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Volume: 119 No.176, August 8, 2022

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T R I B U N E 2 4 2 . C O M

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FNM WARNING: WE NEED ACTION - NOW THE Free National Movement yesterday expressed concern about the Bahamian economy and the management of the country’s fiscal affairs.

The opposition also repeated calls for the government to come to the Bahamian people with a strong and definitive plan to counter the effects of inflation and to execute a credible and robust fiscal and economic plan.

“As reported by the Central Bank and the Bahamas National Statistical Institute, the country is facing a historically high inflation rate that is creating significant hardship for Bahamian families, especially working families on

a fixed income,” the party said in a statement.

Regarding inflation, the FNM said Bahamians have seen how other governments in the Caribbean and around the world have taken prompt and effective steps to reduce the impact of inflation.

“Governments have temporarily capped or eliminated gasoline taxes.

They have expanded the list of VAT-free products.

They have provided even more vouchers and help for working families and businesses.

“The Davis administration has been twiddling its thumbs, just now finally

THE CURATOR of the new Bahamas Maritime Museum says the government - through the Antiquities Monuments & Museums Corporation (AMMC) - have their portion of Spanish treasure found off the coast of Grand Bahama.

Dr Michael Pateman, who is also a former senior archaeologist at the AMMC, told Tribune

SEE BUSINESS SECTION

ROYAL Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Raymond King said interceptions of migrant vessels have been largely successful for the year, noting there had been no recent illegal landings in the country.

Mr King was asked for statistics about illegal migration activity for the year during an event at the RBDF Coral Harbour base on Friday.

“For this fiscal year, none,” he told reporters.

“We’ve intercepted every vessel that attempted to come to The Bahamas.

“Last year, September,

‘AIRPORT KEY TO LUCAYAN RISING AGAIN’

SEE PAGE FOUR

Business - outside of the ribbon cutting ceremony and opening of the BMM in Grand Bahama on Saurday - that the government supervises every dive undertaken for the sunken Spanish Galleon, the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, inclusive of work by divers from the Royal Bahama Defence Force and representatives from the AMMC working in the BMM laboratory.

“The government’s share is in Nassau,” he added.

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE THREE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

VALUE OF OUR RECOVERED TREASURE STILL A MYSTERY

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

COMMODORE: SHIPS WITH MIGRANTS ARE STOPPED

SILVER STAR DEVYNNE Charlton won the silver medal in the 100 metres hurdles at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England yesterday – The Bahamas’ second medal at the games.

SEE SPORTS for the full story.

MY SON DIDN’T HAVE TO DIE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A GRIEVING family in Abaco wants the government to better equip the island with the resources needed to treat divers suffering from the bends after their loved one is believed to have died from symptoms associated with the illness last week.

Randy Sawyer, 16, of Cherokee Sound died early

RANDY SAWYER, who died on Friday.

Friday morning shortly after he was airlifted to New Providence with symptoms linked with decompression sickness or the bends.

The bends is caused by rapid changes in pressure while diving and can prove fatal.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Rochelle Sawyer, the deceased teen’s mother, said she believed her son could have survived if the island had had a decompression chamber to treat the bends.

“Abaco is in bad shape for healthcare,” she said in

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE THREE

THE former chairman of Lucayan Renewal Holdings believes the government must fully commit to redevelopment and reconstruction of the Grand Bahama International Airport in order to successfully conclude negotiations over the sale of the Grand Lucayan resort.

Michael Scott, QC, was contacted after the Grand Lucayan board and Electra America Hospitality Group in a joint statement last week revealed that negotiations over the hotel’s sale will be extended by 45 days to September 15.

SEE PAGE FOUR

INSIGHT

ONE THING IS CLEAR NO CLARITY ANYTIME SOON

SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Monday, August 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

PHOTOS: Austin Fernander

RBDF welcomes 109 new recruits, largest ever intake of women in mixed entry

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force welcomed 109 new recruits at the Passing Out ceremony of the New Entry 59 and Woman Entry 28 class at the Coral Harbour base on Friday.

This entry of 77 males and 32 females marked the largest intake of women in a mixed entry in the history of the Defence Force.

Acting National Security Minister Jomo Campbell applauded this historic moment.

“This entry has a complement of 109 recruits, 32 of which are females. This is the largest intake of females in a mixed entry in the history of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force,” he said.

“This should be applauded, they should be applauded and encouraged.

It demonstrates that we all have an interest in ensuring the safety of these islands and cays we call home,” Mr Campbell added.

Acting minister Campbell expressed his gratitude to the recruits for answering the “higher call to service”.

He offered words of encouragement to them as they embark on this new journey of becoming a Defence Force Marine.

“As you embark on life as a Defence Force Marine, I remind you of the core values of the RBDF, to have integrity, good values and a sound character,” he said.

“Integrity commits itself to character over personal gain, to people over things, to service over power, to principle over convenience,

to the long run over the immediate. Be accountable and honest, for lies often give birth to chaos, but truth restores order. If you can’t be the bearer of the light of truth, at least don’t lie.”

During the Passing Out ceremony, the recruits showcased physical fitness, military drills and band skills.

The 16-week training course included modules in navigation, seamanship, weapons handling, the Defence Act and regulations, military martial arts, firefighting and communications.

RBDF Commodore Raymond King said: “Today’s exercise of New Entry 59 and Woman Entry 28 adds to our complement, as we aim towards a force strength of some 3,000 persons in order to adequately man our bases, our vessels and our outstations through the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

He said this entry is a refreshing replacement as the agency is faced with employee attrition.

Commodore King explained that a policy was implemented to ensure promotions and appointments reflect no less than 25 percent of the female marines in an effort to build the female population of the organisation.

“I also recently released a policy to ensure all decisions made - appointments, promotions, etc, reflect no less than 25 percent and for it to be scalable as we continue to build and increase our female complement in the organisation,” he said.

RBDF Commodore Raymond King.

ACTING National Security Minister Jomo Campbell.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, August 8, 2022, PAGE 3

COMMODORE: SHIPS WITH MIGRANTS ARE STOPPED FROM PAGE ONE following the earthquake in Haiti when we had that surge in the month of September, that was in excess of some 1,000 persons.

We intercepted all those persons. We haven’t had any landings in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas during that time.”

Irregular migration concerns were reignited last month after some 17 Haitian migrants were left dead after their vessel capsized in waters off Blackbeard’s Cay. Officials suspect around 45 people were on board the boat that officers suspect was enroute to Florida by way of Grand Bahama.

A number of people are believed to be still missing following the tragedy.

“Unfortunately, and regrettably, no, we haven’t found any bodies,” Commodore King said when asked whether any other passengers have been found.

“If we reflect on the incident just outside of Nassau Harbour, our intelligence has suggested about 45 persons would have been on board on that vessel and so we knew we were looking for three additional bodies but what makes it difficult is when we have the lack of family members and relatives stepping forward to admit that they would have had persons on board those vessels and so that was lacking.

“The probability of survival beyond three days is very, very dim. We continued all efforts for at least five days and adverse weather conditions and it’s most unfortunate of that incident and we seek to prevent those such incidents by being positioned to intercept.”

According to officials, six of the 17 people who died from the tragedy have been identified.

Five of the victims are listed as follows: Mary Saimphorin, Kourtney Volmyr, Annette Mesidor, Bobley Fertilus, and Altanice Ivroy.

When asked if the RBDF plans to change its approach regarding how it tackles illegal migration following the incident, the RBDF chief only expressed confidence in the force’s efforts to combat the issue.

“What it does is it really reinforces our strategy and what we’re doing,” he said.

“We’ve realised significant success over the past two and a half to three years.

We have a deliberate strategy of knowing who’s in our maritime domain, controlling access to our salt waters and dominating that space using all of our resources, as well as our relationship with our national law enforcement agencies, as well as our regional partnerships.

“We share information and we pool our resources together for the benefit of all concerned,” Commodore King said.

In May, Commodore King told The Tribune officials had seen a marked increase in illegal migration activity over the last several months.

He said data at the time showed that 1,892 migrants had been apprehended by local authorities since the start of this year to April, with most of those interdictions taking place in March.

In June, Attorney General Ryan Pinder described the number of migrants entering illegally into the country as being “through the roof” and higher than ever seen before.

A month later, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis affirmed his administration’s position on irregular migration, saying the government will not open the country’s borders to migrants because it does not have the resources to do so.

“The world is suggesting that we should absorb all of those who leave Haiti.

That’s what they will say to me,” Mr Davis said during a press conference last month.

“When I was at the summit of the Americas, they wanted me to sign onto an irregular migration declaration, but we have our own peculiar circumstances which I keep reminding the world of.

“We’re unable to open our borders to irregular migration and our refugees either because of our own limited resources.”

16-YEAR-OLD Randy Sawyer, who died on Friday.

My son didn’t have to die FROM PAGE ONE an emotional interview.

