Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel interviews our Qian Dickinson in the aftermath of Hurricane Imelda
Source: The Weather Channel
One of America’s most well-known broadcasters, Jim Cantore, reached out to Bermuda Broadcasting for an update on the hurricane.
Here’s what transpired when he spoke to out reporter Qian Dickinson …
Taking full control would give Lloyds greater oversight and flexibility to sell a broader range of products to its more than 3 million mass affluent customers
International News via Reuters:
Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group will take control of Schroders’ 49.9% stake in their joint venture after the business struggled with growth targets and high executive turnover, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
Under the plans, Lloyds and Schroders are set to abandon the wealth management venture, Schroders Personal Wealth (SPW), which targeted the “mass affluent” section of the market, the report said citing people familiar with the matter.
Lloyds and Schroders both declined to comment on the report, while SPW did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taking full control would give Lloyds greater oversight and flexibility to sell a broader range of products to its more than 3 million mass affluent customers, a person familiar with the matter told the FT.
The partnership, launched in 2019 by Lloyds’ ex-CEO António Horta-Osório and Schroders’ former chief Peter Harrison, started with 13 billion pounds of assets transferred from Lloyds and had grown to 15.7 billion pounds under management by December 2024.
In July, Lloyds Banking Group reported a 5% rise in first-half profit, driven by higher income from mortgages and unsecured consumer lending despite broader UK economic challenges.
Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman
Government statement expected at 10 a.m.
Islanders are encouraged to stay at home until the all-clear is given by the government. We are expecting a statement around 10am. In the meantime, here are more images from this morning.
BELCO making repairs on Cut Road, St. George’s this morning
Brent crude futures fell 52 cents, or 0.8%, to $64.83 a barrel at 0953 GMT, hitting its lowest level since June
International News via Reuters:
Oil prices edged lower on Thursday, extending a run of declines into a fourth day due to concerns about oversupply in the market.
Brent crude futures fell 52 cents, or 0.8%, to $64.83 a barrel at 0953 GMT, hitting its lowest level since June.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude retreated by 52 cents, or 0.8%, to $61.26 a barrel.
A U.S. government shutdown increased uncertainty about global economic outlook, while expectations of higher output by OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers, weighed on sentiment, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist at Nissan Securities Investment.
OPEC+ could agree to raise oil production by up to 500,000 barrels per day in November, triple the increase made for October, as Saudi Arabia seeks to reclaim market share, three sources familiar with the talks said.
Jorge Montepeque, managing director at Onyx Capital Group, said some banks, such as Macquarie, have put out predictions of a super glut in oil markets, which have weighed on sentiment.
The Group of Seven nations’ finance ministers said on Wednesday they will take steps to increase pressure on Russia by targeting those who are continuing to boost purchases of Russian oil and those that are facilitating circumvention.
The U.S. will provide Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, two officials told Reuters on Wednesday, confirming an earlier Wall Street Journal report.
This will make it easier for Ukraine to hit refineries, pipelines and other infrastructure with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of revenue and oil, the WSJ said.
“There is some concern in the market again that Russian oil could get disrupted,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS. But as long as there aren’t disruptions yet, the impact on prices will likely be minor, he said.
Stockpiling demand from China, the world’s largest crude oil importer, also underpinned oil prices, limiting the downside, traders said.
The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week as refining activity and demand softened.
Crude inventories rose by 1.8 million barrels to 416.5 million barrels in the week ended on September 26, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1-million-barrel rise.
Reporting by Anna Hirtenstein in London. Additioanl reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Siyi Liu in Singapore; Editing by Tom Hogue, Jamie Freed and Jane Merriman
President Emmanuel Macron and newly appointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who is still working to form a cabinet, are under pressure to bring the finances under control
International News via Reuters:
Demonstrators in more than 240 locations around France are due to stage more protests and strikes on Thursday, the CGT union said, to demand the government scraps looming budget cuts.
President Emmanuel Macron and newly appointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who is still working to form a cabinet, are under pressure to bring the finances under control in the euro zone’s second largest economy.
But union leaders, including those from the hardline CGT and France’s largest union, the CFDT, want more spending on public services, higher taxes on the wealthy and the scrapping of a change to state pensions.
“First of all, what we want to know is who the government will be … And then we want to know what the budget will be, and if there are any setbacks in the budget, obviously we won’t let it pass,” CGT secretary general Sophie Binet told BFM TV.
Students carrying flares were already blocking the entrance to a high school in Paris, with police at the scene, as protests got under way.
