The City of Hamilton today unveiled the lineup for Taste of Bermuda 2025, set to take place October 9th–12th.
At a press conference, Dwayne Caines, Chief Executive Officer of the City of Hamilton, shared highlights of this year’s event, which promises new experiences for attendees.
Taste of Bermuda 2025 is introducing new collaborations with a select group of hotels on the island, designed to enhance the festival experience.
These partnerships aim to showcase the best of Bermuda hospitality while providing convenient access to all the culinary, entertainment, and cultural highlights of Taste of Bermuda.
Clarence Hofheins, President of the Bermuda Hotel Association, shares more about the new partnership.
Public submissions and petitions mount against Government’s draft plan for the National Park
Hands off Southlands.
That’s the overwhelming message from residents responding to the Southlands Park Draft Management Plan 2025.
Today marked the final day for public feedback on the plan that will shape the future of the greenspace – but critics say the deadline won’t stop their fight to protect it.
Banks are trying to tap into a shift in the regulatory environment in the U.S., where President Donald Trump has taken a pro-crypto approach
International News via Reuters:
A group of finance industry bodies is calling for a rethink on looming regulatory standards that they say will make it difficult for banks to participate in crypto markets.
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which comprises regulators and central banks from the world’s main financial centres, agreed a set of standards in 2022 for how banks should manage and disclose risks around their exposure to crypto assets.
In an open letter to the committee, various finance industry groups said that the crypto market has changed since 2022, making the proposed standards too conservative.
While the crypto market remains a small part of the overall financial system, it has grown rapidly in recent years, with cryptocurrency prices reaching record highs. It has also become increasingly connected to mainstream financial markets.
Banks are trying to tap into a shift in the regulatory environment in the U.S., where President Donald Trump has taken a pro-crypto approach. U.S. regulators this year made it easier for banks to engage in crypto-related activities.
“The Cryptoasset Standard’s restrictive qualification standards, combined with otherwise punitive market and credit risk capital treatments, effectively make it uneconomical for banks to meaningfully participate in the cryptoasset market,” the letter said.
The letter called for the committee to “temporarily pause” implementation of the new standards, seek new information and consider making changes.
Signatories included the Global Financial Markets Association, the Institute of International Finance and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association – which lobby for the mainstream financial sector – as well as crypto industry groups.
The Basel Committee has no enforcement powers, but its members agree to apply its standards to international banks in their jurisdictions. The standards around crypto are due to come into effect in January 2026.
The Bank for International Settlements, where the Basel Committee is based, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A series of collapses at major crypto companies in 2022 left millions of investors out of pocket and revealed widespread misconduct in the industry, prompting calls for regulation.
Reporting by Elizabeth HowcroftEditing by David Goodman
Acting CEO Erin Wright said the BTA is closely monitoring leisure travel trends from US and international markets to ensure strategies “remain responsive and relevant”
Visitor arrival numbers are up in quarter two of this year, according to the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
However, air capacity or inbound seat numbers drop 3%.
The BTA has pledged to take the lead on boosting the number of available seats to Bermuda.
The fires have spread over the regions of Extremadura, Galicia, and Castile and Leon
International News via Reuters:
Wildfires raging in northern and western Spain have burned through nearly the same area in the past 24 hours as in all of last year, although the end of a 16-day heatwave and expected rainfall have fanned hopes that an end may be in sight.
The fires have spread over the regions of Extremadura, Galicia, and Castile and Leon, forcing authorities to suspend rail services and cut access to roads in the area, as well as blocking a 50 km (30 mile) stretch of the popular Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail.
Data on Tuesday from the European Forest Fire Information System showed the fires have burned vegetation on 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres) since Monday, just below 42,000 hectares during the whole of 2024.
However, the national weather agency, which on Monday declared the end of one of the longest heatwaves in the past five decades, now expects temperatures to fall and humidity to rise.
“The evolution is favourable, the teams are stabilising the fires,” Castile and Leon regional leader Alfonso Fernandez Manueco told reporters.
The region, Spain’s largest, is one of the worst hit by the blazes. “If weather trends continue, we will be better tomorrow than today and better the day after tomorrow,” Manueco said.
The weather agency said adverse conditions would remain in southern Spain, including in part of Extremadura.
So far this year, an estimated 382,600 hectares have burned in Spain – an area equivalent to the size of the island of Mallorca – according to the EFFIS. It is the largest area in records that go back to 2006 and more than four times the 2006-2024 average.
Visiting the fires in Extremadura, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government would declare many of the affected areas as emergency zones, which in practice means they will be eligible to receive aid for reconstruction.