“If there had been a chamber here, they could have put my child in within an hour, my child would have lived.

“Bends happen all the time.”

According to Mrs Sawyer, her son was an experienced diver who started to feel ill at sea on Thursday while he was out spear fishing with a friend.

“He left that morning about 8.30 to go in the boat as normal spearing fish and when he got back in the boat - and, of course, he was using a compressor - when he got back in the boat, (I was told) that he said he had a headache,” she said.

“It was two of them diving together and they were on the land so they figured they been in the heat all day and needed to eat and drink something because you’re exhausted.

“When he got in, he also told one of his friends that he had a pain in his left arm and so they quickly went to the gas station, and they walked to go get

a snack and something to drink before they cleaned their fish like they always do.”

The concerned mother said her son decided to go home after his friends noticed that he did not look well.

But as the teenager prepared to leave he collapsed.

Mrs Sawyer said after being contacted about his condition while at work, she then called the ambulance for help.

She said while Emergency Medical Service workers offered as much assistance as they could, she believed workers at the Marsh Harbour clinic could have responded to the emergency better if they had the proper resources.

She also believed having her son evacuated to Nassau did not help the situation.

“I kept asking them if they checked to see if a (decompression) chamber in The Bahamas is working and because people saying it’s not working and they said it’s working it’s always

working,” she said. “.. and then the plane came in and they decided that they wanted to put my child on a ventilator, so they had to sedate him completely but at all times his vitals had been fine and everyone’s well aware that with the bends, you’re not supposed to fly high,” she said.

“But the minute we got on the plane and the plane started to get airborne, my child’s pressure started to go through the floor and I could see the doctor is getting very nervous but she’s trying to console herself because I’m in front of her.”

The Abaco resident said she started questioning the doctor as any concerned mother would, but said the medical worker tried to reassure her and told her that her son’s symptoms

were not uncommon.

After arriving in New Providence, she said her son eventually died.

Recalling her last moments with him, she said: “PMH they tried their best, but then his heart started to stop so he coded like three times and they got his heart started, but then the fourth time when he coded, it was like 4 o’clock and he just was gone.”

When contacted yesterday, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville confirmed he was made aware of the case and said an investigation into the matter was ongoing.

He also sent condolences to the family.

As for reports about there being no decompression chambers in country, sources familiar with the

situation said that was not true.

The Tribune understands there is at least one decompression chamber located at Doctor’s Hospital - though it is said not to be operational.

Sources said it should be back on stream before the end of the month.

Meanwhile, the loving mother described her son as a person who was “full of life” and passionate about diving.

“My child had a head on his body like he knew in life what he wanted,” Mrs Sawyer said.

“My child was the bubbliest kid always.

“I always feared my child getting bit by a shark because he dove in waters everyday, but I never feared that this would take my child.”

TWO MEN SUSPECTED OF STEALING LAPTOPS

POLICE are hunting two men suspected stealing $21,000 worth of laptops.

The laptops were stolen from a business on Wulff Road, the theft being discovered around 9am on Saturday.

“The HP laptops are worth in excess of $21,000,” police said.

“Police are following significant leads into the matter and wish to remind members of the public that purchasing stolen property is a major offense, and those found aiding and abetting will be prosecuted.

“Anyone with information that can assist police in locating the suspects and stolen electronics are asked to contact police @ 919/911, the Criminal Investigation Department at 502-9991/2 or Crimestoppers at @ 328-TIPS.” • POLICE are investigating the circumstances surrounding a structural fire that destroyed a single storey building on East Street South on Friday.

According to reports, the

incident occurred sometime around 3.45am at a business establishment.

The cause of the fire is unknown. Police investigations are ongoing.

Viewing Notice For

Ena Patricia Pintard, 73 a resident of Golden Gates II, who died on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at the Princess Margaret Hospital will be held on Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at Butlers’ Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Ernest and York Streets, from 2:00p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Funeral Service is scheduled for Thursday August 11, 2022 at 11:00 a.m at St. Agnes Anglican Church, Baillou Hill Road.

Current Emergency COVID-19 regulations are in effect.

Social Distancing and Face Masks will be enforced.

PAGE 4, Monday, August 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

FNM WARNING: WE NEED ACTION - NOW FROM PAGE ONE

realising this week that it ought to consider a tax break on gasoline when we in the FNM had recommended this same thing and much more months ago. When we made the recommendation they claimed that it couldn’t be done. Now that gas prices have finally started to come down, they just now realise that Bahamians need a break on fuel tax to combat the massive spike.

“They must explain to the Bahamian people how they can now consider a reduction on VAT on gas, but refuse to do the right thing and eliminate VAT on bread basket items and medicines given how the prices of these essential items have shot up due to inflation? When will the Davis administration finally accept that - as other countries have done - that it is critical to remove VAT on essential items in order to protect struggling families throughout the country?

“Further, we once again call on the government to announce the dates for the annual Back to School VAT holiday that was started by the FNM. Working parents will need the savings even more now that the prices of virtually everything have gone up.

If you will take VAT off gasoline, do the same for breadbasket items and medication. Provide assistance to struggling small businesses through the Small Business Development Centre or the one-time purchase of inventory VAT free.

“We hasten to point out that the FNM believes in fiscal responsibility. Thus all of these necessary tax relief measures must be paid for through additional revenue measures or reduced spending. Thus to cover the cut in the gasoline tax and the elimination of VAT on essential items, we call on the government to put back in place the 12 percent VAT on real estate over $2 million, when that tax cut only benefited wealthy Bahamians and foreigners.

“The government

should also postpone its current illegal tax cut on yachts for the wealthy until this can be properly done through the Budget process. Further, the government should eliminate the $4m increase in the international travel budget, radically reduce the $30m allocation for consultants, and scale back planned spending for events, entertainment, and other non-essential items.

“The Davis administration must give priority to helping struggling Bahamian families deal with inflation.”

The FNM further spoke to The Bahamas’ international bonds Series 09/29 and series 20/32 - saying they were in the midst of a historic price collapse as reported on the website of the Frankfurt stock exchange.

“The 20/32 series are trading today (August 5, 2022) at 57 cents on the dollar and the 09/29 series is trading at 52 cents on the dollar. The latter is now down by more than 50 percent from last year and both bond series have trended steadily downward over the last 52 weeks, erasing close to half their value.

“Why is this occurring and what effects will this have on The Bahamas?

The government must bring focus on this troubling occurrence.

“The government must heed constant advice to bring to Parliament a credible medium-term fiscal plan that ensures expenditure restraint and a defined flow of enhanced revenue inflows. The extravagant spending on travel, entertainment, and events must be curtailed, and the engagement of consultants and new staff must be kept strictly to a limited number of priority areas. The government must articulate a coherent tax reform plan and must bring the same to the public for a full consultation.”

The Opposition said it recognised the gravity of this situation and stands ready to support the government in any credible and consultative effort to address what has become a critical issue for the country.

DEVASTATION in Abaco after Hurricane Dorian. (NOAA via AP)

Opposition ‘not provided details’ of Dorian memorial events

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net THE Official Opposition has pushed back against claims that it supported a week-long event to observe the anniversary of the passage of Hurricane Dorian, insisting it was “inaccurate”.

Last week it was announced a week-long national memorial with various activities in honour of Hurricane Dorian victims, survivors and first responders will be held beginning next month.

While the initial announcement came during the OPM press briefing on Thursday, a separate statement was later released giving more details of the activities.

However, the Free National Movement took issue with comments attributed to press secretary Clint Watson that the opposition supported these events, adding it would be a non-partisan and unifying effort.

“The Leadership of the Opposition would like to make it abundantly clear that this statement is inaccurate,” the FNM said in a statement Friday. “The PR team from the Office of the Prime Minister made passing comments of the government’s desire

to commemorate the occasion and expressed hope that the Opposition would participate.

“However, up to the time of OPM’s press release we were not provided with the details of the proposed events which would have assisted us in understanding the nature of what was being proposed and allowing us to make a decision if we were participating or had recommendations.”

The FNM also took issues with the assertion that the events planned for next month was the first government recognised memorial since the passage of Dorian.

“While we were in government on several occasions initiatives were organised (which involved government officials and organs) to pay tribute to those persons who had lost their lives and to honour those persons who played a major role in rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts throughout the days and months following the passage of Dorian,” the FNM said. “Again in the absence of a formal invitation or meeting we are in no position to comment on the details of the events that the government proposes to hold.”

There has been controversy over certain aspects of the event particularly the national memorial concert to

be held at Baha Mar that will feature local talent as well as famous American gospel singer, Cece Winans, who will be headlining the event.

“Furthermore, the term ‘celebration‘ upon initial review seems to be out of place against the backdrop of this devastating and catastrophic Hurricane that made a life changing impact in the country in September 2019.