More protests were expected in Paris and other cities including Dijon, Metz, Poitiers and Montpellier.
Around 76,000 police officers are due to be deployed, with about 5,000 in the Paris region, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told BFM.
The government faced protests and strikes in September, when hundreds of thousands of people including teachers, train drivers, pharmacists and hospital staff protested against France’s proposed 2026 budget, and teenagers blocked dozens of high schools for hours.
France’s budget deficit last year was close to double the EU’s 3% ceiling. Lecornu will face a battle to gather parliamentary support for a budget for 2026.
Parties broadly agree on the need to slash the deficit, which reached 5.8% of GDP in 2024, but not on how to do it.
His predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted by parliament on September 8 over his plan for a 44-billion-euro ($51.70 billion) budget squeeze. Lecornu has not yet said what he will do with Bayrou’s plans.
($1 = 0.8511 euros)
Reporting by Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Makini Brice and Alison Williams
Hurricane Imelda aftermath captured in photos and video
King’s Square, St George’s this morning
Islanders are encouraged to stay at home until government gives the all-clear.
No injuries or major structural damage has been reported at this point.
Here’s a look at the latest scenes reaching our newsroom.
Officers clearing roadways. Credit: Bermuda Police Service
Near the Unfinished Church, St George’s this morning
Back to normal … St George’s Harbour this morning
North Shore, 7 am
The contract with Feedzai is one of several announced by the ECB on Thursday to advance a project that it sees as key for the euro zone’s financial autonomy from the United States
International News via Reuters:
The European Central Bank said on Thursday it had picked a Portuguese startup focussed on artificial intelligence to help prevent frauds in its planned digital euro currency.
The contract with Feedzai, worth up to 237.3 million euros ($278.69 million), is one of several announced by the ECB on Thursday to advance a project that it sees as key for the euro zone’s financial autonomy from the United States.
Under it, Feedzai and its subcontractor PwC will provide an AI model for scoring digital euro payments by their fraud risk, based on any deviation from a customer’s typical behaviour, interactions and history.
This is aimed at helping payment service providers decide whether to approve a transaction in digital euros, essentially an exchange between electronic wallets backed by the central bank.
The four-year agreement has an estimated value of 79.1 million euros and a cap at 237.3 million euros.
Four further digital euro contracts worth between 27.6 million euros and 220.7 million euros were awarded to other companies, including to French IT consulting firm Capgemini.
Under such framework agreements, the ECB won’t pay “a penny until the project actually starts”, board member Piero Cipollone said last month.
The central bank is still awaiting legislative approval for its digital euro, which it has pitched as a response to Visa and Mastercard’s dominance and to U.S. President Donald Trump’s promotion of stablecoins pegged to the dollar.
It hopes to receive the go-ahead around the middle of next year, with a view to launching the digital currency in 2029.
Registered in Coimbra, Portugal, Feedzai says it processes $8 trillion worth of payments every year for clients including Portuguese bank Novobanco and Abu Dhabi’s Wio Bank.
($1 = 0.8515 euros)
Reporting By Francesco CanepaEditing by Tomasz Janowski
A group of creditors is leading a last-ditch rescue effort to invest new equity and turn around its performance
International News via Reuters:
Britain’s biggest water supplier, Thames Water, has become a symbol of failure in the country’s water sector – blamed for sewage pollution, while its precarious finances have left it teetering on the brink of nationalisation since 2023.
A group of creditors is leading a last-ditch rescue effort to invest new equity and turn around its performance. If that fails to get the green light the company will enter the government’s special administration regime.
Below is a timeline of how the crisis unfolded.
June 2023
Thames Water’s management asks shareholders, including Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the UK’s Universities Superannuation Scheme and China Investment Corp, for 1 billion pounds of fresh equity.
The government and water regulator Ofwat start drawing up contingency plans to keep the company operating should it collapse financially.
July 2023
Thames Water investors agree to inject 750 million pounds of new equity to fund a turnaround. The company warns it will need an additional 2.5 billion pounds ($3.37 billion) of equity over 2025-2030.
March 2024
Thames Water shareholders refuse to provide some of the new equity they had promised to invest. They blame regulatory conditions for making the 2025-2030 business plan “uninvestible”.
The company says it will pursue options to secure new funding from new or existing shareholders.
September 2024
Thames Water says it will run out of money within months unless major creditors approve emergency funding. S&P and Moody’s slash its credit rating, warning Thames Water is on the brink of default.
October 2024
Thames Water lines up a debt lifeline of up to 3 billion pounds from some of its creditors, which if approved and under certain conditions, will tide it over until May 2026.
