The cost of living arguably remains the most pressing issue for islanders – and no segment of our population feels it harder than our seniors.
Housing, healthcare, groceries – costs that become ever-more challenging for elders.
Kendal Trott went into Hamilton to gauge public opinion on the issue.
The counter-tariffs on U.S. goods take effect on September 8 and impose duties of 15%, 25% and 50% across around 700 products imported from south of the border, a government statement said
International News via Reuters:
Canada hit back on Tuesday with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. annual imports and rolled out aid for businesses and workers, matching Washington’s latest duties dollar-for-dollar.
The counter-tariffs on U.S. goods take effect on September 8 and impose duties of 15%, 25% and 50% across around 700 products imported from south of the border, a government statement said.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s new 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian imports took effect on Saturday after talks between the two countries collapsed.
The new tit-for-tat tariffs mark a new low in relations between the longtime allies, and Trump earlier on Tuesday threatened to rename Lake Ontario, which straddles both countries, “Lake America.”
“Our dollar-for-dollar, rate for rate counter-tariffs as well as a multi-billion dollar support package will protect workers, farmers, families, and businesses,” Canada’s Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said.
The White House and the U.S. Trade Representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Canada levied the 50% tariffs on steel, aluminum, furniture and clothing, set the 25% tariffs on cheese, appliances and some seafood, and placed the 15% tariffs on electronics and tools, a Canadian government official told reporters.
Trump’s new tariffs are relatively narrow, affecting roughly 5% of Canada’s exports to the United States. But trade analysts say they could have severe, concentrated effects on some sectors that are already struggling like wood products, particularly kitchen cabinet makers.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs, calculated using 2024 trade figures, cover goods accounting for nearly 4.5% of Canada’s imports from the United States.
Industry Minister Melanie Joly said the counter-tariffs were primarily aimed at protecting Canadian businesses but were also aimed at applying political pressure before Americans vote in the November 3 midterm elections.
“We need to make sure that the competitors don’t have access to the Canadian market in a better way than their own… products, and that’s why the retailers need to show that from Canada,” she said.
“Second, we’re also targeting products that will target states in the U.S. and so we’re being wise and strategic to put political pressure, and that’s why we think it’s the right thing to do right now.”
The Canadian tariffs will also cover some prepared foods, perfumes and toiletries, plastics, lumber, wood pulp and paper products, carpets and clothing.
The list also targets industrial goods including iron and steel, aluminum, hand tools and other metal products, machinery and electrical equipment, as well as rail engines, motorcycles, furniture and gaming equipment, government documents showed.
Canada also unveiled a C$7.5 billion package of measures featuring support for small and medium-sized businesses, a stream for funding cash flow of companies, and support for workers at risk due to the new tariffs. The Business Development Bank of Canada, a federal lender, will provide part of the support to affected businesses, offering interest-free loans of between C$2.5 million and C$5 million.
Joly said companies would not be required to make repayments for 36 months, a period that would run through the end of the Trump administration’s term.
Reporting by Promit Mukherjee and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Deepa Babington
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% to 10,886.16 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 climbed 0.6% to 24,856.05 points
International News via Reuters:
The main UK stock indexes closed higher on Tuesday, as housing stocks were lifted by the British government’s plans to spend £10 billion on lower-cost housing, while investors awaited key events later in the week.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% to 10,886.16 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 climbed 0.6% to 24,856.05 points.
• Britain set out plans to spend £10 billion ($13.6 billion) on lower-cost housing for renters, with a focus on London. Around 60% of homes delivered through the funding would be for social rent, a subsidised cheaper form of rent that can be built by local councils or housing associations.
• The homebuilders index rose 2.5% after the announcement. Vistry jumped 16.3%, leading gains in the mid-cap index, after it received initial funding of £350 million ($477.19 million) to deliver over 3,000 affordable homes as part of the plan.
• Industrial miners Glencore and Anglo American rose about 2% each as copper prices rose to their highest in a week. [MET/L]
• Meanwhile, shares of energy majors BP and Shell dipped as oil prices fell more than 3%, with traders shrugging off the latest U.S. sanctions campaign against Iran, viewing the economic pressure as posing less risk to oil supplies than a military escalation. [O/R]
• Investors will closely watch chipmaker Nvidia’s earnings due Wednesday. The results are viewed as a major test of the AI rally as investors worry about whether the chipmaker can meet Wall Street’s lofty expectations.
