Bermudian pickleball player Gavin Manders is making a strong push at the Jamaica International Pickleball Open, advancing to the semi-finals in the Men’s Singles Open.
Manders, the fourth seed in the draw, has been in impressive form. After receiving a first-round bye, he battled past Sosan Munasinghe in a 37-minute contest, winning 11-2. He followed that up with another lengthy victory, defeating the 13th seed Zeyar Min 11-5 in 51 minutes.
His most recent win came in a marathon fourth-round match against the fifth seed Brandon Tom, which Manders won 15-7 in 58 minutes, securing his spot in the last four.
In the Mixed Doubles Open, Manders and his partner Anais Fang won their first-round match before being knocked out in the second round by the fifth-seeded pair of Kayla Teape and Aman Chatani.
On Monday, June 29, 2025, officers from the Criminal Intelligence Unit, commenced an investigation into a reported burglary at an address on My Lords Bay Lane, Hamilton Parish.
During the course of the investigation, Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Unit along with officers from the Police Support Unit, executed a search warrant at an address on Wilkinson Avenue, Hamilton Parish, where all the stolen items were recovered.
The officers also recovered items linked to two other burglaries committed at an address on North Shore Road, Hamilton Parish on Saturday, April 18, 2025 and Saturday, July 5, 2025.
The items stolen during the three burglaries included building supplies, furniture and various construction tools and equipment, all with an estimated value of just over 70 thousand dollars.
Detective Chief Inspector, Jason Smith, officer in charge of the Specialist Investigations Unit said, “It was thanks to the assistance of members of the public that police were able to so quickly recover the stolen items. Were it not for the information provided, this investigation could well have become protracted. This is yet another example of what can be achieved when you support your police service by coming forward and telling us what you know about crimes that have been committed or suspicious activity you may have witnessed.”
The investigation into these matters remains ongoing and we are appealing for anyone with information but who has not yet reached out to us, to please do so by contacting Detective Sergeant Seymour Foote on 717-2282 or, via email sfoote@bps.bm.
Bermuda’s Kyle Hamilton and Sean Tucker have concluded their 2025 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour campaign in San Salvador, El Salvador, on a high note, securing a win in their final match.
The Bermudian pair, competing at the Flor Blanca Beach Sports Stadium, faced off against Fredy Ronaldo Luna Vivas and Robin Jean Carlos Oliva Véliz from Guyana in the 14th/15th place playoff.
Hamilton and Tucker delivered a strong performance, defeating the Guyanese duo in straight sets, 21-19, 21-17, in a 36-minute match. The victory marks a positive end to a challenging tournament and provides valuable experience for the young team as they continue their journey on the international stage.
Luke Hyland and Rose-Anna Hoey were crowned the MAAC “No Frills” 10K Male and Female champions, while Philippe Froncioni and Naomi Macguinness were the MAAC “No Frills” 5K male and female champions.
Hyland ran to the 10K victory with a time of 41:25, Gap Majors crossed the line second in a time of 43:44, and Tom Neill rounded out the podium with a time of 45:08.
Hoey crossed the line 7th overall with a time of 45:31, Laurie Orchard was the second female finisher and 9th overall stopping the clock in a time of 47:45, and the 11th runner across the line was the third female finisher Nick Greet who was clocked at 52:17.
At the 5K distance Froncioni clocked a time of 18:10, Michael Evans crossed the line second overall with a time of 18:44, and MacGuinness rounded out the podium finishing 3rd with a time of 19:09.
Kip Malpas rounded out the male podium finishing fourth with a time of 20:58, Lesley-Jane Smith was the second female finisher and 13th overall with a time of 24:26, and finishing 16th overall was the third female finisher Nicole Mitchell who clocked 25:55.
The business started out on Fabre’s balcony as the COVID-19 pandemic raged and traditional Cuban agriculture began a more than 50% decline through last year
International News via Reuters:
Every few days, in one of Havana’s poorest neighborhoods, a unique start-up ships small containers of sprouting vegetable seedlings to upscale restaurants in other parts of the city, while neighbors struggle to feed their families amid the worst economic crisis in decades.
Yet architect Oliesky Fabre, the founder of Enparalelo (Parallel Roads), pointed proudly the other day to a 2022 UN World Food Programme award. It was one of 10 projects, out of 200 initiatives, deemed to have the most innovative solutions to combat hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“We are a business, but also the motor for a local development project,” Fabre explained, as he worked inside one of two refurbished shipping containers on a vacant lot in the La Timba barrio.
