Bermudian harness driver Kiwon Waldron enjoyed a productive evening at Harrah’s Hoosier Park in Indiana, competing in five races and securing a top-five finish in each, including a notable victory.
The highlight of Waldron’s night arrived in RACE 7 in the Pace Class. He expertly guided “Six Sticks Of Gum” to a winning time of 1:54 flat, showcasing his consistent form and increasing success on the challenging US harness racing circuit.
Waldron’s evening began in RACE 2 (Trot Class), where he and “Bluebird Fancyswan” secured fourth place with a time of 1:59 flat. He followed this with another fourth-place finish in RACE 3 (Trot Class), driving “Melissa P” to a time of 1:57.4.
In RACE 8, Waldron steered “Mclady Of Hearts” to fifth place, clocking 1:56.1. He concluded his busy night with a fifth top-five finish in RACE 9 (Trot Class), finishing fifth with “Momsshowgirl” in 1:58.4, capping a successful outing for the Bermudian driver.
Jason Hendrie will swap the Scottish Borders for the subtropical climate of Bermuda after landing a three-year contract as head of the British overseas territory’s rugby union.
The 39-year-old, formerly a centre or winger for Selkirk and a long-time coach in the Scottish club game, has been rugby development officer at Dalkeith since 2023 and spent four years as head coach there before joining Kelso this summer as backs coach.
Hendrie, who spent more than two decades working as a painter and decorator, has never visited Bermuda and interviewed for the job by video-link. He is awaiting a work visa and expects to take up the role late this month or in early October.
“I’ve never been to Bermuda and I’m definitely looking forward to a bit of heat now the weather’s getting colder in this country,” he said. “I’m going to help with a lot of the performance side of things with the national team and their sevens, women’s and under-19s teams, but I’ll be trying to grow the game as much as possible as well.”
Bermuda are currently ranked 74th in the world — 66 places below Scotland — and Hendrie has outlined a five-year plan to raise that standing. He plans to focus on schools, coach education and creating clearer pathways so island talent can stay and develop at home.
Rugby faces stiff competition on Bermuda, where cricket, football and athletics dominate, but Hendrie says building local structures is key to producing sustained progress.
The Ministry of Tourism & Transport, Culture & Sport is pleased to announce the successful staging of the Game Changers: National Sports Conference & Expo, held from 5–7 September 2025 at the Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club and Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The three-day gathering brought athletes, coaches, administrators, parents, and international experts under one roof to engage in learning, collaboration, and discussion on the future of sport in Bermuda. The event directly aligned with the objectives of Bermuda’s National Sports Policy, providing knowledge sharing, and pathways for athlete and organisational development.
Minister of Tourism & Transport, Culture & Sport, the Hon. Owen Darrell, JP, MP, stated, “The Game Changers Conference is not just an event; it is a national sports policy objective in action. By creating opportunities like Game Changers, we are ensuring that Bermuda remains aligned with international best practice, while tailoring solutions to meet the needs of our own sporting ecosystem. Sport is a vital contributor to Bermuda’s social and economic development, and through this conference, we are equipping our community with the tools to progress for generations to come.”
Delegates participated in keynote presentations, workshops, and panel discussions covering topics ranging from sports psychology and athlete welfare to governance, funding, PIPA, social media usage and nutrition. The conference also featured a vibrant community expo showcasing National Sports Governing Bodies, local businesses, and interactive demonstrations. Overseas presenters admired Bermuda’s commitment to advancing sport, noting their impression of the island’s collaborative spirit and strategic approach.
The Ministry extends its thanks to the Department of Sport and Recreation, international and local speakers, and the many participants who contributed to the conference’s outstanding outcome. Game Changers has established itself as a key platform for sports knowledge exchange in Bermuda, reinforcing the Government’s pledge to foster healthier communities, strengthen opportunities for young people, and future-proof sport across the island.
A sensational start to the season for Bermudian goalkeeper Nathan Trott has seen him nominated for the EFL League One Player of the Month award for August. On loan at Cardiff City from FC Copenhagen, Trott has been instrumental in an unbeaten opening for his side.
