Bermuda Evening News at 7pm.
Sports club teams up with CURB to tackle violence
President of the Southampton Rangers Sports Club, Darren “Butch” Burchall, said the sessions mark a positive trajectory for the club
This is a story about efforts being made to improve the lives of young people and steer them away from negative behaviour.
The Southampton Rangers Sports Club is the second club to partner with CURB – Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda – to introduce members to restorative practice through its ‘Fair Play’ program.
ECB’s Lagarde signals no rush to rescue France on bond market
France’s political instability and its failure to tackle ballooning public debt have unnerved investors
International News via Reuters:
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde signalled no rush on Thursday to intervene in the bond market to support France, which has become engulfed in a political and budget crisis.
France’s political instability and its failure to tackle ballooning public debt have unnerved investors, who have been demanding a growing premium to lend to the French government in the bond market.
The ECB has the power to step in and buy government bonds to stem an “unwarranted, disorderly” rise in borrowing costs under its Transmission Protection Instrument, as long as a country complies with the European Union’s budget rules.
LAGARDE SAYS RESPECT EU BUDGET RULES
Lagarde appeared to play down the prospect of an intervention, saying the euro zone bond market was still functioning well and all countries needed to respect the EU fiscal framework.
“Euro area sovereign bonds are orderly and are functioning smoothly with good liquidity,” Lagarde, a former French finance minister, told reporters after the ECB decided to keep rates steady.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s government fell earlier this week after he failed to secure parliamentary support for his plans to reduce the budget deficit, which last year was nearly double the EU’s 3% of GDP limit.
France is the EU’s second-largest economy. Its budgetary and political crisis threatens to weaken the bloc, politically and economically, just as it tries to navigate U.S. trade tariffs.
Stressing she was talking about the euro zone as a whole and not just France, Lagarde said that the ECB needed “a well-functioning” bond market to control inflation.
But she added governments must stick to EU rules.
“There is also a set of rules… and the member states have to adhere to it,” she said. “I’m sure that all governments, wherever located, will want to operate on the basis of that fiscal framework.”
INVESTORS DEMAND SIMILAR PREMIUM FROM FRANCE AND ITALY
France’s public debt has climbed to 113.9% of gross domestic product, in part due to successive governments’ largesse during the COVID-19 and cost-of-living crises.
Investors are now demanding a similar premium – as measured by the spread over Germany’s 10-year bond yields – from France as from Italy at around 80 basis points. [GVD/EUR]
Bayrou has been replaced by Sebastien Lecornu, a loyalist of President Emmanuel Macron and his fifth prime minister in less than two years.
“I’m confident that the policymakers… will take it to heart in that period of uncertainty to reduce uncertainty as much as possible,” Lagarde said.
A debt crisis centred around Greece nearly brought down the euro in the 2010s before then ECB President Mario Draghi pledged to do “whatever it takes” to preserve the single currency – an implicit reference to buying bonds.
ECB board member Isabel Schnabel told Reuters last week that France needed to consolidate its finances and foster potential growth but she did not see these issues as having wider implications for the euro.
Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
EU’s top court rules against Hungary’s nuclear state aid
Hungary granted the construction contract in a direct award to Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod Engineering
International News via Reuters:
The EU’s top court said on Thursday the European Commission should not have approved Hungarian state aid for the expansion of its Paks atomic plant by a Russian company, ruling that the Commission had not checked whether the contract met EU rules.
Hungary granted the construction contract in a direct award to Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod Engineering as part of an agreement between Russia and Hungary on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Russia in turn provided Hungary with a state loan to finance most of the development of the new reactors, and the European Commission approved the plan in 2017.
Russian state nuclear energy firm Rosatom, which signed an agreement with Budapest to build two 1.2 gigawatt reactors at Paks, said in a statement on Wednesday that it would continue to execute the project.
“Rosatom’s primary task remains to implement the project in accordance with the highest international safety standards and in full compliance with contractual obligations,” the company said.
Neighbouring Austria lodged a complaint about the state aid involved in the deal at the EU’s General Court in 2018, but lost the case.
It then filed an appeal at the EU’s Court of Justice, which said on Thursday that Austria had been right in arguing that the Commission should have examined whether the direct award of the construction contract to the Russian company was compatible with EU procurement rules.
Reporting by Bart Meijer;Editing by Sharon Singleton, Helen Popper, Elaine Hardcastle
Back to school isn’t just for kids: Adult Education School doubles graduates
It’s back-to-school season … and it’s not only children in the classroom.
The Bermuda Adult Education School, which welcomes learners aged 16 and up, is encouraging adults to re-engage with their educational goals, from workshops to earning a GED.