• Market participants will also look for clues on the path of U.S. interest rates when Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh speaks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.
• Shares of Melrose Industries rose 10.4% after the GKN Aerospace owner said it was targeting September 28 to resume full production at its Garden Grove facility.
• Next climbed 2.4% after Citigroup upgraded the clothing retailer’s stock to buy from neutral.
£1 = $1.36
Reporting by Anand Gopal and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Lisa Shumaker
Yields on U.S. 10-year and 30-year bonds were set for a second straight day of declines as traders weighed the implications of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s decision last week to expand Treasury buybacks
International News via Reuters:
MSCI’s global equities gauge rose on Tuesday as investors awaited economic data and Nvidia’s financial results, while bond yields declined and oil prices fell following a U.S. threat to expand sanctions against Iran.
Yields on U.S. 10-year and 30-year bonds were set for a second straight day of declines as traders weighed the implications of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s decision last week to expand Treasury buybacks.
On Monday, Bessent warned countries to cut their financial ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions as part of what had been billed as “economic D-Day.” However, oil prices fell to a one-week low on Tuesday as traders viewed economic pressure as less of a risk to oil supplies than a military escalation.
On Wall Street, the heavyweight technology sector was poised to recoup some of Monday’s losses, ahead of the release of second-quarter results from AI chip leader Nvidia after market close on Wednesday.
NVIDIA RESULTS PROVIDE A FOCUS
“Technology is stronger today after the recent weakness,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder, noting that much of the boost was from Nvidia whose upcoming results are on investors’ minds.
“Nvidia has been weak and its price to earnings valuation has been down. There are buyers of Nvidia here looking for a strong earnings report. Nvidia is helping to pull up the rest of the tech market.”
The strategist also said Treasury yields were “moving in the opposite way they have been moving which is positive for the stock market,” but that the move was modest.
At 11:19 a.m. ET (1519 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 61.73 points, or 0.12%, to 53,479.37, the S&P 500 rose 12.47 points, or 0.16%, to 7,665.33 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 102.64 points, or 0.39%, to 26,082.83.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 3.08 points, or 0.27%, to 1,148.31.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.37%. Earlier, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed up 0.56% at 1,642.24, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 328.34 points, or 0.50%, to 65,856.43.
In Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 5.55 basis points to 4.649%, from 4.704% late on Monday. The 30-year bond yield fell 5.04 basis points to 5.1806%.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 3.64 basis points to 4.2%.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar was roughly unchanged as investors weighed Washington’s expanded sanctions against Iran and renewed efforts to ease pressure on longer-dated Treasury yields.
The dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.01% to 98.96, with the euro up 0.07% at $1.167.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.11% to 159.25.
Bitcoin gained 0.40% to $79,237.31 after earlier crossing above the $80,000 level for the first time since mid-May.
In energy markets, U.S. crude fell 3.05% to $82.42 a barrel and Brent fell to $89.20 per barrel, down 3.22% on the day.
Gold prices were down slightly for the day after scaling a more than three-month high earlier in the session, as the rally lost momentum near a key psychological resistance level and ahead of the release of U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation on Wednesday.
Spot gold fell 0.28% to $4,637.94 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.23% to $4,630.00 an ounce.
Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Marc Jones in London, Rae Wee in Singapore; editing by Andrew Heavens, Nick Zieminski and Barbara Lewis
The song, featuring Andean rhythms and titled “Leon, Hermano del Camino” or “Leo, Brother on the Journey”, will be performed by members of the Aguchita youth choir, named after Peruvian missionary Maria Agustina Rivas
International News via Reuters:
Peru will welcome Pope Leo XIV in November with a hymn in honor of a Catholic nun killed by Maoist insurgents, celebrating the pontiff’s return to the country where he worked for decades as a missionary.
The song, featuring Andean rhythms and titled “Leon, Hermano del Camino” or “Leo, Brother on the Journey”, will be performed by members of the Aguchita youth choir, named after Peruvian missionary Maria Agustina Rivas.
Rivas was killed by Shining Path rebels in 1990 while carrying out humanitarian work in Peru’s remote Amazon jungle region.
Known as “Aguchita,” she was beatified by the Vatican in 2022 under Pope Francis after the Church ruled she had been killed out of hatred for the Catholic faith.
Keverly Escobar, 27, one of the lead singers, told Reuters she was proud to be part of the choir honoring a Peruvian saint who gave “her life for the most humble.”
