06182024 NEWS AND SPORT

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The Tribune

‘POLICE SHOT AND KILLED MY DOG’

Officers reportedly at wrong residence and failed to apologise

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Reporter

Tribune Staff

lmunings@tribunemedia.net

POLICE shot and killed a family’s beloved dog after visiting the wrong residence, then reportedly failed to apologise for the mishap, which has left the owners reeling and demanding accountability.

When she opened the door to two men in camouflage uniforms, her dog, Milo, went outside.

“My dog went towards one of the police, and I

Tiana Ferguson, 21, said police showed up at her two-storey apartment complex in Kemp Road on Sunday looking for someone with an ankle bracelet.

THREE BAHAMIANS RECOGNISED IN KING’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff

Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THREE Bahamians, including the secretary to the Cabinet, have been recognised in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours.

Governor General Dame Cynthia “Mother” Pratt announced the honours yesterday.

The Knight Bachelor will be conferred on Gerald ‘Gerry’ Deveaux for services to humanity and for entertainment. This rank is granted to men who are knighted.

Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George recipients are Marsha

DAVIS DEFENDS BPL AND NEW HOSPITAL PLANS

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis defended his administration’s energy reform initiatives and plans to build a new hospital in New Providence when he wrapped up the budget debate in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Last week, the Davis administration unveiled its planned reforms for the country’s energy sector,

outlining how it will modernise the electricity grid and adjust tariffs.

Yesterday, Mr Davis said the opposition had spewed misinformation about the government’s energy reform plan.

“At this point, we are facing the prospect of an energy crisis as crucial parts of our ageing power grid are in danger of collapse,

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A BODY of a man was found near RM Bailey Park on Monday in an apparent murder.

Police said the injuries were consistent with gunshots.

Press Liaison Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told reporters that shortly after 7am, a passerby in the immediate area discovered the body

NY JUDGE: ‘GIVE FTX’S $143M BACK TO BAHAMAS’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A NEW York judge is being urged to return $143m seized by the US federal authorities to FTX’s Bahamian liquidators who have a “superior interest” to these assets. John Ray, FTX’s US chief, and his Bahamian counterparts have partnered in petitioning Judge Lewis Kaplan to order that the cash and other assets be handed over to their combined liquidation estate so that they can finance investor recoveries and be paid out to victims of the failed crypto exchange.

Davis defends BPL and new hospital plans

which would literally leave us in the dark,” Mr Davis said. “Let’s be honest. There’s a reason that governments have kicked the can down the road, hoping and praying that band-aids and patches could hold our electricity grid together, declining to do the hard and challenging work of comprehensive reform.”

Mr Davis said fixing BPL is not a task for the “faint at heart” but is something his administration will do.

He said the government is still paying for the Minnis administration’s $90m acquisition of seven Wartsila generation engines.

He said the government’s entire capital expenditure budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which is spread across all ministries, would not make up one-third of the amount needed to fix BPL, which requires $1bn.

The government has partnered with many companies involved with solar, LNG, and large-scale infrastructure projects to overhaul the energy system. It has also partnered with local solar providers.

Mr Davis said the government has made it clear who it is partnering with to transform BPL but that the opposition had failed to be transparent about BPL in the past.

He said in 2021, consultants hired by the FNM voiced concerns about the former administration’s lack of transparency.

“If members opposite want to see a lack of transparency, they can even look beyond BPL at the Dorian relief supplies that

never made it to the people of Abaco and Grand Bahama,” he said. “They can look at their pandemic food relief programme where shoddy records were kept, and money is still missing that can’t be accounted for.”

Mr Davis gave a reassurance that due to the government’s partnerships with Island Grid and other entities, BPL will not become privatised. He said that through the partnerships, BPL will be stronger and that there will be no staff termination.

He also reiterated that his administration would facilitate the first new public hospital in New Providence in over 70 years and the first new hospital in Grand Bahama since independence.

“The side opposite initially said building new hospitals was a pipe dream that could not be accomplished,” he said. “Their former leader, the member for Killarney, just last year was quoted as saying it would cost over $1.2bn to build, which made it impossible to be launched within this term.”

“When we announced the plans to build the new hospitals, unsurprisingly, when they realised we were making it happen, they then tried to say we shouldn’t build the new hospitals. The member for Killarney had to eat his words and start singing a different song. They’re not saying it’s impossible anymore. Their chairman said we should just slap some repairs on what was already there. They want us to just put another expansion on PMH.”

Bell berates Pintard’s tax plan calling it a rehash of Minnis’ ‘past failures’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter

CARMICHAEL MP Keith Bell berated FNM leader Michael Pintard for unveiling what he called an “ill-conceived” tax plan, insisting his economic strategy is nothing more than a “rehash” of the Minnis administration’s “past failures”.

“He promises to remove VAT from certain healthy foods, medicines, and

feminine and infant care products, yet astonishingly insists that he will not increase the overall VAT rate above ten per cent to compensate for this revenue loss,” Mr Bell said in the House of Assembly. “This mirrors the misguided approach when he sat as a member of the Minnis Cabinet and agreed to raise VAT by 65 per cent. Their so-called ‘new’ economic strategy is nothing more than a

rehash of past failures.”

The Minnis administration raised VAT to 12 percent, insisting this was needed to accomplish its fiscal consolidation plans. The administration simultaneously removed VAT from breadbasket items as a concession. The Davis administration, in turn, reduced the VAT rate to ten per cent but eliminated VAT exemptions. During the FNM’s one-day convention

this month, Mr Pintard pledged to reverse this policy and remove the tax from certain healthy foods, including medicines and feminine and infant care products. He suggested that a Pintard-led government would reintroduce VAT on properties exceeding $2m.

Yesterday, Mr Bell claimed the opposition leader “conveniently omitted any mention of taxing properties” over $2m in

recent statements.

“Was this a shift in his policy because he actually analysed the financial implications of his decisions? What is interesting is that if you consider this budget, the increase in property sales would yield around $50 million, assuming it does not crash the market,” Mr Bell added.

“This inconsistency raises serious questions about the feasibility and thoughtfulness of his fiscal plan. In essence, if he was

to take it off the items that he claimed to take it off, the $50m yield from the increase would not be sufficient to top off, so we’d have to find the taxes from somewhere else.”

Mr Bell said it appears Mr Pintard’s policy adjustments are more about political convenience than sound financial strategies.

Mr Pintard hit back, saying Mr Bell’s critique “is the identical position put forth by your administration”.

PM Davis speaking during budget debate yesterday.

Photos: Nikia Charlton

CARMICHAEL MP Keith Bell berated FNM leader Michael Pintard in the House of Assembly yesterday over what he called an ‘ill conceived’ tax plan that was nothing more than a rehash of Minnis’ ‘past failures’.

Govt ‘making progress’ on affordable housing

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Davis administration is making steady progress with its affordable housing initiatives, with construction on several housing projects expected to either begin or be completed by fall, according to Housing Minister Keith Bell.

He said the government is seeking regulatory approval to develop another phase in the Pinecrest Phase II subdivision and hopes to begin construction by the Fall.

He said the goal is to have the first residents move in within six months

of breaking ground. He said construction is progressing smoothly on several projects, including the Renaissance at Carmichael project and the Ocean Hole Subdivision in Eleuthera.

“Similarly, in Abaco, we are making significant strides,” Mr Bell told parliamentarians during his contribution to the budget debate in the House of Assembly. “The projects there are advancing as planned, with homes being constructed and handed over to families, reinforcing our commitment to rebuilding and revitalising the community after the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.”

THREE BAHAMIANS RECOGNISED IN KING’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS

from page one

Nicole Campbell, secretary to the Cabinet, for services to the public and Dr Franklin Walkine, for service to public health.

The order of St Michael and St George recognises service in a foreign country or “in relation to foreign and commonwealth affairs”.

The Birthday Honours are various titles and awards to mark the sovereign’s official birthday. They have been awarded on the sovereign’s birthday, with few exceptions, since

at least 1860, during Queen Victoria’s reign. It is one of two annual honours lists in the British honours system, the other being the New Year’s Honours List.

Last year, 12 Bahamians received the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours.

Former Central Grand Bahama MP Neko Grant received the Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to politics. Deputy Commissioner of Police Leamond Deleveaux received the King’s Police Medal for service in the police force.

Meanwhile, he said officials anticipate that housing projects in San Salvador will be completed by Fall.

He said the contractors involved in these projects are all Bahamian, adding: “This not only supports local businesses, but also fosters a sense of pride and ownership among residents.”

“San Salvador will also serve as the pilot for the Rent-to-Own programme, representing a new chapter in our journey towards expanding home ownership. This innovative programme is designed to assist those needing extra support, offering

them the chance to live in their homes while their monthly payments contribute towards both rent and eventual ownership.”

As for Grand Bahama, Mr Bell reaffirmed the government’s commitment to redeveloping the Garden Villas community, a “severely depressed” area in Grand Bahama that he said has long been a symbol of neglect.

Recalling an 80-yearold woman who lived in a run-down home there, the minister said the government must have a “heart” and pledged to take decisive action to change the area’s fate “despite the selective applications of

regulations by the Grand Bahama Port Authority.”

He said agreements have already been entered into to purchase several buildings in Garden Villas, and plans are underway to demolish them and redevelop them into affordable housing.

Negotiations are also ongoing with other property owners to acquire additional properties, Mr Bell added.

“This marks a significant step towards not only eradicating blight, but also providing safe and affordable homes for our citizens,” he said.

“The demand for affordable housing continues to grow, and we are committed to meeting this need with urgency and efficiency,” he said. “Our goal is to ensure that more Bahamians can achieve the dream of homeownership and enjoy the security and stability that comes with it.”

“In pursuit of this goal, we are not only identifying new locations but also streamlining our processes to expedite the development and construction phases.”

As for New Providence, he said the Davis administration is exploring additional sites to develop new government subdivisions.

HOUSING Minister Keith Bell speaking during the budget debate in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Photo: Nikia Charlton

Medical professionals question where staff will come from for new hospital

By KEILE CAMPBELL kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness

Minister

Dr Michael Darville said a mitigation plan would address findings from an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that flooding risks are a “great concern” with the new hospital planned on Perpall Tract.

He said flood management and prevention work would be done to minimise the hospital’s potential impact on the surrounding community.

