01092025 BUSINESS by tribune242

THURSDAY, JANUARY 9,

Mayaguana treasure hunting ‘deﬂection’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMAS-based

underwater explorer is accusing its legal opponent of seeking to “harass” it through allegations it conducted treasure hunting off Mayaguana without obtaining the required government permits.

David Concannon, attorney and spokesperson for Allen Exploration Group (AEG), told Tribune Business that the innuendo-based claims by Daniel Porter, the Freeport-headquartered principal of Maritime Research & Recovery (MRR), were nothing more than a “deﬂection” and attempt to distract from the parties’ core dispute over the salvaging of an estimated $1.5bn in treasure from another wreck in Bahamian waters.

The assertions about unauthorised exploration in the southern Bahamas, which allegedly resulted in the recovery of “gold or silver coins”, are contained in legal documents ﬁled on January 6, 2025, with the south Florida federal court by Mr Porter and MRR in their ongoing battle with Allen Exploration over separate salvage efforts surrounding the sunken Spanish galleon, Nuestra Senora de la Maravillas

As part of the legal ‘discovery’ process, where both parties seek documents and other evidence relevant to the case from each other, Mr Porter and MRR demanded on November 21, 2024, that Allen Exploration produce “a copy of all photos or videos” showing the latter’s principal, Carl Allen, “swimming or diving in

‘We can’t price ourselves out’ over worker beneﬁts

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE “crazy cost of doing business” in The Bahamas means proposals to increase maternity leave and other worker beneﬁts must be handled cautiously, a labour specialist warned yesterday.

Peter Goudie, who heads the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) labour division, told Tribune Business that while the private sector is not opposed in principle to

extending maternity leave much will depend on what length of increase is proposed.

Voicing particular concern about the impact this may have on micro and small businesses, which have minimal staff and may struggle to find replacements, he warned that The Bahamas has to be “very mindful” to strike the correct balance between greater worker benefits and protections and the need for free enterprise to flourish in the absence of major cost and ease of doing business reforms.

Mr Goudie, who represents the private sector on the National Tripartite

Council, the body responsible for dealing with all worker-related matters in The Bahamas, also expressed disquiet to this newspaper that the 255 reform recommendations produced by last summer’s national labour symposium have yet to be released for feedback and consultation among the private sector, trade unions and wider civil society. Questioning what there is to “hide”, he added that the Council and all parties are presently in a “void”

Massive land fraud’s solution ‘in ﬁnal stage’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE ATTORNEY General yesterday afﬁrmed the Government is “in the ﬁnal stages” of a decadelong effort to secure land and property ownership for hundreds of victims of a massive land scam.

Ryan Pinder KC, speaking at the new legal year’s opening, said the ﬁrst conveyances to regularise ownership for at least 250 home and lot owners in Nassau’s Sir Lynden Pindling Estates area will be issued “in the next few weeks” with the rest to soon follow after the expenditure of millions in Bahamian taxpayer dollars to protect these investments.

While giving little to no details or background on what led to the Government’s actions, Mr Pinder told the assembled legal profession that the

Government was in “the ﬁnal stages of the Arawak Homes regularisation of legal title project” and plans to soon issue conveyances to the ﬁrst group of impacted home owners.

“Our Chambers section continues to represent the Government on multiple commercial, ﬁnancing, conveyancing matters with what seems to be everincreasing complexities of subject matter,” Mr Pinder

Road Trafﬁc reform delay ‘a bit murky’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN insurers yesterday backed the Government’s decision to delay implementing major Road Trafﬁc Act reforms but warned some of the details are still “a bit murky”.

Timothy Ingraham, chief executive of Summit Insurance Company, told Tribune Business that more clarity was required after the Ministry of Energy and Transport conﬁrmed 2025 will in effect be a transition period with the requirement for persons to have a minimum six months’ insurance coverage when

they licence their vehicles deferred until next year. Calling for more certainty over the issuance of insurance certiﬁcates for vehicle licensing, he added that the sector was anticipating

RYAN PINDER

TIMOTHY INGRAHAM

Internet of Things now critical in world where every second counts

In the evolving world of business, one of the most transformative tools at our disposal is the Internet of Things (IoT).

By connecting physical devices, ranging from sensors on shipping containers to smart shelves in warehouses, IoT has fundamentally reshaped the landscape of supply chain management.

Here’s how IoT is enhancing efﬁciency, transparency and responsiveness in supply chains, helping companies meet today’s fast-paced consumer demands. IoT’s power lies in its ability to provide realtime tracking across every point in the supply chain.

By embedding GPSenabled sensors in vehicles, shipping containers and warehouses, companies can monitor products from production to ﬁnal delivery, thereby giving a live view of the supply chain. If a shipment encounters delays or an unexpected temperature drop, automated alerts enable swift action, preventing spoilage or damage and ensuring goods arrive as promised. This level of visibility translates to faster responses, reduced losses and higher customer satisfaction. Efﬁcient inventory management is the backbone of any successful supply chain. Through

IoT-enabled smart shelves and inventory-tracking sensors, companies can receive automatic updates on stock levels. When inventory runs low, these systems can trigger restocking processes automatically, ensuring popular items are always available while avoiding overstocking. Major players such as Amazon have already harnessed these IoT solutions, meeting customer demand while optimising warehouse space and minimising excess inventory.

IoT also supports the proactive maintenance of machinery and vehicles thanks to sensors that monitor wear and tear. This ‘predictive maintenance’

approach helps companies avoid unexpected equipment failures, which can halt production or delay deliveries. For example, sensors on delivery trucks monitor engine health and fuel efﬁciency, notifying operators before minor issues turn into costly repairs. By reducing downtime and repair costs, predictive maintenance keeps the supply chain running smoothly.

IoT data enhances forecasting by offering a clearer view of demand trends. Analysing real-time data from IoT devices, such as weather patterns, shopping behaviours and seasonal ﬂuctuations, enables

companies to adjust orders and production schedules to meet expected demand accurately. This agility helps prevent both stock shortages and over-production, aligning supply with customer needs and reducing waste.

As consumers become more environmentally conscious, sustainability in the supply chain has become a priority. IoT can help by offering ways to improve energy efﬁciency and reduce emissions. For instance, IoT-enabled ﬂeet management can optimise delivery routes and lower fuel consumption, while smart warehouse management systems reduce electricity usage by adjusting lighting and temperature. These changes not only cut costs but also appeal to eco-conscious consumers and contribute to long-term environmental goals.

As IoT continues to develop, integration with artiﬁcial intelligence (AI) and blockchain promises even more innovations in supply chain management. AI-driven IoT insights can further automate decisionmaking, while blockchain combined with IoT can enhance product traceability and authenticity, allowing customers to know exactly where and how products were sourced. Though there are challenges, such as ensuring data security, the beneﬁts of IoT in supply chains are

ROYE II KEITH

undeniable. Real-time tracking, automated inventory and predictive analytics bring a level of efﬁciency and accuracy that were once unimaginable. For companies looking to stay competitive, IoT is not just an option; it is an essential part of a forward-looking supply chain strategy. In a world where every second counts, IoT is the key to building a supply chain that is as fast and reliable as modern customers expect. For companies ready to adapt, the potential of IoT is only just beginning.

DEVELOPER: WE’RE STILL SKY BEACH’S OWNERS

THE developer behind the transformation of Paradise Island’s Hurricane Hole location yesterday asserted it remains the owner of Eleuthera’s Sky Beach Resort and Spa despite claims to the contrary. Sterling Global Financial, in a statement, dismissed assertions by “Craig Williamson of 8ght LLC, its agents, and all afﬁliated parties” that they now own the property. “Despite failing to fulﬁll the terms of an agreed-upon contract, 8ght LLC has continued to represent itself as the owner and developer of the Sky Beach Resort & Spa property in Eleuthera. Sterling has issued multiple

formal cease and desist notices to Craig Williamson and 8ght LLC, directing them to stop promoting the sale of the Sky Beach Resort & Spa property or claiming any ownership rights,” it added, “Sterling wishes to make clear that it has no affiliation with these ongoing representations by 8ght LLC or its agents..... Additionally, Sterling clarifies that the website https:// skybeachresort.info is not the official website of Sky Beach Resort & Spa and has no affiliation with Sterling Global Financial.” 8ght LLC could not be reached for comment before press time last night.

TEMPLE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

On Saturday, January 18, 2025, Temple Christian School will hold its Entrance Examination for students entering grades 7, 8, 9 and 10.

TIME: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. LOCATION: High School Campus, Shirley Street

Application forms are available at the High School Offce and should be completed and returned to the school by Friday, January 17, 2025. The application fee is twenty-fve dollars ($25).

For further information, please call telephone number: 394-4481/394-4484.

PM: NO FISCAL DISRUPTION FROM 50% VAT FOOD CUT

By FAY SIMMONS

THE Prime Minister last night asserted that the Government’s 50 percent VAT rate cut for “all food” items with effect from April 1, 2025, will not disrupt its deficit and other ﬁscal targets.