The business started out on Fabre’s balcony as the COVID-19 pandemic raged and traditional Cuban agriculture began a more than 50% decline through last year, according to the Communist-run government.
Enparalelo now works out of the containers and is building a larger production facility nearby on land donated by the local government.
“Microgreens are high in nutrition, relatively inexpensive and easy to grow,” Fabre said.
Jorge Pena, in charge of the community side of the business, said that’s where the second container, fitted with wheels, comes in.
“This place serves as a classroom for residents interested in becoming microgreen farmers,” he said.
The start-up will supply seeds and other items such as coco fiber mesh, used instead of soil, to grow the microgreens, Pena explained.
The new home-based urban growers can then sell their microgreens back to the company, but also to neighbors, and keep some for their own consumption, he said.
“We have turned this container into an entity that can travel first here in La Timba, then to different communities,” Pena said.
“We will inspire a new generation of producers,” he said.
Reporting by Nelson Acosta and Alien Fernandez; Writing by Marc Frank; Editing by Patricia Reaney
It underperformed listed rivals last year, which didn’t suffer declining profits, mainly because it is more focused on investing in opening new stores, seeing long term opportunity in Britain
International News via Reuters:
The British arm of German discounter Aldi said it would invest 1.6 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) over the next two years to accelerate store expansion, doubling down on its commitment to the UK market despite a 21% drop in annual profit.
Aldi UK, Britain’s fourth largest grocer, on Monday said operating profit dropped to 435.5 million pounds ($590.6 million) in 2024, which it said reflected price cuts, investment in infrastructure and higher staff pay.
It underperformed listed rivals last year, which didn’t suffer declining profits, mainly because it is more focused on investing in opening new stores, seeing long term opportunity in Britain.
Sales rose slightly to 18.1 billion pounds in the year ended December 2024 but its operating profit margin slipped to 2.4% versus 3.1% in the previous year.
The group, owned by Germany’s Aldi Sud, and rival discounter Lidl GB have expanded rapidly in Britain over the past two decades, transforming the country’s supermarket scene and forcing the traditional big players to up their game.
Aldi UK trails market leader Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, but has the latter in its sights.
Currently trading from 1,060 stores, it plans to open 21 stores over the next 13 weeks and 80 over the following two years. It has a long-term target of 1,500.
Grocery industry data published last month showed Aldi UK’s sales rose 4.8% over the 12 weeks to August 10 year-on-year, giving it a grocery market share of 10.8%, just one percentage point behind Asda.
“We’re attracting more customers to more stores, more often,” Giles Hurley, CEO for Aldi UK and Ireland told reporters.
He said inflationary pressures were making it “really challenging” for families across the UK and they were responding by shopping around and prioritising value.
Consumers were increasingly treating themselves at home to premium own brand ranges rather than eating out, said Hurley – a trend he expects to continue in the run-up to Christmas.
As noted by other retailers, he was also uneasy about how consumer confidence and spending could be impacted by speculation of tax increases ahead of the UK government’s budget on November 26.
“We would encourage the government to adopt policies which don’t inadvertently add to the operating costs of businesses in the food sector,” he said.
($1 = 0.7374 pounds)
Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young, Christina Fincher and Susan Fenton
A former chief justice, Karki became the first woman to lead the country last week
International News via Reuters:
Nepal’s interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki unveiled cabinet roles on Monday for three figures with reformist and anti-graft credentials to lead the Himalayan nation after deadly violence led to parliament’s dissolution.
A former chief justice, Karki became the first woman to lead the country last week, after nationwide anti-graft protests killed at least 72 people, and forced the resignation of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.
The finance ministry will be headed by Rameshwore Prasad Khanal, the president’s office said in a statement, adding that he had been sworn in by President Ramchandra Paudel.
A former finance secretary, Khanal led a panel that recently recommended key economic reforms.
The energy ministry goes to former state power utility chief Kulman Ghising, the office said. When in office, the engineer had combated the scourge of load-shedding in the mountainous nation.
The home (interior) minister will be Om Prakash Aryal, a human rights lawyer and adviser to the mayor of Kathmandu, the capital, who launched legal battles on various issues of public interest.