Managing Director Arlene Brock says the school is open year-round and offers a range of programs to support students.
Director of Programming Thaao Dill adds that the number of graduates at the most recent ceremony doubled compared to previous years – a sign of growing interest.
Kraft Heinz split may come too late to fend off growing MAHA threat
The rise of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement poses a new threat for the company
International News via Reuters:
Kraft Heinz’s announcement this month that it would split was a belated acknowledgment that the Velveeta cheese and Heinz ketchup maker had missed consumers’ years-long shift away from processed foods, a trend that is now accelerating under a new push from the federal government and states including California.
But, its plan to carve itself into two companies — one focused on faster-growing sauces and condiments, one on groceries — may not be enough to revive its brands, according to former employees, consultants and Wall Street analysts.
The rise of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement led by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who blames artificial ingredients for chronic childhood diseases like diabetes and obesity, poses a new threat for the company that makes products including Oscar Mayer hotdogs, Kraft Singles and Jell-O desserts.
Former employees said Kraft Heinz executives missed opportunities to appeal to the new demand for fewer preservatives and artificial ingredients, such as ketchup without high-fructose corn syrup and they were also unconvinced the costly and possibly risky effort to change an iconic brand would boost sales.
Kraft Heinz is focused on providing nutritious and affordable food, and has reduced its use of sugar, overhauled over 1,000 recipes and committed to removing synthetic dyes from its U.S. brands, a spokesperson said.
MAHA, GLPs, HIGH PRICES CHALLENGE FOOD COMPANIES
The MAHA Commission, a panel convened by President Donald Trump, released a report on Tuesday that called for the government to review chemical additives in packaged products and define ultra-processed foods. Adding to the pressure, legislators in California, the largest U.S. state by population, are voting on a bill that would regulate ultra-processed foods as soon as this month.
Nicholas Fereday, an independent food industry analyst, said the prospects for Kraft Heinz after a split are still bleak.
“The very fact they’re splitting up doesn’t change any of it and explain how they’re going to inject energy, excitement and clarity” into the company, he said.
But its rising competition including sauce and pasta brand Rao’s Homemade is adapting more quickly to consumer tastes, food industry experts said, snapping up market share from its top products like Kraft mac & cheese, known for its blue box featuring orange-hued macaroni.
U.S. food companies have struggled to increase sales in recent years as consumers switch to products touting natural ingredients, balk at higher prices and buy less due to new appetite-suppressing GLP-1 drugs. But, Kraft Heinz has been among the worst performers, analysts have said.
Its shares are down nearly 14% year to date, while the Dow Jones U.S. food product makers index, covering its competitors, has fallen about 6.5% in the same time period. Its organic net sales have declined for the last seven quarters, according to financial statements and investor press releases.
WOULD CANE SUGAR IN HEINZ KETCHUP GROW SALES?
Two former Kraft Heinz employees, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press on behalf of the company, said it knew for years it was facing a seismic shift in customer preference, as offerings at natural food grocery stores like Amazon.com’s Whole Foods and Sprouts rose in popularity.
But one of the employees, a marketing executive who left the company over a year ago, said “management wanted us to prove we would grow sales by changing ingredients” and was reactive to trends rather than proactive. Kraft Heinz looked at replacing high-fructose corn syrup in Heinz ketchup with cane sugar, but “it was killed due to cost,” the former exec said.
Kraft did not comment when asked about replacing high fructose corn syrup in ketchup.
Heinz ketchup’s market share has slipped over the last four years, though it still holds more than two-thirds of the category in the United States, according to market research firm Euromonitor.
The company offers a Simply Heinz ketchup without high-fructose corn syrup for a cost of nearly 50% more than the original, and in 2019 acquired condiment maker Primal Kitchen, which also pledges to avoid artificial ingredients. The company spokesperson said that the last quarter, its Simply Heinz brand grew 17% and Primal Kitchen grew 24%.
High-fructose corn syrup has become more controversial, although medical experts say people should reduce sugar intake overall, and that there is no significant health difference between the additive and cane sugar.
A May report from the MAHA commission said significant consumption of high-fructose corn syrup may contribute to chronic diseases like obesity, citing a 2021 study by researchers from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine linking it to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
In response to California’s bill on ultra-processed food, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Kennedy encourages states to promote healthy practices and enhance consumer transparency in food labeling.
Other U.S. states including Missouri, North Carolina and Pennsylvania have considered passing similar laws, further adding to scrutiny of Kraft Heinz’s products.
The former employees said that Kraft Heinz’s moves to remove artificial ingredients from its products did little to change consumers’ perception of them as unhealthy and processed.