Philip Davis KC, in a national address, signalled that the Government remains focused on combating the ongoing cost of living crisis for many lower income and middle class Bahamian families by announcing that the VAT rate will be slashed from 10 percent to 5 percent on all grocery items apart from prepared deli food.

“I am pleased to announce a 50 percent reduction in the VAT rate on all food sold in food stores,” said Mr Davis.

“Beginning April 1, the rate will be cut in half from 10 percent to 5 percent. This new 5 percent rate will apply to all food in the food stores, including fresh fruits and vegetables, baby food, lunch snacks and frozen foods.

“However, it will not apply to prepared foods in

the deli. This rate reduction will also apply to the importation of all items previously mentioned. The effective date is April 1 in order to give merchants and food stores time to make the necessary adjustments.”

Mr Davis stressed that the VAT rate reduction will not impact his administration’s ﬁscal targets, and asserted that while taxation is not the cause of high food prices its reduction will “make a difference” to many low-income households.

“VAT is not the cause of the high price of food, but for those with the tightest disposable income, reducing VAT by 50 percent will make a difference,” said Mr Davis. “This reduction will not impact our ﬁscal targets for this year.”

Based on a $200 weekly food bill, a 10 percent VAT rate currently adds $20 to the total cost, bringing it to $220. The reduction in the VAT rate to 5 percent will reduce taxation at the point-of-sale to $10, representing a small but signiﬁcant saving for all families and shoppers that builds and accumulates throughout the year.

However, no mention was made of any reduction in import tariffs or Customs duties on imported food items, which also add to the cost. However, the cashstrapped Public Treasury likely could not afford any further revenue concessions without the Government having to make up the income foregone elsewhere to keep it on track for its near-$70m ﬁscal deﬁcit target for 2024-2025.

The VAT slash is also likely to have been made with one eye on the approaching general election, which has to be held within the next 21 months by September 2026. Mr Davis and his Cabinet are also likely to have been sensitive to constant Opposition attacks over the Government’s alleged failure to combat the rising cost of living, with the Free National Movement (FNM) clearly sensing a weak point to exploit.

The Opposition, too, will likely point to how the Minnis administration eliminated VAT on socalled breadbasket items to ease the burden on hardpressed consumers. Mr Davis can now argue he has

done likewise with a much broader-based decrease.

The Prime Minister last night acknowledged that although the Bahamian unemployment rate is at its lowest level since 2008, standing around 9 percent, many households are still struggling with the high cost of living as a result of inﬂation caused by external factors.

He said his administration is working to address the “underlying structural issues” that have caused high prices in the country by tackling areas such as energy, housing and trade.

The Prime Minister added that one of the “biggest reasons” for high prices in The Bahamas is a lack of competition. To combat this, he said legislation to prohibit anti-competitive practices will be drafted and a Price Comparison App will be launched by the end of the ﬁrst quarter so consumers can compare prices between retailers.

“In order to strengthen competition, we will shortly be engaging in a consultative period prior to introducing legislation to prohibit anti-competitive practices,” said Mr Davis.

Land reform laws to House in 2025’s Q1

By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter

THE Attorney General yesterday said critical land reform legislation will be tabled in Parliament during the 2025 ﬁrst quarter to be followed swiftly by other planning-related legal changes.

Ryan Pinder KC, addressing the new legal year’s opening, said the tabling of the Land Adjudication and Land Registration Bills will be followed by their passage through Parliament and implemented in the 2025 second quarter. These reforms will be followed shortly after by amendments to the Planning and Subdivision Act and a potential Law of Property Bill.

“We have undertaken our public consultation on the Land Adjudication and Land Registration Bills. These are the pieces of legislation that will implement land registration in The Bahamas. The compendium of land reform bills will represent a signiﬁcant step forward in ensuring that land transactions in The Bahamas are transparent, efﬁcient and secure,” Mr Pinder said.

“We intend to have the Bills tabled in the ﬁrst quarter of this year, and debated and implemented in the second quarter. We have secured space in the [Bahamas] Financial Centre for the land registrar and are currently working on an implementation strategy.

“We will continue our land reform project through 2025, with a new Planning and Subdivision Bill to come to Parliament. We are also looking at the prospect of a Law of Property Bill that will modernise and consolidate the numerous land-related legislation in the country.”

Mr Pinder said the Government also plans to bring “into force the Registrar of Records Act 2024 and Registrar of Companies Act 2024, along with the compendium of the intellectual property legislation”.

“Within the ﬁrst quarter of this year, we intend to bring into force the Registrar of Records Act 2024 and Registrar of Companies Act 2024, along with the compendium of the intellectual property legislation,” he added.

“Consequently, we will introduce a registrar for each of the Companies registry, Records registry and Intellectual Property registry to allow for the

focused oversight, management and attention needed to discharge their statutory functions.”

To combat both actual and perceived corruption, Mr Pinder said the Independent Commission of Investigations Bill has been issued for public consultation and legislation will “proceed” in Parliament. With this, he added that the Government “will bring legislation to establish a whistleblower protection framework”, noting that this will help create “a public accountability and integrity culture”.

The Attorney General added that the Ombudsman Act 2024, which creates the ofﬁce charged with investigating government mistreatment and wrongdoing, will be brought “into force in a matter of weeks”.

“Well, I think if you look at what we’ve done, we passed the Ombudsman Bill,” Mr Pinder said. “It’s now the Ombudsman Act. We’re bringing it into force in a matter of weeks.

We have the appointed day notice prepared, and we’re going to appoint the committee that’s responsible for selecting the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman is a key feature of transparency and recourse by citizenry to the Government.

“By promoting competition, the legislation will seek to enhance consumer welfare and protection through lower prices, remove unfair trading practices, and secure better products and services and a wide range of choice at the best possible prices.

“In order to help Bahamians shop around to ﬁnd the best prices, we are also

“We’re also proceeding with the Independent Investigation Commissions Bill, which is a very important piece of legislation, and we’re looking to expand its scope beyond just security forces. We’re looking to include those who have to ﬁle public disclosures.

“So that’s really all civil servants at a senior level as well as all parliamentarians, all boards of corporations. And so we’re looking to have that scope broadened to be inclusive of all of those persons as well.”

launching

and

a new ‘Price Comparison App’ to help consumers easily compare prices between retailers. The app will initially focus on the food sector, but is planned to extend across

number of sectors. On the current timetable, we expect to have the app up

running by the end of the ﬁrst quarter of 2025.”

PHILIP DAVIS KC

CARIBBEAN CREDIT UNIONS IN NASSAU BOARD MEETING

A CARIBBEAN credit union group, which represents institutions from 18 countries including The Bahamas, held its latest quarterly Board meeting in Nassau last month.

The Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU) directors, during their three-day meeting held from December 4 to December 6, 2024, met with Bahamian regulators plus local credit union management and ofﬁcials to discuss the industry’s continued development and progress.

The Bahamas Co-operative League presented a

hurricane relief donation to help other Caribbean countries impacted by recent storms. The funds have been allocated to the CCCU’s relief pool, ensuring that credit unions in the affected areas receive the necessary support. Credit Union members in those areas will directly beneﬁt from the funds.

During its visit, the CCCU delegation visited the Teachers & Salaried Workers Co-operative Credit Union; Bahama Islands Co-operative Credit Union; and Central Bank of The Bahamas. They also

met with Central Bank governor, John Rolle, to highlight the importance of strengthening ties between the CCCU and ﬁnancial regulators to ensure continued growth and stability among credit unions.

The CCCU represents18 countries including Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.

MAYAGUANA TREASURE HUNTING ‘DEFLECTION’

waters surrounding Mayaguana island, Bahamas, in 2023”.

Mr Allen has ﬁnanced the multi-million dollar revival of Walker’s Cay in the Abacos, and Mr Porter also sought “a copy of all photos or videos” of the Texan investor “holding gold or silver coins recovered by any person from the waters surrounding Mayaguana island, Bahamas, in 2023”.

Not surprisingly, this was resisted by Mr Allen and his exploration company.

“Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that the topics related to the recovery of artifacts from the waters around Mayaguana island in 2023 are not relevant to any of the claims or defences asserted in this lawsuit,” they retorted.

“Defendants never contracted with plaintiffs to search the waters around Mayaguana island, nor were plaintiffs [Mr Porter and MRR] involved in any such recovery on behalf of plaintiffs if it occurred. Discovery on this topic is not proportional to the needs of the case, the burden or expense of the proposed discovery will likely outweigh its beneﬁt, the discovery is being sought merely to harass the defendants.”

Mr Porter and MRR, though, hit back through their January 6, 2025, legal ﬁlings in which they implied Mr Allen and Allen Exploration had been treasure hunting off Mayaguana without the necessary government approvals and permits.