The song’s composer and musician, Jaime Montoya, said he was inspired to write the hymn because he saw a common thread —sacrifice — that unites the missionary and Pope Leo.
“The song came about partly while looking back on the life of our then-bishop, Robert Prevost,” when the now-pontiff was a missionary in Peru, Montoya added.
Peru endured a brutal conflict between security forces and Shining Path, a guerrilla movement that sought to establish a communist state.
The violence left roughly 69,000 people dead or missing between 1980 and 2000, mostly in Peru’s poorer indigenous and Amazon communities, according to official estimates.
“Aguchita knew she was confronting Shining Path, which at that time had the government under pressure and wanted to force all communities to join its cause,” said Monsignor Pedro Castro of the Apostolic Vicariate of San Ramon, where the missionary served.
Pope Leo’s visit comes soon after President Keiko Fujimori took office in July, pledging to unite the country following years of political turmoil.
Fujimori, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, has praised her father’s role in defeating the Shining Path insurgency in the 1990s, though his legacy remains divisive because of corruption and human rights abuses committed during his rule.
The hymn won a national competition to find a song symbolizing unity ahead of the Pope’s November 11 to 16 visit to Peru, part of a South American tour that will include Argentina and Uruguay.
Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, first arrived in Peru in 1985 and became a Peruvian citizen in 2015 after being appointed bishop of Chiclayo, where he stayed until 2023.
Reporting by Marco Aquino; Additional reporting by Carlos Valdez and Anthony Marina; Writing by Lucinda Elliott; Editing by Andrew Heavens
The chipmaker has been the biggest beneficiary of the race to build AI infrastructure
International News via Reuters:
Nvidia’s results on Wednesday will test whether the company’s latest Rubin chips can drive another period of explosive growth, with some investors questioning the sustainability of the AI spending boom.
The chipmaker has been the biggest beneficiary of the race to build AI infrastructure. Recently, though, its stock has come under pressure as the company has pumped billions of dollars back into the AI ecosystem, stoking fears about its role in so-called circular deals that could artificially inflate demand and distort broader economic signals.
Nvidia’s shares have risen 11.8% so far this year and lagged major rivals, with the company briefly ceding its position as the world’s most valuable firm to Apple last month.
On average, analysts expect its second-quarter revenue to nearly double from a year earlier to $92.18 billion — the quickest pace of growth in seven quarters — driven by an over twofold increase in data center sales, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Investors, however, are increasingly focused on how quickly Nvidia can transition customers from its Blackwell chips to its next-generation Vera Rubin processors, with shipments expected to begin this autumn.
Driving that growth is a data-center spending spree by Big Tech that is set to exceed $730 billion this year, as well as ballooning outlays at smaller, AI-focused cloud companies such as CoreWeave that are backed by Nvidia.
AI BACKSTOPS RAISE CONCERNS
Scrutiny of that spending has intensified after Nvidia this month helped arrange $500 billion in financing from six major U.S. financial institutions for its customers building AI infrastructure. Last week, Nvidia also agreed to guarantee up to $105 billion to help OpenAI lease a massive data center in Ohio for 20 years – one of its biggest AI financing commitments.
“This makes them a kind of central banking figure in the AI space,” said Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment Management, which holds Nvidia shares. “The real risk is total AI exposure with no diversification; the key for this to be successful is that adoption rates of AI tools must continue to grow.”
CEO Jensen Huang has argued the logic behind Nvidia using its balance sheet to support the boom is simple: the chipmaker is flush with cash that it can use to support AI buildouts by customers that are growing quickly but still losing money. He said the Ohio data-center backstop did not amount to circular financing because OpenAI would pay for the lease and that Nvidia was helping finance and secure data centers, power supplies and facilities that would house its chips for decades.
GROWING COMPETITION, RUBIN RAMP IN FOCUS
A successful ramp-up of its Rubin chips is crucial as Nvidia faces growing competition from Big Tech’s custom chips and central processors from Intel and AMD in inference, the process by which AI automates tasks and responds to queries.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimate these chips could contribute nearly $9 billion in sales in the third quarter ending October. “We expect the company to point to Rubin as unlocking a large improvement in AI factory economics over what is already the leadership platform in Blackwell,” they said in a research note, but added that it would take some time to judge whether Nvidia could win market share from AMD and the custom AI chips being developed by major technology companies.