Many residents in the area oppose the location plan for the hospital. An EIA by JSS Consulting said “drainage swales and flood control ditches” will be required to prevent flooding in nearby residential communities, adding that “the development of an adequate drainage system that can handle flood water” will be critical to minimising the proposed 50-acre hospital’s impact.

The EIA noted the project is expected to house 400 patients per day and 650 staff members during the operational phase.

Some, including Medical Association of the Bahamas president Dr Gemma Rolle, have questioned how the hospital staff positions will be filled, given that it is already difficult filling some positions at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

Yesterday, Dr Rolle said she is awaiting a meeting with Dr Darville about the matter.

Free National Movement (FNM) chairman Dr Duane Sands, a former president of the Medical

Association of the Bahamas, reiterated concerns about resources yesterday.

“We have a nursing crisis,” he said. “We have nurses that are leaving The Bahamas in droves, and they are headed to places north where they feel more welcomed, where they have far greater career opportunities, better salaries, and a feeling of improved appreciation.

Dr Sands said the country has a shortage of ultrasonographers, radiographers, and pharmacists –– “all of the people that you need to run a healthcare system.”

“Now you’re gonna make it far worse. Far, far worse on the basis of a promise.”

Dr Darville acknowledged manpower shortages during his budget speech in the House of Assembly this month, noting this fuels the physical and mental exhaustion healthcare workers experience.

He said the administration is allocating funds to help with this through a nurse internship programme, post-graduate speciality training, the Trained Clinical Nurse Programme, nursing recruitment and retention and the nursing cadet and Nursing Grant Programme.

Dr Sands said yesterday: “I am not convinced that we have a brick and mortar problem. Yes, we need and can benefit from a nice, new air conditioned facility, but that alone is not going to solve the problem. Just today at Princess Margaret Hospital, we had a shortage of antibiotics, shortages of essential medication. That ain’t got nothing to do with whether

the hospital is on Perpall Tract, or Dolphin Drive, or Princess Margaret facility.”

Emphasising that the

infant mortality rate is “multiples of the infant mortality rates that exist in the United States and

MEDICAL Association of the Bahamas president

Canada,” he said the government’s efforts are “not going to solve the problem and we will continue to

have a disproportionately high infant mortality rate, an inappropriately high maternal mortality rate.”

Eleuthera residents concerned over proposed work release programme

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

SOME Eleuthera residents are concerned about a proposed work release programme involving prisoners who will be sent to their island.

However, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe suggested yesterday that the concerns are overwrought.

He said the programme would help inmates transition into productive citizens. Although the programme has existed in New Providence for years, some prisoners want to return to the Famy Islands after completing their sentence.

Marco Carey, a community advocate and justice of the peace, sent a letter to the press yesterday complaining that the programme could spark tension. His view was backed by another resident and a member of North Eleuthera’s district council.

“While it is of utmost importance that we support prisoners who have reformed as they reenter society and the workplace, the communities in Eleuthera are not fit or accepting of this initiative,” he said, insisting it should be implemented “in a controlled environment to assess the effectiveness.”

“Our communities deserve a careful and

considerate approach to such sensitive initiatives. The government must listen to the voices of Eleuthera’s people and act in their best interests.”

Another resident, Patrice Gibson, said: “We don’t need any prisoners to come here. When I heard that, I say that was a bunch of mess.”

She fears Eleuthera has many bushes into which prisoners can escape.

North Eleuthera Deputy Chief Councillor Vernon Neilly said safety is a big concern of residents.

“Life here is very chill and laid back, and we leave our doors open and unlocked. To have people who are incarcerated in the community would be a huge concern,” he said.

“If something really drastic happens, how are they going to handle that? Mr Neilly said.

Mr Neilly said there should have been a town meeting to consult residents and get their feedback before making a decision.

Mr Munroe noted that inmates in the scheme could face an additional two years in prison if they fail to meet conditions.

“If you breach the rules, you are likely to return to classification, and that means you will be in your cell for 23 hours a day, which most people try to avoid,” he said.

He notes that the scheme has been successful at gas service stations, with some inmates later retained and promoted.

“The concept has been fully tested in New Providence for decades,” he said. “I am advised that there have been one or two persons on the scheme who may have had jobs that took them to the Family Islands and just brought them back.

“The issue now is that we see fairly high recidivism rates in the Family Islands, but that is because a lot of their people don’t get to go on the scheme.”

Mr Munroe said although there have been demands for people from the Family Islands to benefit from the scheme, creating conditions to facilitate them is challenging.

“Firstly, you need a place of detention that could be certified as a place of detention,” he said. “And then you also need somebody who will be able to foot the expenses of the correctional officers who would have to be there to supervise the inmates.”

Suggesting plans to have the programme in Eleuthera are not finalised, he said businesses there would have to satisfy him and the commissioner that the place where the people reside can be certified as a correctional facility with proper security.

Dr Gemma Rolle

HEALTH AND WELLNESS MINISTER DR MICHAEL DARVILLE

‘Police shot and killed my dog’

oppress me.

tried to grab the dog back,” she said yesterday. “I was like inches away from the dog. I heard two shots. My dog was down, and I was crying.”

The man the police were looking for lived downstairs. Ms Ferguson said after the officers left, she went looking for her father and returned to meet police “roughing” him up after he became emotional about the dog’s death.

A viral video of the aftermath of the shooting captured the commotion.

At one point, an officer threatened to arrest the father, Silvan Ferguson, for disorderly conduct because the man used obscene language.

Ms Ferguson said the officers showed no remorse.

“They are wrong,” her father added yesterday.

“They know that they were wrong, and they still are not trying to minimise the situation to what’s going on, to try to bring some sort of calmness to it. Their first thing was to try to

“They trying to overpower me, to say that, oh well they are police, they could get away with any shit, they could just arrest me and that one solved. But, like I tell them, just like how y’all kill my dog, y’all would have to kill me next.”

Mr Ferguson said the dog was like a child to him.

“It feels like they took a piece of my heart out,” he said. “I intend to go to every extent to get justice because it isn’t like the dog came out, the dog was in his house, the dog was home where he lived.”

“That is family. Milo was family. That dog grow from a pup with us. It isn’t just a dog, that’s family. When you get a pet and you grow to love that pet and stuff, that’s like a child.”

Ms Ferguson described the emotional toll of watching her dog die.

Milo, she said, loved eating the food the family ate, like mangoes.

“Every time I get to sit down it was just playing back in my mind,” she said. “Every time I close my

eyes, I see his body right there with the blood. I just couldn’t get it out. I tried to sleep last night, but I went to sleep this morning around 4.30am because every time I closed my eyes, the picture of laying right there was in my mind.”

apartment where there are animals.

have some form of repercussion. It can’t just happen and you forget about it. It can’t be forgotten about.” from page one

“It is time for our government to have our police

Mr Ferguson filed a complaint with the police’s Complaints and Corruption Branch yesterday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Leamond Deleveaux, who oversees that department, declined to comment.

Kim Aranha, the president of the Bahamas Humane Society, said the police are not trained to deal with residents who have dogs, a long-standing problem.

“The police need to be trained on what to do when they go to a private residence where there is a dog,” she said.

“I think fear is a big part of that and they are not going to like that.”

“All over the world now police forces are being professionally trained on how to handle animals when they go to a house or

BODY WITH GUNSHOT WOUNDS DISCOVERED

from page one

and alerted police. Police had limited information and were unable to give particulars about the incident.

CSP Skippings said the deceased appeared to be in his early 30s. This would be the 58th homicide for the year and the third killing since Saturday. A 38-year-old aviation centre employee was fatally shot after arriving at work on Sunday. Police arrested a 25-year-old male in the departure lounge of a domestic terminal at the Lynden Pindling International Airport in connection with the matter.

On Saturday, two brothers were in a car when they got into an altercation. The younger brother assaulted his older brother to the head with an object and exited the vehicle on foot.

The 43-year-old reportedly pursued the younger brother and fatally struck him with his car.

force trained in that, and meanwhile, people who shot things without due thought probably should

SILVAN Ferguson says he will seek justice after police shot and killed his family dog, Milo.

The Tribune Limited

NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI

“Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

LEON E. H. DUPUCH

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH, Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972

Contributing Editor 1972-1991

RT HON EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B.

Publisher/Editor 1972-

Published daily Monday to Friday Shirley & Deveaux Streets, Nassau, Bahamas N3207

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Earth getting too hot for humans to survive?

MY parents said the planet is getting too hot for people to live here. They called it climate change. What does that mean? – Joseph, age 12, Boise, Idaho

Many countries have seen extremely hot weather lately, but in most of the inhabited world, it’s never going to get “too hot for people to live here,” especially in relatively dry climates.

When it’s hot outside in dry places, most of the time our bodies can cool off by evaporating water and heat from our skin as sweat.

However, there are places where it occasionally gets dangerously hot and humid, especially where hot deserts are right next to the warm ocean. When the air is humid, sweat doesn’t evaporate as quickly, so sweating doesn’t cool us the way it does in drier environments.

In parts of the Middle East, Pakistan and India, summer heat waves can combine with humid air that blows in off the sea, and this combination can be truly deadly. Hundreds of millions of people live in those regions, most without access to indoor air conditioning.

Scientists like me use a “wet bulb thermometer” to get a better sense of this risk. A wet bulb thermometer allows water to evaporate by blowing ambient air over a damp cloth. If the wet bulb temperature is over 95 F (35 C), and even at lower levels, the human body won’t be able to let enough heat out. Prolonged exposure to such combined heat and humidity can be fatal.

During a severe heat wave in 2023, wet bulb temperatures were very high over the lower Mississippi Valley, though they didn’t reach fatal levels.

In Delhi, India, where air temperatures were over 120 degree Fahrenheit (49 Celsius) for several days in May 2024, the wet bulb temperatures came close, and several people died from suspected heatstroke in the hot and humid weather. In conditions like that, everyone has to take precautions. IS IT CLIMATE CHANGE?

When people burn carbon – whether it’s coal in a power plant or gasoline in a vehicle – it creates carbon dioxide (CO2). This invisible gas builds up in the atmosphere and traps the Sun’s warmth near the Earth’s surface.

The result is what we mean by “climate change.”

Every bit of coal, oil or gas that ever gets burned adds a little bit more to the temperature. As temperatures rise, dangerously hot and humid weather has begun to spread to more places.