Asserting that they had “agreed to limit the number of videos and photos of Carl

Allen diving or searching the waters off Mayaguana island, as well as holding found treasure”, Mr Porter and MRR argued that the evidence sought was relevant to their central allegation that they have not been paid their rightful $1.5m-$2m share of some $10m in artifacts and treasure recovered from the Nuestra wreck.

“If true, Carl Allen and Allen Exploration searching and recovering treasure from a different sunken ship, in an area they did not have government approval to search/recover in, would be a violation of Bahamian law and counter the defendants’ claims of good character as raised in the pleadings. It would also be relevant to plaintiffs’ afﬁrmative defence that the defendants have ‘unclean hands’ in this matter.”

However, Mr Allen and Allen Exploration, in their own legal ﬁlings on December 23, 2024, argued that Mr Porter has zero credibility because he is “a convicted felon with a 30-year criminal history that includes multiple arrests and convictions”.

Mr Concannon, speaking to Tribune Business, said the accusations of unauthorised treasure exploration off Mayaguana and alleged recovery of “gold and silver” coins were merely an attempt by Mr Porter and MRR to deﬂect and distract from the fact their original claim against Allen Exploration has “reached a dead end”.

“It’s a deﬂection. It’s not relevant to the case,” he blasted. “If they’re exploring off Mayaguana they’ll get a permit, do whatever the law requires... The good

news is that Mr Allen is happy with where he is with the Bahamian government, and if anything needs to be fixed, it will be fixed. He’s done what he said he’s going to do, and is reinvesting more money. He’s fine.

“The good news is that we got rid of the bad apple out of the bunch, and if there are any more we’ll get rid of them, too.” Calling for all energies to be focused on “the real issues in the case”, Mr Concannon signalled Allen Exploration’s belief that Mr Porter’s legal action is merely an effort to harass or coerce the undersea explorer into paying out his ﬁnancial demands.

“Mr Allen is not going to reward that behaviour and is not going to submit to blackmail,” Mr Concannon told this newspaper. “Porter’s new motion relates to allegations that are not actually part of the case, but he would like to make them part of the case to deﬂect from the actual issue, which is whether Porter and MRR had an oral agreement with Allen Exploration to share artifacts from the Maravillas. They did not.”

Allen Exploration has also countered with some thinly-veiled discovery demands of its own, demanding that Mr Porter and MRR admit or deny that they “have never paid Bahamian Customs duties” on the vessels they imported into this nation or the “furniture, personal property and materials” brought in since November 2019. And it is demanding he produce copies of all Customs declarations for the past six years.

Mr Concannon, meanwhile, argued that “Porter and MRR can’t seem to

decide what the agreement with Allen Exploration is supposed to be” as they have since sought to amend their Florida lawsuit - a move that the underwater explorer is opposing.

“Plaintiffs cannot decide what this case is about or what the facts should be to support their claims,” Allen Exploration asserted. “After they were caught trying to hide the existence of a written agreement governing the parties’ relationship, their choice of Texas as the appropriate forum and law applying to any disputes, and the dubious nature of their claim that defendants have breached a series of oral agreements, the plaintiffs have moved to amend their complaint solely to add legal conclusions couched as factual allegations to sweeten the damages they hope to recover, and to add different facts that materially alter the deal they supposedly made with defendants.

“In other words, now that plaintiffs’ have reached a dead end with their original allegations, they want a ‘do over’. Although leave to amend a pleading ordinarily is ‘freely given when justice so requires’, none of the bases for allowing leave to amend or supplement a pleading are present here. Moreover, plaintiffs’ proposed amendments are made in bad faith, with a dilatory motive and, signiﬁcantly, the amendments would be futile.”

Mr Porter, in initiating legal action, alleged that Mr Allen and Allen Exploration sought to hire his expertise and skills to assist with the Nuestra exploration and recovery because

they lacked the necessary knowledge at that time. He claims the two parties agreed “a treasure recovery operation” where Mr Porter and his ﬁrm would receive 30 percent of the artifacts recovered once the Bahamian government had taken its share.

The Spanish galleon, according to Mr Porter, is estimated to have sunk with a $5bn fortune at today’s values with some $1.5bn in gold and silver thought to remain unrecovered. He, though, is alleging that Mr Allen and Allen Exploration have reneged on their deal and are now refusing to pay MRR’s rightful share of $10m in “undivided treasure” that has been recovered.

Asserting that he and MMR are due between $1.5m-$2m from these recoveries, Mr Porter is also claiming that Allen Exploration has seized intellectual property worth $20m in the form of a map and recovery plan he produced for not only the Nuestra’s $1.5bn but a second Spanish treasure galleon, the Genovese, which was part of the same Spanish ﬂeet and also sank in Bahamian waters centuries ago.

However, Mr Allen and Allen Exploration countered by asserting their contractor “failed to use money he was given to pay

the Government for multiple work permits to pay for any work permit except his own”. They also alleged he used their money to pay personal expenses, while using vessels and crew hired by AEX on salvage work for others while “rarely” going to explore the Nuestra site in winter despite being paid to do so.

And Mr Allen and Allen Exploration are also asserting that Mr Porter and his company have repeatedly refused to return their “unique and conﬁdential search data acquired over the past ﬁve seasons at a cost of millions of dollars”. They claim they have already incurred “substantial harm”, including “reputational damage with the Government of The Bahamas”.

“It is worth noting that Dan Porter is a convicted felon with a 30-year criminal history that includes multiple arrests and convictions for possession of marijuana, obtaining property in return for a worthless cheque, domestic violence, violation of domestic violence injunctions, violation of probation and trespass,” they alleged in their December 23, 2024, legal ﬁlings.

“The court may also consider this evidence in evaluating the plaintiffs’ motives and credibility.”

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, CHARLOTTE ANN WILSON GIBSON, of P.O. Box: EE15822, Twyham Heights , Nassau, The Bahamas, intend to change my name to CHARLOTTE ANN MCKEON If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Offcer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, The Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

PICTURED L to R: Hally Haynes, president, CCCU; Denise Garﬁeld, general manager; Theresa Deleveaux, president, Bahamas Cooperative League Ltd (BCLL); Angela Hinsey, treasurer, BCLL; and Kaylesa Simmons, vice-president, BCLL.

AG: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ‘FULLY IMPLEMENTED’ THIS YEAR

By FAY SIMMONS

ATTORNEY Gen-

eral Ryan Pinder said the Freedom of Information Act should be fully implemented this year and an implementation plan has already been put in place.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr Pinder said the government is working on a pilot programme that will include “select” agencies and train employees on how to respond to requests from the public.

“We’re working on the implementation plan, as I had said a month ago or so, that we’re working on a pilot programme in select ministries and a training session in the select agencies, because the internal civil service likewise has to be trained on how to respond to requests appropriately. But yes, we have an implementation plan, and working on doing that for this year,” said Mr Pinder.

When asked when the public will be able to make a request, Mr Pinder said

while it will depend on the implementation plan it should be within this year.

“It’s all based upon the implementation plan.

Certainly, this calendar year, I hope that would be in full force,” said Mr Pinder.

Khalil Parker KC, president of the Bahamas Bar Association, during his address at the opening of the 2025 legal year, criticised the Davis administration’s failure to fully implement the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr Parker said each day the full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act is delayed is an “unreasonable and unconstitutional interference” with the rights of Bahamians to access the information they should receive under the act.

He said the government has yet to “discharge its obligation” and called for more “transparent, effective and accessible” public integrity legislation.

“The Freedom of Information Act 2017 was intended and promised to reinforce and give further effect to fundamental principles that underline our system of constitutional democracy, namely, governmental accountability, transparency and public participation in national decision making. By granting the public a general right of access to records held by public authorities,

subject only to exceptions, which balance that right against reasonable and proportion of their interest exemptions,” said Mr Parker.

“While the Freedom of Information Act has yet to be brought into full force and effect, I must emphasise that the public has an inherent right to access the information to which access intends to be facilitated under the act.

“Every day, the full implementation of the act is delayed is an unreasonable and unconstitutional interference with that right.

While successive administrations have acknowledged this fundamental right, the government has yet to discharge its obligation to vindicate them, which remains the priority of the association. We employ government’s recognition of the need for transparent, effective and accessible public integrity legislation.”

Mr Pinder said the Ombudsman act will be brought in force “in a matter of weeks” which will provide further government transparency and recourse for citizens and the Independent Investigations

Commissions Bill will be expanded to ensure senior civil servants, parliamentarians and board members ﬁle public disclosures.

“We passed the ombudsman bill, it’s now the ombudsman act. We’re bringing it into force in a matter of weeks. We have the appointed day notice prepared, and we’re going to appoint the committee that’s responsible for selecting the ombudsman. The ombudsman is a key feature of transparency and recourse by the citizenry to the government,” said Mr Pinder.

“We’re also proceeding with the Independent Investigation Commissions bill, which is very important piece of legislation, and we’re looking to expand its scope beyond just security forces. We’re looking to include those who have to ﬁle public disclosures. So that’s really all civil servants at a senior level, as well as all parliamentarians, all boards of corporations. And so, we’re looking to have that scope broadened to be inclusive of all of those persons as well.”