December 2024
Regulator Ofwat says Thames Water can increase bills by 35% over the 2025-2030 regulatory period, lower than the 53% rise the company had sought.
February 2025
The company secures court approval for the 3 billion pound debt lifeline.
March 2025
Thames Water says it wants to raise new equity by the end of June as part of a recapitalisation to secure its long-term future. It says it is assessing proposals from six interested parties.
Later that month it names U.S. investment firm KKR as the frontrunner in the equity process.
May 2025
Ofwat fines Thames Water a record 123 million pounds for breaching legal obligations over sewage treatment and dividend payments.
June 2025
KKR pulls out of a deal to invest in Thames Water.
The company says it is now focused on a recapitalisation plan led by a group of senior creditors, who plan to invest 3 billion pounds of new equity and write-off some of the group’s debts.
July 2025
The government announces plans to overhaul water regulation, which could include giving companies breathing space on fines to help them avoid financial collapse, but it is not clear whether those changes will be made in time to help Thames Water.
August 2025
Hong Kong’s CK Infrastructure Holdings wants to acquire Thames Water if it collapses and is placed into the government’s special administration regime, media reports say.
October 2025
The senior creditors group trying to acquire Thames Water through a recapitalisation plan presents its latest turnaround plan to the regulator, hoping to win its support.
($1 = 0.7408 pounds)
Reporting by Sarah Young in London, additional reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu and Tuhina in Bengaluru;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle
Greater Manchester Police said officers had been called to the incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the north Manchester district of Crumpsall
International News via Reuters:
British police said on Thursday four people had been injured after reports of stabbings and a car being driven at pedestrians near a synagogue in Manchester in northwest England, and that officers had shot the suspected offender.
Greater Manchester Police said officers had been called to the incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the north Manchester district of Crumpsall after a witness said they had seen a car driven at members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.
Armed officers responded and a man, believed to be the offender, was shot, GMP said.
A video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed police shooting a man inside the synagogue’s perimeter, while another man lay on the floor in a pool of blood, appearing to wear a traditional Jewish head covering.
“I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on X as he left a European political meeting in Copenhagen early.
“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” Starmer said.
AMBULANCE CREWS IN PROTECTIVE BODY ARMOUR
A Reuters photographer reported a heavy police presence in the area. Ambulance crews were seen in protective body armour and helmets, and at least one person was seen being taken into an ambulance.
Police said there were further reports that a security guard had been attacked with a knife.
“Paramedics arrived at the scene … and are tending to members of the public, currently four members of the public with injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds,” GMP said in a statement on X.
There were no further details.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar when even many non-regular synagogue-goers take time to pray and all road traffic stops in Israel.
IMMEDIATE DANGER APPEARS TO BE OVER
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said it was a serious incident but told BBC radio “that the immediate danger appears to be over”.
The Community Security Trust, a charity that provides security to Jewish organisations and institutions across Britain, said it was working with police and the local community. “This appears to be an appalling attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year,” the CST said on X.
Britain suffered its second worst year for antisemitism in 2024 with more than 3,500 incidents being recorded, reflecting sustained levels of hatred towards Jews, the CST said earlier this year.
Reported levels of antisemitism rocketed to record levels in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian enclave.
Britain has suffered a number of Islamist militant attacks since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, including a deadly 2017 suicide bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande pop concert in Manchester.
The police have in recent years also warned about the threat from organised far-right terrorism.
Earlier this year, British right-wing extremists were convicted of planning to carry out a terrorist attack at mosques or synagogues as part of a “race war”.
Reporting by Catarina Demony, Muvija M, Phil Noble, and Andrew MacAskill; writing by Kate Holton and Michael Holden; editing by Mark Heinrich
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.2% to 97.52
International News via Reuters:
The dollar fell to near a one-week low on Thursday as traders weighed the impact of a U.S. government shutdown, while poor jobs data boosted expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates two more times this year.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.2% to 97.52.
After four straight days of losses for the dollar, traders were weighing how long the U.S. government shutdown might last, its effect on economic data releases, and how that will play into the Fed’s decision making.
The ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday that U.S. private employment shrank by 32,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised 3,000 decline in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment to increase by 50,000.
“U.S. ADP employment data triggered dollar weakness,” said Kit Juckes, Societe Generale’s chief currency strategist.
“The sense is that the market was happy to react to yesterday’s figures but will not be comfortable taking the dollar too far on less reliable data,” he said.