Areas of the U.S. Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Texas are increasingly at risk of dangerous hot and humid conditions in summer, as are heavily irrigated areas of the desert Southwest where water sprayed over farm fields adds moisture to the atmosphere.

Climate change causes a lot more problems than just hot, sweaty weather.

Hot air evaporates a lot more water, so crops, forests and landscapes in some areas dry out, which makes them more susceptible to wildfire. Each Celsius degree of warming can cause a sixfold increase in wildfire over parts of the western U.S.

Warming also makes ocean water expand, which can flood coastal regions. Rising sea levels threaten to displace as many as 2 billion people by 2100.

All of these impacts mean that climate change threatens the global economy. Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas could cut global incomes by about 25% by the end of the century, according to one estimate.

GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS

There’s both bad news and good news about climate change in the future.

The bad news is that as long as we keep burning carbon, it will continue to get hotter and hotter.

The good news is that we can substitute clean energy, like solar and wind power, instead of burning carbon, to power the products and services of modern life.

There’s been tremendous progress in the past 15 years in making clean energy reliable and affordable, and almost every country on Earth has now agreed to stop climate change before too much damage is done.

Just as our ancestors built better lives by switching from outhouses to indoor plumbing, we will avoid making our world unlivable by switching from coal, oil and gas to clean energy.

Scott Denning, Colorado State University

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE Bahamas has made international news once again. This time in the area of immigration. Fox News out of Florida, The New York Post, The Jamaica Observer, and even a Canadian news source all reported last week that the US Coast Guard, along with Homeland Security, are conducting a 61-day border patrol exercise called “Operation Vigilant Sentry” which covers air, land, and sea patrols. Large numbers of Haitian nationals have been captured at sea over the last seven days, and migrants were brought to The Bahamas as well as Haiti.

The Prime Minister of the Bahamas recently said to the Haitian community “I is you, and you is me. We are one.” This statement in my opinion is not the mindset of the Bahamian people. Nevertheless, this posture in my opinion is encouraging greater migration out of Haiti, and could also explain why Bahamian immigration exercises are so few and far between. Do we now have a surge of migrants as a result of this Davis-Cooper “open door” foreign policy towards Haiti?

Prime Minister Davis, in my opinion your words and your actions have not been in the best interest of

the Bahamian people that you were elected to serve. In my opinion you are not protecting our borders. You are not protecting our Bahamian sovereignty as a nation. You are not enforcing the constitution of The Bahamas. You are not protecting the Bahamian people. Now the US Government is doing the job of Bahamas Immigration. As reported by The Jamaica Observer and the US Coast Guard news, 305 migrants were intercepted and 109 of them were handed over to the RBDF in recent days. Which raises many questions. Why were they brought to the Bahamas? And did these migrants have passports?

In a recent US Coast Guard press statement which can be found on their website news. uscg.mil explaining that migrants are being returned to their “country of origin” or their country of departure. The Coast Guard also expressed that irregular maritime migration is extremely dangerous, especially as we enter the hurricane season. They urged “any

potential migrants considering the journey: don’t take to the sea and risk your life just to be sent back”.

Now this morning we have news from Fox Weather in Florida that there is a 30 percent chance of severe weather coming to the Florida coast and the northern Bahamas in two to three days. Now lives are in danger as Haitian migrants’ attempt to cross the dangerous sea and this is exactly what the US Coast Guard spoke of last week. So we echo their concerns.

Prime Minister Davis, in my opinion the trust of the Bahamian people has been betrayed, Fred Mitchell, we also need to hear from you on this Haiti-Bahamas state that you envision for the Bahamas because you know it is not the will of the Bahamian people. Mr Wayne Munroe, we also need to hear from you on the intensified US Coast Guard activity in Bahamian waters. Gentlemen, do what is right by the Bahamian people while you can. May God continue to bless the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

DWAYNE HUYLER Deputy leader, Bahamas Constitution Party June 2024.

EDITOR, The Tribune.

GREETING and what a time to be alive, to be living among evil men, power hungry villains (speaking about the leaders globally, but specifically, these tyrants who were causing unrest, mass murders). Within the last few minutes, the subject of the caption came across my periphery mind’s eye, the fringes of these facts highlighted and a particular fear began to envelop me, knowing full well that The Bahamas is not at all ready for the substantive proof the Father God has said shall come. Well, I have released the message received from on high several weeks ago now to your newspaper, and saw its publication, thank you. The problem I have is and I am wondering to what extent were the people of the land, preparing? Have

they been stockpiling food and water as directed by Father God?

After watching the weather on Cable, and reading the stories contained at the bottom of the screen, I saw where it was said that Russia has deployed warships to the Caribbean area, but where and why remains a mystery. Nevertheless, whatever may be the manoeuvres, the modus operandi, just knowing that Russia is that close to every country north south of the borders, is really, absolutely cause for grave concern. Usually, I am a positive person, but external to my proclivities, those overarching tendencies, the contradiction in rationalities arises when dealing with the likes of the Russians, their fickleness in objectivity and the security, the wholeness of humans everywhere is

speculative at best-in-theirusual-behavioral global trends, and where they will go, to those extremes, the world has noted.

In conclusion, to the powers that be, were you aware, or even in the position to question, have you started to formulate any views, safeguard, or even prompting of the country’s national security agencies and done so as a matter of national security - just saying?

Haven’t laid out the conditions, preconditions, this whole issue could come down to having just weeks to prepare, or even address views with international bodies on the way forward, for indeed these were perilous times in which we live, hallelujah, amen.

FRANK GILBERT Nassau, June 2024.

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I WISH to congratulate Michael Pintard on his reelection as leader of the Free National Movement and the person who will take us into the next General Elections whenever they are called, and say to him it is time to really get to work now that a major distraction has been removed.

It has been interesting to note the criticisms of Mr Pintard’s speech which was delivered at the end of a bruising day. His clearly articulated and communicated positions on behalf of the party on the night of the convention are welcome and needed. I expect Mr Pintard and his team to slowly flesh out his programmes/platform for the eventuality that we all expect, when he takes the oath of office as the next Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

If I may say so, this is also the perfect opportunity for Dr Minnis to get back in the

mix, providing the benefit of his experience as a former prime minister and the voice of a senior parliamentarian (17 years). It will help to repair his no show selfish image. He can also begin the process of becoming the statesman a former prime minister should be, and in the process help the party that gave him his greatest opportunity and the one he pledged to support!

Of course, the lights hadn’t been turned off at the party before the boo birds and to borrow from one of our better columnists, the nattering nabobs of negativism came out, led by none other than the chairman of the PLP, the local version of Donald Trump with a Harvard certificate. In my opinion a master of incivility, Fred Mitchell, at every opportunity drags the political discourse into the gutter! His enablers and supporters, including his colleagues in the PLP, like

Trump supporters, seem to, in my option, think it’s a badge of honour to be disrespectful of traditions and people, hurling insults and demeaning language by the truckload at the drop of a hat. If there is a public figure to whom the word “unhinged” would apply it would be the member for Fox Hill. He might want to take some lessons in social graces from his senior in high school, former education minister Jeffrey Lloyd. But Mr Pintard, I say that your best days are still ahead of you. The criticisms will come, especially from the PLP because they know you will continue to hold them accountable for their misdeeds. As your wonderful mother, Sister Laura, would say, be of good courage, sir, and keep your eyes on the prize.

SAMUEL ROKER Nassau, June 5, 2024.

A FIREFIGHTER passes flames burning along West Dry Creek Rd. in Healdsburg, Calif. on Sunday, June 16, 2024.

Photo: Noah Berger/AP

Floridays takes top prize in second Elbow Reef Classic sportfishing tournament

THE Elbow Reef Classic was held for the second year at the turn of the month, with HG Christie as a proud sponsor. The sportfishing tournament saw boats of six anglers for each entry, looking to catch billfish, tuna, mahi and barracuda, in a weekend of fun and comradery from May 29 to June 1, with all proceeds going toward the preservation

and protection of Elbow Reef Lighthouse. When the waves settled at the end of the four-day event, ‘Floridays’ took home the top spot the Billfish awards, while ‘Still Foolish’ placed second and ‘Lauren J’ rounded out the top three. ‘Still Foolish’ sailed home with the Meatfish Award, reeling in the heaviest tuna, while ‘Blurred

ANGLERS and friends of the ‘Grand Finale’ pose with their 25.4 pound catch of mahi at the 2nd Annual Elbow Reef Classic.

MAN ACCUSED OF EXPOSING HIMSELF TO A 12-YEAR-OLD

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was granted $2,000 bail yesterday after he was accused of exposing himself to an underaged girl earlier this month.

Magistrate Kendra Kelly charged Charles Whyms, 31, with indecent exposure. Whyms allegedly exposed himself nude to a

12-year-old girl on June 4 in New Providence. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the offence. Under his bail conditions, he must sign in at the East Street South Police Station on the first Monday of every month. He was also warned not to interfere with witnesses in the matter.

Whym’s trial begins on September 12.

MAN ACCUSED OF ARMED ROBBERY AND FRAUD

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was imprisoned yesterday accused of an armed carjacking in New Providence in April.

Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley charged Gerard Ramsey, 28, with armed robbery and fraud by false pretences.

Ramsey and an accomplice, while armed with a handgun, allegedly robbed Clyde Taylor of a silver coloured 2013 Nissan Note

on April 28. On the same day, the accused is alleged to have defrauded Wisben Jean of $5,000 cash by false pretences.

Ramsey was informed that his matter would be transferred to the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). The accused will be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until he returns to court for service of his VBI on August 28.

MAN ACCUSED OF HAVING AN UNLICENCED FIREARM

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was remanded to prison yesterday after he was allegedly found with a loaded gun in New Providence last week.

Magistrate Lennox Coleby charged Kervin Pierre-Luis, 21, with possession of an unlicenced firearm and possession of ammunition.

Lines’ finished second and ‘Reel Short Story’ placed third. Bri Smeltzer received the Top Lady Angler award, while Andrew Nickel won Top Overall Angler. HG Christie president and managing broker John Christie said: “With two offices in Abaco, one in Marsh Harbour and one in Hope Town, we are a staple in the community and support the efforts of the organizers to preserve and restore the iconic Elbow Reef Lighthouse. After Hurricane Dorian, Abaco has made incredible efforts to bounce back and I believe it will be even better than before.”