In five league games in August, Trott remarkably conceded just one goal in 450 minutes of play, keeping five clean sheets across all competitions. His impressive form sees him contend with Stevenage’s Jamie Reid, AFC Wimbledon’s Matty Stevens, and Doncaster Rovers’ Owen Bailey for the prestigious award, with the winner to be announced on Friday, September 12, 2025.
Mandelson was forced from the most sought-after diplomatic post after his letters and emails to Epstein were published this week
International News via Reuters:
Peter Mandelson, Britain’s smooth-talking ambassador to the U.S., was sacked on Thursday after his long-term association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became a further distraction for under pressure Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Mandelson, dubbed the ‘Prince of Darkness” for his behind-the-scenes manoeuvring during the last Labour government, was forced from the most sought-after diplomatic post after his letters and emails to Epstein were published this week.
The 71-year-old, a veteran Labour politician who was key to the party’s success under former leader Tony Blair, had come under scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein after a birthday book was released including a letter purportedly from the now ambassador describing Epstein as “my best pal”.
Further emails were published in the media showing that Mandelson had advised Epstein to fight for early release when he faced charges over soliciting a minor.
“In light of the additional information in emails written by Peter Mandelson, the prime minister has asked the foreign secretary to withdraw him as ambassador,” Britain’s foreign ministry said.
“The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.”
The ministry said the revelation of Mandelson’s suggestion that Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged was “new information.”
On Wednesday, Mandelson said he deeply regretted ever meeting Epstein and that he had carried on that association “for far longer than I should have done” – a statement that seemed to satisfy Starmer who later in parliament gave him his backing.
Reporting by Muvija M and Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Kate Holton
A descendant of the Bulgari family, Trapani became CEO in 1984 and expanded the brand from jewellery into new categories
International News via Reuters:
Francesco Trapani, the former Bulgari CEO who led the Italian luxury brand for three decades and orchestrated its sale to French conglomerate LVMH, has died at the age of 68, a public relations agency representing him said on Thursday.
Trapani “passed away peacefully” on Wednesday at home in Rome, Barabino & Partners said in a statement.
A descendant of the Bulgari family, Trapani became CEO in 1984 and expanded the brand from jewellery into new categories — including watches, fragrances, leather goods, and luxury hospitality — while accelerating its international growth.
He took Bulgari public on the Italian stock exchange in July 1995, a status maintained until 2011 when the company became part of LVMH. He left the company in 2014.
Trapani held senior roles at the Italian private equity fund Clessidra, the activist hedge fund Bluebell Capital and Partners, Tiffany, Tages Group, and VAM Investments.
Wrtiting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Alvise Armellini and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Merck had already started building new laboratories near Kings Cross in central London ahead of an expected 2027 opening, but said late on Wednesday it was walking away from the site
International News via Reuters:
Britain defended its record on attracting investment on Thursday after U.S. drugmaker Merck said it was abandoning a new London research centre and a top industry lobby group warned a challenging business environment was hurting the sector.
Merck had already started building new laboratories near Kings Cross in central London ahead of an expected 2027 opening, but said late on Wednesday it was walking away from the site.
The news has added to a sense of anxiety around Britain’s life sciences sector after the country’s biggest drugmaker AstraZeneca scrapped plans for a new UK vaccine plant, and the government became caught up in a row over drug pricing.
Merck said in its statement its decision “reflects the challenges of the UK not making meaningful progress towards addressing the lack of investment in the life science industry and the overall undervaluation of innovative medicines and vaccines by successive UK governments”.
It will also have likely factored in the threat of tariffs and other pressures from U.S. President Donald Trump who wants more manufacturing to return to the United States.
Home to AstraZeneca and GSK, Britain had singled out life sciences as one of its eight priority sectors when it launched its industrial strategy earlier this year, though its sector-specific plan drew a mixed reception from industry.
“The UK has become the most attractive place to invest in the world,” a government spokesperson said, citing a Deloitte survey, “but we know there is more work to do”.