Taking the dyes out of Kraft macaroni and cheese in 2016, for example, only stemmed some sales declines, a former brand manager said, and it is still seeing its market share fall, according to market research firm Numerator.
Bill Johnson, CEO of H.J. Heinz until 2013, when it was taken private by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Brazil-based 3G Capital, said companies like Kraft Heinz haven’t given consumers a reason to believe their products are better than they were.
“What the big companies (like Kraft Heinz) haven’t done is innovated,” he said.
Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli; Editing by David Gaffen and Anna Driver
Cleaner beaches ahead
New equipment to enable faster trash and seaweed removal at popular swimming spots
Good news for beachgoers – cleaner shores are on the way.
Government today unveiled more than $300,000 dollars worth of new beach cleaning equipment that is expected to boost productivity.
It appears to be a welcome investment for crews who have been operating without a tractor for several months after the previous one broke down.
More in the below report.
Young and old may differ on granting BDA status
…but older Bermudians are more active at the polls, says political pundit
Young Bermudians may be more accepting of granting status to some non-Bermudians.
Older black Bermudians, who recall status being weaponised to augment the white vote, feel differently.
This is the take from political commentator Cordell Riley, and it means the OBA government’s attempt to launch Pathways to Status will remain a thorny issue for the party – even 9 years on.
As new leader Robert King takes the helm of the OBA, Mr Riley suggests they have an uphill battle to show they have changed from the party that governed from 2012 to 2017.
This is especially true, he says, after former Cabinet Minister Michael Fahy – who brought forward Pathways in February 2016 – returned to politics and won an historical OBA stronghold in February’s General Election.
“To put him in a safe seat [Pembroke South West], rather than have him run in a marginal seat… that’s a message that’s being sent to the voters”, Mr Riley says.
“Is that a return to the days of 2012, or are you really changing?”
In a discussion with Gary Foster Skelton, Mr Riley acknowledged that younger Bermudians may be in favour of immigration reform and some version of pathways to status.
However – just like Brexit in the UK – it comes down to who is motivated enough to make their voices heard at the polls…
(WATCH the interview above)
German carmakers, trade union jointly urge EU to drop combustion engine ban
VDA and the union said in a joint statement that the EU and the German government “must become more flexible on CO2 regulation.”
International News via Reuters:
Germany’s VDA car industry association and IG Metall metalworkers’ union on Thursday urged the European Union to drop plans to ban the production of CO2-emitting vehicles from 2035, joining a chorus of sector voices warning against the move.
VDA and the union said in a joint statement that the EU and the German government “must become more flexible on CO2 regulation.”
They added that the ramp-up of electric vehicle production and market growth had fallen behind initial expectations due to difficulties in the battery supply chain, slow growth of a smart charging infrastructure and other factors.
“Against this backdrop, the target for 2035 is no longer achievable without short-term corrections,” the statement said.
They said the transition to electromobility was in principle the right way for the car industry in Germany to remain competitive.
Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Ilona Wissenbach, Editing by Miranda Murray
Police renew appeal for information into fatal collision
Josh Frias died following a collision with a motor car on Parsons Lane, Devonshire
Police today made a fresh appeal for information about a fatal road collision.
Josh Frias, 16, lost his life after a crash that occurred round 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, this year on Parson’s Lane, Devonshire, in the vicinity of Watlington Waterworks.
The collision involved an auxiliary cycle and a motorcar.
In a release today, police said: “We are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who may have been traveling along Parson’s Lane just prior to or, around the time of the collision.”
Anyone with information should contact Police Constable Kevin Medeiros on 717-2402 or call the BPS on 295-0011.
ECB governors eye December as next chance for any cut, sources
The ECB left rates unchanged on Thursday and maintained an upbeat view on growth and inflation, dampening expectations for any further cut in borrowing costs
International News via Reuters:
European Central Bank policymakers see their December meeting as the most realistic time frame to debate whether an another interest rate cut is needed to buffer the euro zone economy from the impact of U.S. tariffs, three sources told Reuters.
The ECB left rates unchanged on Thursday and maintained an upbeat view on growth and inflation, dampening expectations for any further cut in borrowing costs.
But sources on the ECB’s Governing Council said the debate on a rate cut was not over just yet, although policymakers probably won’t have enough information by their next meeting in October 29 to make a proper assessment.
This meant that the December 18 meeting was seen as the more likely date to discuss a reduction in borrowing costs, also in light of incoming inflation and growth data and the next batch of projections.
An ECB spokesperson declined to comment.
Reporting By Francesco Canepa, Balazs Koranyi and Frank Siebelt