Analysts expect Nvidia to forecast an 82.8% rise in third-quarter sales to $104.20 billion. Adjusted gross margin for the second and third quarters is expected to remain around 75%.
Reporting by Anhata Rooprai, Rashika Singh, and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Devika Syamnath
States meet in Geneva next week to discuss potential new rules amid mounting concerns over the role of AI-assisted semi-autonomous weapons that have been used in conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, and in Iran and the Gulf
International News via Reuters:
The United Nations’ chief and the head of the Red Cross on Tuesday warned that autonomous weapons that can kill people without human involvement could soon be used in conflicts and called for urgent negotiations to restrict their use.
“We are now dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: the autonomous targeting of humans by machines,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a joint statement with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric.
“Negotiations must begin now to urgently adopt a legally binding instrument to regulate autonomous weapon systems with clear prohibitions and restrictions,” they said.
States meet in Geneva next week to discuss potential new rules amid mounting concerns over the role of AI-assisted semi-autonomous weapons that have been used in conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, and in Iran and the Gulf.
The discussions, which began in 2014, have made some progress but technology has also advanced.
Fully autonomous weapons are already in use by some armies, such as anti-missile systems on warships, but for now they are not known to have been used against human targets.
Human rights groups also worry that AI-driven systems cannot be adequately predicted or controlled, raising the risk of fatal errors such as a failure to recognise an injured or surrendering soldier. And once such errors occur, it is harder to hold perpetrators to account in any future war crimes cases, they say.
“States must show political courage and move beyond incremental discussions towards decisive action,” the joint statement said, calling for those talks to begin in November when a major review conference that occurs only once every five years is planned in Geneva.
“Some decisions must forever remain with the human being, none more than the decision of taking or not a human life,” Carolyne Mélanie Régimbal, chief of service at the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs, told a Geneva press briefing after the joint statement’s release.
While states agree international humanitarian law (IHL) applies to lethal autonomous weapons systems, specifically binding international standards for such systems remain virtually non-existent.
Russia and the United States, among others, have opposed new legally binding instruments, arguing existing laws are sufficient.
The Geneva talks, which require consensus to lead to formal negotiations, are taking place within a challenging context of geopolitical tensions and recent European withdrawals from the landmine ban treaty, over Russian threats.
Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Louise Heavens and Kate Mayberry
The government said around 60% of homes delivered through the funding would be for social rent — a subsidised cheaper form of rent that can be built by local councils or housing associations
International News via Reuters:
Britain set out plans to spend £10 billion ($13.6 billion) on lower-cost housing for renters with a focus on London, although its target for offering social rent was lower than a pledge made by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The government said around 60% of homes delivered through the funding would be for social rent — a subsidised cheaper form of rent that can be built by local councils or housing associations.
That was in line with the proportion set out by the government of former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which created the programme, but below Burnham’s pledge to deliver all housing under the programme via local councils.
Burnham, who took over in July, has said empowering local councils to build social housing, as Britain did after World War Two, could lower the amount of the welfare bill that goes to private landlords, reduce homelessness and provide security to people on lower incomes.
“Councils built this country out of a housing crisis once before. Backed properly, and trusted to get on with it, they will do it again,” Burnham said in a statement late on Monday, which included details of the first wave of funding.
But housing minister Matthew Pennycook said councils did not yet have the capacity to take on the whole programme.
Under the first phase, the government said on Tuesday that more than £7 billion — the first tranche of a previously announced £39 billion in funding over 10 years — was earmarked for the capital where local authorities were expected to deliver over half the new homes, the government said.
Over time, more than £16 billion of the total funding plan will be allocated outside London, the government said, adding it would prioritise social rent homes and council house-building.
It said the first wave of financing would support the construction of more than 70,000 new homes.
The government said the house-building programme would advance another policy priority of Burnham — devolution — by giving mayoral authorities the power to set strategic direction in their areas.
($1 = 0.7335 pounds)
Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Muvija M; Editing by Sharon Singleton
Acting Detective Superintendent Jason Smith, Community Policing Division – “The Bermuda Police Service (BPS) wishes to provide clarification regarding the management and processing of individuals, who are the subject of outstanding warrants, particularly warrants relating to traffic and parking matters.
There are currently 17,971 outstanding warrants, representing approximately $10,483,386 in outstanding fines. The volume of outstanding warrants places a significant demand on the resources of the Bermuda Police Service and the wider criminal justice system.