“Moreover, any concert being planned should be anchored by worldclass Bahamian talent supported by our friends who we may wish to invite to participate from overseas,“ the opposition statement read.

“Grand Bahama and Abaco should be the primary locations for such events unless the Nassau concert was a benefit event to raise badly needed funds to improve families devastated

by Dorian. We do support a bi-partisan commemoration of the passage of Dorian.

“However, let us have a respectful discussion about what this involves.

Once again we encourage the organisers of such events to use the bulk of the resources available at this time to help our residents who are in need of home repairs in the midst of this hurricane season,” the FNM’s statement said.

THE GRAND Lucayan resort.

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THE TRIBUNE CALL 502 2394

‘AIRPORT KEY TO GRAND LUCAYAN RISING AGAIN’ FROM PAGE ONE

“Unless there is some firm commitment on reconstruction and renewal of the airport in Freeport, you are (unlikely) to see any substantial investment and that is simply economic common sense,” he said.

In May, Electra America Hospitality Group made a $100M purchase offer for the Grand Lucayan Resort.

The agreement was subject to a 60-day due diligence period, with closing no later than 120 days.

However, officials said both sides agreed to extend the time because more time is needed to complete “due diligence” and all the required legal documents.

“It does take time. This one may take a little while,” Julian Russell, Grand Lucayan’s chairman, told Tribune Business last week.

“There’s still a few things we need to close,” the Grand Lucayan’s chair told this newspaper of the need for a 45-day extension. “But I am very, very confident that we’ll progress that forward.

Very confident. I’ve got no

reason to believe otherwise. I have no doubt we’ll get it done and get this deal closed.”

The Minnis administration purchased the hotel for $65m in August 2018.

Nearly two years later, Royal Caribbean International and the ITM Group signed a heads of agreement with the government for the purchase of the resort and redevelopment of the Freeport Harbour.

In December, the Davis administration cancelled the deal, branding it a bad one and entered into an agreement with Electra America months later.

Electra America’s plans involve three resort properties. A four to five-star branded luxury lifestyle hotel, featuring 198 rooms and 24 villas and targeted at corporate and leisure business; a four-star convention hotel with 535 rooms, featuring an amphitheatre and convention centre; and a 257-room condo-hotel style family resort with suites that are double the size of the Grand Lucayan’s existing rooms.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, August 8, 2022, PAGE 5

BECAWU signs ‘historic’ industrial agreement

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Educators, Counselors and Allied Workers Union (BECAWU) signed an industrial agreement with the government on Friday.

Obie Ferguson, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) president, considered the event the “most historic event” in the labour movement.

Sandra Major, the union’s president, expressed how empowering the move was.

“There are so many people to say thank you to because this has allowed us to know that we do have a voice in this country and we have the right to choice and that right has not been taken away from us and we do not take that right very lightly,” she said.

“Because we know with leadership comes great responsibility. Leaders are meant to mentor. Leaders are meant to encourage.

Leaders are meant to set the examples and that is what we will strive to do.”

She said they are pleased with what they received from the government with their first industrial agreement.

“We received from them, of course, an increase in salary,” she said. “We got an increment and this is the largest we’ve ever received over a three-year period and I was teaching for over 40 years and I have never received this great increase in my salary in three years.

“We also received the retention bonus – so the retention bonus as well we’ve accepted. We also got an increase in our allowances. We got an increase on our rental assistance.

We got our insurance agent, which gave us a greater benefit to us.”

When asked about the percentage of the raise, Ms Major replied: “In the first year we get a salary increase equal to two increments plus your normal increment

and then the second year we get a salary increase equal to one increment plus normal increment. Then in the third year we get two again plus your normal increment.

“The retention bonus is after 25 years. You can accept all of it and it’s a gift.”

EDUCATION, Technical and Vocational Minister Glenys Hanna Martin.

Education, Technical and Vocational Minister

Glenys Hanna Martin further explained what is included.

“The financial compensation includes increases, increases in allowances, retention bonuses,” she said.

“The agreement also deals with a range of issues, including increases in the rents for teachers who move throughout the country.

“It deals with career paths for teachers. It speaks about enhanced conditions.

It gives clarity in the relations between the teachers and employer. It provides for the exploration of a teacher’s commission to see whether that will be the correct process to expedite issues, HR issues that deal with teachers to avoid the continuing frustration that the current system allows for.”

This signing comes after Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) president Belinda Wilson told teachers to get ready to take industrial action on August

22, insisting the government has had ample time to bring closure to matters of concern for educators.

Asked why her union broke away from the BUT, Ms Major said it was time to do something different.

“Whenever two can walk together they have to agree and we were all in this at the same time and we decided that (if) we want to be the change then we must be the change that we wanted.

Because if you continue doing something the same way and getting the same results you’re considered an idiot,” she told the media.

“So in doing the same thing, we realised that we’re not getting anywhere. It’s time to do something different. It’s time to have our own voice, and because we recognise that we are teachers, we are educators, we can govern ourselves, And if you have rules that govern an organisation you must learn to abide by the rules that govern your organisation.”

NEGOTIATOR: TALKS WITH BUT ‘99.9% COMPLETE’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowlge@tribunemedia.net

A SENIOR negotiator for the government says talks are 99.9 percent complete regarding contractual articles with the Bahamas Union of Teachers.

Lester Turnquest said on Friday there were now “one or two bones of contention”.

He spoke to reporters after the signing of the Bahamas Educators, Counsellors and Allied Workers Union’s industrial agreement with the government.

BUT president Belinda Wilson previously told teachers to get ready to take industrial action on August 22, insisting the government has had ample time to bring closure to matters of concern for educators.

Mr Turnquest gave an update to the media on negotiations.

“I’ve noted the comments by the union president and at this stage of the negotiations we are, in fact in her own words, 99.9 percent completed with the contractual articles,” he said. “There are now simply one or two bones of contention. We think that it’s going to be resolved amicably and in the fullness of time we will arrive at a contractual signing for the BUT as we did today with the BECWA. “…When the government appointed a labour unit the objective was to deliver to the people of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas industrial peace.”

THE BODY is removed from the scene at South Beach on Saturday.

Photo: Moise Amisial

APPARENT DROWNING INVESTIGATED POLICE are investigating an apparent drowning that occurred on Saturday in southern New Providence.

Preliminary reports say shortly before 6pm the body of a man was found floating near the shoreline in waters at South Beach.

At present the identity of the male is unknown.

Police investigations continue.

Asked if there was any progress made, he said: “I know that I’m in daily contact with Mrs Wilson.

As recent as two evenings ago I reached out to her to ascertain the extent to which the adjustments in some of the articles would attract her approval but I think all of the fingers on my hand are varied lengths and its the same with us as human beings and so I think in the arc of the universe that we will get completion on the BUT agreement.”

While at the signing, BECWA president Sandra Major noted her union received increase in salary, retention bonuses, increased allowances and rental assistance among other things.

The senior negotiator assured fairness in the negotiating posture.

“All that was offered to BECWA upstairs, all of those same arrangements were offered to the BUT and I would say no more than that because we’re in negotiation but there’s been no imbalance or unfairness in the negotiating posture,” he said.

“I think we all as individuals need to look within ourselves and ask what’s most important and I have discern from this team what is most important is delivery of value to the people and taxpayers of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and to ensure the delivery of excellent, not average, excellent service to the taxpayers and particularly the patients at the hospital for example and also the teachers and the students who are the most important

resource.”

Also at the signing was Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin who said that this generation deserves an opportunity and it should not be interrupted.

She added: “Come August 22 the children of this nation should go to the classroom and they should find stability in their education. They deserve that.”

On the negotiation for BUT, she referred to the negotiating team to advise on that matter as she does not sit at the table for negotiation.

However, she further emphasised the importance for education not to be disrupted.

“As I’ve indicated earlier, we are trusting that the young people of this nation will not face a disruption in their education. Education is a human right. Not only is it a human right, within a context of a pandemic where in islands they didn’t have reliable internet - they couldn’t go virtual. Abaco had Dorian and pandemic and they suffered greatly. And in New Providence, particularly inner city communities -economically challenged households,” the minister said.

“We don’t want them to suffer anymore. We would like to get them in the classroom back on track so that they can begin to stimulate their intellect, stabilise emotionally and be able to achieve their objectives and their destiny really as human beings. So that’s what their hoping. We do not wish to see any disruption,

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particularly in the context of what is happened in this country - it would be atrocious.”

Asked if there was a plan if industrial did go on, she replied: “Well I don’t want to anticipate an issue that we are not yet faced with. Certainly, we are trusting that the education of the young people, Bahamian children will have the opportunity to capture what has already been lost in the last two years.”

Meanwhile, Mr Turnquest spoke about the negotiations for nurses describing it as “very encouraging”.

They have a lot of goodwill,” he told The Tribune. “I can’t imagine the negotiations with the nurses union going over more than another week.”