Nepal’s worst protests in decades were led by the ‘Gen Z’ group opposing widespread corruption. The unrest and acts of arson and vandalism that followed injured more than 2,100.
Karki, 73, who formally took office on Sunday, tasked with holding national elections on March 5, has asked officials to start rebuilding public structures destroyed in the protests.
These included the complex housing the prime minister’s office and other ministries, along with the supreme court and the parliament building. The homes of political party leaders, such as Paudel and Oli, were also targeted.
Also set on fire were shopping malls, hotels and other businesses.
There is no monetary estimate yet of damages.
Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly and Clarence Fernandez
London’s FTSE 100 index edged lower on Monday, dragged down by heavyweight AstraZeneca and a strong sterling, as investors braced for an action-packed week of central bank decisions, including from the Bank of England.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 0.12% by 0917 GMT.
Britain’s biggest company AstraZeneca became the latest drugmaker to pull back on its business in the country after it paused a planned 200 million pound ($271.26 million) investment in its Cambridge research centre. Its shares fell 3.4%.
Pharma and biotech stocks led sectoral losses as they declined 2.6%.
Sterling’s strength against the greenback also weighed on export-oriented firms as investors braced for a week of pivotal central bank decisions.
Meanwhile, the BoE is expected to hold interest rates steady on September 18 due to rising inflation and to slow down its 100 billion-pound-a-year bond unwind amid renewed volatility in gilt markets.
The central bank is expected to cut rates once next quarter and again early next year, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll.
The spotlight will remain on the U.S. Federal Reserve as it announces its policy decision this week, alongside several other central banks, including those in Japan and Canada.
Additionally, the U.S. and Britain will announce agreements on technology and civil nuclear energy during President Donald Trump’s second state visit this week, as the UK hopes to finalise steel tariffs under a highly anticipated trade deal.
Meanwhile, the domestically focused FTSE 250 gained 0.43% led by AO World’s 11.3% jump after the British electronics retailer laid out plans for its first-ever share buyback and raised the lower end of its annual adjusted pre-tax profit forecast.
Among other individual stocks, Sainsbury hit a more than four-year high, up 5%, after the supermarket group said on Sunday it has terminated talks with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com over selling the Argos general merchandise retailer.
Reporting by Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore
The U.S.-China negotiations at the Spanish foreign ministry’s baroque Palacio de Santa Cruz are the fourth round of talks in four months to address strained trade ties
International News via Reuters:
The U.S. will go ahead with a ban on short-video app TikTok if China won’t drop demands for reducing tariffs and technological restrictions as part of a divestiture deal, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of negotiations said on Monday.
U.S. and China delegations are discussing the divestment from TikTok by Chinese owner Bytedance as part of a round of broader talks on tariffs and economic policy taking place in Madrid. TikTok faces being shut down as early as Sept. 17 in the U.S. unless it moves to U.S. ownership.
The Chinese delegation came to the Madrid talks with a fundamental misunderstanding of the U.S. position on TikTok, the official, who asked not to be named, said.
Speaking to reporters earlier before Monday’s talks began, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said China wanted concessions on trade and technology in exchange for agreeing to divest from the popular social media app.
“Our Chinese counterparts have come with a very aggressive ask,” Bessent said.
“We will see if we can get there at present. We are not willing to sacrifice national security for a social media app,” he said.
The U.S.-China negotiations at the Spanish foreign ministry’s baroque Palacio de Santa Cruz are the fourth round of talks in four months to address strained trade ties and a looming divestiture deadline for TikTok.
They take place as Washington demands that its allies place tariffs on imports from China over Chinese purchases of Russian oil, which Beijing on Monday said was an attempt at coercion.
“This is a typical act of unilateral bullying and economic coercion, a serious violation of the consensus reached by the Chinese and U.S. heads of state in their phone call, and could severely impact global trade as well as the stability of industrial and supply chains,” a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said in a press conference in Beijing.
PROGRESS ON TECHNICAL DETAILS
Bessent said both sides had made good progress on technical details but reaching a deal on other issues would be challenging.
Extending the TikTok divestment deadline would depend largely on how talks went on Monday, he said.
“From the Chinese perspective, they view as part and parcel of the potential TikTok deal a variety of matters, whether it’s tariffs or other measures that have been taken over years,” Greer said.