Pierre-Luis will be remanded to prison until he returns to court on July 4

K Melvin Munroe represented the accused.

Pierre-Luis was allegedly found with a black Glock Austria 9mm pistol and 11 rounds of ammunition near Rosedale Street on June 13. After the defendant pleaded not guilty to the offence, prosecutor Assistant Superintendent of Police Lincoln McKenzie asked that his bail hearing be deferred until his status in the country is checked.

WOMAN FINED FOR LETTING HER DOGS ATTACK SOMEONE

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN was fined in court yesterday after admitting letting her potcakes attack someone in Fox Hill last month.

Magistrate Kendra Kelly charged Troyanna Ferguson, 34, with two counts of unlicenced dog and a single count of allowing animals to roam dangerously out of control in a public place. Ferguson reportedly allowed her two unlicensed potcakes, one brown and one white, to injure Kayshilla Richmond on June 5 by allowing them to be dangerously out of control in public. Following her guilty plea, Ms Ferguson was convicted for the offence. She must pay a fine of $250 for the licencing offence and a $500 fine for the out-of-control dog charge. Failure to pay either fine would carry a two-month prison term. The defendant was told that her dogs would be returned to her.

‘Lauren J’ won the Heaviest Mahi category, with ‘Psalm 23’ taking second and ‘Grand Finally’ placing third.

‘Katie D’ won the FunFish Barracuda award, reeling in the heaviest barracuda.

Tournament director Courtney Bowden said: “We love that this tournament has brought locals and those who travel here to support this special place. This tournament attracts both first time anglers and competitive teams a variety of options to participate all united to support the last of its kind light station.”

Hope for a brighter future of trade and investment with Africa

EXECUTIVE director of the International Trade Centre, Dr Pamela CokeHamilton speaks at the 31st Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM) and the third edition of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) Grand Hyatt, Baha Mar, Nassau Bahamas, July 12-14, 2024.

WHEN Marcus Mosiah Garvey visited The Bahamas from November 19-20, 1920, he made a prophecy about The Bahamas that, to me, is finally being revealed. He spoke to hundreds of Bahamians who braved the pouring rain to hear him speak on the Southern Recreation Grounds. There, he said in essence, that Bahamians would be the last to catch on to Pan Africanism, but the first to do something about it. Last week, the 31st Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM) and the third edition of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) was held at the Grand Hyatt, Bahamar, Nassau Bahamas. Afreximbank’s historic decision represents the first time that the AAM was held in the Caribbean.

During the conference, held June 12-14, 2024, major agreements were signed for The Bahamas. They include a $1.86m agreement with Afreximbank for the Grand Bahama Afro-Caribbean Marketplace which will include the revitalisation of the International Bazaar. Another is an agreement to provide a $30m term loan facility to the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) to bolster its trade finance operations and provide essential support to indigenous business organisations in The Bahamas.

It is heartwarming to note that this paper for which I write, The Tribune, thanks to its forebears - Leon Dupuch and his sons Sir Etienne and Eugene, used their platforms to agitate for equal rights and justice, and an end to discrimination in The Bahamas. Their efforts helped paved the way for the rights of black people that Garvey fought for - and the opportunities still unfolding today.

Amidst the major deal signings between Afrexim Bank and Caribbean and African countries, I was deeply moved by the address given to AAM2024 and ACTIF by Pamela Coke-Hamilton. She gave me hope for the possibility of the success of AfriCaribbean trade, which is critical to Pan Africanism, and she tempered it with the work that would need to be put in to achieve such longawaited and fought for success.

Mrs Coke-Hamilton is the executive director of the

Face to Face

By FELICITY DARVILLE

International Trade Centre (ITC), a multilateral agency which has a joint mandate with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

She told conference attendees that ITC’s newest research with Afreximbank shows that trade between Africa and the Caribbean holds enormous potential.

The research, which will be published shortly, shows that $1.8bn in trade for goods and services annually is possible by 2028 - just four years away!

If achieved, it would have a magnanimous impact for African and Caribbean peoples, especially considering that to date, less than 0.1 percent of African exports go to the Caribbean, and less than three percent of Caribbean exports go to the African continent.

What is promising is that the ITC is committed to supporting small businesses so they can compete and engage in trade. Considering The Bahamas’ small population compared to many other African and Caribbean countries, this kind of support is critical.

“The ties between Africa and the Caribbean run deep, and it’s these ties that can and must carry us through some of the biggest threats that we face, especially in today’s polycrisis world,” Mrs Coke-Hamilton said.

Threats like climate change, supply chain disruptions, food insecurity, environmental degradation, and pandemics are real ones that The Bahamas knows all too well. In order to face these threats, trade opportunities like the ones presented through AAM2024 and ACTIF are vital.

According to Mrs CokeHamilton, trade agreements like those achieved on Bahamian soil this week are one way to help bring down barriers and open new opportunities.

“We’ve already got useful precedents that show us what works and what can be improved, such as the economic partnership agreements in both regions with the EU,” she advised.

“And while we need to come together to understand what an African-Caribbean trade framework could look like down the line, we can and must do more to improve economic integration within these two regions themselves, developing value chains further and seeing where the pain points are.”

“Too often, poor logistics infrastructure is getting in the way of greater trade both within Africa and the Caribbean and between them. Both regions score the lowest on the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index, and unless we invest more into changing that, then even our best efforts at spurring greater inter-regional trade and investment will be for nought.”

The ITC is helping to lay the framework to make the $1.8bn possible. It has a new project underway to support greater food security in the Caribbean. It also has a dedicated programme called One Trade Africa to ensure that small businesses - especially those led by women and youth - can take full part in “one of the most transformational trade agreements to be negotiated in a generation” - the African Continental Free Trade Area. Together with Afreximbank, ITC has trained close to 10,000 Small and medium-sized enterprises.

“It’s why we are launching a new project with the Afreximbank to turbo-charge trade and investment between Africa and the Caribbean,” CokeHamilton advised.

“Together, we will focus on developing five priority value chains that have major potential for inclusive and sustainable economic transformation, led by the two regions’ small businesses, while tackling food

security and other risks we face. These are minerals and metals, wood, paper, rubber, plastics, processed food, and animal feed, along with travel, including tourism, and transport.”

What moved me about Coke-Hamilton’s presentation was more than just the hope she offered, knowing that major organisations such as the ITC are focusing on an area near and dear to me - Afri-Caribbean unity and economic empowerment. Her words touched deeply because I could see myself in her.

Pamela Coke-Hamilton was born and bred in a small town in the middle of Jamaica, known for the natural resource bauxite, called Mandeville. She, like many Caribbean women, had to overcome all of the challenges of small town living in order to achieve the big dreams we have inside. We know that education is a major factor in achieving success, and we utilise whatever resources we have to gain knowledge and consume information about the greater world around us.

She attended the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Mona, Jamaica, where she graduated in Economics and International Relations. The passion for which she speaks of Caribbean and African unity on international platforms today, was fuelled right on the campus at Mona, where she studied with Caribbean people from around the region.

“Going to UWI completely transformed my life trajectory,” she told me.

“I left Mandeville and went to an American school - a public high school. Up to that point, my entire framework was modern based.”

“When I got to UWI, it was the first time I truly understood Caribbean integration; I truly understood our history; I truly

understood the vision, and what Pan Africanism was about.”

The young Pamela, filled with her own personal lofty goals, met people from all of the Caribbean islands on campus, where she stayed in Irving Hall. Friendships were forged - some lasting to this day.

“My experience at UWI completely changed how I saw myself and how I saw the regional vision,” she said. “It drove my decision to enter the Jamaican foreign service, and it drove how I engaged in terms of representation for the Caribbean. It was foundational in who I am today.”

Who she is today, is a powerhouse in international trade. From UWI, she went on to study law in Washington, DC, at Georgetown University Law Centre.

In 2007, Coke-Hamilton served as Director of Trade, Tourism and Competitiveness of the Organization of American States (OAS).

A year later, she gave evidence to the United States International Trade Commission about Caribbean trade.

From 2011 until 2019, Coke-Hamilton served as Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), where her transformative work is noted. During her time in office, she established a “Caribbean Exporter of the Year” and a “Women Empowered through Export Platform” (WeXport). The platform addresses the disadvantages that women-owned firms experience in accessing markets.

In July 2020, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Coke-Hamilton as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the position she currently holds. The ITC notes her extensive work with the

private sector and academia across African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to build trade-related institutional strength within member States.

Coke-Hamilton was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the West Indies in recognition of her work to help establish a masters course in International Trade Policy.

From that small town in Mandeville, Pamela Coke-Hamilton has soared to make an international impact, never forgetting her roots.

“I don’t need to tell you all about the more painful parts of our shared history,” she said at the conference in Nassau last week. “Of the slave trade that ripped families apart and cost countless lives, and whose effects have rippled across generations to this day.”

“For all of us here, myself included, that’s part of the very fabric of who we are. But from the more painful parts of our history, we can see clearly that a new story is emerging. A story of creativity. A story of resilience. A story of a global Africa, where the depth and breadth of its diaspora is fully on display.”

“And that is what we can already see here before us, in the streets where the world-renowned Junkanoo festival takes place, in the straw art that this city has become known for, and in the crafts and folk art that have rightly earned Nassau a place in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.”

“Nassau is also a city that has a long tradition of celebrating small businesses, and it’s no surprise that it is this year’s host of the 2024 AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum and the first Afreximbank Annual Meetings to ever take place in the Caribbean.”

ITC executive director Pamela Coke-Hamilton on a panel with AfreximBank president and chairman professor Benedict Okey Oramah

Support for Ukraine confirmed at highest level

THE final statements by world leaders said it all. At the conclusion over the weekend of the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland, most of them sent a strong message to Russian leader Vladimir Putin condemning his invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine that was a violation of international law and the principles of the UN Charter. They reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and the need for a comprehensive and lasting peace.

Coming so soon after last week’s G7 meeting, it is evident that this twoday summit was designed to sustain the momentum by paving the way for a “future peace process” in which Russia would eventually take part. It was the biggest such gathering since Russia’s invasion in 2022. Its aim was to discuss the basic principles for ending the war and it was attended by some 90 countries and representatives of international organisations, though the absence of the US president was a disappointment. Russia, which called the summit “worthless and insignificant”, was not invited and China, which in effect supports Russia over Ukraine, did not attend.

