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Traffic delays expected to continue into evening rush hour

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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Traffic delays expected to continue into evening rush hour

BELCO says repairs remain ongoing; Government implements measures to assist with traffic flow

Harbour Road will remain closed in the area of Lover’s Lane, Paget through rush hour this evening, according to BELCO.

The utility advised that work continues to be carried out after a collision early this morning left a utility pole damaged.

A post to BELCO’s social media reads: “Our repairs remain ongoing, in addition, to the repairs of other utility companies.”

“Traffic travelling east is being diverted from Harbour Road to Chapel Road. Traffic travelling west is being diverted from Harbour Road onto Lover’s Lane. Residents between Highwood Land and Chapel Road, will have to travel through Chapel Road, to get to their destinations.

“Please exercise extreme caution when driving, walking or riding near our working crews. The safety of you, our crew, the public and all road users is paramount.

 “If you are affected by an outage, please unplug all sensitive equipment and electronics.”

Traffic exiting the City of Hamilton on Church Street at gridlock during rush hour on Thursday. Photo: Supplied

Meanwhile, Government strongly advised westbound motorists departing from the City of Hamilton to avoid Harbour Road entirely and use detour routes via Middle Road and South Road. 

A spokesperson explained: “Traffic advisory signs are being placed at the Crow Lane roundabout to redirect commuters.

“To further assist with traffic flow, the turn onto Middle Road at the Paget traffic light is now blocked. All westbound traffic is being directed up South Road instead. 

“This measure is intended to prevent congestion in the right-turn lane at the Paget light and keep through traffic moving. Motorists may rejoin Middle Road after passing the Paget traffic light.

“Motorists should expect delays and increased congestion along the alternative routes during the evening commute. Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead and follow all posted signs and directions from officials.”

UPDATE: Bermuda Broadcasting understands a collision occurred at Cobb’s Hill and South Road junction in Paget this evening.

We will keep you abreast of any further information when it becomes available.

EU trade chief heads to India as deal talks make ‘rapid progress’, New Delhi says

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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EU trade chief heads to India as deal talks make ‘rapid progress’, New Delhi says

The report of advances in the long-running negotiations with Europe came a week after sharp hikes in U.S. tariffs on Indian goods came into effect

International News via Reuters:

EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will visit New Delhi next week, as talks on a planned free trade agreement make “rapid progress”, Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

The report of advances in the long-running negotiations with Europe came a week after sharp hikes in U.S. tariffs on Indian goods came into effect.

Indian officials have said the discussions with the EU are in an advanced stage and the next round – also due to run next week – will be crucial to building consensus for a deal by the end of the year.

The three-day visit by Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade, will start on Thursday, Goyal told TV news channel India Today.

“We have been negotiating with the European Union 27-nation bloc for the last three-and-a-half years and making rapid progress,” he added.

Talks for an India-EU free trade agreement stalled for eight years before resuming in 2021.

The EU has sought steep duty cuts on vehicles, medical devices, wine, spirits and dairy products, while India is pressing for greater access for its textiles, pharmaceuticals, steel and petroleum products, officials have said.

The EU is India’s biggest trading partner in goods, with bilateral trade hitting $137.5 billion in the 2023/24 fiscal year, up nearly 90% over the past decade.

Later on Thursday, after a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU remained committed to concluding negotiations by the end of the year.

“To achieve this, progress is needed now,” she said on X.

Von der Leyen said India had a key role in pressing Russia to end its war in Ukraine and that the EU and India aim to agree on a joint strategic agenda at a summit as early as 2026.

Reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi, writing by Hritam Mukherjee; Editing by YP Rajesh and Andrew Heavens

Portugal investigates crash on historic Lisbon funicular that killed 16

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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Portugal investigates crash on historic Lisbon funicular that killed 16

The mangled wreckage of a yellow tram-like carriage, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital, lay where it had left the track and hit a building on Wednesday

International News via Reuters:

Portuguese authorities were investigating on Thursday what caused a Lisbon funicular railway popular with tourists to hurtle down a hill, killing at least 16 people and injuring 22 when it crashed into a building.

The mangled wreckage of a yellow tram-like carriage, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital, lay where it had left the track and hit a building on Wednesday, just metres from its twin at the bottom of the steep 265-metre slope. The traction cable linking them had snapped.

Lisbon resident Abel Esteves, 75, and his wife and grandson were among 40 passengers in the lower car who saw the carriage plunge towards them before derailing at the last second.

“I told my wife: ‘We’re all going to die here’,” he said. “It picked up a brutal speed, took a slight turn and hit the building with a loud bang.”

FOREIGNERS AMONG LISBON FUNICULAR DEAD

Flags flew at half-mast as Portugal declared a day of mourning and the city’s two other funiculars were shut for inspections. The Pope sent condolences and blessings to victims, relatives and rescuers.