The spokesperson added that the government had committed 520 million pounds ($703 million) to a manufacturing fund to unlock billions in private investment, but added that “we recognise that this will be concerning news for (Merck) employees”.
In January, AstraZeneca blamed a cut in government support for its scrapping of plans to invest 450 million pounds in a vaccine plant in northern England.
TRUMP PRESSURE TO SPEND MORE ON US-MADE DRUGS
Drug companies in Britain have also been in long-running negotiations with the government over how much revenue from UK sales firms must return to the country’s National Health Service, and talks broke down last month without a resolution.
In such an environment, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry said Britain’s ranking for FDI in the sector had fallen from second in 2017 to seventh in 2023.
“The UK is increasingly being ruled out of consideration as a viable location for pharmaceutical investment,” it said.
Britain, as well as the European Union, is under pressure from Trump to spend more on drugs from U.S. companies, with the administration still mulling plans for pharmaceutical tariffs.
Trump is due to visit Britain next week on a state visit. While Britain and the U.S. have agreed a deal on some tariffs, “preferential treatment” for pharmaceuticals under the deal is linked to Britain endeavouring “to improve the overall environment” for the sector.
($1 = 0.7401 pounds)
Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
The reform seeks to change more than 100 articles of the labour code, which it says is “anchored in traditional work models and struggles to meet the challenges of the digital age”
International News via Reuters:
Portugal’s minority centre-right government has begun a major overhaul of labour laws to boost competitiveness by making dismissals easier and working hours more flexible, a move criticised by unions who said it contravenes workers’ rights.
The reform seeks to change more than 100 articles of the labour code, which it says is “anchored in traditional work models and struggles to meet the challenges of the digital age”.
Its main goal is to boost business productivity. Despite a slow improvement in recent years, Portugal still lags well behind the European Union average due to structural weaknesses such as lower educational qualifications, according to reports by the National Productivity Board.
The reform process started with talks with unions and employers, a mandatory step before the cabinet approves a final bill, although it can still legislate if they fail to reach agreement.
Labour Minister Maria do Rosario Ramalho said late on Wednesday that negotiations should be thorough due to the project’s scope and complexity, but added the government would not extend them indefinitely.
The plan envisions easing just-cause dismissals in small and medium businesses by removing the obligation to present evidence at the employee’s request or hear the employee’s witnesses.
In the case of illegal dismissals, companies could ask courts to deny reinstatement if the worker’s return would seriously disrupt operations.
The bill also seeks to lift limits on outsourcing.
Companies could create “individual time banks” through which employees may work up to two more hours per day on top of the standard eight hours, with an annual cap of 150 hours.
Portugal’s two main labour unions oppose the reform as “an affront to workers” and have not ruled out a general strike if the government presses ahead.
Once approved, the bill will be sent to parliament and is expected to pass with the votes of far-right Chega, the largest opposition party, as the Socialists oppose it.
Reporting by Sergio GoncalvesEditing by David Latona and Gareth Jones
The blue-chip FTSE 100 advanced 0.4% by 0956 GMT, while the domestically focussed mid-cap index also added 0.4%
International News via Reuters:
London stocks rose on Thursday, boosted by industrials and energy stocks, while investors assessed corporate earnings and awaited a key inflation report from the U.S. due later in the day.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 advanced 0.4% by 0956 GMT, while the domestically focussed mid-cap index also added 0.4%.
In the U.S., consumer inflation data is expected on the day. Economists expect prices to have picked up in August, but that is unlikely to derail a much-anticipated rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.
Aerospace and defence companies added 1.6% on Thursday; BAE Systems rose 4%, Chemring Group up 2%, Babcock gained 1.4% and Avon added 5.2%.
Precious metal miners advanced 0.9% with Fresnillo rising 2% and Hochschild Mining up 1.7%.
Energy stocks gained 0.6% with heavyweights Shell and BP up 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively.
Heavyweight bank stocks rose 0.3%.
Consumer staples stocks such as Tesco, Associated British Foods and British American Tobacco also advanced.