“I think the key issues have been settled and I am advised that the retention bonus is an element of the negotiation that nurses will embrace as well.”

Cindira Bain, manager of the Industrial Relations Unit, said: “I would like to say that I believe that the nurses union is about 99 percent completed on their industrial agreement and that would be on the PHA side as well as the Department of Public Service.

“We have just concluded their financial package yesterday and all of the financial articles attached to that industrial agreement . So I believe in a few days or so we should be a position to sign off on the nurses union industrial agreement.”

TWO QUESTIONED OVER LATEST SHOOTING DEATH

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

POLICE are questioning two men in their early twenties in connection with a shooting death on Saturday.

Police said the incident occurred at around 2pm outside a residence in the Rock Crusher area.

A group of males were reportedly seated outside of a residence on Maxwell Street when a black hatchback vehicle pulled up.

The occupants then fired gunshots in the direction of the males, which resulted in a 21-year-old man of Polhemus Street being shot multiple times.

He was pronounced dead on the scene.

The victim was being monitored via Electronic Monitoring Device (EMD).

Police are actively investigating and appealing to members of the public who may have any information that can assist police with their investigations to contact police at 911/919, the Criminal Investigation Department at 502-9991/2 or Crimestoppers at 328-TIPS. A police statement advised: “Additionally, police are encouraging young men to find alternative ways to resolve their conflicts. If you, or anyone you know, is involved with a conflict that can potentially turn deadly, please involve the police.”

WOMAN TO FACE CHILD NEGLECT CHARGES IN CONNECTION WITH BOY FOUND DEAD LAST WEEK A 42-YEAR-OLD mother from Eight Street will be arraigned on child neglect charges at 10am today.

This is in connection with the death of 11-year-old Gerodo Atwill Taylor who was found dead in waters at The Golf Academy, on Tuesday, 2nd August.

PAGE 6, Monday, August 8, 2022

The Tribune Limited

THE TRIBUNE

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Why are nuclear weapons so hard to get rid of? Because they’re tied up in nuclear countries’ sense of right and wrong Every five years, the nearly 200 member states of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons meet to review their progress – or lack thereof.

After being postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the monthlong conference is now meeting in New York and opened with a stark warning.

The world is “just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Aug. 1, 2022, citing growing conflicts and weakening “guardrails” against escalation.

The treaty has three core missions: preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to states that do not have them, ensuring civil nuclear energy programs do not turn into weapons programmes, and facilitating nuclear disarmament.

The last review conference, held in 2015, was widely regarded as a nonproliferation success but a disarmament failure, with the five members that possess nuclear weapons failing to make progress toward eliminating their nuclear arsenals, as promised in previous conferences.

At the heart of this dispute are states’ motivations for keeping nuclear weapons – often perceived as rooted in hard-nosed security strategy, by which morality is irrelevant or even self-defeating.

As a nuclear ethicist, though, I see these explanations as incomplete. To understand leaders’ motives – and therefore effectively negotiate the elimination of nuclear weapons – other scholars and I argue we must acknowledge that policymakers express underlying moral concerns as strategic concerns. History shows that such moral concerns often form the foundations of nuclear strategy, even if they’re deeply buried.

National values It is easier for many people to see how the nuclear abolitionist argument is fundamentally based in morality. The fear of nuclear winter – or even a less severe “nuclear autumn” – is rooted in the immorality of killing millions of innocent people and devastating the environment in long-lasting ways.

By contrast, a realistic and strategic approach to the value of nuclear weapons has dominated security discourse since the early Cold War era.

This approach argues that the primary purpose of nuclear weapons is to deter adversaries from attacking vital national security interests.

If an attack does occur, then nuclear weapons can be used to punish aggression in a proportional way and caution other adversaries, restoring nuclear deterrence.

Even so, according to political scientist Joseph Nye, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs under President Bill Clinton, a strategist may pose as a moral sceptic but “tends to smuggle his preferred values into foreign policy, often in the form of narrow nationalism.”

Nationalism asserts the moral priority of one’s own nation over others.

Communities’ deep-held beliefs are intimately woven into ideas about nationhood, security and prestige.

In the United States, for example, the moral underpinnings of American identity are deeply rooted in the idea of being “a city on a hill”: an example the rest of the world is watching. Americans are anxious about losing their way, and many feel that their country was once a force for good in the world, but no longer.

Thus, national survival is embraced as a moral value, and deterring or defending against aggression has strategic, political and moral overtones.

Regardless of whether someone thinks these concerns are justified, it is important to recognise that, in their defenders’ view, they go beyond strategy or sheer survival.

They reflect societies’ foundational ideas about what is wrong and right

– their sense of morality.

Early motives So how are these moral concerns applied to the questions of nuclear weapons and their role in security strategy?

It is worth remembering what motivated President Franklin D. Roosevelt to authorise the development of the atomic bomb: the genocidal evil of Nazi German aggression in World War II and the knowledge that Adolf Hitler had begun an atomic bomb programme.

And when Nazi Germany had been defeated, the U.S. justifications for using atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki centred on two kinds of moral concerns. The most frequently invoked was utilitarian: preventing a greater number of deaths in a land invasion of Japan. The second, not expressed as explicitly, viewed the atomic bombing as a kind of moral punishment for the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor and the brutal treatment of Allied prisoners of war.

In short, the motivations for the original atomic bomb programme and its uses could not be described in solely “hard-nosed” strategic terms. As political philosopher Michael Walzerhas argued, both morality and strategy are about justification: Both tell us what we should do or should not do, based on some set of values. And strategy is often used for decision-makers’ moral aims, such as their goal to defeat a genocidal regime.

Morally excusable?

Along with other scholars, I have argued that moral concerns also motivated the central role of nuclear deterrence policy during the Cold War. American policymakers portrayed Soviet communism, like Nazism, as a politics of brute force that had no regard for law or morals.

Once the Soviet Union and China had acquired nuclear weapons, American analysts came to believe that communism represented an existential threat not only to U.S. security, but to liberal democracy in general.

Walzer described such situations as “supreme emergency conditions,” in which ordinary moral prohibitions against mass destruction are suspended to ensure what political leaders see as the highest value: national survival.

This is self-preservation – but people often think about that, too, as a moral concern. Social norms against suicide, for example, imply that people have a moral duty to preserve their lives except under certain conditions, reflecting a belief that human life has intrinsic moral value.

Walzer did not claim that using nuclear weapons, or even threatening their use, was morally justified.

However, he suggested they might be necessary for national security, and therefore become morally excusable in supreme emergency situations.

His argument has been very influential in government and academic circles.

Many critics claim that it is always immoral to use nuclear weapons, since they cannot discriminate between soldiers and innocent civilians, including children, the elderly and the infirm.

Moreover, the use of nuclear weapons cannot but bring social and environmental catastrophe, the kind that our darkest dystopian novels and films depict. And if it is immoral to use nuclear weapons, it is immoral to threaten to use them.

But it is unsurprising that the leaders of the nuclear-weapon states are ultimately committed to the survival of their countries and peoples, even if others must pay an ultimate price.

To fully appreciate nuclear motivations, we must understand the role of this kind of moral concern in their decision-making.

(This article is by Thomas E. Doyle, II of Texas State University for theconversation.com)

SUPPORTERS of President Gustavo Petro celebrate as he takes the oath of office during his inauguration ceremony at the Bolivar square in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Return of the Surrey industry EDITOR, The Tribune.

It was with great dismay that I and other animal lovers read of the return of the Surrey industry to downtown Nassau.

With all due respect to Mrs Colby-Davis, I very much doubt that she, or anyone else involved knows much about equine husbandry. Owning a horse is nothing like owning a dog or a cat.

Horses have many specific needs that require knowledge of their requirements. I would really like to answers to the following questions:1. Where are they stabled at night? Do they have proper stabling or are they left tied to a tree in the bush somewhere at the mercy of the elements? Many years ago this is what I was told.

2. Who takes care of their feet? Horses hooves continue to grow like our fingernails, and every six weeks or so need to have their shoes removed, hooves cut back and shoes replaced. This is a job for an expert farrier. Do we have such a person or persons here qualified to do this? Improper shoeing

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net

can cause lameness in horses, sometimes bad enough that they cannot take any weight on the affected foot.

3. Who takes care of their teeth? Again, this is something that needs attention every year or so as their teeth never stop growing and need to be filed down occasionally. If left undetected or ignored, this leads to poor mastication leading to digestive problems.

4. What are they being fed? When I owned horses many years ago the cost of horse feed was high, it must be exorbitant now.

How can these Surrey owners possibly afford to feed these animals properly on the income they get from tourists? I have calculated the cost of feed for an average sized horse to be about $120.00 per week. That does not include bedding if that is even provided!

5. In this part of the world many horses suffer from a condition known as anhidrosis, or the

inability to sweat. If this is not diagnosed immediately and a horse shows these symptoms it leads to overheating and death.