Blaming the fires on the effects of climate change, he also said he would propose a plan next month to turn climate emergency policies into permanent state policies. He gave no details, but the authorities have been focusing on fire prevention and response planning.
“We’re seeing the climate emergency accelerate and worsen significantly, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula, each year,” he said.
Opposition leaders have said his proposal is a way to divert attention from his government’s poor handling of the fires.
Most of Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades.
The Spanish army has deployed 3,400 troops and 50 aircraft to help firefighters, while Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands and Slovakia have sent hundreds of firefighters, vehicles and aircraft.
The Interior Ministry said that since June, 32 people have been arrested and 93 were under investigation for suspected arson.
Writing by Inti Landauro; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Alison Williams
Judge Stephen Eyre granted the council an interim injunction against the owner of the hotel, ruling that asylum seekers should be removed by September 12
International News via Reuters:
A British district council on Tuesday won its bid to have asylum seekers temporarily removed from a hotel that has become the focal point for protests after a resident was charged with sexual assault.
Epping Forest District Council took legal action to stop asylum seekers from being housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping, in the county of Essex, about 20 miles (32.19 km) north of London.
Anti-immigration protesters and pro-immigration groups have gathered outside the hotel since an Ethiopian asylum seeker was charged in July with sexual assault and other offences. He has denied the charges and is due to stand trial next week.
Judge Stephen Eyre granted the council an interim injunction against the owner of the hotel, ruling that asylum seekers should be removed by September 12. The hotel’s owner said it would seek to appeal the ruling.
Eyre also dismissed a last-minute attempt on Tuesday by the Home Office, Britain’s interior ministry, to intervene in the case in support of the hotel owner.
The Home Office’s lawyer, Edward Brown, had argued the injunction would have a “substantial impact” on the government’s ability to comply with its legal duty to provide accommodation, describing the hotel as “a key part of national asylum accommodation infrastructure.”
Border Security Minister Angela Eagle said in a statement: “We will continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns. Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament (2029).”
Hundreds of people have protested outside the Bell Hotel since two asylum seekers were charged over separate incidents, with 16 people also having been charged in relation to what Essex Police described as criminal disorder in Epping.
Care4Calais, a charity supporting asylum seekers and refugees, said some residents have felt frightened and frustrated after being threatened, chased, and had objects thrown at them since the protests in Epping began.
Local police have been on high alert after nationwide rioting last summer, when racist unrest involving far-right supporters broke out after misinformation that the murderer of three girls in Southport was a radical Islamist migrant.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to stop thousands of migrants arriving in Britain via small boats, but his government is struggling to do so and faces mounting pressure to show voters he can counter illegal immigration, with support rising for Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party.
In March, Google was hit with two charges of breaching the EU’s landmark Digital Markets Act
International News via Reuters:
Alphabet unit Google said on Tuesday it will make it easier for app developers to steer customers to channels other than Google after the European Union competition watchdog charged it with breaching EU regulations.
In March, Google was hit with two charges of breaching the EU’s landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to rein in the power of Big Tech.
Google has been in the European Commission’s crosshairs since early 2024 over whether it restricts app developers from informing users about offers outside its app store Google Play and whether it favours its vertical search services such as Google Flights.
Regulators have said Alphabet technically prevents app developers from freely steering consumers to other channels for better offers.
They said a service fee charged by the company for facilitating the initial acquisition of a new customer by an app developer via Google Play goes beyond what is justified.
In a blog post, Google said that following discussions with the European Commission, developers, and other experts, Google is updating certain terms.
“While we still have concerns that these changes could expose Android users to harmful content and make the app experience worse, we’re updating our External Offers Program for the EU with revised fees and more options for Android developers, following DMA discussions with the European Commission,” EMEA Senior Competition Counsel Clare Kelly said.
The company, which has been fined more than 8 billion euros ($9.3 billion) by the EU for various antitrust violations, risks fines of up to 10% of its global annual sales if found guilty of breaching the DMA.
($1 = 0.8580 euros)
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, writing by GV De Clercq; Editing by Aidan Lewis
SoftBank also held talks with Intel on buying its contract chipmaking business ahead of the investment announcement
International News via Reuters:
Intel is getting a $2 billion capital injection from SoftBank Group in a major vote of confidence for the troubled U.S. chipmaker in the middle of a turnaround.
The equity investment, announced by the companies on Monday, is a lifeline for the once-iconic U.S. firm which has struggled to compete after years of management blunders that left it with virtually no foothold in the booming artificial intelligence chip industry.