Musicians union election certiﬁed - amid debate over artist approvals

By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business

ELECTIONS for the Bahamas Musicians and Entertainment Union (BMEU) have been certiﬁed, said the Director of Labour yesterday, after claims that the United Artists Bahamas Union (UABU) is the only legal union allowed to approve foreign artists coming into the country.

Howard Thompson said the Registrar of Trade Unions has concluded its investigations and determined that the BMEU’s election results have been certiﬁed and that it may function ofﬁcially, “which includes the approval of performances by foreign artists”.

“There has been a misconception that the BMEU is unable to approve performances due to a pending investigation by the Registrar of Trade Unions into the BMEU election results,” Mr Thompson said. “According to the Office of the Registrar of Trade Unions, that investigative process has been concluded and the election results have been certified. BMEU is free to carry on with its official responsibilities, which includes the approval of performances by foreign artists.”

The UABU has been vocal in saying it is the only legal union that can approve foreign artists’ entry into The Bahamas to perform. The union recently expressed their disapproval of the Vybz Kartel concert slated to happen in a few months, threatening to protest if the Dancehall star is approved and allowed into the country. The union told Tribune Business in a recent interview that its belief was built on a recent meeting with Minister of Labour Pia Glover Rolle. The union claimed Ms Glover-Rolle conﬁrmed the BMEU’s elections were not certiﬁed, which it understood to mean it was the only union legally allowed in the approval process. However, Mr Thompson, who was present during the same meeting, said he has “no recollection” of the labour minister granting the

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UABU sole authority to make approval decisions.

“I was present at the meeting and have no recollection of the UABU being granted sole responsibility for permitting performances by foreign artists,”

Mr Thompson said. “Nor do the ofﬁcial minutes and records held by the Department of Labour reﬂect such a discussion.”

Mr Thompson noted Ms Glover-Rolle touched on the need for both unions to “balance” the work among them. He said “an agreement to hold a mediation process so that both unions can come to an understanding on the way forward” was recorded.

“At our most recent quarterly meeting with union representatives held in December, the Minister of Labour and the Public Service, Pia Glover-Rolle, spoke to the need for the UABU and the BMEU to come back to the negotiation table to determine the speciﬁcs of how the balance will work between both unions and their roles in ofﬁcially recognising and approving performances by foreign artists,” he said.

Mr Thompson made clear that permission granted to any foreign artist entering The Bahamas is left up to the Department of Immigration. He said: “The Department of Labour wishes to advise the public that no union has been granted ‘sole authority’ to approve the performance of foreign artists in The Bahamas. The granting of permission to allow foreign artists to enter and perform in The Bahamas is the purview of the Department of Immigration. No other entity or individual, including the Director of Labour, Department of Labour, or Minister of Labour and the Public Service, has jurisdiction over this process. Historically, the Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union (BMEU) played a role in this process by granting its permission for foreign artists to enter the country. Over the past two years, another union, the United Artists Bahamas Union (UABU), has emerged and is seeking to be a part of this process. However, the role of each union has not yet been

Pursuant to the Provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000 notice is hereby given that the above-named Company has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to a Certiﬁcate of Dissolution issued by the Registrar General on the 3rd day of December 2024.

fully agreed upon, pending negotiations between both parties. The most recent public statement issued by the UABU regarding the approval of a certain foreign artist for a concert to be held later this year further illustrates the lack of clarity on the role of each union.”

Mr Thompson said the Department of Labour will “move forward with the intention to bring BMEU and UABU together to come to an agreement that will be acceptable to both parties and prove beneﬁcial to the many talented artists and entertainers they represent”.

RYAN PINDER KC

VYBZ KARTEL

Road Trafﬁc reform delay ‘a bit murky’

said. “In particular, we are happy to report that we are reaching the ﬁnal stages of the Arawak Homes Ltd regularisation of legal title project; a project that began more than 10 years ago.

“In the next few weeks, we intend to issue conveyances to the ﬁrst tranche of homeowners, with others to follow.” The Government, via efforts that have spanned four administrations, was forced into a costly public policy intervention on these owners’ behalf after they purchased their lots, upon which many constructed homes and other structures, from unscrupulous fraudsters who did not own the land they were selling.

To correct the fall-out from a scam that dates back some four decades, the Government purchased the impacted lots from Arawak Homes, the developer that has always held good title to the 156-acre tract involved, and whose ownership has been upheld by multiple Supreme Court rulings.

The solution, once the conveyances are issued to the owners, will ensure they ﬁnally have good title to their properties and no longer have to fear the prospect of eviction and other insecurities. Lenders will also be able to properly secure mortgage ﬁnancing, while Arawak Homes receives compensation forand recovers - the land sales it previously lost due to the activities of scammers.

However, the downside is that this has resulted in the expenditure of several million scarce Bahamian

taxpayer dollars to right a wrong while those who perpetrated the land swindle appear to have largely escaped without any punishment for their actions.

Asked how much the Government paid to acquire the lots, Mr Bethel replied: “I would only say several million. It was several good million, but less than $20m. I really don’t want to put a ﬁgure on it, but it was around $9m or so to the best of my recollection. The money is to be paid over time.”

Mr Bethel warned then, though, that ﬁnal resolution was facing “some delays” that had forced the Government to hire a land surveyor to determine whether what exists on the ground in Sir Lynden Pindling Estates today - in terms of the lots acquired from Arawak Homes - conforms to the so-called “Pinewood plan” that was approved to guide the area’s development.

Sir Franklyn Wilson, Arawak Homes chairman, declined to comment when contacted by Tribune Business yesterday. However, the developer four years ago conﬁrmed the nature and extent of the settlement

agreement to resolve the title fraud that ensnared the 156-acre tract of land it owns in the Pinewood Gardens/Nassau Village area, just south of Charles W. Saunders Highway.

Tavares LaRoda, Arawak Homes’ in-house attorney, said then: “There were over 250 houses and buildings impacted. The land on which they built structures is subject to transfer. It’s in excess of 250 lots.”

Sir Franklyn added that efforts to settle the mess created by rogue land sellers and their attorney enablers had already spanned three administrations. He revealed that they began under the last Ingraham government, when Byron Woodside, the Pinewood MP and minister of state with responsibility for land, approached Arawak Homes over a land swap.

A similar solution was proposed for a land dispute that erupted in the Bozine Town area. Sir Franklyn said Arawak Homes was prepared “from a corporate policy point of view to entertain the proposal” for a land exchange that would resolve all parties’ issues, but Mr Woodside was unable to meet its request for “a Cabinet conclusion” that would show the solution had the Government’s full backing.

The initiative was then picked up by Mr Woodside’s successor as Pinewood MP, the ex-minister of state for investments, Khaalis Rolle. Mr Rolle was able to provide “evidence of a Cabinet conclusion”, and the Christie administration established a Cabinet committee headed by Hope Strachan, then-Sea Breeze MP, to negotiate a resolution with Arawak Homes.

“Eventually we came to an understanding where the Government acquired a substantial number of lots in Pinewood Gardens,” Sir Franklyn said, explaining that the Minnis administration had followed through on the work done by its two predecessors. However, those responsible for the fraud perpetrated on unsuspecting Bahamians whose numbers are far in excess of the 250 lots acquired by the Government have never been held to account. They include the Smith, Smith & Company law ﬁrm, which handled the various conveyancing transactions involving the 156 acres, and a Mr Robinson, who controlled one of the companies involved.

The scam exploited the Quieting Titles Act. It started by putting forward two ‘front men’, in this case John Sands and Thaddeus

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, CHARADE MARIE SARGENT also know as CHARADE MARIE VERONICA SARGENT, of P.O. Box SB-51540, Yellow Elder, Off Graham Drive, Nassau, The Bahamas, intend to change my name to DON SAMARZIAN STUART If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Offcer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, The Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

Johnson, to claim some connection to the targeted property, such as having farmed it in the past. A Certiﬁcate of Title is then sought under this Act, with the ‘front man usually being controlled by the scheme’s architects, who stay out of the picture until the title certiﬁcate is obtained.

To obtain a title certiﬁcate via the Quieting Titles Act, parties using this mechanism must advertise their move in the ofﬁcial government gazette (newspaper) so that neighbouring landowners and others who may claim ownership of the subject property are informed and can contest the move.

This was not done in either the John Sands and Thaddeus Johnson cases, with the perpetrators falsely certifying to the Supreme Court that this process was followed so they could

obtain title certiﬁcates to a property already owned by Arawak Homes.

Once the title certiﬁcates were in their possession, those behind the Sir Lynden Pindling Estates fraud immediately “washed” or laundered the title through a series of transactions that on-sold it to companies such as Horizon Systems, Bahamas Variety Company and C.B. Bahamas. They then started selling the property to unsuspecting low income Bahamian buyers, often for prices below market value, who did not equate “a sweet deal” with a potential scam. Many were also suckered in by relatives who vouched for the bona ﬁdes of those promoting the scheme, while others did not think to - or could not afford to - hire attorneys to conduct title searches on the property.