Earlier, the G7 summit had been a considerable success. It is an informal bloc of the leading industrialised democracies comprising the US, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the UK. It meets annually – and all the leaders of these countries showed up last week including the president of the EU Commission – to discuss major world issues such as global economic

The Peter Young column

governance, international security and, most recently, a subject like artificial intelligence, about which the Pope gave an address. The bloc airs and confronts global challenges but, at the same time, fosters international cooperation, leading towards convergence and consensus.

This year, the issue of Ukraine occupied much of the G7’s attention and resulted in agreement to a deal to provide it with a $50bn loan using interest from Russian assets that had been frozen after its 2022 invasion. The US and Ukraine had earlier signed a ten-year security pact for the supply of “squadrons of fighter jets” including F-16s and covered, among other things, the sharing of intelligence.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the $50bn loan as an “unprecedented and complex package” that had taken two years to draw up and in which the UK

had led the way. It was evidence of the unity of the G7 and the willingness of the world’s richest nations to recognise Ukraine’s territorial integrity and support the nation for – in the words of Biden himself – “as long as it takes”. The PM added that it was a “life-changing” boost for that ravaged and beleaguered nation, enabling it to rebuild its infrastructure.

Separately, Mr Sunak announced a new $300m UK assistance package to help meet humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs – and he said that the “UK will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in its fight for freedom” and in protection of its territorial integrity. Interestingly, the G7 also announced some fifty new sanctions designed to degrade Putin’s war machine.

All this sends, of course an unmistakable signal in reaction to Putin’s actions so far. The message from the Ukraine Peace Summit is the same and is equally clear – and it includes the specific reaction of Western countries to Putin’s so-called peace terms which he revealed just before the meeting in Switzerland took place and so are, of course, new.

The Russian leader’s peace proposals are, effectively, that a ceasefire depends on Ukraine withdrawing from the east of the country and abandoning any idea of joining NATO. This means handing over the four regions which Russia now partially occupies and claims to have annexed. Western leaders have condemned such

Historic moment in South Africa

IN writing two weeks ago about the recent landmark election in South Africa, I reported that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) had lost its overall majority for the first time in 30 years. As Nelson Mandela’s party, it had governed the country with a comfortable majority since the end of apartheid in 1994. It derived much of its support from those who appreciated and valued its freedom-fighting history as a liberation movement during the apartheid years. But more recently it had been faced with criticism of the high cost of living, chronic levels of unemployment, corruption, excessive crime and erratic public facilities like electricity.

Although it was still the largest party at this latest election, with about 40 per cent of the vote, for the first time the ANC failed to gain an overall majority to enable it to continue to govern. In order to do so, it would have to share power with another party.

A drop in the level of support for the ANC has been a hugely significant development for the nation. But now it has reached another historic moment, with the prospect of sharing power

with its largest rival – the main opposition party and its fiercest political foe – the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), which came second in the election, winning 22 per cent of the vote. According to reports, the ANC has agreed to participate with the DA in a coalition government which will include the first white politicians since the ending of apartheid. Two other small opposition parties will also be part of the coalition. The DA is seen as business-friendly and favouring the interests of minorities, in particular white people, though it claims to be multi-racial. People are saying that until now this sort of powersharing would have been unthinkable. So it is indeed a momentous moment in South African history. The DA leader, John Steenhuisen, has reminded people that his party has always opposed apartheid and made this clear at the time. The deal creating a coalition was indeed a historic one, he said, because it enabled his party to cogovern the country. This meant that for the first time since 1994 South Africa had embarked on a peaceful and democratic

terms as propaganda and a “dictatorial peace”, accusing Putin of “spinning a false narrative about his willingness to negotiate”. They are calling Russia’s peace terms “offensive to common sense”, with the Italian prime minister saying that, in effect, Putin was demanding that “Ukraine should withdraw from Ukraine”.

For his part, President Zelensky has reminded people that his nation’s peace plan in late 2022 insisted on compelling Russia to return all occupied land. This position had not changed and, for Ukraine, there would be “no compromise on independence, sovereignty or territorial integrity”. He also demanded the return of thousands of abducted

transfer of power to a new coalition in which no party would have an overall majority. It would be called a government of national unity and would be different from its predecessor. He gave an assurance that the DA would co-govern in a spirit of unity and collaboration.

After days of high drama discussing how to share power, the new government has been formed under the leadership of the ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa who will now embark on his second term as President of South Africa. In hailing the coalition, he has said that voters expected the leaders to “act and work together for the good of everyone in our country”. Nonetheless, some critics suggest there could be trouble ahead because of different ideologies within the coalition. However, the ANC has said officially that the coalition agreement will “prioritise the country across the political and ideological divide”. So, as I suggested two weeks ago, all who appreciate South Africa as the fine country it is will surely fervently hope that this new power-sharing government will work.

POMP, PAGEANTRY AND MILITARY PRECISION

HOW good it is to be able to draw attention to the wonderful display put on at last weekend’s Trooping the Colour to mark the Sovereign’s official birthday. As always on Horse Guards Parade in central London, this traditional annual event took place in front of the monarch on his first such occasion since his diagnosis of cancer – and, out of caution, he did not appear on horseback.

The performance by thousands of troops – foot soldiers and mounted cavalry – musicians and horses was, I thought, excellent with the usual impressive military precision that the country witnessed recently at last year’s Coronation. The BBC’s TV coverage was also very good. Typically, in Britain’s

usual uncertain weather, the military was able to showcase its varied parade drill expertise in fine conditions until eventually the heavens opened, only for the rain to relent when the King was later taking the separate salute at the march-past outside Buckingham Palace. For those who wonder why King Charles’ birthday was being celebrated in June when he was born in November, the simple answer is that a parade is held in June because the weather is more likely to be good than on a monarch’s actual birthday if that happened to be during the winter. As I reported last year, this is said to go back to the middle of the 18th century. King Charles’ real birthday is November 14. As usual after the parade

and in front of the large crowd of onlookers, the monarch and some members of the Royal Family gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch the spectacular flypast by the RAF, the finale of which was performed by the Red Arrows, the RAF’s aerobatic stars, who created their traditional red, white and blue vapour trails. But of principal interest, of course, was the much anticipated appearance of the Princess of Wales looking -- to everyone’s relief – so well despite her ongoing medical treatment.

Thus, another great occasion showing Britain at its best was over – and, as usual, it left my wife and me with a feeling of pride that our country “does pomp and pageantry” so well.

children.

Zelensky has said that he is seeking to rally more countries behind Ukraine’s cause and to reignite world attention. He stated that the mere fact that this peace summit about Ukraine was taking place was a “positive”, and this had been enhanced by the show of support by others. He added that “We have succeeded in bringing back to the world the idea that joint efforts can stop war and establish peace”.

As the world focuses again more closely on the war in Ukraine, Western countries have reaffirmed their belief that what is now needed is a comprehensive and lasting peace – enduring and durable – in accordance with international law. But, as someone

remarked on seeing the photos of the G7 group, how many of the players concerned will be around for very long when one looks at the political difficulties some of them face at home.

This includes the British premier, who, according to the polls, is heading for electoral defeat next month. The French and German presidents are also under domestic political pressure, while there are doubts about the future of the Canadian prime minister. Any successors could be less hawkish. But whatever happens, one can only hope for the sake of world peace in the future that ultimately Putin will be forced to end the war and withdraw his forces completely from Ukraine.

FROM right, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission

President Ursula von der Leyen, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Council President Charles Michel watch a skydiving demo during the G7 world leaders summit at Borgo Egnazia, Italy, Thursday, June 13, 2024. Leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations are turning their attention to migration on the second day of their summit Friday.

Photo: Domenico Stinellis/AP

Strong winds, steep terrain hamper crews battling Los Angeles area’s first major fire of the year

CALIFORNIA Associated Press

STRONG winds pushed flames through dry brush in mountains along Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles on Sunday, and officials warned residents in the wildfire’s path to be prepared to leave if it explodes in size again.

Los Angeles County’s first major wildfire of the year swiftly grew to nearly 23 square miles (60 square kilometres), one day after it forced the evacuation of at least 1,200 campers, off-roaders and hikers from the Hungry Valley recreation area.

The blaze, dubbed the Post Fire, was just 2% contained Sunday evening. No injuries were reported. The cause was

under investigation. Firefighters working in sweltering conditions and steep terrain raced to douse spot fires that erupted as unpredictable winds blew embers ahead of the flames, said Kenichi Haskett, a section chief for the LA County Fire Department. The gusts also hampered efforts by aircraft crews to drop water and fire retardant, he said.

“When it’s windy, it just sprays the water everywhere we don’t need it. So that’s a challenge,” Haskett said. Meanwhile in Northern California, a small wildfire sparked Sunday prompted evacuation orders and warnings for a sparsely populated area near Lake Sonoma. The so-called Point Fire sent up a

huge plume of dark smoke as it churned through brush and timber about 80 miles (130 kilometres) north of San Francisco. It was 15% contained.

The Southern California fire erupted Saturday afternoon near I-5 in Gorman, about 60 miles (100 kilometres) northwest of Los Angeles. Two structures burned within the evacuated recreation area. Flames were moving toward Pyramid Lake, a popular destination for boaters that was closed as a precaution on Father’s Day. No houses were threatened Sunday, but officials warned residents of Castaic, home to about 19,000 people, that they should prepare to leave if the fire pushes further south.

“If you’re in a warning area,

be prepared with a ‘go bag,’ with overnight clothes and your cellphone, your medicines, your glasses. Have your car fuelled up,” said Haskett.

“Be ready to evacuate.”

Low humidity and gusts around 50 mph (80 kph) were expected throughout the day, and winds could pick up speed after sundown, warned the National Weather Service office for Los Angeles.

About 75 miles (120 kilometres) to the east, the nearly 2-square-mile (5-square-kilometer) Hesperia Fire forced road closures and prompted evacuation warnings after it broke out Saturday near mountain communities in San Bernardino County. The blaze was 19% contained Sunday evening.

Judge orders railway to pay Washington tribe nearly $400 million

BNSF Railway must pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state, a federal judge ordered Monday after finding that the company intentionally trespassed when it repeatedly ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across the tribe’s reservation.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik initially ruled last year that the railway deliberately violated the terms of a 1991 easement with the Swinomish Tribe north of Seattle that allows trains to carry no more than 25 cars per day. The judge held a trial earlier this month to determine how much in profits BNSF made through trespassing from 2012 to 2021 and how much it should be required to disgorge.