It will make SoftBank a top-10 shareholder of Intel and add to the Japanese tech investor’s ambitious bet on semiconductor and AI assets that includes the $500 billion Stargate U.S. datacenter project.
SoftBank also held talks with Intel on buying its contract chipmaking business ahead of the investment announcement, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing multiple people with knowledge of the talks.
Intel has invested billions of dollars in setting up a contract manufacturing business that has struggled to compete with Taiwan’s TSMC and barely attracted external customers.
“SoftBank’s investment helps, but it is not what is going to move the dial for Intel,” said Amir Anvarzadeh, Japan equity strategist at Asymmetric Advisors.
“It’s more to maintain this very good relationship he has with Trump,” he said, referring to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.
The deal follows media reports last week that the U.S. government may buy a stake in Intel, after a meeting between new CEO Lip-Bu Tan and President Donald Trump that was sparked by the President’s demand for Tan’s resignation over his ties to Chinese firms.
On reports of the government considering a 10% stake in Intel, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any U.S. investment would be to help the company stabilize, but the government would not force U.S. companies to buy Intel chips.
“The last thing we’re going to do is take a stake and then try to drum up business. The stake would be a conversion of the grants and maybe increase the investment into Intel to help stabilize the company for chip production here in the U.S.,” Bessent said, referring to grants allocated under the CHIPS Act.
Bessent did not provide details about the size or timing of any U.S. stake.
SoftBank’s funding also comes as Tokyo pledged a $550 billion investment package into the U.S. last month as part of a trade deal with Washington.
The Intel investment is not currently part of that package, a Japanese government source with knowledge of the negotiations said.
SoftBank’s decision to invest in Intel is not connected to Trump, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This strategic investment reflects our belief that advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply will further expand in the United States, with Intel playing a critical role,” Son said in a statement.
It will pay $23 per Intel share, a slight discount to Monday’s closing price of $23.66.
SoftBank’s investment will come via a primary issuance of common stock by Intel, and, based on the U.S. company’s market capitalisation at close of trading on Monday, represent an equity stake of just under 2%, an Intel spokesperson said.
The Japanese company would become the sixth largest investor in Intel, according to LSEG data.
SoftBank shares closed down 4% on Tuesday following the announcement, while Intel surged more than 7%.
The Japanese company will only take an equity stake in Intel and will neither seek a board seat nor commit to buying Intel’s chips, the person familiar with the matter said.
MULTIPLE CHALLENGES
Intel has struggled financially and recorded an annual loss of $18.8 billion in 2024, its first such loss since 1986, as it grapples with multiple challenges.
Its longtime rival AMD has been gaining share in Intel’s mainstay personal computer and server semiconductor markets, while its ambitious and costly plan for a chip contracting business has failed to take off.
The company is now considering a significant change to its contract chip manufacturing business to win major customers, Reuters reported last month, in a potentially expensive shift from its previous strategies.
SoftBank’s Son held talks with Tan since his appointment as Intel CEO in March to discuss a potential deal, according to the FT’s Tuesday report.
They discussed a wide range of outcomes, including joint ventures with third parties or a minority investment similar to Monday’s announcement, according to the report.
The $2 billion investment did not preclude a bigger deal over Intel’s foundry business in the future, the report said.
SoftBank and Intel did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the report.
“Intel’s dual role as designer and manufacturer/fabricator uniquely positions it as potentially the best platform in the U.S. to compete with TSMC,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo.
Bloomberg News reported earlier on Monday that the U.S. government is in talks to take a 10% stake in Intel.
SoftBank declined to provide more details on the Intel investment when asked to comment by Reuters.
Tan, a chip industry veteran who also served as a SoftBank board member before quitting in 2022, thanked Son for “the confidence he has placed in Intel with this investment.”
The Intel funding is the latest in the Japanese company’s run of mammoth investment announcements in 2025, which include committing $30 billion to ChatGPT maker OpenAI as well as leading the financing for Stargate.
Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru, Max Cherney in San Francisco and Anton Bridge in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Angela Christy and Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru, Sam Nussey in Tokyo, Ankur Banerjee in Singapore and Tamiyuki Kihara; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Alan Barona and Muralikumar Anantharaman
Medtronic also raised its full-year profit forecast for fiscal 2026 and said it expects a smaller hit of about $185 million from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs
International News via Reuters:
Medtronic said on Tuesday it would add two new directors to its board and set up committees to help boost its lagging shares, after activist investor Elliott Investment Management emerged as one of its largest shareholders.