‘We can’t price ourselves out’ over worker beneﬁts

until the draft proposals are released by the Davis administration’s Cabinet for public comment and discussion.

Responding to calls by the Bahamas National Breastfeeding Association (BNBA) for the present 12-week maternity leave to be increased by up to twothirds, or 66 percent, to 20 weeks, Mr Goudie said: “There’s a cost to every kind of beneﬁt provided.

The Chamber is not against extending some maternity leave, but we have to see what is proposed and go out to our members and see what they think.

“I don’t think we’re opposed to extending it; it’s just how much. The cost of doing business in this country is crazy as it is. We have to be careful. We can’t price ourselves out of the

market. My concern is the small businesses; that’s my biggest concern. They can’t afford to be having people take months and months, or more than what is already legislated.

“We’ve got to be aware of what the cost of business is if we increase maternity leave. That’s the concern. We have to be very careful and be very mindful of what our [Chamber] members can afford, and until we do something about the cost and ease of doing business it’s going to be difﬁcult. That’s right in the Government’s hands with electricity, Business Licence renewals, all that stuff; bureaucracy and red tape.”

Trineka McCardy, the BNBA president, is arguing that 12 weeks’ maternity leave is insufﬁcient as signalled by The Bahamas’ low exclusive breastfeeding rate of 22 percent. She

added that this is far below the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 60 percent target.

“After we did a survey, sometime back in 2020, we realised why women are not exclusively breastfeeding in our country,” she said. “We realised that most of the women, 80 percent of the women, are saying that they have to go back to work. That’s why they are giving the babies formula as well, and they need to make sure that their baby is sorted out, and that’s why they are not exclusively breastfeeding.”

The review of maternity beneﬁts could bring The Bahamas closer to international labour standards while addressing public health priorities such as exclusive breastfeeding. The BNBA is advocating for 20 weeks of maternity leave but is open to a compromise of 16 weeks.

“Our recommendation is 20 weeks; that’s what we want,” Ms McCardy said. “We wanted 20 weeks to help out our mothers so that they can have more time to breastfeed their babies, but it has been said to me that we may have to make a compromise. Because of the labour laws or the standard, which is 16 on the book, they are saying that may be a better yardstick for us to work with instead of the 20 weeks we want.”

Workplace conditions also remain a concern for breastfeeding mothers. Ms McCardy described challenges faced by women who need to pump breastmilk at work.

“A lot of these companies want women to go in the bathroom to pump their milk,” she said. “How can you go in the bathroom to pump your milk? That is not viable. Do you eat

in the toilet? We don’t go in the bathroom to eat, so why should she go in there to pump her baby’s milk? That is not ethical, that is not proper.” Mr Goudie said maternity leave will be among issues discussed at upcoming National Tripartite Council meetings. As to the recommendations that came from last year’s labour symposium, these are being drafted and put into a discussion paper under the oversight of Robert Farquharson, former director of labour. However, Mr Goudie told Tribune Business: “We haven’t seen all the ﬁnal recommendations. They have not been supplied to us yet. No, nothing. It went to Cabinet and we have not heard a word.

“We haven’t seen anything yet. We cannot move on something until we see it. I don’t know if I’m concerned; I don’t know why it’s delayed, that’s all. We spent a lot of time at that,

and I don’t know why the recommendations even have to go to Cabinet. Why couldn’t they have been shared with us? Let us know; we did all the work on it - why couldn’t we see the results.

“I don’t know what the Government’s hiding,” Mr Goudie continued. “Until we see them we can’t do anything We cannot act on something that we don’t know. We need to know and I don’t know where they are. We cannot get any feedback from our members until we see them. The longer they hide them, the less that’s going to happen. “We cannot even go out and discuss it with our members until we see this stuff. We’re all in a void right now; everybody is. We cannot do anything until we see what is going on. We’ll have people getting at us, but how can we do something if we don’t know anything?”

Massive land fraud’s solution ‘in ﬁnal stage’

said. “In particular, we are happy to report that we are reaching the ﬁnal stages of the Arawak Homes Ltd regularisation of legal title project; a project that began more than 10 years ago.

receives compensation forand recovers - the land sales it previously lost due to the activities of scammers. However, the downside is that this has resulted in the expenditure of several million scarce Bahamian taxpayer dollars to right a wrong while those who perpetrated the land swindle appear to have largely escaped without any punishment for their actions.

Carl Bethel KC, Mr Pinder’s immediate predecessor as attorney general, conﬁrmed to Tribune Business exactly four years ago in early January 2021 that the Government had acquired 250 “lots on which there were homes or parts of houses” as part of the settlement mechanism agreed with Arawak Homes. “We’re trying to bring order out of chaos, and it’s a long and fraught process,” he added. Asked how much the Government paid to acquire the lots, Mr Bethel replied: “I would only say several million. It was several good million, but less than $20m. I really don’t want to put a ﬁgure on it, but it was around $9m or so to the best of my recollection. The money is to be paid over time.”

Mr Bethel warned then, though, that ﬁnal resolution was facing “some delays” that had forced the Government to hire a land surveyor

TRUMP MEETS WITH REPUBLICANS ON CAPITOL HILL AS GOP STRUGGLES TO AGREE ON LEGISLATIVE STRATEGY

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press

PRESIDENT-elect

Donald Trump is meeting privately on Capitol Hill late Wednesday with Republican senators as House and Senate GOP leaders are straining to come up with a strategy for tackling his legislative priorities as the party takes power in Washington.

Trump said it "feels great" to be back inside the U.S. Capitol for the ﬁrst

JOB POSTING:

time since he left ofﬁce four years ago, after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by his supporters. With his wife, Melania, he also paid tribute to the late President Jimmy Carter lying in state in the Rotunda ahead of funeral services Thursday.

With Trump taking the oath of ofﬁce on Jan. 20, Republicans have no time to waste.

"We're looking at the one bill versus two bills, and whatever it is, it doesn't matter," Trump said about the conﬂicting strategies as

to determine whether what exists on the ground in Sir Lynden Pindling Estates today - in terms of the lots acquired from Arawak Homes - conforms to the so-called “Pinewood plan” that was approved to guide the area’s development.

Sir Franklyn Wilson, Arawak Homes chairman, declined to comment when contacted by Tribune Business yesterday. However, the developer four years ago conﬁrmed the nature and extent of the settlement agreement to resolve the title fraud that ensnared the 156-acre tract of land it owns in the Pinewood Gardens/Nassau Village area, just south of Charles W. Saunders Highway.

he arrived. "We're going to get the result."

Trump's return to Capitol Hill marked a changed era in Washington as he strode through the corridors where four years ago a mob of his supporters had laid siege to the U.S. Capitol as senators ﬂed to safety in a failed attempt to salvage Trump's election defeat to President Joe Biden.

Inside the lengthy meeting, Trump received applause and bursts of laughter from the Republican senators staying late into the evening to confer with him behind closed doors. The session stretched past an hour. He also met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and is also expected to huddle over the weekend with House GOP lawmakers at his private club Mar-a-Lago.

BAHAMAREEFS ASSISTANT PROGRAM MANAGER (#56053)

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Te BahamaReefs Assistant Program Manager (APM) develops, manages, and advances conservation programs, plans and methods and provides technical leadership for the Northern Caribbean Program (Te Bahamas and Turks and Caicos), with a focus on the administration and implementation of the program Impact Funding for BahamaReefs, a long-term blended fnance initiative being led by Te Nature Conservancy and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs. With guidance and support from the BahamaReefs Program Manager, the APM will support the overall administration and execution of the project, including reporting on project outcomes to the granting agency, development and management of workplans, supporting budgets, and monitoring program progress. S/he will support project teams, liaise with the implementing partners, and provide adaptive management of project priorities.

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climate adaptation and mitigation, or blue economy initiatives. projects, including managing stafng, workloads, and budgets under deadlines.

programmatic and technical reports for public and/or privately funded projects, giving attention to details.

working closely with a variety of national and community-based stakeholders in Te Bahamas including government agencies. audiences.

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However, those responsible for the fraud perpetrated on unsuspecting Bahamians whose numbers are far in excess of the 250 lots acquired by the Government have never been held to account.

They include the Smith, Smith & Company law firm, which handled the various conveyancing transactions involving the 156 acres, and a Mr Robinson, who controlled one of the companies involved. The scam exploited the Quieting Titles Act. It started by putting forward two ‘front men’, in this case John Sands and Thaddeus Johnson, to claim some connection to the targeted property, such as having farmed it in the past. A Certificate of Title is then sought under this Act, with the ‘front man usually being controlled by the scheme’s architects, who stay out of the picture until the title certificate is obtained.

the subject property are informed and can contest the move.

