am Thursday as of the latest forecast.
“Imelda is a dangerous category 2 hurricane”, the BWS’ Michelle Pitcher advises, “and we can expect hurricane conditions to continue until near dawn tomorrow.”
The Emergency Broadcast Station is online at 100.1 FM, and the latest weather information is available at weather.bm.
BlackRock’s GIP in talks to buy $38 billion power company AES, sources say
AES shares jumped more than 15% to $15.15, trading at their highest level in around 11 months, on the news which was first reported by the Financial Times
International News via Reuters:
BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners is in advanced talks to buy utility group AES, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in a deal that could exceed $38 billion including debt.
AES shares jumped more than 15% to $15.15, trading at their highest level in around 11 months, on the news which was first reported by the Financial Times.
A transaction could be announced in the coming weeks, according to two of the sources, who cautioned there was no guarantee that an agreement will be reached and talks could still fall through.
The two sources, plus two further sources, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations, confirmed that discussions have been ongoing between AES and GIP in recent months.
AES carries consolidated debt of around $29 billion and, as of last close, its market capitalization stood at $9.37 billion, implying an enterprise value of more than $38 billion.
AES declined comment. GIP did not respond to a request for comment.
Power companies are drawing investor interest as artificial intelligence and data centers drive a surge in power demand, spurring a wave of dealmaking across the sector.
AES, which surpassed Wall Street estimates for its second-quarter profit in July, has experienced significant growth in its renewables unit over the past year. This expansion has been fueled by a global push for cleaner sources of power generation, coinciding with projections that U.S. power consumption will reach record levels.
BlackRock last year acquired GIP for $12.5 billion as part of its move to expand its footprint in infrastructure and private markets.
GIP has a notable track record in the utility space, including teaming up with CPP Investments last year on a pending $6.2 billion take-private acquisition of U.S. utility Allete.
Arlington, Virginia-based AES has power assets on four continents, generating more than 36,000 megawatts, according to its website.
Reporting by David French in New York and Gnaneshwar Rajan and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Ateev Bhandari and Arunima Kumar ; Editing by Alan Barona, Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Harikrishnan Nair, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Mark Porter and Nick Zieminski
Five former Deutsche Bank employees sue German lender in London
The five were among a group of bankers at Deutsche who were convicted in 2019, and then acquitted in 2022
International News via Reuters:
Five former Deutsche Bank employees are suing their ex-employer, according to court filings published in London on Wednesday.
The five were among a group of bankers at Deutsche who were convicted in 2019, and then acquitted in 2022, over derivative deals that Italian prosecutors said helped Italian bank Monte dei Paschi hide losses in one of Italy’s biggest financial scandals.
Deutsche Bank said it was “aware that five individuals have threatened to file claims in the UK in the context of this matter. Deutsche Bank considers all such claims to be entirely without merit and will defend itself against them robustly”.
A former trading head, Michele Foresti, filed a case on September 30 against four Deutsche entities for commercial fraud.
Four other ex-Deutsche employees, Ivor Dunbar, Michele Faissola, Marco Veroni and Matteo Vaghi, have also filed lawsuits against Deutsche Bank in London’s High Court. The filings did not specify what the lawsuits were about.
Deutsche Bank as an institution was also convicted and then acquitted for failing to prevent wrongdoing by its employees in relation to the Monte dei Paschi case.
Monte dei Paschi reached a court settlement over the derivatives case in 2016 at a cost of 10.6 million euros. The defendants have always denied any wrongdoing.
The London lawsuits against Deutsche come after Dario Schiraldi, another former Deutsche banker who had his conviction over the derivative trades overturned in 2022, has launched a suit in Frankfurt. He is seeking 152-million-euro ($178 million) in damages from the bank, alleging that the lender’s actions harmed Schiraldi’s reputation and earnings, according to court documents seen by Reuters.
Deutsche Bank disclosed Schiraldi’s lawsuit in its 2024 annual report released earlier this year, in a list of potentially significant civil litigation and regulatory matters.
In a statement in August, Deutsche Chairman Alexander Wynaendts said: “The facts of this long-standing matter are well known and have been discussed in detail over the past decade. The Supervisory Board supports the Management Board in defending the bank against this litigation.”
($1 = 0.8527 euros)
Reporting by Andres Gonzalez, Sam Tobin and Tom Sims; Writing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by Alison Williams
Microsoft names CEO to run commercial business, Nadella to focus on tech
Althoff will lead what Microsoft CEO Nadella called a new organization, which will combine sales, marketing and operations
International News via Reuters:
Microsoft Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff will take on an expanded role as CEO of commercial business, freeing up company chief Satya Nadella to focus more on the technical side of the business in the tech giant’s quest to dominate the AI race.
Althoff will lead what Microsoft CEO Nadella called a new organization, which will combine sales, marketing and operations.
Nadella said the reorganization would help him and other engineering leaders to be “laser focused on our highest ambition technical work – across our datacenter buildout, systems architecture, AI science, and product innovation,” in a blog post on Wednesday.
Althoff will also be the chief of a new commercial leadership team that includes leaders from engineering, sales, marketing, operations and finance.
“We are in the midst of a tectonic AI platform shift, one that requires us to both manage and grow our at-scale commercial business today, while building the new frontier and executing flawlessly across both,” Nadella said.