“This is one of the greatest human tragedies in our recent history,” Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said in a press conference on Thursday, adding that he expected the investigation into the causes of the accident to be concluded swiftly.

He said Portugal’s state airline TAP had offered to provide transport for the families of the victims and to repatriate the injured and the deceased.

Thirty-eight people were hurt in the accident, with 15 killed at the scene while one more died in hospital overnight. Lisbon’s director of emergency services Margarida Martins had earlier said that 17 had died.

Among the injured were four Portuguese, two Germans, two Spanish, one Korean, one Cape Verdean, one Canadian, one Italian, one French citizen, one Swiss and one Moroccan, Martins said.

Authorities did not identify the victims by name, but said some foreign nationals were among the dead.

Eliane Chaves, a Brazilian who has lived in Lisbon for 20 years, said she walked past the Ascensor da Glória – one of the symbols of the city – every day.

“People say that it was negligence but it was not negligence,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “They supervise it thoroughly. It was an accident, just like a plane or car accident can happen.”

CABLE PROBLEMS REPORTED ON FUNICULAR

Manuel Leal, leader of the Fectrans union, told local TV workers had complained that problems with the tension of the cable that hauls the carriages had made braking difficult, but that it was too early to say if that was the cause of the crash.The municipal transport company Carris said in a statement that “all maintenance protocols have been carried out”, including monthly and weekly maintenance and daily inspections.

Police took photos of the wreckage and inspected the braking system on the undamaged carriage.

The two cars, each capable of carrying around 40 people, alternately climb the slope and descend as electric motors pull the cable linking them.

That cable appears to have snapped, a fire brigade official said. Seemingly unable to check its descent, the carriage entered the turn too fast, ploughing into the cobblestone pavement and crashing into a building.

The lower car jolted back a couple of metres (yards) and was apparently undamaged, but video from bystanders showed several passengers jumping out of its windows.

The line, which opened in 1885, connects Lisbon’s downtown area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto, or Upper Quarter, famous for its nightlife, and transports around 3 million people a year.

Some local media reported that a German family-of-three had been among the victims. The father had died in the crash while the mother was seriously hurt and their 3-year-old child suffered minor injuries, they reported.

Portugal, and Lisbon in particular, have experienced a tourism boom in the past decade, with visitors cramming the popular downtown area in the summer months.

Reporting by Andrei Khalip, Inti Landauro, Sergio Goncalves; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Alex Richardson

UK government names former Harvard fund manager to Bank of England FPC

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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UK government names former Harvard fund manager to Bank of England FPC

Randall Kroszner, a former U.S. Federal Reserve official, was reappointed to a second three-year term on the FPC

International News via Reuters:

Britain’s government said on Thursday that it had named Stephen Blyth, a mathematician previously in charge of Harvard University’s endowment, to the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee.

Randall Kroszner, a former U.S. Federal Reserve official, was reappointed to a second three-year term on the FPC, which has regulatory oversight of Britain’s financial system, Britain’s finance ministry said.

Reporting by William James, writing by David Milliken; Editing by Susan Fenton

Italian teen to become first millennial Catholic saint on Sunday

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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Italian teen to become first millennial Catholic saint on Sunday

Carlo Acutis, who died aged 15, learned computer code to build websites to spread his faith

International News via Reuters:

A British-born Italian boy who died of leukaemia in 2006 will become the first Catholic saint of the millennial generation on Sunday, in a ceremony led by Pope Leo in St. Peter’s Square that is expected to attract tens of thousands of worshippers.

Carlo Acutis, who died aged 15, learned computer code to build websites to spread his faith. His story has drawn wide attention from Catholic youth, and he will now be elevated to the same level as Mother Teresa and Francis of Assisi.

Sunday’s ceremony was originally set for April but was postponed after the death of Pope Francis. Leo, elected in May to replace Francis, will now preside at such an event for the first time.

Leo will also canonize Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian man who was known for helping those in need and died of polio in the 1920s.

Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, told Reuters earlier this year that the heart of her son’s appeal to Catholic youth was that he lived the same life as others who were teenagers in the 2000s.

“Carlo was an ordinary child like (others). He used to play, to have friends, and to go to school. But his extraordinary quality was the fact that he opened the door of his heart to Jesus and put Jesus in the first place in his life.”

“He used this skill to spread the good news, the Gospel,” she added. “He wanted to help people to have more faith, to understand that there is an afterlife, that we are (pilgrims) in this world.”

Being made a saint means the Church believes a person lived a holy life and is now in Heaven with God.

Other saints who died at a young age include Therese of Lisieux, who died at 24 in 1897 and was known for promoting a “Little Way” of charity; and Aloysius Gonzaga who died at 23 in 1591 after caring for victims of an epidemic in Rome.