This was not done in either the John Sands and Thaddeus Johnson cases, with the perpetrators falsely certifying to the Supreme Court that this process was followed so they could obtain title certificates to a property already owned by Arawak Homes. Once the title certificates were in their possession, those behind the Sir Lynden Pindling Estates fraud immediately “washed” or laundered the title through a series of transactions that on-sold it to companies such as Horizon Systems, Bahamas Variety Company and C.B. Bahamas. They then started selling the property to unsuspecting low income Bahamian buyers, often for prices below market value, who did not equate “a sweet deal” with a potential scam. Many were also suckered in by relatives who vouched for the bona fides of those promoting the scheme, while others did not think to - or could not afford to - hire attorneys to conduct title searches on the property.

CNN DEFAMATION TRIAL COMES AT A ROUGH TIME FOR LEGACY MEDIA — AND FOR THE STRUGGLING NETWORK

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer

AT A particularly inopportune time for legacy media and CNN, the news outlet is on trial in Florida this week, accused of defaming a Navy veteran involved in rescuing endangered Afghans from that country when the U.S. ended its involvement there in 2021.

The veteran, Zachary Young, blames CNN for destroying his business when it displayed his face onscreen during a story that discussed a “black market” in smuggling out Afghans for high fees at the time of the Taliban takeover.

In a broader sense, the case puts the news media on the stand in journalism critic Donald Trump’s home state weeks before he’s due to begin his second term as president, and on the same day Facebook’s parent introduced a Trumpfriendly policy of backing off fact checks. Young’s attorney, Kyle Roche, leaned into the press’ unpopularity in his opening arguments on Tuesday.

“You’re going to have an opportunity to do something signiﬁcant in this trial,” Roche told jurors in Florida’s 14th Judicial Circuit Courts in Panama City on Tuesday. “You’re going to have an opportunity to send a message to mainstream media. You’re going to have an opportunity to change an industry.”

That’s the fear. Said Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and the Law at the University of Minnesota: “Everybody in the news media is on trial in this case.”

Actual defamation trials are rare in this country

Defamation trials are actually rare in the United States, in part because strong constitutional protections for the press make proving libel difﬁcult. From the media’s standpoint, taking a case to a judge or jury is a risk many executives don’t want to take.

Rather than defend statements that George Stephanopoulos made about Trump last spring, ABC News last month agreed to make the former president’s libel lawsuit go away by paying him $15 million toward his presidential library. In the end, ABC parent Walt Disney Co. concluded an ongoing ﬁght against Trump wasn’t worth it, win or lose. In the most high-proﬁle libel case in recent years, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million on the day the trial was due to start in 2023 to settle the company’s claims of inaccurate reporting in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

The Young case concerns a segment that ﬁrst aired on Jake Tapper’s program on Nov. 11, 2021, about extraction efforts in Afghanistan. Young had built a business helping such efforts, and advertised his services on LinkedIn to sponsors with funding who could pay for such evacuation.

He subsequently helped four separate organizations — Audible, Bloomberg, a charity called H.E.R.O. Inc. and a Berlin-based NGO called CivilFleet Support eV — get more than a dozen people out of Afghanistan, according to court papers. He said he did not market to — or take money from — individual Afghans.

Yet Young’s picture was shown as part of CNN story

that talked about a “black market” where Afghans were charged $10,000 or more to get family members out of danger.

The plaintiff says the story’s reference to ‘black market’ damaged him

To Young, the “black market” label implied some sort of criminality, and he did nothing illegal. “It’s devastating if you’re labeled a criminal all over the world,” Young testiﬁed on Tuesday.

CNN said in court papers that Young’s case amounts to “defamation by implication,” and that he hadn’t actually been accused of nefarious acts. The initial story he complained about didn’t even mention Young until three minutes in, CNN lawyer David Axelrod argued on Tuesday.

Five months after the story aired, Young complained about it, and CNN issued an on-air statement that its use of the phrase “black market” was wrong. “We did not intend to suggest that Mr. Young participated in a black market. We regret the error. And to Mr. Young, we apologize.”

That didn’t prevent a defamation lawsuit, and the presiding judge, William S. Henry, denied CNN’s request that it be dismissed. CNN, in a statement, said that “when all the facts come to light, we are conﬁdent we will have a verdict in our favor.”

Axelrod argued on Tuesday that CNN’s reporting was tough, fair and accurate. He told the jury that they will hear no witnesses who will say they thought less of Young or wouldn’t hire him because of the story — in other words, no one to back up his contention that it was so damaging to his business and life.

Meta rolls back hate speech rules as Zuckerberg cites ‘recent elections’ as a catalyst

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer

IT wasn't just fact-checking that Meta scrapped from its platforms as it prepares for the second Trump administration. The social media giant has also loosened its rules around hate speech and abuse — again following the lead of Elon Musk's X — speciﬁcally when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity as well as immigration status.

The changes are worrying advocates for vulnerable groups, who say Meta's decision to scale back content moderation could lead to real-word harms. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday that the company will "remove restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that are out of touch with mainstream discourse," citing "recent elections" as a catalyst.

For instance, Meta has added the following to its rules — called community standards — that users are asked to abide by:

"We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like 'weird.'" In other words, it is now permitted to call gay people mentally ill on Facebook, Threads and Instagram. Other slurs and what Meta calls "harmful stereotypes historically linked to intimidation" — such as Blackface and Holocaust denial — are still prohibited.

The Menlo Park, California-based company also removed a sentence from its "policy rationale" explaining why it bans certain hateful conduct. The now-deleted sentence said that hate speech "creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases may promote ofﬂine violence."

"The policy change is a tactic to earn favor with the incoming administration while also reducing business costs related to

content moderation," said Ben Leiner, a lecturer at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business who studies political and technology trends. "This decision will lead to realworld harm, not only in the United States where there has been an uptick in hate speech and disinformation on social media platforms, but also abroad where disinformation on Facebook has accelerated ethnic conﬂict in places like Myanmar." Meta, in fact, acknowledged in 2018 that it didn't do enough to prevent its platform from being used to "incite ofﬂine violence" in Myanmar, fueling communal hatred and violence against the country's Muslim Rohingya minority. Arturo Béjar, a former engineering director at Meta known for his expertise on curbing online harassment, said while most of the attention has gone to the company's factchecking announcement Tuesday, he is more worried about the changes to Meta's harmful content policies.

SIGNAGE is seen at the CNN Center in Atlanta on April 21, 2022.

Photo:Mike Stewart/AP

WHY GEORGIA’S LATEST PUSH TO CURB LAWSUITS HAS BUSINESS GROUPS AND TRIAL LAWYERS AT ODDS

By CHARLOTTE KRAMON Associated Press

AFTER years of stalled efforts to limit civil lawsuits, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican lawmakers are doubling down with a new push.

Supporters, most prominently business groups, call the state a "judicial hellhole," and argue that businesses are being crushed by rising insurance costs driven by excessive lawsuits that have helped plaintiffs get big payouts.

"This issue is not about business," said Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, a Dahlonega Republican. "It's about every Georgian paying more and more premiums for their insurance. Whatever we can do to make it more affordable to own a home, operate your vehicle and protect your family with insurance, we need to do it."

But opponents say there's no proof that lawsuits are closely linked to rising insurance rates and that limits will make it harder for injured parties to win justice in court.

"This is about trying to do some favors for people who hopefully will line your political pockets," said Jen Jordan, an attorney and former Democratic state senator. "At the end of the day, Georgians are going to be hurt."

Kemp in 2023 promised the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, one of his top allies, that he would seek to limit lawsuit costs, a push that many call "tort reform."

Even as Kemp held events to build public support ahead of the legislative session, which begins Monday, the Republican governor is having to contend with GOP lawyers in the General Assembly who make a living by ﬁling lawsuits, Democrats who mostly oppose changes, and a state Supreme Court that has voided earlier limits.

One key issue is lawsuits against stores, apartment complexes and other businesses over crimes or injuries on their property. In one such lawsuit, Georgia

shouldn't be held responsible for the wrongdoing of customers and trespassers.

"If we ﬁx this problem, Georgia could be a much easier, well-perceived place for businesses and their insurers," said attorney Bill Custer. "It will ﬁx our reputation as a bad-boy state."

Nancy Palmer, a spokesperson for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, said Georgia's legal landscape has driven insurance companies out, making it difﬁcult for businesses to get adequate coverage. She said insurance costs have become "untenable" across industries, affecting day care centers, grocery store

“This is about trying to do some favors for people who hopefully will line your political pockets. At the end of the day, Georgians are going to be hurt.”

Jen Jordan

Dunn wants to see lawmakers limit the amount of compensation people can seek for non-economic damages such as emotional pain and suffering. Georgia's legislature capped such verdicts in 2005, but the state Supreme Court overturned the law in 2010 as unconstitutional.

mother Sheila Brooks sued Family Dollar and Dollar Tree last year after her son Lem Johnny Johnson IV was fatally shot at one of their south Atlanta stores.