The company based in Fort Worth, Texas, said in an email it had no comment on the judgment. The tribe, which has about 1,400 members, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The tribe sued in 2015 after BNSF dramatically increased, without the tribe’s consent, the number of cars it was running across the reservation so that it could ship crude oil from the Bakken Formation in and around North Dakota to a nearby refinery. The route crosses

sensitive marine ecosystems along the coast, over water that connects with the Salish Sea, where the tribe has treaty-protected rights to fish.

Bakken oil is easier to refine into the fuels sold at the gas pump and ignites more easily. After train cars carrying Bakken crude oil exploded in Alabama, North Dakota and Quebec, a federal agency warned in 2014 that the oil has a higher degree of volatility than other crudes in the U.S. Last year, two BNSF engines derailed on Swinomish land, leaking an estimated 3,100 gallons (11,700 liters) of diesel fuel near Padilla Bay.

The 1991 easement limited rail traffic to one train of 25 cars per day in each direction. It required BNSF to tell the tribe about the “nature and identity of all cargo” transported across the reservation, and it said the tribe would not arbitrarily withhold permission to increase the number of trains or cars.

Associated Press

THE United States is bracing for chaotic weather this week, with the South set to experience another heat wave following a short respite from searing temperatures earlier this month. The National Weather Service expects some areas to reach temperatures so high they’ll hit new daily records. And it’s not just the US Across the Northern Hemisphere, in Europe and Asia, extreme temperatures are causing deadly heatstroke and early wildfires ahead of the start of the astronomical summer on Thursday. Here’s what’s happening related to extreme weather and the climate right now:

• From extreme heat to unseasonable cold in the Pacific Northwest, the US is facing a myriad of extremes. The Rocky Mountains may get a late bout of snow, while further south, firefighters in Los Angeles are dealing with their first major fire of the season and Phoenix will experience more days above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

• With temperatures of up to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, at least 14 pilgrims marking the start of Eid al-Adha died of heatstroke, according to Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency. An Associated Press reporter saw several of the more than 1.8 million pilgrims collapse due to burning heat.

• Record temperatures on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus led to at least two heat-related deaths, state officials say. And over 3.2 square kilometres (1.2 square miles) of forest were scorched near the capital of Nicosia. The country has been experiencing temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) and higher over the past week.

• For those preparing for extreme temperatures over the next few days, Tammy Weber’s guide to surviving the searing sun recommends plenty of water, loose clothing and getting into air conditioning, whether in your own home or in public spaces that would be able to provide it.

• And finally, the European Union on Monday approved a long-awaited plan to better protect nature in the bloc, known as the Nature Restoration Law. The issue saw months of protests by farmers but survived a razor-thin vote by lawmakers. It’s part of the EU’s European Green Deal to have the world’s most ambitious climate and biodiversity targets.

QUOTABLE: There really shouldn’t be any outdoor activity with physical exertion during the peak of the day,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Freitag for in areas of extreme heat. Freitag said any physical activity should be short and during the early hours of the morning, when it’s coolest.

The tribe learned through a 2011 Skagit County planning document that a nearby refinery would start receiving crude oil trains. It wasn’t until the following year that the tribe received information from BNSF addressing current track usage, court documents show. The tribe and BNSF discussed amending the agreement, but “at no point did the Tribe approve BNSF’s unilateral decision to transport unit trains across the Reservation, agree to increase the train or car limitations, or waive its contractual right of approval,” Lasnik said in his decision last year. “BNSF failed to update the Tribe regarding the nature of the cargo that was crossing the Reservation and unilaterally increased the number of trains and the number of cars without the Tribe’s written agreement, thereby violating the conditions placed on BNSF’s permission to enter the property,” Lasnik said. The four-day trial this month was designed to provide the court with details and expert testimony to guide the judge through complex calculations about how much in “ill-gotten” profit BNSF should have to disgorge. Lasnik put that figure at $362 million and added $32 million in post-tax profits such as investment income for a total of more than $394 million. In reality, the judge wrote, BNSF made far more than $32 million in post-tax profits, but adding all of that up would have added hundreds of millions more to what was already a large judgment against the railway.

FIREFIGHTERS work against the advancing Post Fire early Sunday in Gorman, California.

Photo: Eric Thayer/AP

PHOTO provided by the Washington Department of Ecology shows a derailed BNSF train on the Swinomish tribal reservation near Anacortes, Wash. on March 16, 2023. A federal judge yesterday ordered BNSF Railway to pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state after finding that the company intentionally trespassed when it repeatedly ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across its reservation.

Photo: Washington Department of Ecology/AP

JIMMY’S WINES & SPIRITS SPONSORS REGATTAS IN THE ABACOS

ABACO, BahamasJimmy’s Wines & Spirits has come on board again to support the 46th Annual Regattas in The Abacos (RITA) to be held June 23 to July 1.

Organisers are expecting some of the country’s best sailors from throughout The Bahamas and US East Coast to engage in fun and competitive racing on the seas.

Sands Beer, Mount Gay Rum and Tito’s Handmade Vodka, all distributed by Jimmy’s Wines & Spirits, will serve as Platinum sponsors as well as the drinks of choice for the five days of racing and nine events that include several parties, races and award ceremonies on various cays and settlements of The Abacos.

Mount Gay representative Angela Moss said the event in what’s been dubbed a ‘yachter’s paradise’, falls perfectly in line with the brand of history, craft and sailing heritage that is Mount Gay.

“Jimmy’s Wines & Spirits is excited to have partnered with Regattas in The Abacos for an exceptional sailing regatta for 2024,” said Moss.

“We are excited to participate in this event as it strengthens our relationship

and allows for us to build community within mainland Abaco and the Cays. Mount Gay is a brand globally recognised and loved by boaters.

“So, it is a pleasure for us to return and support for again this year with Sands and Titos.”

The Abaco Regatta Committee expects to have over 25 boats participate this year, with events officially starting Sunday, June 23 with the RITA Launch

Party at Pete’s Pub in Little Harbour, followed by the opening race on Tuesday June 25.

The regatta races take place on several cays on both the mainland of Abaco, as well as Elbow Cay, Guana Cay, and Green Turtle Cay.

More information on the races and events are on the RITA website at regattasintheabacos.com, where race details are updated. RITA commodore Dwayne

Wallas celebrated the dedication of Jimmy’s Wines & Spirits, calling it a true example of the company’s support for the economy of Abaco.

“We are delighted to have the support once again from Sands Beer, Mount Gay Rum and Tito’s Handmade Vodka,” Wallas said. “Without their invaluable support, the event would not have anywhere near the economic and cultural impact. These partnerships

are what make our regatta possible.”

“I want to personally thank our dedicated sailing visitors for making the effort to journey to The Abacos and take part in this world-class sailing event,” Wallas stated.

“Their enthusiasm and passion for sailing are what make this regatta truly special. The Abacos have always been the boating capital of The Bahamas with sailing races occurring

regularly in many different iterations over the past six decades. Our new format began in 2023 and aims to continue for the foreseeable future.”

“Last year’s event was a great success,” said Moss. “It was also the year that sailing was declared the Bahamas national sport. We hope this year to double our sailors, our supporters, and to truly enjoy the best of The Bahamas at regatta time!”

THE RENEGADES FOOTBALL CLUB RETURNS

FROM SUCCESSFUL TRIP TO ENIGMA CUP

THE Renegades football club recently enjoyed a successful trip to the 2024 Enigma Cup, clinching three 2nd place finishes.

The tournament, which takes place annually over the Memorial Day weekend in Weston, Florida, is one of the largest tournaments in south Florida, with nearly 300 teams from the United States and countries such as Jamaica, Panama, Haiti and The Bahamas participating.

This is the second year that the Renegades have attended the tournament. A total of nearly 80 players and 10 coaches represented the club in a number of age categories - U9 boys, U13 boys, U15 girls and boys, and U18 boys.

“We are very proud of our coaches and players who performed exceptionally well, playing against clubs that were in most instances, much larger than ours,” said club president Gavin Watchorn.

“To reach a final in an international competition is a great accomplishment. For our club to reach three in the same tournament is amazing, and even though we came up short, the improvement in our skills over last year was very evident, and the experience has stood out amongst our players.”

Watchorn further explained that it’s important for their players, especially those who are considering going to school through soccer, to experience this level of play outside of The Bahamas.

“We are very appreciative of the support of our coaches, sponsors and parents who played a pivotal role in making this trip such a success.” Renegades football club is a non-profit soccer club, based out of St Paul’s Sports Field in western, New Providence.

The club is a member of The Bahamas Football Association and accepts members from four years of age and up. The club’s membership has grown to nearly 200 players, and over 25 per cent are female.

The Renegades have enjoyed a successful 2023/24 season, winning the girls and boys U13 leagues, as well as the U15 girls and U18 boys leagues.

The U15 boys finished 2nd and 3rd and the men’s team finished 3rd in their respective leagues.

The club is very proud of their women’s team who finished 2nd in their league in their first year participating. Additionally, the

Team Bahamas settled in and ready to hit the clay courts for their first match today

By BRENT STUBBS Chief Sports Editor

CAPTAIN Ricardo

Demeritte said Team Bahamas has settled in Asuncion, Paraguay and after a day off as competition got started on Monday, they are ready to hit the clay courts at the Club International de Tenis for their first match today.

Team Bahamas, selected by the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association following two trials in December and May, features players Justin Roberts, Rodney Carey, Michael Major Jr, Donte Armbrister Jr and Denali Nottage.

They are scheduled to play Costa Rica in their first match out of Pool A today.

The Bahamas will also face host Paraguay and Venezuela. Pool B comprises of Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Bermueda, Guatemala and Puerto Rico.

The two teams finishing top of each pool will be promoted alongside the nation finishing in third place.

The nation finishing bottom of Pool B will be relegated alongside the nation finishing in eighth place.

Demeritte, in a statement from Paraguay, said the team is ready to play ball. “The team’s been settling really well. We’ve been doing two-a-day practices, similarly to what we

were doing back at home in Nassau,” Demeritte said.