The BPS continues to enforce outstanding warrants, and it is important to clarify that persons encountered by police who are the subject of criminal warrants will continue to be arrested and processed in accordance with the law. This includes persons identified through routine policing activity, traffic stops, arrests for other offences, or other operational encounters.
The BPS is, however, reviewing the process applicable to individuals who voluntarily present themselves at Hamilton Police Station specifically to answer outstanding traffic or parking matter warrants.
At present, these individuals are arrested and processed through the police custody suite, held pending their court appearance, and subsequently returned to the police station following disposal of their matter so that they can be formally booked out. This process requires significant police and custody resources.
Current figures indicate that the BPS receives approximately five to ten voluntary warrant walk-ins each day, with the booking process at both ends taking approximately 30 minutes per individual.
The scale of warrant-related policing is further demonstrated by recent arrest figures. In the last seven days, the BPS made 57 arrests, of which 24 were for warrants.
This means that approximately four out of every ten arrests during that period were warrant-related. In one instance, an individual arrested on Friday, 21 August 2026, was found to have five outstanding warrants.
So far, in 2026, the BPS has made 530 arrests for warrants. These arrests have frequently arisen in circumstances where individuals were already being detained or arrested for other offences, including:
The BPS is therefore seeking to distinguish between the enforcement of criminal warrants and the administrative processing of individuals who voluntarily present themselves to address outstanding traffic or parking matters.
Under this new process, and with the support of the Senior Magistrate, individuals who voluntarily present themselves for the purpose of addressing an outstanding traffic or parking warrant would attend Hamilton Police Station and present themselves. A police officer will then escort them to the Magistrates’ Court, for the 9:30am plea court session, rather than being arrested and processed through the police custody suite.
The proposed arrangement would require:
This “Warrant-Walk-In” is intended to improve the efficiency of the warrant process while ensuring that outstanding matters continue to be addressed through the appropriate judicial process.
Importantly, this voluntary walk-in arrangement does not apply to criminal warrants. Where a person is encountered by police and is found to be the subject of an outstanding criminal warrant, the individual will continue to be arrested, detained and brought before the court as soon as practicable in accordance with established procedures.
The BPS recognises the importance of enforcing outstanding warrants and recovering outstanding fines. At the same time, given the significant volume of outstanding warrants and the demands placed on police resources, it is appropriate to explore more efficient methods of dealing with individuals who voluntarily come forward to resolve their outstanding traffic and parking matters.
The objective is not to diminish the enforcement of warrants, but rather to ensure that police resources are proportionately and effectively deployed while individuals remain accountable for their outstanding obligations through the courts.”
The Bermuda Police Service (BPS) is warning members of the public to remain vigilant against recent scam attempts involving compromised WhatsApp accounts and the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), including deep fake technology, to impersonate trusted individuals and defraud victims.
Criminals may attempt to take control of a WhatsApp account by obtaining a victim’s verification code or by deceiving them into sharing personal or account information. This has frequently been executed by means of contacting victims via WhatsApp and misinforming them that the code being sent to their phones is in relation to a scheduled “Zoom” meeting. Thereafter, the victims are prompted to transmit the six (6) digit code to the bad actors not knowing that the code represents the key for their WhatsApp account to be migrated to a new device. Once an account is compromised, the offender may impersonate the account holder and contact family members, friends or business associates requesting money, financial assistance or sensitive information.
Protect yourself:
· Never share your WhatsApp verification code or PIN with anyone, even if the request appears to come from someone you know.
· Enable Two-Step Verification on your WhatsApp account.
· Be cautious of unexpected messages asking for money, gift cards, banking information or urgent assistance.
· Verify unusual requests by contacting the person directly using a different method, such as a telephone call.
· Do not click on suspicious links, or provide personal, banking or login information in response to unsolicited messages.
· Regularly review the devices linked to your WhatsApp account and remove any you do not recognise.
If You Believe You Have Been Defrauded
Contact your financial institution immediately if money has been transferred or financial information has been disclosed. Preserve relevant WhatsApp messages, telephone numbers, screenshots, transaction information, emails, audio, video and any other evidence.
Report suspected fraud or account compromise to the Bermuda Police Service as soon as possible.
BPS reminds the public: Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated technology to make scams appear genuine. Take a moment to verify before you trust, click or transfer money.
The Bermuda Police Service (BPS) is warning members of the public to remain vigilant against recent scam attempts involving compromised WhatsApp accounts and the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), including deep fake technology, to impersonate trusted individuals and defraud victims.