Police say the shooter wasn't a Family Dollar employee, but the lawsuit alleges that Family Dollar knew about earlier incidents "involving gunshots, gunplay, assault, violent threats with weapons, and disturbing acts of violence" at and near the location. The store should have taken more security measures to protect their customers, the complaint said.

Supporters of lawsuit limits say property owners

But he admitted in 2024 that the effort was complicated, and instead signed a law to gather data on lawsuit verdicts.

owners, pharmacies, lowincome housing providers and others in urban and rural areas alike.

Darion Dunn, a managing partner at Atlantic Strategies, which develops affordable housing and is behind a micro community for previously unsheltered people known as "The Melody," said insurance companies are raising premiums or denying coverage in areas they label as "high crime" due to concerns about litigation.

"Because of these rising insurance costs, we've had to walk away from projects that would otherwise have brought much-needed

The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association disputes the idea that insurance costs are rising because of jury verdicts, and said in a statement that "insurance companies have continued to raise premiums despite making record proﬁts."

To limit a property owner's liability, lawmakers could limit the kind of evidence lawyers can use to prove property owners knew about the risk of incidents like Johnson's killing. Lawmakers could also instruct juries to assign a minimum amount of blame to the person who committed the crime. In

oft-cited 2023 case, a

was awarded

robbery.

DARION DUNN, managing partner at Atlantica Properties, poses at The Melody rapid housing development in Atlanta, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. Photo:Charlotte Kramon/AP affordable housing," Dunn said.

From AI assistants to holographic displays, automakers showcase in-cabin experiences at CES

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

AP Business Writer

INTERIOR lighting aimed at reducing motion sickness. Shiny holographic dashboards displayed on windshields. And AI-powered voice assistants paired with infotainment systems to keep you company on long drives.

Automakers pulled out all the stops to showcase their latest advances for invehicle experiences at CES, the Consumer Technology Association's annual trade show of all things tech, in Las Vegas this week. Hyundai Mobis unveiled a full-windshield holographic technology, while BMW spotlighted its new "iDrive" panoramic display. And Honda and Sony Honda Mobility showed what consumers can expect with their upcoming electric vehicles.

Many of these driving enhancements aim to "make life on board more comfortable," explains Axel Maschka, executive vice president and head of the business division at Hyundai Mobis. And for some consumers today, he adds, "this 'living space'" of a car's interior has become a dominant part of a vehicle's appeal.

Hyundai Mobis' holographic windshield display provides a glimpse into that. The technology, which won't be on the market for at least several more years, projects information ranging from driving speed to safety alerts across the entire windshield, and also provides some entertainment options for those who aren't behind the wheel. To keep the driver's eyes

on the road, the panoramic display looks different depending on where you sit. A demo from the South Korean company shows the front row passenger can watch a movie or play a video game projected ahead of them, for example, but it's not visible to the driver. Maschka claims the holographic windshield gives drivers an easier view of key information in their line of sight and keeps other distractions in the car out of sight.

Car safety experts have long stressed that keeping drivers' eyes on the road is critical. Simplicity is also key, says Ian Reagan, a senior research scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an education and research nonproﬁt. Too many visual display features can be overwhelming, he explains.

"Driver distraction is a big concern with visual displays in vehicles," said Reagan, who cautions that safety "doesn't always win out" over what some companies determine is going to be "sexy and sell" for consumers. Still, Reagan says he's encouraged by recent developments in panoramic displays that aim to keep key, minimal information in a car's line of sight.

Beyond Hyundai Mobis, that's part of what BMW, which showed off its new Panoramic iDrive and Operating System X, also says it's trying to do. The system, which will be integrated into of new models starting later this year, projects a panoramic display onto the vehicles' lower windscreen.

The technology offers a range of digital features

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INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, DON SAMARZIAN PETER MURPHY, of P.O. Box N-4447, The Grove, Nassau, The Bahamas, intend to change my name to DON SAMARZIAN STUART If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Offcer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, The Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

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NOTICE is hereby given that ALDENE FARQUHARSON of P.O. Box N-4264, Antigua Street, Carmichael Road, New Providence, The Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 9th day of January, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

LEGAL NOTICE

We, Mark Rolle, Peter Rolle, and Pastor Joshua Rolle, Descendants of the late Cornelius Rolle of Johnson Bay, South Andros, Bahamas, and holders of Power of Attorney in his estate, hereby issue the following Notice to the General Public:

Please be Advised that Cornelius Rolle (Deceased) is the Rightful Owner of the Montgomery Tract of Land, comprising One Thousand (1,000) acres, located in the Settlement of Johnson Bay and extending into Black Point on the Island of Andros, in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Additionally, the Estate of Cornelius Rolle includes the following parcels of land:

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● Cornelius Rolle Estate Parcel: Fourteen (14) acres

All Trespassers and Violators on these Properties will be Prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.

Dated this 26th Day of November 2024

Contact Information:

● Pastor Joshua Rolle: mjosh02@hotmail.com

| 242-357-2250

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(D. 2, 5, 12, 19, 27, J. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30)

and can be personalized by different colors, apps and other preferences. But in the driver's line of sight, Stephan Durach, BMW's Head of UI/UX Development, said the goal was to avoid redundancies.

"You often hear the phrase, 'your car is your smartphone on wheels.' And to be honest, I don't like this at all," Durach told The Associated Press. He said that the display aims to show a minimal amount of the most important information above the dashboard, in efforts to help reduce distractions.

Honda and Sony Honda Mobility also spotlighted incabin features that drivers will soon encounter in their new EV lineup.

Sony Honda Mobility says "Afeela 1" will include an interactive AI-powered voice agent. In Monday's remarks, CEO Yasuhide

Mizuno said that "customers can be entertained by communicating with Afeela 1" — noting that Afeela's agent is "focused on conversation" and "proactively talks to you" to provide useful information as you drive.

The Afeela 1, scheduled to go on sale later this year with deliveries anticipated for mid-2026, also touts a panoramic screen and infotainment system ﬁlled with a variety of entertainment apps. Online reservations for the car opened in California this week.

Meanwhile, Honda spotlighted "ultra-personal optimization" for customers of its upcoming 0 series of election vehicles — the ﬁrst two models of which are set to launch in North America next year. The Japanese car giant unveiled the operating system that it plans to

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use in all 0 series models, "AISMO OS," which it says will be integrated into vehicle operations ranging from automated driving and advanced driver assistance to in-car infotainment.

In-vehicle software functions will also continue to be updated after purchase. "The more it is used, the more personalized it will become," Katsushi Inoue, global head of electriﬁcation business development at Honda, said in Tuesday remarks.

While there's ample excitement around the latest bells and whistles announced from car companies like those on display at CES this week, questions still emerge about the safety and efﬁcacy of new features.

Reagan points to both AI-powered voice agents and the growing buzz around partial automated driving. He says his team's research shows that people interacting with partially-automated driving are "more distracted than ever" because drivers have to "always be ready" for changes in vehicle assistance.

And while AI voice assistants bring promising solutions to keeping drivers' eyes on the road, Reagan

notes that they're not all built equally. How they are implemented is key, he said, noting that if a voice assistant requires too much back and forth or complicated answers it can also lead to frustration and distraction.

Beyond in-vehicle experiences, EVs showcased at CES this week also put a spotlight on the state of sustainable energy in the car industry today — and the need to expand access sources for consumers. In addition to a previouslyannounced venture with seven other automakers to create the "IONNA" charging network in North America, Honda on Tuesday said it plans to expand such efforts "to ensure that Honda 0 Series owners will have access to more than 100,000 charging stations by 2030."

Honda is also exploring ways to provide "personalized" charging experiences for its EV customers down the road. The company said it's considering incorporating AI technology from Amazon Web Services to help individuals ﬁnd nearby charging facilities, for example, or simplify payments.

THE HONDA 0 SUV, right, and Honda 0 Saloon EV prototypes are on display at the Honda booth during the CES tech show Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Las Vegas. Photo:John Locher/AP

TIGER

HAGAR

DENNIS THE MENACE

Stowaways on planes and inside landing gear raise worries about aviation security

By JOSH FUNK Associated Press

What is going on with aviation security?

People have been found dead hiding in the wheel wells of planes twice in the past month. Two stowaways were arrested on different ﬂights in November and December. Then a passenger opened an emergency door while a plane was taxiing in Boston Tuesday night. These incidents are being investigated, so we don't know yet exactly where security failed. But clearly there were gaps in security. So it's natural to wonder: is my ﬂight safe?

A quick recap:

Passengers panicked when a man onboard a JetBlue plane taxiing for takeoff at Boston's Logan International Airport opened an exit door over a wing, trigging an emergency

slide to inﬂate Tuesday. Other passengers quickly restrained the man, and the plane never took off, but clearly it was a scary moment.

On Monday, two dead bodies were found inside the landing gear compartment of a different JetBlue plane after it landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. In late December, a body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it landed in Maui from Chicago.