In 2021, Microsoft brought together its global sales and marketing organization and worldwide commercial business into a single unified organization, helmed by Althoff, who joined the company in 2013 as president of Microsoft North America.
Microsoft last month said it is combining the separate marketplaces for its AI tools aimed at businesses into one offering called “Microsoft Marketplace.”
It previously offered tools for software developers, who use its Azure cloud computing service, on one marketplace, and applications and so-called “agents” — AI tools designed to carry out tasks on behalf of human users within applications — on another.
Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Sahal Muhammed
Investors urge EU to uphold methane rules despite US pressure
Money managers including Ninety One, Pictet Group, Railpen and Royal London Asset Management urged the EU to stay the course on rules requiring importers of oil and gas
International News via Reuters:
Investors representing more than 4.5 trillion euros ($5.3 trillion) of assets have urged the EU not to water-down its methane emissions law amid concerns the rules may be weakened to ease U.S. LNG imports, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Money managers including Ninety One, Pictet Group, Railpen and Royal London Asset Management urged the EU to stay the course on rules requiring importers of oil and gas to monitor and report the methane emissions of their suppliers.
Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases and scientists say it is responsible for about one-third of the warming experienced to date since pre-industrial times.
Investors are concerned the European Union’s methane rules will be brought into the scope of the bloc’s simplification agenda after U.S. energy secretary Chris Wright said recently the current legislation would prevent the United States from exporting liquefied natural gas to Europe.
“The goals are admirable, and we all want to reduce methane emissions, and we will reduce methane emissions. But having laws that will prevent American gas coming here would be completely unproductive from a social cost and environmental perspective. So yes, those laws absolutely need to be fixed,” Wright said in September.
The first phase of the EU methane law is in force and does not appear to have affected U.S. gas exports to Europe – with importers of gas into Europe having to report details of their suppliers’ efforts to reduce methane emissions from May 2025.
A European Commission spokesperson said it was confident EU methane regulation would not pose any barriers to trade.
The EU has pledged to hike its purchases of U.S. energy – including LNG, as well as oil and nuclear fuel – to $250 billion per year, as part of a trade deal struck earlier this year.
The investor group warned that reopening the regulation would introduce unpredictability and undermine companies and investors working towards complying with the rules, as well as slow down efforts to reduce the volume of highly damaging methane gas released into the atmosphere.
“Watering down regulation that companies have already based investment decisions on is counterproductive and risks undermining globally agreed methane reduction efforts,” said Eric Pederson, head of responsible investments at Nordea Asset Management.
Europe has massively increased its imports of U.S. LNG, as it seeks to replace Russian energy after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The U.S. supplied 57% of the EU’s LNG, or 49.2 billion cubic metres, in January-August this year, Commission data show. The U.S. supplied 28% of the EU’s LNG – or 18.9 bcm – in 2021, the year before Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine.
Industries say they are more concerned by a tougher phase of the EU methane law, which will apply from 2027.
($1 = 0.8508 euros)
Reporting by Virginia FurnessEditing by Mark Potter
Imelda’s noisy approach draws onlookers to South Shore
Residents and visitors flock to John Smith’s Bay as winds and waves intensify
As Hurricane Imelda drew closer to the Island, Qian Dickinson headed to John Smith’s Bay where as anticipated, he found residents and visitors taking in the sights and sounds of the approaching storm.
Imelda: Winds could double in strength tonight
‘Sting jet’ phenomenon could lead to stronger hurricane winds, BWS advises – but as long as we’re prepared, we should be safe and sound
It’s going to be noisy night as Hurricane Imelda passes over Bermuda.
Winds from the south southwest in the early evening could reach 40 miles per hour, with 60 mph gusts – but after the eye passes, the overnight winds from the north could nearly double in strength.
Gary Foster Skelton spoke to Michelle Pitcher from the Bermuda Weather Service. (WATCH above)
Bermuda Tennis Treasures shine on the court once again
Free tennis programme a hit with seniors
They’ve still got game and this year, they’re serving up more energy, more smiles, and more swings than ever before. Bermuda’s Tennis Treasures are back on court, and with 76 seniors registered, this year’s programme is the biggest yet.
Officers searching door to door in Pembroke for missing teen
Detective Chief Inspector Kenten Trott is leading the search to locate 15-year-old Ja’Dore Wilson who has been missing for 2 weeks
Police officers and new recruits leaving “no stone will be left unturned” as they carry out door to door searches in Pembroke neighbourhoods to locate15-year-old Ja’Dore Wilson.
The teen was last seen on Wednesday, September 17th at her North Terrace home in Pembroke.
Jasmine Patterson and Ra’ees Tankard were there this morning.
Police seek to locate Canadian teen reported missing
15-year-old Koral McCann was last see near the Apothecary on South Shore Road in Smith’s parish
Full news release from the Bermuda Police Service:
The Bermuda Police Service is seeking the public’s assistance in locating 14-year-old Canadian National, Koral McCann
She is described as being 5, 4” in height, with black hair and light complexioned (white).
She was last seen in the area of the Apothecary, South Shore Road, Smith’s at noon Wednesday.
At the time, she was wearing a white off the shoulder t-shirt and white basketball shorts with black trim.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of 14-year-old Canadian National, Koral McCann, is asked to immediately call the main police number 295-0011.