The medical-device maker said veteran med-tech executives John Groetelaars, once interim CEO for Dentsply Sirona, and Bill Jellison, formerly CFO at Stryker, would join its board as independent directors.
Medtronic also raised its full-year profit forecast for fiscal 2026 and said it expects a smaller hit of about $185 million from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, versus the $200 million to $350 million it had previously expected.
The company’s finance chief, Thierry Pieton, said in a conference call that execution of mitigation efforts helped reduce the impact from tariffs.
Shares of Medtronic, which have risen 16% so far this year, fell 5% in early trading.
Edward Jones analyst John Boylan said investors may be disappointed in the unchanged fiscal-year 2026 sales growth forecast despite the company’s strong first-quarter results.
“Investors were hoping for more operating improvements and more sales growth than we got this quarter and in guidance,” Boylan said.
“Our decision to become one of Medtronic’s largest investors was driven by our strong conviction that the company is entering a new chapter of exceptional value creation defined by accelerating growth, operational improvement and enhanced strategic clarity,” said Elliott Partner Marc Steinberg.
Elliott, which has not disclosed the value of its stake in the company, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for the details.
Medtronic said one of the new committees would seek tuck-in mergers and acquisitions, research and development investments and potential divestitures, while the other would look to boost earnings growth.
The panels, to be led by CEO Geoff Martha, will include Groetelaars and Jellison.
“We view these changes as an incrementally positive development for Medtronic,” Leerink Partners analyst Mike Kratky said in a note, pointing to Elliott’s track record of boosting share performance for companies such as Cardinal Health.
Reporting by Puyaan Singh and Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Pooja Desai
Mia Fishel’s Seattle Reign FC and Leilanni Nesbeth’s Chicago Stars FC battled to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Lumen Field on Monday night, with the hosts surrendering a three-goal lead in a captivating National Women’s Soccer League clash.
The Reign raced into a commanding position with goals from Jess Fishlock and Jordyn Huitema in the first half, followed by an early second-half tally from Emeri Adames to make it 3-0. However, the visiting Stars mounted a remarkable comeback, scoring three unanswered goals to level the match and secure a valuable point on the road.
The match featured two Bermudian players. Forward Mia Fishel entered the game for Seattle in the second half, while compatriot Leilanni Nesbeth, who has recovered from a hip injury, was an unused substitute for Chicago.
Following the dramatic draw, Seattle remains in sixth place in the NWSL standings with 26 points, while the Chicago Stars are in 13th with nine points.
The plan includes construction of a new mine, a pressure oxidation plant, and a 50 megawatt solar park to feed the project
International News via Reuters:
Argentina’s Gualcamayo gold mine is aiming to build a new $665 million project it hopes will qualify for a new government incentive program, executives said in a recent press tour of the site.
Only two mining projects, both in lithium, have so far been approved for Argentina’s Large Investment Incentive Regime, or RIGI, which went into effect in October under President Javier Milei.
Gualcamayo originally proposed a $1 billion investment under the scheme, but scaled back its application in June following government talks about how to best meet the RIGI requirements, Ricardo Martinez, executive director of project owner Minas Argentinas, said in an interview earlier this month.
Minas Argentinas, a part of Aisa Group, bought the mine in 2023 when it was close to closing, but now produces 50,000 to 55,000 ounces of gold a year from secondary recovery, a process of leaching ore that has already gone through a first cycle of extraction.
The plan includes construction of a new mine, a pressure oxidation plant, and a 50 megawatt solar park to feed the project.
RIGI was designed to kick-start investments only through July 2026, with a possible one-year extension. It offers lengthy tax breaks and access to international dispute courts for investments exceeding $200 million.
“It’s important that we have the RIGI for legal security,” Martinez said, adding that the main challenge is for current mining regulations to remain in place.
The new mine, called Carbonatos Profundos, will be located under the current one and will produce gold from sulfides rather than oxides. The company aims to produce 120,000 ounces of gold annually starting in 2029 with a 17-year lifespan, yielding about $400 million in exports a year, executives said.
Gold production has dipped across Argentina as mines grow older and lose their high-quality ore. Still, the metal is Argentina’s top mining export, accounting for 68% of the total.
Gualcamayo aims to start construction of the new mine and processing plant in 2027, Martinez said, adding that the mine has 3 million ounces of economically viable gold reserves, part of 5 million ounces of certified resources found in 3% of the 40,000-hectare property. The rest has yet to be explored.
Martinez said high global demand and prices for gold have made the company optimistic.
“Today, the gold you produce is taken out of your hands,” he said.
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