“Just now, with the full complement of the team here, we’ve been doing some practices with other countries, such as Jamaica, doing some singles points and, of course, working on the doubles.

“We’ve been mixing our players to find the best combination for the doubles, as doubles is one of the most crucial parts of Davis Cup and team competitions in general.”

In Costa Rica, Demeritte said they’re expected to play a fairly young team, similar to Team Bahamas, but they have a lot of college players. “We’re

excited,” Demeritte said. “We think we have a good chance of going deep and fighting against them.

“Like I said, the team’s excited, and the guys are ready to battle tomorrow (today).”

For Team Bahamas, Roberts, 27, is the top ranked player with an APT posting of 921 in singles and 1737 in doubles.

Roberts, a former collegiate standout for the University of South Florida and Arizona State University, first played Davis Cup in 2021 and has appeared in three ties with a 2-1 winloss record in singles.

Carey, a 31-yearold native from Grand

CFAL SUPPORTS YOUTH WITH $5,000 DONATION TO SWIMMING NATIONALS

CFAL is supporting youth athetics with a donation of

$5,000.00 cheque to Bahamas Aquatics to help with expenses towards the upcoming BAF 52nd Swimming Nationals.

Bahama, played on the team in 2010, 2012 and 2105.

In the 12 matches he has appeared in, he has amassed a 5-5 record in singles and 4-2 in doubles for a 9-7 overall record.

Major Jr, 18, is making his debut on the team. He was the winner of the final trials for the team in May at the National Tennis Center.

The first trials was held at the Georgio Baldacci Open in December.

Major Jr is coming off his freshman year at Howard University Bison in Washington, D.C. where he was Second Team All-MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic

Conference) this year, the conference’s newcomer of the year and a secondplace finisher in conference rookie of the year voting.

Armbrister, a 22-yearold southpaw, played on the team in 2019 and 2023, playing in eight ties with an 0-1 record in singles and 2-5 in doubles. He just graduated from Hampton University in May and played in the final trials to make the team.

Nottage, a 20-yearold native from Grand Bahama, played for the first time in 2023 when he ended up with a 2-3 record in singles. He also played in the final trials to make the team.

THE Home Boys and the Masqueraders won the New Providence Oldtimers Softball Association’s double header over the weekend.

In the two games plated at the Archdeacon William Thompson Softball Park, the Home Boys outslugged the KC Raiders 21-10 and the Masqueraders out-dueled the USS Rebels 21-15.

Home Boys 21, KC Raiders 10: Devaughn Wong went 2-for-2 with a triple and a home run, driving in five runs and scoring twice to lead the Home Boys over the Raiders.

Steve Morley was also perfect at the plate with his 3-for-3 day with three RBI and two runs scored and Timothy Clake was 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored.

The Home Boys produced two runs in the first, four in the second, two in the third, eight in the fourth and five in the fifth to clinch the win.

Hector Rolle was the winning pitcher and Alfred Munnings suffered the loss. David Gardiner went 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored.

After scoring eight runs in the first, the Raiders only could muster two more in the third, but it wasn’t enough to enable them to hold on as they suffered the loss.

Masqueraders 21, USS Rebels 15: Val Munroe was the winning pitcher and Kermit ‘Shift’ Mackey got tagged with the loss on the mound.

Arthur Hamilton went 2-for-4 with a homer, five RBI and two runs scored; William Delancy was 3-for-5 with a triple, four RBI and three runs scored and Greg Smith went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.

“We are very grateful to CFAL for its continued support of Bahamas Aquatics. Corporate sponsors tend to move more to track and field, but swimming is a sport that has really done the most. “We are the only federation to win CARIFTA for six consecutive years in The Bahamas and in the region.

AFTER months of competition, the winner of the 2023/2024 Bahamas Goombay Punch Cup was announced at the conclusion of the 54th Long Island Regatta, held in Salt Pond June 5-8. Despite the gray clouds during the festivities, the Susan Chase shined through and claimed their victory.

The second annual Bahamas Goombay Punch Cup season, which began last year at the Best of the Best Regatta held in Nassau, observed the skill and speed of each B-Class sloop throughout the sailing season.

The sailing competition brought on by Caribbean Bottling Company (CBC), local producers of CocaCola and Dasani products, measures the performance of various sailing sloops across the Best of the Best Regatta, National Family Island Regatta and Long Island Regatta.

During the final leg of competition, at the Long Island Regatta, the team with the most points across the three major events is crowned the winner.

Karla Wells-Lisgaris, director of CBC, said through the desire to further enhance the legacy of Bahamas Goombay

“When we look at all the contribution swimming has on the academic development of young people,” said Algernon Cargill, president of Bahamas Aquatics.

Punch, a Coca-Cola heritage brand, culture was prioritised in creating the Goombay Punch Cup.

“We sought to create a meaningful partnership that would benefit Bahamians while celebrating our unique traditions. After careful consideration, the regatta emerged as the ideal match.

“Its rich history and the knowledge passed down from generation to generation demonstrates a strong connection between seasoned sailors and our youth from boat building to junior sailing clubs across our islands,” said Wells-Ligaris.

Despite stiff competition, Susan Chase rose on the Bahamas Goombay Punch Cup leaderboard during the second round of competition at the recent National Family Island Regatta in Elizabeth Harbour, Exuma.

As they enjoyed the lead, they were determined to carry their winning streak straight through the finale in Long Island to capture the crown.

Stefan Knowles, captain of Susan Chase, spoke on winning and his team’s overall experience this sailing season.

“It was very exciting winning. As you know we

CFAL is supporting the upcoming BAF 52nd Swimming Nationals with the donation of a $5,000.00 cheque.

won all three rounds of the Goombay Punch Cup, but it came with tight competition from Lonesome Dove,” he said.

“They also came second at each regatta and definitely pushed us. They are great contenders but overall it has been a lot of fun.”

Knowles said.

“And of course, it was great to keep the Goombay Punch Cup crown in Long Island once again after New Legend won it last year. It speaks to the talent we have in Long Island.” he said.

Although bragging rights hold a weight of their own, the winner of the Bahamas Goombay Punch Cup is awarded a five-thousand-dollar cash prize, and in addition to this, the junior sailing club of their respective island receives an eight-thousanddollar stipend to assist with advancing the sport for future generations.

Wells-Lisgaris hopes that, with time, the competition will motivate future competitors and spectators alike, ultimately attracting more visitors to our beautiful islands.

“Through our partnership and support, we aim to enhance the cultural heritage and traditions associated with regatta

sailing. We envision the competition continuing to grow with the sport while inspiring future generations of sailors, ensuring the preservation and progression of these important skills and traditions.” she shared.

Bahamas Goombay Punch, a proud sponsor of the Long Island Regatta, aided in the enjoyment of hundreds of Bahamians and sailing enthusiasts as they flocked to Salt Pond, Long Island over four days

The Masqueraders scored two runs in the first, six in the second, eight in the fourth and five in the fifth.

The Rebels countered with three in the second and third, four in both the fourth and fifth and one in the sixth.

The NPOTSA will continue its regular season this weekend with the following games on tap: Saturday Noon - Drifters vs Drivers 2pm - KC Construction vs Da Boyz. 4pm - Dozer vs the Home Boys

to soak in the excitement, both on the sea and shore at the Regatta grounds. Between the live entertainment and multitude of delicious Bahamian food sold by vendors, the 2024 Long Island Regatta catered to everyone’s needs, making it a success once again.

To learn more about the Bahamas Goombay Punch Cup, past winners and the 2023/2024 sailing season highlights, visit www.cbcbahamas.com today.

TEAM Bahamas Davis Cup team, shown from left to right, of Justin Roberts, Rodney Carey, Michael Major Jr, Denali Nottage, Donte Armbrister and captain Ricardo Demeritte together in Paraguay.

Celtics win NBA title, Jaylen Brown voted MVP

CARDINALS GET 7-6 WIN OVER CHISHOLM JR AND MARLINS

FROM PAGE 16

Carlson put the Cardinals ahead with a sacrifice fly in the 11th off Andrew Nardi and Jesús Sánchez had a run-scoring groundout in the bottom half against Andrew Kittredge (1-3).

Winn homered off A.J. Puk (0-8) in the 12th for a 7-5 lead, making an emphatic bat flip more than halfway up the first-base line.

Nick Gordon lead off the bottom half with an RBI triple — Carlson raised his arms, arguing the ball was stuck in the padding under the right-field wall and Gordon should be held at second, but Gordon was awarded third following a video review.

Tim Anderson followed with a 269-foot fly to right and Carlson made a perfect throw to catcher Pedro Pagés, who tagged Gordon on the left arm as he slid in headfirst.

Otto Lopez then grounded out.

Sonny Gray got his first no-decision this year, leaving with a 4-1 lead. He

allowed one run and five hits in 7 1/3 innings, the longest outing by a Cardinals starter this season.

Michael Siani homered in the fifth against Braxton Garrett, who allowed five hits in six innings with six strikeouts and no walks.

Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr tied the score in the sixth with a two-out triple that drove in Anderson, who had singled.

Chisholm Jr was called out for missing second base by umpire CB Bucknor, but the call was overturned after a video review determined Chisholm Jr caught the bag with a heel.

Iván Herrera hit a tworun triple in the eighth off Calvin Faucher and scored on Brendan Donovan’s single for a 4-1 lead, but Gray walked Lopez with one out in the bottom half, JoJo Romero walked Chisholm Jr with two outs and De La Cruz homered. First base umpire Brad May had two calls overturned on replays in the third inning. He called the Cardinals’ José Fermín safe after a

from

KLAY THOMPSON TO ATTEND MEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM TRAINING CAMP

FROM PAGE 16

But with Chris DeMarco, an assistant coach with Golden State, serving as the head coach for Bahamas men’s team, Thompson

has decided to lend his assistance.

The training camp is the continuation of the Road to Olympics 24 as the national team gets ready to compete in the final qualifier for the Olympic Games in

Valencia, Spain, from July 2-7 in Pool B against Poland and Finland. The 34-year-old Thompson previously played and won a gold medal for Team USA in the 2016 Olympics on Team USA. But he

always discussed the idea of playing for the Bahamas in recognition of his father, who played 935 games in the NBA from 1978 to 1991 and won two championships as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thompson would need to receive an official release from USA Basketball and approval from FIBA in order to be cleared to play in the Olympic qualifiers and further competition for Team Bahamas, which isn’t expected to happen.