As Acutis progressed along the Church’s official path to sainthood, his body was moved to a church in the hill town of Assisi in central Italy, where St. Francis was from, in line with Acutis’ last wishes.

The new saint’s final resting place, where Acutis is entombed with a wax mould of his likeness placed over his body, wearing his track top, jeans and trainers, has become a popular devotional site, attracting thousands of worshippers every day.

Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Gareth Jones

Findlay cites “big challenge” as Bermuda prepare for qualifiers

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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Findlay cites “big challenge” as Bermuda prepare for qualifiers

On the eve of a crucial set of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying matches, Bermuda’s national team coach Michael Findlay has spoken of the “big challenge” that awaits his squad. Bermuda is set to face two of the region’s top teams in a pair of crucial September fixtures.

Bermuda will kick off their final-round qualifying campaign this Friday, September 5th, with a highly anticipated home clash against regional powerhouse Jamaica at the National Sports Centre. They will then travel to take on Curaçao on Tuesday, September 9th, at Stadion Ergilio Hato.

Speaking to www.islandstats.com, Findlay expressed the team’s excitement for the opportunity. “The players are excited for this opportunity, we know these first two matches are a big challenge against two of the top teams in the Group and in the Region,” he said.

The coach used a striking analogy to describe the team’s development. “We use the terminology of building a house with the players,” Findlay explained. “So we have laid down the foundation and now it is time to add onto it.”

The matches are part of a rigorous schedule in the final stage of Concacaf qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where the top team from each of the three groups will automatically qualify for the tournament. Findlay’s words emphasize the long-term vision for the program and the importance of this September window in building on the progress the team has made.

Bad weather halts Agadir Invitational as Daniel Augustus forces to suspend round

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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Bad weather halts Agadir Invitational as Daniel Augustus forces to suspend round

Bad weather has halted play at the Agadir Invitational on the Clutch Pro Tour, with Bermudian Daniel Augustus among those unable to finish their opening rounds after persistent flooding.

The Tier 2 event, staged at the historic Hever Castle Golf Club, was suspended with Augustus 3-over par through 16 holes. His card showed two birdies, ten pars, three bogeys and one double bogey when play was called off.

Augustus is scheduled to return to the course tomorrow morning to complete his first round before starting his second, weather permitting. The interruption is an unwelcome setback for the 26-year-old, who said he will aim to finish strongly and get back into contention.

The Agadir Invitational is an important stop on the Clutch Pro Tour, which provides a development platform for aspiring professionals hoping to progress through the ranks. Organisers will assess conditions overnight and announce revised tee times in due course.

Drone footage: Motorists stuck in huge tailbacks

Jasmine Patterson
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Drone footage: Motorists stuck in huge tailbacks

Traffic has been delayed for several hours due to a downed utility pole forcing a partial closure of Harbour Road, Paget

Footage by Qian Dickinson

Huge disruption to rush hour traffic this morning after a downed utility pole forced the closure of a section of Harbour Road.


A collision last night, near the junction with Lover’s Lane, Paget, had damaged the pole.
Eastbound traffic has been rerouted via Chapel Lane, while westbound traffic has been diverted via Lovers Lane.


Tailbacks on the South Shore reached as far as Warwick Long Bay – and many commuters would have been late for work this morning.


Government stated that emergency response teams were on-site carrying out urgent repairs.
We’ll update as soon as we know more.


Adding to the problem was a reported fender bender by Christ Church in Warwick.

BBC Radio News: Thursday Noon – 4 September 2025

Jasmine Patterson
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BBC Radio News: Thursday Noon – 4 September 2025
Bermuda BroadcastingBBC Radio News: Thursday Noon - 4 September 2025
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6:57
  1. BBC Radio News: Thursday Noon - 4 September 20256:57
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Bermuda’s Trina Roberts elected to World Archery Ethics and Justice Committee

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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Bermuda’s Trina Roberts elected to World Archery Ethics and Justice Committee

Trina Roberts, secretary general of the National Archery Association of Bermuda, has been elected to the five‑member World Archery Ethics and Justice Committee at the 56th World Archery Congress in Gwangju, South Korea. The appointment places a Bermudian in a key governance role on the global stage.

The committee is charged with upholding the integrity of the sport — considering cases, collecting evidence and proposing sanctions to ensure compliance with World Archery’s Constitution, Rules and Code of Ethics and Conduct. Its decisions have a direct bearing on fair play and the administration of archery worldwide.

“I am honoured to be here representing my country and a sport I have grown to love and enjoy teaching,” Roberts said after her election.

Her appointment is seen as a reward for years of dedication to archery in Bermuda and beyond, and marks a proud moment for the National Archery Association of Bermuda as one of its officials takes up a vital role in protecting the sport’s standards internationally.