The jobs report came amid a U.S. government shutdown, which has put the brakes on the flow of federal economic data at a moment of uncertainty and division among policymakers.
The Trump administration on Wednesday froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states, following through on a threat to use the shutdown to target Democratic priorities.
“With many major U.S. data releases withheld due to the government shutdown, alternative measures (yesterday’s ADP, today’s Challenger data) are set to have a longer-lasting impact on markets than usual,” said Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING.
Data also showed on Wednesday that U.S. manufacturing activity edged up in September, though new orders and employment were subdued as factories grappled with the fallout from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
In the meantime, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would hear arguments in January over Trump’s attempt to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
Money markets are expecting two further Fed interest rate cuts this year.
Elsewhere, the euro rose 0.2% to $1.1756 after data showed on Wednesday that euro zone inflation accelerated last month on higher services prices and a smaller decline in energy costs, likely reinforcing bets on the European Central Bank keeping interest rates on hold for some time.
“Data is vindicating the ECB’s cautious stance, and could keep dovish voices in the governing council quiet,” Pesole said.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. will provide Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure.
Reporting by Joice Alves. Additional reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter. Editing by Mark Potter
The monthly survey showed that businesses in the three months to September expected to keep employment steady over the next 12 months
International News via Reuters:
British businesses have the weakest hiring intentions since 2020 and expect the fastest consumer price inflation since early 2024, according to a Bank of England survey on Thursday which highlights the challenges facing the central bank.
The monthly survey showed that businesses in the three months to September expected to keep employment steady over the next 12 months, the first time since the three months to November 2020 that they had not expected to increase staffing.
More volatile single-month data showed expectations for a 0.5% rise over the next 12 months after a 0.5% drop in August.
Official tax data has shown falling numbers of employees for the past seven months while the unemployment rate – which is based on a survey with long-standing problems – has risen to its highest since 2021 at 4.7%.
BoE policymakers are hoping that a weaker labour market will reduce the pace of wage growth and help bring down inflation, which the central bank forecast to hit 4% in September, double its target.
But Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the survey results were likely to reinforce policymakers’ caution about cutting interest rates further this year.
“Wage and price pressures remain stubborn, recruitment difficulties slightly worsened despite weak employment and firms’ inflation expectations rose,” he said.
Businesses in the BoE’s Decision Maker Panel September survey expect consumer price inflation to rise by 3.5% over the next 12 months, the fastest expected increase since December 2023.
Three-month average expectations showed expected inflation for the coming year of 3.4%, the most since February 2024, while businesses said they planned to raise their own prices by 3.7%, unchanged from their plans in the three months to August.
Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Sarah Young and Suban Abdulla
EMO warns residents to stay off roads so that crews can clear debris and restore services safely
Infrared Satellite Image of Hurricane Imelda passing over Bermuda. Credit: Tropical Tidbits
As Bermuda wakes up from a night of fierce winds and unsettled weather, residents may be relieved to know that Hurricane Imelda is now moving away from the island.
The Category 2 storm passed just south of the island soon after midnight, with its strongest winds striking on the rear side of the system. According to the Bermuda Weather Service, the airport recorded a gust of 57kt, while the National Museum in Dockyard reported a gust of 86kt – close to the 100mph mark.
The storm also left thousands in the dark. According to BELCO’s outage map, nearly 17, 200 customers remain without power. Crews were stood down after 10 pm last night but are expected to resume restoration work at first light when it is safe to do so.
BELCO Outage Map, 7 am on Oct 2
At 6 am, the Hurricane Warning was downgraded to a Tropical Storm Warning. Strong northerly winds will gradually ease through the day as conditions turn drier and brighter.
The Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO) has urged residents to stay off the roads to allow crews – including Works & Engineering, Parks, the Regiment, BELCO and other utilities – to clear debris and restore services safely.
Minister of National Security Michael Weeks said: “I wish to extend my best wishes to all of Bermuda and express my hope that all are faring well. With daylight hours approaching, we are urging persons to stay off the roads. We will continue to experience pockets of unsettled weather conditions throughout the morning.”
The EMO said it is receiving overnight damage reports and the Minister will update later this morning on the status of the resumption and operation of services including, reopening of the Causeway, airport, bus and ferry service and others.
BELCO reminded residents:
Satellite Image of Hurricane Imelda after 6 am, Oct 2. Credit: Zoom.Earth
If you need assistance with structural damage or road clearing, contact the EMO Centre hotline at 444-1447
For all other emergencies, call 911.
For official updates, tune in to the Emergency Broadcast Station at 100.1 FM or stream live via gov.bm.