On the flip side, personal goods stocks declined 0.6%, with Burberry falling 0.9%.
Industrial support services sector edged down 0.5%. Experian lost 1.4% and Hays fell 2.4%.
Industrial miners declined, with Anglo American down 0.8% and Glencore losing 1.2%.
Among other stocks, Compass Group rose 2.7% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the food catering firm’s rating to “buy” from “hold”.
Ticketing firm Trainline jumped 8.9%, to top the mid-cap index, after saying it expects to report annual adjusted core profit at the top end of its forecast range.
Gambling tech firm Playtech hit a record high and was last up 6.4% on positive first-half results.
Meanwhile, a survey showed house prices showed the most widespread falls in more than a year-and-a-half in August as new buyer demand weakened.
Additionally, finance minister Rachel Reeves promised tax reform to help small business expansion.
Reporting by Sukriti Gupta; Editing by Sahal Muhammed
The Wall Street Journal also reported on Wednesday that OpenAI has signed a $300 billion deal with Oracle for computing power
International News via Reuters:
Oracle’s shares rose on Thursday, adding to a record run in the previous session and lifting stocks across the tech sector, as the company inches closer to the coveted trillion-dollar club on soaring gains from its AI cloud business.
The enterprise software maker’s remarkable rise, fueled by a wave of multi-billion-dollar cloud deals, puts the spotlight on the scramble for computing power from companies that are pouring billions to become leaders in the AI race.The stock’s gains also put Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison on course to beat Elon Musk as the world’s richest man.
“Oracle lit a fire under the rekindled AI trade,” said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, adding that the company’s billion-dollar demand outlook has triggered a “ripple effect” for AI-related stocks.
The Wall Street Journal also reported on Wednesday that OpenAI has signed a $300 billion deal with Oracle for computing power, among the biggest in history, likely accounting for the bulk of the new revenue Oracle outlined on Tuesday.
Oracle’s shares were last up 2% in premarket trading after climbing as much as 35.9% on Wednesday, lifting the company’s market capitalization to a record $933 billion, as of last close.
Co-founder Ellison saw his net worth soar by nearly $100 billion to $392.6 billion, largely driven by his 41% stake in Oracle, compared with Tesla CEO Musk’s $439.9 billion fortune that still tops Forbes’ global wealth rankings.
Shares of Nvidia and Broadcom, which supply semiconductors used in data centers, were also marginally up, extending gains from the previous session.Peers in Asia also surged.
Oracle’s shares were trading at a premium compared to its cloud services peers. Their 12-month forward price-to-earnings multiple was 45.3, compared to Amazon’s 31.3 and Microsoft’s 31.
Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru; Editing by Arpan Varghese and Shinjini Ganguli
Sterling has come back from has a one-month low hit in early September
International News via Reuters:
The pound fell against a broadly stronger dollar on Thursday as markets focused on impending key U.S. inflation data and a European Central Bank policy meeting, as well as next week’s Federal Reserve and Bank of England meetings.
Sterling was down 0.2% at $1.3505 at around 1000 GMT. The pound was 0.1% lower against the euro at 86.545.
Sterling has come back from has a one-month low hit in early September after a sell-off in long-dated government bonds pushed yields to their highest since the late 1990s amid jitters over the UK’s public finances.
It is part of a broader storm hitting the long-dated government debt of G7 major world economies.
Pressure is mounting on finance minister Rachel Reeves to keep Britain’s deficit in check with the next budget announcement due at the end of November.
“Rising government borrowing costs, in the form of higher yields on its bonds, or gilts, mean Rachel Reeves will want to put together a tax-and-spending plan that appeases bond vigilantes,” Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, said in a note.
Reeves said on Thursday she would look at reforming business property taxes to make it easier for smaller firms to expand, as she seeks to boost growth.
The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee convenes next Thursday to deliver its next rate decision. Money markets are betting it will hold rates steady at 4%.
Elsewhere, British house prices in August experienced the most widespread falls in more than a year-and-a-half, a survey showed.
Reporting by Lucy Raitano; Editing by Kevin Liffey
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