The Bahamian national team is flying to Greece for two exhibition games against Montenegro on June 25 and Greece (and possibly Giannis Antetokounmpo) on June 27, followed by the Olympic qualifying tournament in Spain beginning July 2.

While Thompson has not been confirmed to compete in the Qualifier, already confirmed to are fellow NBA players Chavano “Buddy” Hield from the

Philadelphia 76ers, Deandre Ayton of the Portland Trail Blazers, Eric Gordon of the Pheonix Suns and Kai Jones of the Los Angeles Clippers. Also listed to compete are rising stars VJ Edgecombe, Donnie Freeman and Michael Albury Jr, who are preparing to compete at the collegiate level for Baylor, Syracuse and Ranger College respectively.

Efforts are also being made to add AJ Storr from Kansas and Naz Reid of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but team officials did not release the official team list up to press time last night.

The Bahamas, led by Hield, Gordon and Ayton, booked its ticket to the Olympic Qualifier by winning the Americas PreOlympic Qualifier with a stunning victory over host Argentina, one of the top teams in the world, at the Estadio Ciudad in Santiago del Estero, Argentina last August.

DENISHA CARTWRIGHT NOMINATED FOR ANOTHER AWARD

FROM PAGE 16

100-metres, completing her résumé with eight NCAA Championship titles in both indoor and outdoor and has 16 top-three National Event finishes. Overall, she is a 30-time All-America honouree in both indoor and outdoor track & field events and holds the DII all-time record in the 60-metre hurdles. She is a two-time Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Player of the year and an 11-time NSIC Champion indoors and outdoors.

Cartwright is expected home to compete in the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’

National Track and Field Championships, scheduled for Wednesday to Friday, June 26-28 at the original Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium. She is expected to be featured in one of the marquee events at the championships in the women’s 100m hurdles where she, along with national record holder Devynne Charlton and triple jumper Charisma Taylor, have all qualified for the Olympic Games. The Olympics is set for July 27 to August 11 in Paris, France, and the nationals will serve as the final trials for Team Bahamas. Cartwright is also expected to compete in the 100m at the trials.

vs Nobu

THE track and field fraternity is asking for the public to continue to pray for Keanna Smith, a member of the Road Runners Track Club, who was involved in a car accident last week. Smith, the daughter of Xavier Todd and the sister of Reanno Todd, is currently recuperating in Doctor’s Hospital after undergoing surgery. The family is asking for the public to continue to pray for her recovery.

BASKETBALL

PEACE ON DA STREETS THE annual Peace On Da Streets Basketball Classic, dubbed “Shooting Hoops instead of Guns,” is scheduled for July 15-21 at the Michael ‘Scooter Reid” Basketball Center at the Hope Center. All games will start at 6pm each day. Categories include 12-and-under, 16-andunder, 20-and-under, government ministry, church and open divisions. The event is being promoted by Guardian Radio and Radio House Outreach.

CLERGY VS POLITICIANS

BASKETBALL AS a part of the annual Peace ON Da Streets Basketball Classic, organisers will once again stage the showdown between members of the Clergy against the Members of Parliament. The game is scheduled for 8pm Sunday, July 21 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

JOHNSON’S BASKETBALL

CAMP

GET ready for the annual Coach Kevin Johnson’s Basketball Camp 2024. Coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson has announced that his camp will run from June 24 to July 12 at the CI Gibson Secondary High School and will run daily from 9am to 1pm. Campers will get a chance to play and learn the fundamentals of the game of basketball from professional instructors. Interested persons can sign up by contacting coach Johnson at 636-9350 or email: coachkjjohnson@gmail. com

BASKETBALL

NEX-GEN

THE third annual Nex-Gen Elite Training Basketball Camp, hosted by JR Basketball Academy, is all set for June 24 to July 13 from 9am to noon at the Telios Indoor Gymnasium on Carmichael Road.

The camp, powered by Frazier’s Roofing, will provide training for game situations, shooting, passibng, ball handling, defense and footwork for boys and girls between the ages of 8-19 years. Registration is now open. Interested persons can contact Cadot at 535-9354, email jrcbasketballacademy.com or go online to www.jrcbasketballacademy.com

wide throw

Anderson at shortstop but the review ruled first baseman

Josh Bell kept his foot on the bag. A replay awarded Chisholm Jr a hit in the bottom half after he initially was called out on a comebacker.

MIAMI Marlins Bryan De La Cruz (14) celebrates with Jazz Chisholm Jr., after De La Cruz hit a three-

run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday in Miami. The Cardinals defeated the Marlins 7-6 in 12 innings. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

CELTICS guard Jaylen Brown, centre, holds up the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy as he celebrates with the team after they won the NBA title. (AP Photos/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON Celtics centre Al Horford, centre, and forward Jayson Tatum, front centre left, celebrate with teammates near the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy after winning the NBA championship with a Game 5 victory over the Dallas Mavericks last night in Boston.

SPORTS

16

TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024

Boston Celtics are the NBA champions

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics again stand alone among NBA champions.

Jayson Tatum had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds as the Celtics topped the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 last night to win the franchise’s 18th championship, breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history.

Boston earned its latest title on the 16th anniversary of hoisting its last Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2008. It marks the 13th championship won this century by one of the city’s Big 4 professional sports franchises.

Jaylen Brown added 21 points and was voted the NBA Finals MVP. Jrue Holiday finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Centre Kristaps Porzingis also provided an emotional lift, returning from a twogame absence because of a dislocated tendon in his left ankle to chip in five points in 17 minutes.

It helped the Celtics cap a postseason that saw them go 16-3 and finish with an 80-21 overall record.

That .792 winning percentage ranks second in team history behind only the Celtics’ 1985-86 championship team that finished 82-18 (.820).

Second-year coach Joe Mazzulla, at age 35, also became the youngest coach since Bill Russell in 1969 to lead a team to a championship.

Luka Doncic finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, which failed to extend the series after avoiding a sweep with a 38-point win in Game 4. The Mavericks had been 3-0 in Game 5s this postseason, with Doncic scoring at least 31 points in each of the them.

Kyrie Irving finished with just 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting and has now lost 13 of the last 14 meetings against the Celtics team he left in the summer of 2019 to join the Brooklyn Nets.

NBA teams are now 0-157 in postseason series after falling into a 3-0 deficit.

Boston never trailed and led by as many as 26 feeding off the energy of the Garden crowd.

Dallas was within 16-15 early before the Celtics closed the first quarter on a 12-3 run that included eight combined points by Tatum and Brown.

The Celtics did it again in the second quarter when the Mavericks trimmed what had been a 15-point deficit to nine.

Boston ended the period with a 19-7 spurt that was capped by a a half-court buzzer beater by Payton

Pritchard – his second such shot of the series – to give Boston a 67-46 halftime lead.

Over the last two minutes of the first and second quarters, the Celtics outscored the Mavericks 22-4.

The Celtics never looked back.

Russell’s widow, Jeannine Russell, and his daughter Karen Russell were in TD Garden to salute the newest generation of Celtics champions.

They watched current Celtics stars Tatum and Brown earn their first rings. It was the trade that sent 2008 champions Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn in 2013 that

MEMORIAL FOR SUNSHINE

FOLLOWING a candle light vigil by the New Providence Softball Association last week in the Bankers Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex, a memorial service for the late softball player and sports executive Renee ‘Sunshine’ Davis will take place at 7pm on Thursday in the foyer of the Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium. Davis, who passed away on June 12 at the age of 56, will be funeralised at 10am on Saturday, June 29 at the Bible Truth Ministries on Martin’s Close, off Cowpen Road.

BASEBALL

By BRENT STUBBS

IN preparation for the Olympic qualifier next month, the Bahamas Basketball Federation is expected to utilise the services of Klay Thompson during the men’s national basketball team training camp.

The training camp is expected to start today in Houston, Texas, and Thompson, the son of Bahamian two-time National Basketball Association champion Mychal “Sweet Bells” Thompson with the Los Angeles Lakers, is expected to be a part of the team.

Klay Thompson, a shooting guard who has won four titles with the Golden State Warriors, is expected to test the free agency market in the coming weeks.

netted Boston the draft picks it eventually used to select Brown and Tatum third overall in back-toback drafts in 2016 and 2017.

The All-Stars came into their own this season, leading a Celtics team that built around taking and making a high number of 3-pointers, and a defence that rated as the league’s best during the regular season.

The duo made it to at least the Eastern Conference finals as teammates four previous times.

Their fifth deep playoff run together proved to be the charm.

After both struggling at times offensively in the

June, 2024

By BRENT STUBBS Chief Sports Editor bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

series, Tatum and Brown hit a groove in Game 5, combining for 31 points and 11 assists in the first half.

It helped bring out all the attributes that made Boston the NBA’s most formidable team this postseason – spreading teams out, sharing the ball, and causing havoc on defence.

And it put a championship bow on dizzying two-year stretch for the Celtics, that saw them lose in the finals to the Golden State Warriors in 2022 and then fail to return last season after a Game 7 home loss to the Miami Heat in the conference finals.

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Rookie Masyn Winn hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning, Dylan Carlson threw out the potential tying run at the plate in the bottom half and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 7-6 last night to move over .500 for the first time since early April.

St. Louis (36-35) won for the fifth time in six games and has a winning record for the first time since the Cardinals were 5-4 after defeating the Marlins on April 6.

NL-worst Miami (23-49) lost its sixth straight and dropped to 2-12 in June.

Bryan De La Cruz tied the score 4-4 with a threerun homer in the eighth off JoJo Romero.

FORD CAMP THE annual Mario Ford Summer Baseball Camp is all set for July 1-12 from 9am to 1pm at Windsor Park on East Street and Wulff Road. It’s open to campers between the ages of 7-15 years. Interested persons are urged to contact Mario Ford at 556-0993 for more information and to register their child or children.

SOFTBALL ATLANTIS LEAGUE THE Atlantis Softball League will get started this weekend at the Archdeacon William Thompson Softball Park at the Southern Recreation Grounds. Here’s a look at the schedule Saturday 10am - MWPO vs Marina

BOSTON Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) lifts his son Deuce as he celebrates with the team last night after the Celtics won the NBA championship with a Game 5 victory over Dallas Mavericks in Boston.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)