On a visit to New York City a few years ago, I was informed that the carriage rides through Central Park during the summer were not permitted between 10.00 am and 5.00 pm as it was too hot for the horses to work in the heat of the day.

To see our Surrey horses working in the heat of the day, in heavy traffic, breathing exhaust fumes from the cars is tantamount to cruelty.

A testament to this is the number of times in the past that horses have literally dropped dead in the street. What does this make us look like as a nation?

I applaud Mrs ColbySmith and the Ministry of Tourism for doing all they can to revitalise the tourism industry, but not at the expense of the lives and well-being of innocent animals.

JOANNA ROBERTSON Nassau, August 6, 2022.

Why do we make things so difficult?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

DOUBLE talk — rubbish or what?

Can’t OPM Health get on the same page and stop talking so much garbage of possibly when the Wear Mask Regulation will be cancelled.

OPM one day when it is a public media occasion suggests the popular view livery soon — of course the messenger isn’t wearing his mask and honestly the majority around him are not also.

A day later outside Cabinet weekly ‘News’ none other than the good Minister, tries so hard, contradicts the OPM messenger might be IF vaccinations increase by early in the New Year that’s only five-months away!

Clearly persons in public life are very much more susepticle to infection and re-infection we feel for His Excellency and his family - once is enough!

Can we simply stop this misrepresentation and have one story - might be the

OPM will listen to his highly qualified Health Minister? Do they speak to each other?

Truth from where did the paediatric COVID vaccinations originate?

The messenger from the daily tabloid TV show - guy not the US, but the intervention of France through Covax – we give thanks to the French people and Government.

Clearly the cruise passengers have been given the green light by the “next” Minister of Health-Tourism and the Port folks as few wear masks many issues as those are denied entrance into shops as masks are required and operators are insisting - how easy it would be with one policy?

Surely anti-spending!

Why do we make things so difficult?

J DEAN Nassau, August 3, 2022.

THE TRIBUNE

SENATORS DONATE TO FOAM BACK TO SCHOOL INITIATIVE

Monday, August 8, 2022, PAGE 7

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FAMILIES of All Murder Victims (FOAM) received a donation from Senators in support of the advocacy group’s back-toschool initiative on Friday.

Khandi Gibson, the founder and director of FOAM, was presented with the donation on Friday by Senate President LaShell Adderley along with other Senators, including Senate Vice President Barry Griffin, Maxine Seymour and Ronald Duncombe.

Although, some of the Senators involved were not present, Ms Adderley noted that each of them contributed to the cause.

The amount of the donation was undisclosed.

FOAM’s back-to-school initiative provides school supplies to children whose parents were murdered.

Ms Adderley said: “The Senate body is here today to make a contribution to you (Ms Gibson), to the children in particular who are going back to school, we know that going back to school is very expensive.

“So, we are making a contribution to purchase shoes and uniforms for the children who would have lost their father or mother due to murder. We just want to say thank you for all that you are doing and all that you have done. We also want to send wishes to congratulate you for being a member of the national honours for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, congratulations to you.”

The Senate President highlighted that both PLP and FNM Senators came together in a bipartisan effort to be part of the contribution.

Ms Gibson expressed her empathy for children of parents who have been murdered.

“They didn’t ask to

FROM LEFT: Senator Ronald Duncombe, Senate President LaShell Adderley, FOAM founder Khandi Gibson, Senator Maxine Seymour and Senate Vice President Barry Griffin.

SENATE President LaShell Adderley and FOAM founder Khandi Gibson.

come here, didn’t ask to be left without a parent, some even lost both parents due to murder,” she said.

“This kind gesture would go a mighty long way. For 10 years now we do a campaign where we ask persons to adopt a child who would have lost a mother or father or even both parents are murdered.”

In addition to thanking the Senators for their donations, Ms Gibson spoke about her efforts against crime in the country. She said she has communicated with the Minister of National Security, Wayne Munroe, to establish a better relationship between the community and the police.

“I feel like there needs to be a forum where we both can engage ourselves in a conversation because at the end of the day the police need us and we need the police,” Ms Gibson said.

With domestic violence prevalent, Ms Gibson said she is still advocating for Crown land for a shelter for women. She explained her passion alone is not enough and that FOAM is in need of funding along with partnerships in order to create a better country for all.

WSC EXPLAINS WATER SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

ON SATURDAY, the Water and Sewerage Corporation gave an explanation for recent water supply disruptions in Central Eleuthera, but said it expected them to be resolved by Sunday.

The company explained that during the evening of Thursday, August 4, electrical power supply to the desalination plant in Governors Harbour (Naval Base) was lost for a period of time.

“On resumption of the power supply, the plant began experiencing irregular incoming voltage,” WSC said. “This irregular voltage caused severe damage, including equipment wiring to be burnt resulting in the failure of the plant’s electrical system. As a result, one of the two desalination water production trains at the plant had to be shut down resulting in a reduction of the volume of water produced.

“Subsequently, the water available for distribution to our valued customers has been decreased. During such times, there will be areas at the extremities of the system and also at higher elevations which will experience low pressure and at times no water situations. Electricians from our Desalination Plant Contractor are actively working along with our stakeholders in the electricity supply sector to resolve the issues of

irregular electrical power being supplied to the plant.

“In addition, replacement electrical parts have been air lifted to Eleuthera. Efforts to resolve this issue will continue through the weekend with full resolution expected by Sunday, August 7, 2022.”

The Corporation apologised to their customers in Central Eleuthera for the water supply disruptions that may have occurred since Thursday and “may still be experiencing at this hour.”

WSC provides over 500,000 imperial gallons of desalinated water to customers in Central Eleuthera on a daily basis.

This water services Governor’s Harbour, Palmetto Point, Savannah Sound and Windermere in the south and as far north as James Cistern, Hatchet Bay and Gregory Town.

The company has had a few issues with water supply in the area recently. Back in June, it announced it would execute a $2.7 million contract for two tanks and a further $525,000 in related support works in view of water supply interruptions on Central Eleuthera. The company advised customers on the island that WSC experienced a major mechanical failure at their Naval Base Desalination Plant.

In July, it explained a major mechanical failure at their Naval Base desalination plant that day would result in some customers experiencing no water supply.

BUSH FIRE IN GRAND BAHAMA A FIREFIGHTER tackles a bush fire that was burning in Bahamia South, Grand Bahama yesterday. Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2022

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

Where is the transparency that we were promised?

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

THERE are few things more frustrating in politics than promises that are never delivered.

For too long, campaign finance has been a carrot being endlessly dangled in front of the electorate – treating us all like donkeys.

Fully ten years ago now, Perry Christie had described campaign finance in The Bahamas as “repugnant” and said it had sunk sometimes to “criminal” levels.

But did his administration do anything about it?

In 2016, four years after those comments, the then Prime Minister said that it was not one of his administration’s highest priorities. No kidding, we could tell.

So when the former Deputy Prime Minister in that administration, now Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis, last week said that a campaign finance bill was not a priority of his government at this time, well… don’t hold your breath if you’re expecting anything to happen in this administration.

The FNM cannot hold up their heads on the issue either.

All around, there has been muttering of how campaign finance was an issue that needed to be tackled, but not a sign of any determination to actually do so.

When will this government do anything about it, Mr Davis asked: “Well, as soon as our personnel get around to doing it. Right now, there are sufficient comprehensive provisions in our law to combat it.

“The Attorney General has been given the mandate to consolidate and to do benchmarking against best practices, to identify what provisions we will have in our laws to combat the anti-corruption issues that impact our country.”

That runs against what officials from the United

FORMER Prime Ministers Perry Christie and Hubert Minnis and current Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis.

States have to say. Last week, the US government warned that election campaign financing in The Bahamas remains wide open to abuse that exposes this nation’s governance to “corruption and foreign influence.”

The State Department, in its annual Investment Climate Statement on The Bahamas, also took issue with the Public Disclosures Act, saying it was an inadequate mechanism for casting a spotlight on politicians’ personal finances because the latest declarations have neither been published nor independently vetted.

“The Public Disclosure Act requires senior public officials, including Senators and Members of Parliament, to declare their assets, income and liabilities annually.

“For the 2021 deadline, the Government gave extensions to all who were

late to comply,” the report said.

“The Government did not publish a summary of the individual declarations, and there was no independent verification of the information submitted.

“The campaign finance system remains largely unregulated with few safeguards against quid pro quo donations, creating a vulnerability to corruption and foreign influence.”

So, what we have is a free-for-all where there is no significant monitoring of campaign contributions – and the likes of a Peter Nygard is still free to buy influence, and even the legally required measures such as the Public Disclosure Act are treated as something that doesn’t have to be respected let alone enforced.

The press secretary, Clint Watson, said that new Members of

Parliament had been briefed about their responsibilities, and yet a litany of excuses came up about people being busy and losing track of what they were supposed to be doing.