Also in December, a passenger without a ticket was discovered aboard a Delta Air Lines ﬂight as that plane was rolling across the tarmac in Seattle before it took off for Honolulu.

A separate stowaway was arrested in November after a Delta Air Lines ﬂight from New York landed in Paris. That Russian national

NOTICE Kef Ltd.

Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas registered in the Register of Companies under the registration number 210398 B.

(In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that the liquidation and the winding up of the Company is complete and the Company has been struck off the Register of Companies maintained by the Registrar General.

Dated this 8th day of January A.D. 2025.

Martin Helio Rabner LIQUIDATOR

had somehow bypassed security to board the ﬂight.

Why worry?

If a stowaway can get inside a plane's wheel well or sneak aboard the cabin, what would prevent someone with malicious intent from getting access?

"The challenge we run into is we have a system with gaps, and those gaps are sometimes exploited," said Jeff Price, professor of aviation at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

The Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the airlines and the airports are all trying to ﬁnd where those gaps are and plug them. But Price said that by design there are gaps in the system.

The fact that people are getting access to these planes makes pilots worried about the system. An entire generation has grown

up since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks without any major catastrophes, and that has allowed some in the system to get complacent, said Dennis Tajer, a longtime airline pilot and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association union.

"Right now we're seeing some ﬁssure cracks. They're unacceptable. And we've been lucky that it hasn't been somebody with broader nefarious intent," said Tajer.

Experts have also said that a shortage of air trafﬁc

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Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas registered in the Register of Companies under the registration number 205724 B.

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Notice is hereby given that the liquidation and the winding up of the Company is complete and the Company has been struck off the Register of Companies maintained by the Registrar General.

Dated this 8th day of January A.D. 2025.

Jose Dos Reis Da Silva Pereira Neto LIQUIDATOR

controllers, outdated planetracking technology and other problems are eroding the margin of safety in air travel.

Crashes are rare

The National Safety Council estimates that Americans have a 1-in-93 chance of dying in a motor vehicle crash, while deaths on airplanes are too rare to calculate the odds. Figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation tell a similar story.

The last deadly crash involving a U.S. airliner occurred in February 2009, an unprecedented streak of safety. But planes have crashed elsewhere around the world. And there are other concerns.

Safety regulators are worried about a number of close calls at airports in the past couple years.

But preventing accidents is a lot better than reacting to them.

"The time for action is now because fate will come in and slap you across the face and you'll be going to memorials rather than press conferences about how safe you are and how safe you're going to be," Tajer said.

Emergency doors

This is not the ﬁrst time that a passenger has opened an emergency door on a plane on the ground. In one incident in Australia last year, a man opened a door and walked out onto the wing of a stationary plane and was arrested after he climbed down to the ground.

Emergency doors are supposed to be able to be opened when a plane is on the ground so passengers can quickly escape if there is a problem.

Passengers can take comfort in the fact that emergency doors are extremely difﬁcult to open during a ﬂight.

NOTICE

Santina Investimentos Ltd.

Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas registered in the Register of Companies under the registration number 210279 B.

(In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that the liquidation and the winding up of the Company is complete and the Company has been struck off the Register of Companies maintained by the Registrar General.

Dated this 8th day of January A.D. 2025.

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NOTICE

Linhares Torres Ltd.

Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas registered in the Register of Companies under the registration number 212406 B.

(In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that the liquidation and the winding up of the Company is complete and the Company has been struck off the Register of Companies maintained by the Registrar General.

Dated this 8th day of January A.D. 2025.

EDSON TORRES LIQUIDATOR

NOTICE PROSPERIDADE LTD.

Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas registered in the Register of Companies under the registration number 208068 B.

(In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that the liquidation and the winding up of the Company is complete and the Company has been struck off the Register of Companies maintained by the Registrar General.

Dated this 8th day of January A.D. 2025.

Gabriel Nishioka Rombenso LIQUIDATOR

A JETBLUE Airways Airbus A320-232 takes off from the Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Fla., May 15, 2014.

Photo:Chris O’Meara/AP

STOCK MARKET TODAY

Wall Street holds ﬁrmer following Tuesday's slide

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

WALL Street held ﬁrmer

on Wednesday, a day after strong reports on the economy hurt U.S. stocks by stirring up worries that inﬂation and interest rates may remain higher than expected.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to recover a bit of its 1.1% slump from the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 106 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by 0.1%.

In the bond market, which has been the bigger focus for Wall Street recently, the moves were also more modest following the last month's charge higher for yields. Higher yields hurt stocks by making it more expensive for companies and households to borrow and by pulling some

investors toward bonds and away from stocks. The increased calm returned to the market after reports on the economy Wednesday weren't as strong as Tuesday's. That can counterintuitively help Wall Street because it raises hopes that the Federal Reserve may keep cutting short-term interest rates. Wall Street loves lower rates, which can goose the economy and boost prices for investments.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said in a speech Wednesday he still expects the central bank to deliver more easing of rates in 2025, pushing back against nascent speculation it may already be done after cutting three times since September. Waller said he doesn't expect tariffs that are possibly coming under President-elect Donald

Trump to have a "significant or persistent effect" on inflation. And even though inflation has shown stubbornness recently, he still sees it trending downward over the long term.

"If the outlook evolves as I have described here, I will support continuing to cut our policy rate in 2025," he said. "The pace of those cuts will depend on how much progress we make on inﬂation, while keeping the labor market from weakening."

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tends to closely track expectations for Fed action, fell immediately after Waller's speech and the release of a couple economic reports. It eased to 4.27% from 4.29% late Tuesday.

One of the reports suggested U.S. employers outside of the government slowed their

hiring in December by more than economists expected. That could offer a hint of what Friday's more comprehensive jobs report from the Labor Department will show.

That update will likely be the main event for Wall Street this week, particularly after the stock market's closure on Thursday in observance of a National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter. The hope is that the jobs report will show enough strength to keep worries of a recession stiﬂed but not so much that it

keeps the Fed from cutting rates. A separate report on Wednesday, meanwhile, said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment beneﬁts last week than economists expected. It's the latest signal that the job market remains remarkably solid.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, eased to 4.67% from 4.69% late Tuesday. But it topped 4.70% earlier in the morning and is well above the 4.15% level it was at roughly a month ago. It was below 3.65% in September.

Such increases in yields make it more expensive for companies to borrow, and smaller companies can feel particular pain because of the need for many to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks fell 0.5%.

Also on the losing end of Wall Street was Edison International, which tumbled 10.2% as massive wildﬁres burn in the Los Angeles area. The company's Southern California Edison utility said Wednesday it shut off power to nearly 120,000 customers in six counties over safety concerns due to high winds and the risk of wildﬁres.

TRADERS work on the ﬂoor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. Photo:Seth Wenig/AP

Service workers union rejoins AFL-CIO after 20 years just ahead of Trump’s inauguration

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press

THE Service Employ-

ees International Union is returning to the AFL-CIO after 20 years, betting that a united labor movement will do more to help workers overcome legal challenges to organize and join unions.

The union groups' executive boards each unanimously approved the combination on Wednesday, with plans to formally announce the afﬁliation at a Thursday roundtable discussion in Austin, Texas, with workers who are attempting to become union members. There are roughly 2 million SEIU workers in the health care, janitorial and food services sectors, among others. Their addition would bring the total number of AFLCIO members to nearly 15 million, helping increase the political heft of a federation already composed of 60 unions.

Both AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and SEIU President April Verrett were careful to say in interviews Wednesday that the combination was not a

consequence of Republican Donald Trump winning the November election and returning to the White House.

But their shared goal is to be a political presence in a Trump-dominated Washington that has at times courted organized labor without necessarily backing the policies on wages, overtime and unionization that the movement's leadership has supported.

"We are amassing our forces, building our strength and our power before the inauguration," Shuler said. "Working people will continue to demand that our voices be heard."

Verrett said the election did not play a role in the choice, even if it afﬁrmed the decision.

"We are determined to organize in unprecedented ways — and that requires real power," she said.

The SEIU, along with the Teamsters union, left the AFL-CIO in 2005. At the time, the SEIU leadership saw the AFL-CIO as insufﬁcient at slowing the declining share of U.S. workers who belong to

unions. The decline has largely continued over the past 20 years, but union leadership says that 60 million workers would like to be unionized if they could.

Union leaders said that by having the SEIU rejoin the AFL-CIO, they will be better equipped to share research and best practices on organizing to overcome resistance to unionization by some employers and government ofﬁcials.

After President Joe Biden dropped his reelection campaign, both the AFL-CIO and SEIU endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. The Teamsters declined an endorsement, which Trump interpreted as a victory for him. His labor secretary nominee is former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican who has shown support for union policies.

AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of voters in November's elections, found that 18% of the electorate came from union households, with 54% backing Harris and 44% voting for Trump.

ELIZABETH SHULER, president of the AFL-CIO, speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to speak at the Department of Labor in Washington, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. Photo:Mark Schiefelbein /Internet