Menace wins race day 21 as handicaps reshuffle leaderboard

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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Menace wins race day 21 as handicaps reshuffle leaderboard

Menace was declared the winner of Race Day 21 of the Wednesday Night Sailing Series after handicaps were applied, posting a corrected time of 52:12 from an elapsed time of 57:15. The result underlined the tactical nature of the evening, where timing and handicaps mattered as much as boat speed.

Crossfire was first over the line with a blistering elapsed time of 48:18 but, once corrected, slipped to fourth with 53:16. Airforce crossed second in 56:00 and, with a corrected time of 53:00, claimed third. Vrengen finished a fraction behind Menace on corrected time — 52:15 — to take second place, while Encore rounded out the top five with 53:17.

The night was a reminder of how the handicap system can level competition, rewarding well-judged tactics and consistent crew work as much as outright pace on the water.

Shares shake off China selloff as bond markets keep calm

Bermuda Broadcasting Newsdesk
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Shares shake off China selloff as bond markets keep calm

The region’s STOXX 600 ticked up 0.3% as trading settled and the angst about rising long-term government borrowing costs gave way to relative calm

International News via Reuters:

Stocks were mostly higher on Thursday as dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials and a smooth auction of super long-term debt in Japan eased some of the recent government bond market jitters.

China bourses had tumbled overnight on reports Beijing wanted to cool the red hot rally in its equity markets, especially the tech sector, but Europe had a much smoother start.

The region’s STOXX 600 ticked up 0.3% as trading settled and the angst about rising long-term government borrowing costs in the likes of France, Britain and U.S. gave way to relative calm.

Oil prices extended their weak week after a Reuters report that OPEC+ officials were eyeing an increase in output targets at their meeting this weekend, while the dollar was in drift mode ahead of Friday’s crucial jobs report. [O/R][/FRX]

Several key Federal Reserve officials have bolstered expectations of an imminent Fed rate cut in recent days. Traders are now pricing in a near 100% chance that one will be delivered at the central bank’s next meeting on Sept. 17.

“The markets have become a little bit more convinced about a Fed rate cut this month, so that has put some modest downward pressure on bond yields,” MUFG’s global markets division head of research, Derek Halpenny, said.

He added that the Chinese equity market dip had weighed a little on the Aussie and Kiwi dollars in the FX markets, but otherwise it was largely a case of “consolidate and wait” for Friday’s payrolls numbers.

Europe’s bond buyers nudged the German 30-year bond yield down just over 1 basis point to 3.3%. France’s was down roughly the same at 4.45%, having hit 4.523% on Tuesday, its highest since June 2009 on worries its government could collapse again.

FALLING STAR

Overnight, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding those from Japan had ended 0.2% lower after a Bloomberg report that financial regulators were preparing cooling measures for the market.

Beijing bluechips fell as much as 2.6%, while the tech-heavy STAR 50 index, which soared nearly 30% last month, dropped more than 6% in its worst day since April.

Wall Street futures were pointing to an easy restart. [.N] Payrolls aren’t till Friday, but traders will get to hear the nomination hearing of Stephen Miran, U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to replace resigning Fed board member Adriana Kugler.

“It’ll be interesting to hear senators’ questioning of Miran’s views on Fed independence,” Deutsche Bank’s Global Head of Macro Research, Jim Reid, said, given that Trump has moved to fire another Fed official, Lisa Cook, and has been repeatedly criticising Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

In testimony posted to the Senate Banking Committee’s website on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s hearing, Miran said he intended to “preserve” that independence.

With all the focus the independence issues have created on already sky-high government debt levels, there was relief that an auction of 30-year Japanese bonds had gone smoothly in Tokyo overnight.

Australian shares advanced 1%, recovering from their biggest one-day sell-off since April, while the Nikkei 225 ended 1.5% higher. [.T]

“We got one or two days of weakness but the dip-buyers have stepped in,” Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney, said.

India’s benchmark Sensex rose 1% as markets reopened, after the government slashed levies on several goods to fire up consumption and counteract U.S. tariffs.

Wednesday’s Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” had painted a mixed picture of U.S. economic health, which appeared to underscore monetary policymakers’ concerns. Analysts at ING called it quite “bleak” and said it was “littered with” tariff warnings on prices.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes inched down to 4.2% in European trading with the more rate-sensitive 2-year yield just above 3.6%.

The dollar edged up 0.1% against the yen at 148.25, keeping within the trading range where it has stayed since the beginning of August.

It was also fractionally higher against the euro at $1.1650. In commodities markets, Brent crude dipped 0.6% to $67.17 a barrel and gold edged back 0.8% after hitting a record high of 3,578.5 an ounce on Wednesday. [GOL/]

Additional Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter in Singapore; Editing by Andrew Heavens

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