You try that excuse with police officers who stop you if your driving licence has expired, and see where that gets you.

You’ll end up in court.

So should those who disobey the law while a parliamentarian.

Meanwhile, the former Minnis administration has come under criticism for contracts awarded under emergency legislation, and the current administration has faced questions over declarations of contracts awarded since coming to power.

How long must we wait before actual efforts to improve transparency?

Well, the Public Procurement Act was brought

in by the Minnis administration – and that’s the Act the current government is ignoring when it comes to announcing contracts, as they protest that the regulations and guidelines were lacking.

Who benefits from the lack of transparency?

The simple answer would be those in power at any given time, or those shaking the tin on the campaign trail, offering promises for funding.

Which prompts the question of why any government would not make it a priority?

If all is above board, you’ve nothing to hide.

So naturally one wonders about the reasons for delaying any such action.

By endlessly promising improved transparency and failing to deliver on those promises, politicians of all stripes are insulting the electorate.

We’ve waited a decade

and more for action on the issue – how much longer are we expected to wait?

Mr Davis was part of the previous administration that pledged to tackle the matter, and still sees no urgency in dealing with an issue deemed almost “criminal” and which attracts international condemnation.

Every time this particular can gets kicked down the road, it is a blow to public trust in politicians.

There is no reason to trust people who make promises only to refuse to follow through.

If the government wants to show any kind of commitment to the issue, it can start by publishing this year’s declarations under the Public Disclosures Act. Let’s see exactly who did and did not meet the requirements of the law.

And let’s take action against those who did not.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2022, PAGE 9 DANIELLE Grant (centre) after being crowned Miss Bahamas Universe in 2018.

Centre stage E

very human being, at some point or another, is called to the spotlight. In that moment you finally feel noticed and, in the best of circumstances, appreciated publicly for either your talent or physical attributes. This is the moment when stars are born. The very best of us excel during those moments and, from then on, spend a lifetime living beneath the intense glare that’s demanded by being at the centre of the stage.

There are those who crave notoriety and will do anything for attention.

But others, like myself and Danielle Grant, the patient highlighted in today’s report, are completely satisfied with just being loved and appreciated by our family, friends and pets. So, in 2018, at the age of 23, to the surprise of herself and her family, Danielle reluctantly entered the Miss Bahamas Universe pageant. As an owner of four dogs and four cats, her platform was animal advocacy and her initial intention was to bring more awareness to animal rights.

As a child, Danielle describes herself as much quieter than she is now.

Her father was a drummer for the popular and internationally renowned Bahamian group, Baha Men, so growing up she’s always had a keen interest in the entertainment industry, but mostly in the background. Sensing her shyness, her mother enrolled her in the Yodephy dance and modelling academy at the age of three and her confidence quickly grew. At that time, little did she know that years later she’d be modelling at the Baha Mar hotel when a photographer urged her to enter the pageant. It was a runway moment that would change her life forever.

That same evening, Danielle saw a flyer on social media and dismissed the notion while discussing it with her best friend. But instead, her best friend told her to participate and that one moment of support was all the encouragement she needed.

Danielle quickly discovered how expensive pageants are for participants and because she felt like she wasn’t the favourite to win, she again questioned her decision to compete.

But the fact that she was so passionate about her platform, she persisted.

With each stage of the contest, she excelled and began to feel more and more confident that she could ultimately win.

Then one day while returning home from one of the series of competitions, she tripped and fell.

During this sudden twisting motion, her right leg and foot slammed against a rock with explosive force.

The heel of her shoe broke and Danielle heard an audible snap. The ensuing pain was excruciating.

Within seconds the area became red and swollen and she couldn’t apply pressure without eliciting intense pain. The deep laceration along the top and side of her foot that extended to her ankle started bleeding profusely.

She quickly applied pressure with a piece of cloth and managed to make it home with her parents’ assistance.

That evening, Danielle applied ice all along the affected lower extremity and went to rehearsal the following day, barely able to walk and incapable of wearing high heels. By the day after, she couldn’t move her foot. She knew her injury needed to be evaluated professionally though she dreaded the news with only two weeks left in the competition.

Despite this, she went to a nearby clinic where an X-ray was performed and confirmed her worst fear.

The doctor on call abruptly entered the room and told her that her foot was broken, she had to drop out of the pageant and that she was going to be placed in a full plaster cast up to her knee. Comforted by her mother, Danielle began to cry.

She pleaded with the doctor to allow her to wear a walking CAM boot and he reluctantly agreed while still telling her that he 100 perceent advised her to stop competing immediately.

Seeing the sadness in her eyes broke her mother’s heart so a few days later she remembered that she’d been successfully treated by me in the past for an unrelated foot issue and wondered if I could provide her daughter with a second opinion.

I advised the patient upfront that my cousin was also in the competition but that wouldn’t have any influence on my evaluation nor the prescribed treatment regimen. She nodded in agreement, still convinced that even if she had to hobble across the stage in a cast, she’d never drop out of the pageant. She was determined to fulfil this dream that a stranger with a camera had put into her head.

Another X-ray was performed in my office which, to my surprise, was negative for a fracture. At that time her swelling and pain had resolved entirely so I advised the patient that she actually had a bone contusion and a mild sprain.

I then told her to discontinue wearing the boot and a foot and ankle bandage was applied instead for a few days. Icing and oral anti-inflammatories as needed were additionally recommended, particularly on days when she had to compete in high heels and

prolonged weight bearing couldn’t be avoided.

On the night of the finale, within seconds, the room went dark except for the flashing stage lights that swung from the audience and then quickly and directly illuminated Danielle and the other two remaining competitors.

The ballroom was silent and every onlooker, myself included, glared intently at the presenter to see who’d stand centre stage, after months of competing, and finally take home the crown.

My cousin placed 1st runner-up, so when Danielle realized that she’d won and was crowned Miss Bahamas Universe 2018, she was overcome with emotion.

Since that night, Danielle has been working with the Ministry of Tourism in Houston, Texas. She reflects on her journey with a deep sense of pride. The take home message that she wanted readers to take from her story is the value of pursuit.

If you want something badly enough, exhaust every option available to make it happen, even if it’s not immediately obvious, so that you’ll never look back with regret.

She admits it’s easy to get depressed or discouraged when you face a situation beyond your control and it feels l like the cards are stacked against you.

That’s exactly when your determination, grit and follow through will take you to places not yet imagined and successes you’ve only dreamed of.

Beyond that she recommends avoiding big rocks two weeks before an important event and to always get a second opinion if you don’t feel entirely comfortable with the first.

In spite of it all, she wouldn’t change a thing.

Most importantly, she’d like to encourage consistent dialogue throughout our nation with reference to animal welfare issues in hopes that someday animal protection against abuse and cruelty will become standard practice.

Until then and determined to improve the world, she’ll always be a champion for animal rights and advocate against their cruelty, whether day or night, rain or shine and most assuredly while wearing her beloved high heels.

• Nick-named ‘The Prince of Podiatry’, Dr. Kenneth D. Kemp is the founder and medical director of Bahamas Foot and Ankle located in Caves Village, Western New Providence. He served as the Deputy chairman for the Health Council for five years and he currently sits on the board of directors for the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation in his role as co-vice-chairman.

PAGE 10 MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2022

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

The world expects major countries such as China and the US to work together

By COUNSELLOR CUI WEI Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in The Bahamas

The visit by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to China’s Taiwan region on August 2 has triggered outrage across China. For one thing, by allowing such a visit to go ahead, the US has openly broken its own commitment under the three China-US joint communiqués not to develop official relations with Taiwan.

When China and the US established diplomatic relations on Jan. 1, 1979, the US made a clear commitment in the China-US Joint Communique: “The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.”

Such a commitment by the US, just like that made by the other 180 countries having diplomatic

relations with China, has provided the essential condition for the normal

development of China-US relations for the past four decades and more.

In recent years, the Taiwan authorities’ “incremental independence” moves, coupled with the United States’ attempts to distort, obscure and hollow out the one-China principle and step up official exchanges with Taiwan has been pushing cross-Straits relations and China-US relations to a dangerous situation.

Pelosi’s visit has only added fuel to the flames and sparked a new round of tensions.

The Taiwan question is not about democracy. It is a major issue of principle about China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

No other issue unites the 1.4 billion Chinese people so strongly and emotionally.

Taiwan’s colonization by imperialist powers was the hallmark of China’s painful decline in modern times. Its eventual, inevitable return to the motherland will be a defining event for China’s journey of rejuvenation.

The US needs to put itself in others’ shoes. If an American state were to secede from the US and declare independence, and some other nation provided weapons and political support for that state, would the US government — or the American people — allow

US HOUSE SPEAKER Nancy Pelosi, centre, walks with Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, left, as she arrives in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday.

(Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)

this to happen? China’s countermeasures are necessary as a warning to the provocateurs and as a step to uphold our sovereignty and security.