Advances in AI technology have made it increasingly possible for criminals to create convincing fake audio, video, images and messages that appear to come from a real person.
A fraudster may use AI-generated audio to imitate the voice of a family member, friend, business executive or public official and create a false sense of urgency—for example, claiming that someone is in trouble and needs money immediately.
Remember: Seeing or hearing someone is no longer sufficient proof of identity!
Before Sending Money: STOP! THINK! VERIFY!
If you receive an unusual or urgent request for money:
1. STOP – Do not act immediately because someone is pressuring you to do so.
2. THINK – Consider whether the request is unusual or inconsistent with the person’s normal behaviour.
3. VERIFY – Contact the person independently using a trusted telephone number or another established means of communication.
4. DO NOT SEND MONEY until you are satisfied that the request is genuine.
If a caller claims to be a relative or trusted person, ask questions that an impersonator would be unlikely to know. Avoid relying solely on the voice, image or video presented to you.
If You Believe You Have Been Defrauded
Contact your financial institution immediately if money has been transferred or financial information has been disclosed. Preserve relevant WhatsApp messages, telephone numbers, screenshots, transaction information, emails, audio, video and any other evidence.
Report suspected fraud or account compromise to the Bermuda Police Service as soon as possible.
BPS reminds the public: Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated technology to make scams appear genuine. Take a moment to verify before you trust, click or transfer money.
Team Hayward welcomed representatives from across Bermuda’s trade union movement to a Night of Unity on
Sunday, August 23, at the Bermuda Public Services Union Headquarters.
In attendance were representatives from the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU), Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT), Bermuda Public Services Union (BPSU), Electricity Supply Trade Union (ESTU), Bermuda Entertainment Union (BEU), the Bermuda Fire Service Association (BFSA) and the Bermuda Prison Officers Association (BPOA).
The evening created an opportunity for union representatives from a range of sectors to come together in an informal setting and discuss the future of Bermuda, the changing needs of workers and the importance of strong leadership during a period of economic and social change.
The Hon. Jason Hayward, JP, MP said the event was intended to recognise the strength of Bermuda’s labour tradition while also encouraging forward-looking discussion about the issues that will shape the next generation of workers.
“Bermuda’s labour movement has always been about more than the workplace. It has helped shape our society, expand opportunity and improve the quality of life for generations of Bermudians. As our economy evolves, we must ensure that working people are equipped to benefit from that change and are not left behind by it.”
Discussions throughout the evening touched on the importance of economic security, workforce development, career advancement and ensuring that Bermuda continues to create pathways for its people to participate fully in the economy.
Minister Hayward said Bermuda’s next chapter will require leadership that understands both the challenges facing workers today and the opportunities that can be created through long-term planning.
“The decisions we make today will determine what kind of Bermuda we leave for the next generation. We need an economy where Bermudians can build careers, support their families and see a future for themselves here. Achieving that requires us to think beyond the immediate moment and remain focused on sustainable progress.”
The event also highlighted the diversity of Bermuda’s organised labour movement and the contribution unions make across the public and private sectors.
Team Hayward said the Night of Unity is part of a wider programme of engagement taking place ahead of the Progressive Labour Party’s October leadership election, providing opportunities to hear directly from individuals and groups across Bermuda about their priorities for the country.
Minister Hayward added, “Leadership is ultimately about service and responsibility. I believe Bermuda’s future must be built around
opportunity, economic security and a clear plan that allows more of our people to succeed.”
Team Hayward’s leadership campaign continues under the theme “Building Together, Ready to Lead.”
Videos of water spout formations were captured over the weekend at Ferry Reach in St. George’s.
Powerful weather conditions this weekend triggered spectacular lightning storms, thunder and even a waterspout or two.
There were also power cuts and flight delays at L.F.Wade International Airport. A spokesperson from Skyport confirmed six flights were impacted over Saturday and Sunday due to ‘severe thunderstorm activity.’
They said, “In accordance with standard operating procedures and global aviation safety practices designed to protect ground handling personnel from potential lightning strikes, temporary ‘Ground Stops’ were in effect on Saturday August 22 and Sunday August 23.
“The resulting suspension of ground activities, including fuelling, aircraft marshalling, and baggage handling, led to flight disruptions that trickled over into Monday August 24.”
Jasmine Patterson reports.
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