“We still have to grind through negotiations and discussions of the common understanding, and I don’t think this is the moment to just pull all those things.”
Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China had no new information to give.
“Regarding TikTok, China has repeatedly stated its position,” Lin said at a press conference in Beijing on Monday.
Adding further tension, China’s market regulator said on Monday that a preliminary investigation of Nvidia had found the U.S. chip giant had violated its anti-monopoly law.
The probe is widely seen as a retaliatory shot against Washington’s curbs on the Chinese chip sector.
Delegations led by Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng have met in European cities since May to try to resolve differences that prompted U.S. President Trump to raise tariffs on Chinese imports and sparked tit-for-tat measures, including similarly high import duties by China on U.S. goods and a halt in the flow of rare earths to the United States.
The Trump administration, however, faces a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that could strike down the U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods imposed this year, potentially weakening Trump’s leverage over Beijing. A ruling is expected by early 2026.
The delegations last met in Stockholm in July, where they agreed to extend for 90 days a trade truce that sharply reduced triple-digit retaliatory tariffs on both sides and restarted the rare-earth exports from China to the United States.
LOW EXPECTATIONS
Experts had low expectations of a significant breakthrough in Madrid.
“I’m not expecting anything substantive between the United States and China unless and until there is a one-on-one meeting between Trump and (Chinese President) Xi,” said William Reinsch, a senior trade adviser at Washington think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Setting that up is really what these talks are all about.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but Reinsch said the Chinese would not agree to such a meeting until they knew the outcome and were pushing for further easing of U.S. export controls on chips and other high-tech goods.
Even if a deal over Chinese divestment from TikTok was not reached it would not affect relations, Bessent added.
“It’s still very good at the highest levels,” “Ambassador Greer and myself have great respect for all counterparts.”
Reporting by David Lawder, Pietro Lombardi and Ethan Wang; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Clarence Fernandez and Susan Fenton
Kruger had been a welfare spokesperson for the opposition Conservative Party and was elected in 2019
International News via Reuters:
British Conservative lawmaker Danny Kruger has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, he announced at a Reform press conference on Monday.
“I have been variously a member, an activist, an employee of the Conservative Party for over 20 years, and I have many friends in the party, many good and decent people, which is why it is so personally painful for me to be doing what I’m doing today,” Kruger said.
“This is my tragic conclusion, the Conservative Party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left.”
Kruger had been a welfare spokesperson for the opposition Conservative Party and was elected in 2019. His previous jobs include serving as former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s speechwriter, he later worked for another former Conservative Prime Minister, Boris Johnson in 2019.
Reporting by Sarah Young and Sam Tabahriti, editing by William James
It was the first agreement to take effect at the WTO since 2017 after years of stalled debates and infighting
International News via Reuters:
A landmark agreement to curb billions of dollars in subsidies contributing to overfishing came into force on Monday, the World Trade Organization said – a move activists hailed as a step towards helping global fish stocks recover.
It was the first agreement to take effect at the WTO since 2017 after years of stalled debates and infighting on top of, more recently, a surge in U.S. tariffs that left some critics asking whether the Geneva-based body had a future.
The formal ratification by Brazil, Kenya, Tonga and Vietnam on Monday meant the deal, first agreed in 2022, now had the required support of two thirds of members, a WTO spokesperson said.
Governments are now prohibited from providing subsidies for overfished stocks and for fishing in international waters beyond their jurisdictions. Poorer states will be able to access a fund to help ease them into the deal.
“Fish stocks around the world will have a chance to recover, befitting local fishers who depend on a healthy ocean,” Megan Jungwiwattanaporn from the Pew Charitable Trusts said.
Governments around the world pay out roughly $35.4 billion annually to their fishing fleets, including fuel handouts that allow them to fish in distant oceans, a 2019 study in Marine Policy showed. It listed the top five subsidisers as China, the EU, the United States, South Korea and Japan – though not all of them are within the scope of the WTO deal.
Negotiations on further fishing rules covering divisive issues excluded from the first deal have floundered, as India and other developing economies seek carve-outs that many other states see as unworkable.
The first part of the agreement that came into force on Monday took more than 20 years of negotiations and will expire in four years if more comprehensive rules are not agreed.
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in an interview earlier this month that she saw grounds for optimism that the body could either conclude the talks or find a way to stop the first deal from expiring.
Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Andrew Heavens
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