The same case of external interference has been

“The Taiwan question is not about democracy.

It is a major issue of principle about China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. No other issue unites the 1.4 billion Chinese people so strongly and emotionally.” seen in the South China Sea. As China and some of its Southeast Asian neighbors ASEAN countries work hard to address territorial and maritime disputes through peaceful consultations and negotiations, the US has been intensifying military power projection in the South China Sea, not just deploying offensive weapons, but also conducting regular close-by reconnaissance missions

deep into China’s exclusive economic zones and even territorial seas, the intensity of which by their own admission exceeded that carried out against the former Soviet Union during the Cold War times.

Herein lies the real threat to peace and stability in the region.

The world expects major countries such as China and the US to work together to fight the pandemic, safeguard food and energy security and address the climate crisis.

The right approach is for China and the US to deal with each other on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, noconfrontation and win-win cooperation.

If the US truly cares about peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, then the most important and crucial thing for it to do is make sure that it strictly abides by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués in both words and deeds.

Deliberately damaging China’s core interests are like acts of playing with fire; one will only end up getting himself burned.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2022, PAGE 11

Has CARICOM reached its limits of regional integration?

I

n the first part of this commentary - published last week - the conclusion was reached that the great ideals, set out in the 1973 Treaty of Chaguaramas (the CARICOM Treaty) and its revision in 2001, remain unfulfilled. But does this reality mean that, as the CARICOM project reaches its 50th anniversary next July, it has reached the limits of regional integration?

The previous commentary showed CARICOM expanded by adding new members (Suriname and Haiti), but it failed to deepen its integration arrangements, such that while it has been aspiring to become a Single Market and Economy (SME) since 2001, it still has not established a Customs Union let alone a Common Market.

The prevailing characteristic of CARICOM, apart from the agonizingly slow pace of institutionalizing the machinery for integration, has been the jealous retention of “sovereignty” by governments of the region. In other words, as the late, former Prime Minister of Barbados, Owen Arthur, put it disapprovingly: “[CARICOM] conceives of (itself) mainly as a community of sovereign states in which sovereignty is pooled but never ceded; with the nation-state being the locus of decision-making in respect of the implementation of regional commitments”.

However, it should not be believed that political leaders are the only people who cling to sovereignty (in other words, keeping all decision making at the national level).

Bureaucrats Over the years, keen to maintain control over what they consider to be their own turf, bureaucrats have also caused decisions to be delayed, deferred or made impossible to implement.

The pull of local control remains greater than the push toward regional authority.

The worst example of failure to operationalize fully a regional institution that CARICOM governments, themselves, established is the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Upon its establishment, the CCJ was to become the final appellate Court for all civil and criminal matters, replacing the British (and colonial) Privy Council. Epitomizing the inexplicable dissonance that surrounds the attitude to the CCJ is that its headquarters is located in Trinidad and Tobago, a country that has been independent since 1962, and that has long severed the Queen as its Head of State in favour of becoming a Republic with a native President.

Yet Trinidad and Tobago’s final appellate Court remains the British Privy Council because of internal politics.

Only four CARICOM countries – Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana – recognize the CCJ as their final Court of Appeal.

Despite the celebration of independence and sovereignty, Caribbean politicians (on all sides) by their failure to explain the merits of the CCJ to their people - or by their deliberate misleading of them – sustain a contradiction.

In part, this situation continues because the “nation state” in CARICOM has not collapsed, supported, as it is, by official development assistance from members of the

international community; by international lenders who profit from loans to needy governments; and by investors whose business models are based on over generous tax concessions by the state, motivated by competition between CARICOM states, especially in the tourism industry.

Additionally, no CARICOM country has had to bear the full burden of national security that

“According to the latest IMF research, further liberalizing trade and labour mobility in the region can generate significant economic benefits— potentially over seven percent of the region’s GDP in 2018.” would come from the establishment of the military apparatus necessary to protect its borders and its sovereignty.

There has been little or no need for an air force, battle ships, armies or considerable armaments.

Up until Russia invaded Ukraine, the borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty of individual CARICOM countries, was protected by an international order and a UN Security Council that seemed to insure protection against military aggression.

Despite Russia’s action, CARICOM countries have not discussed their collective defence.

Instead, they have repeated their desire for the Caribbean to be a “zone of peace”, expecting external actors to respect it, knowing fully well that the cost of defending themselves militarily is far beyond each of their

means.

Even at times of natural disasters, causing massive damage and economic reversals, individual CARICOM countries have looked to the international donor community for help; borrowed money, thus increasing their national debt burden; and entered into financial adjustment programmes with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In the latter case, they have been forced to cede aspects of the “sovereignty” to which they cling within the CARICOM grouping.

However, apart from the worthwhile, but under resourced, work of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, CARICOM is not able to respond in the way in which, for instance, the single federal governments of the US or Canada are able to tackle disasters in states or provinces.

Progress To be sure, in the 60 years since Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago became independent states, leading to a procession of Caribbean countries doing the same, independence has allowed national governments to accelerate infrastructural development and economic progress in many countries.

Within the CARICOM group, Haiti, with its history of foreign occupation, exploitation and succession of dictatorial and repressive governments, is the main exception.

So, sovereignty has not been without its benefits.

But the question remains: how much further along the road to economic and social progress would CARICOM countries have been, had they not only pooled their sovereignty but also ceded aspects of it to a regional centre as occurred with the European Union?

According to the latest IMF research, further liberalizing trade and labour mobility in

the region can generate significant economic benefits—potentially over seven percent of the region’s GDP in 2018.

Research The February 2020 research finds that “a 25-percent reduction in non-tariff barriers and trade costs within CARICOM and vis-à-vis non-CARICOM trade partners can boost trade and improve welfare gain for all members—at about $6 billion, or 7.6 percent of the region’s GDP in 2018.

It can also help restructure economies from contracting to expanding sectors, resulting in a net employment gain across the region”.

The IMF report entitled, “Is the Whole Greater than the Sum of its Parts?

Strengthening Caribbean Regional Integration”, lays out solid research to establish that while the small size and supply constraints of these countries may potentially limit benefits from economic integration, acting as a group can enhance the scale, bringing widespread benefits and helping the region further tap into global value chains.

Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com

(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, and Massey College in the University of Toronto)

PAGE 12, Monday, August 8, 2022

FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE BIG BLAZE AT CUBA TANK FARM FOR 2ND DAY

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Cuban firefighters were joined by special teams sent by Mexico and Venezuela on Sunday as they battled for a second day to control a fire blazing at a big oil tank farm in the western province of Matanzas.

The blaze began Friday night when lightning struck a storage tank during a thunder storm, and the fire spread to a second tank early Saturday, triggering a series of explosions, officials have said.

“The mission of the day is to keep the third tank cold,” in hopes of preventing the flames from spreading into more of the site, provincial Gov. Mario Sabines said.

Most of the fuel held in the tank where the fire initially started was believed to have been consumed, officials said.

Authorities said a body found at the site Saturday had been identified as firefighter Juan Carlos Santana, 60. Officials previously said a group of 17 firefighters had gone missing while trying to quell flames, but there was no word if he was one of those.

Conditions were still too dangerous to mount a search for the missing firefighters, officials said.

A total of 122 people were treated for injuries, including five that officials said were in critical condition.

The governor said 4,946 people had been evacuated, mostly from the Dubrocq neighbourhood, which is next to the Matanzas Supertanker Base in Matanzas city.

The facility’s eight huge storage tanks hold oil used to fuel electricity generation.

Dense black smoke billowed up from the tank farm and spread westward more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) to Havana. The Ministry of Science and Technology said Sunday that the cloud contained sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and other toxic substances.

The disaster comes as Cuba struggles with a severe economic and energy crisis, with frequent power blackouts hitting during a torrid summer. It was unknown how much fuel had been lost to the flames.

Cuba’s government had appealed for help Saturday from oil nations, and specialised firefighting teams began arriving with their equipment from Mexico and Venezuela late Saturday. They brought helicopters and specialised chemicals for fighting oil fire.

“The support (is) in the prevention of risks and also help to quell the fire by means of cooling based on water and foam,” Mexican Brig. Gen. Juan Bravo said upon arrival. “We hope that more support will arrive soon, such as chemical material.”

President Miguel Díaz-Canel met with the heads of the teams from Mexico and Venezuela to coordinate efforts for controlling the blaze. He later told Cuban media he appreciated the help, since Cuba doesn’t have experience or resources for dealing with fires of such magnitude.

Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said Saturday evening that the U.S. government had offered technical help.

On his Twitter account, he said the “proposal is in the hands of specialists for the due coordination.”

Minutes later, the president thanked Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina and Chile for their offers of help.

THE TRIBUNE

Shift in war’s front seen as grain leaves Ukraine; plant hit

By SUSIE BLANN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Six more ships carrying agricultural cargo held up by the war in Ukraine received authorisation Sunday to leave the country’s Black Sea coast as analysts warned that Russia was moving troops and equipment in the direction of the southern port cities to stave off a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Ukraine and Russia also accused each other of shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

The loaded vessels were cleared to depart from Chornomorsk and Odesa, according to the Joint Coordination Center, which oversees an international deal intended to get some 20 million tonnes of grain out of Ukraine to feed millions going hungry in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.

Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations signed the agreements last month to create a 111-nautical-mile sea corridor that would allow cargo ships to travel safely out of ports that Russia’s military had blockaded and through waters that Ukraine’s military had mined. Implementation of the deal, which is in effect for four months, has proceeded slowly since the first ship embarked on Aug. 1.

Four of the carriers cleared Sunday to leave Ukraine were transporting more than 219,000 tonnes of corn. The fifth was carrying more than 6,600 tonnes of sunflower oil and the sixth 11,000 tonnes of soya, the Joint Coordination Center said.

Three other cargo ships that left Friday passed their inspections and received clearance Sunday to pass through Turkey’s Bosporus Strait on the way to their final destinations, the Center said.

However, the vessel that left Ukraine last Monday with great fanfare as the first under the grain exports deal had its scheduled

A MAN takes a picture as the Glory bulk carrier makes its way from the port in Odesa, Ukraine, Sunday. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure, the ship under the Marshall Islands’ flag is carrying 66 thousand tons of Ukrainian corn.

(AP Photo/Nina Lyashonok) arrival in Lebanon delayed Sunday, according to a Lebanese Cabinet minister and the Ukraine Embassy. The cause of the delay was not immediately clear.

Ukrainian officials were initially skeptical of a grain export deal, citing suspicions that Moscow would try to exploit shipping activity to mass troops offshore or send long-range missiles from the Black Sea, as it has done multiple times during the war.

The agreements call for ships to leave Ukraine under military escort and to undergo inspections to make sure they carry only grain, fertiliser or food and not any other commodities.

Inbound cargo vessels are checked to ensure they are not carrying weapons.

In a weekend analysis, Britain’s Defense Ministry said the Russian invasion that started Feb. 24 “is about to enter a new phase” in which the fighting would shift to a roughly 350-kilometre (217-mile) front line

extending from near the city of Zaporizhzhia to Russian-occupied Kherson.

That area includes the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station which came under fire late Saturday.

Each side accused the other of the attack.

Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator, Energoatom, said Russian shelling damaged three radiation monitors around the storage facility for spent nuclear fuels and that one worker was injured. Russian news agencies, citing the separatist-run administration of the plant, said Ukrainian forces fired those shells.

Russian forces have occupied the power station for months. Russian soldiers there took shelter in bunkers before Saturday’s attack, according to Energoatom.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently warned that the way the plant was being

run and the fighting going on around it posed grave health and environmental threats.

For the last four months of the war, Russia has concentrated on capturing the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have controlled some territory as self-proclaimed republics for eight years. Russian forces have made gradual headway in the region while launching missile and rocket attacks to curtail the movements of Ukrainian fighters elsewhere.

The Russians “are continuing to accumulate large quantities of military equipment” in a town across the Dnieper River from Russian-held Kherson, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.

Citing local Ukrainian officials, it said the preparations appeared designed to defend logistics routes to the city and establish defensive positions on the river’s

left bank.

Kherson came under Russian control early in the war and Ukrainian officials have vowed to retake it. It is just 227 kilometres (141 miles) from Odesa, home to Ukraine’s biggest port, so the conflict escalating there could have repercussions for the international grain deal.

The city of Mykolaiv, a shipbuilding center that Russian forces bombard daily, is even closer to Odesa. The Mykolaiv region’s governor, Vitaliy Kim, said an industrial facility on the regional capital’s outskirts came under fire early Sunday.

Over the past day, five civilians were killed by Russian and separatist firing on cities in the Donetsk region, the part of Donbas still under Ukrainian control, the regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, reported.

He and Ukrainian government officials have repeatedly urged civilians to evacuate.

EX-REBEL TAKES OATH AS COLOMBIA PRESIDENT IN HISTORIC SHIFT

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s first leftist president was sworn into office Sunday, promising to fight inequality and heralding a turning point in the history of a country haunted by a long war between the government and guerrilla groups.

Sen. Gustavo Petro, a former member of Colombia’s M-19 guerrilla group, won the presidential election in June by beating conservative parties that offered moderate changes to the marketfriendly economy, but failed to connect with voters frustrated by rising poverty and violence against human rights leaders and environmental groups in rural areas.

Petro is part of a growing group of leftist politicians and political outsiders who have been winning elections in Latin America since the pandemic broke out and hurt incumbents who struggled with its economic aftershocks.

The ex-rebel’s victory was also exceptional for Colombia, where voters had been historically reluctant to back leftist politicians who were often accused of being soft on crime or allied with guerrillas.

A 2016 peace deal between Colombia’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia turned much of the focus of voters away from the violent conflicts playing out in rural areas and gave prominence to problems like poverty and corruption, fueling the popularity of leftist parties in national elections.

Petro, 62, has promised to tackle Colombia’s social and economic inequalities by boosting spending on anti-poverty programmes and increasing investment in rural areas. He has described U.S.-led antinarcotics policies, such as the forced eradication of illegal coca crops, as a “big failure.” But he has said he would like to work with Washington “as equals,” building schemes to combat climate change or bring infrastructure to rural areas where many farmers say coca leaves are the only viable crop.

SUPPORTERS of President Gustavo Petro during his inauguration ceremony at the Bolivar square in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Petro also formed alliances with environmentalists during his presidential campaign and has promised to turn Colombia into a “global powerhouse for life” by slowing deforestation and taking steps to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.

The incoming president has said Colombia will stop granting new licenses for oil exploration and will ban fracking projects, even though the oil industry makes up almost 50% of the nation’s legal exports.

He plans to finance social spending with a $10 billion a year tax reform that would boost taxes on the rich and do away with corporate tax breaks.

Petro has also said he wants to start peace talks with remaining rebel groups that are currently fighting over drug routes, gold mines and other resources abandoned by the FARC after their peace deal with the government.

“He’s got a very ambitious agenda,” said Yan Basset, a political scientist at Bogota’s Rosario University.

“But he will have to prioritise.

The risk Petro faces is that he goes after too many reforms at once and gets nothing” through Colombia’s congress.

Eight heads of state attended Petro’s inauguration, which was held at a large colonial-era square in front of Colombia’s Congress.

Stages with live music and big screens were also placed in parks across Bogota’s city centre so that tens of thousands of citizens without invitations to the main event could join in the festivities. That marked a big change for Colombia where previous presidential inaugurations were more somber events limited to a few hundred VIP guests.

“It’s the first time that people from the base can come here to be part of a presidential inauguration,” said Luis Alberto Tombe, a member of the Guambiano tribe who showed up at the swearing in ceremony, wearing a traditional blue poncho. “We feel honoured to be here.”

PAGE 14, Monday, August 8, 2022

Haaland nets twice on EPL debut as City beats West Ham 2-0 LONDON (AP) — Erling Haaland scored twice on his Premier League debut as Manchester City opened its title defence with a 2-0 win over West Ham yesterday, showing just why Pep Guardiola spent big to bring in the striker this offseason.

Haaland needed 35 minutes to open his City account from the penalty spot after being brought down by the goalkeeper in the area, and then netted with a clinical low finish in the 65th minute to double the lead.

After Liverpool was held to a draw by Fulham on Saturday, City sent an early warning that it remains the team to beat in England.

City led the league in scoring last season with 99 goals as it edged Liverpool to the title by one point, despite often playing without a recognised striker up front. Having the towering Haaland in the middle only makes Guardiola’s attack look even scarier.

After City struggled to break down West Ham’s defense in the opening 30 minutes, Haaland showed his speed to accelerate away from two defenders as he ran onto a pass into the box from Ilkay Gundogan and was brought down by substitute goalkeeper Alphonse Areola as they vied for the ball.

He calmly dispatched the penalty by sidefooting into the left corner and then sat down cross-legged in a meditative pose — his trademark goal celebration that could become a frequent sight in the Premier League.

Areola, who had to come on in the 29th after Lukasz Fabianski picked up a knock, couldn’t do much to prevent the second goal, either.

Haaland timed his run perfectly to meet a through ball from Kevin de Bruyne and then used his left foot to slot the ball inside the far corner.

THE TRIBUNE

BRENTFORD RALLIES FOR 2-2 DRAW AT LEICESTER LEICESTER, England (AP) — Substitute Josh Dasilva’s late strike salvaged a point for Brentford as the visitors came from two goals down to draw 2-2 in their Premier League opener at Leicester yesterday.

Dasilva curled home the equaliser with four minutes remaining for Brentford, which had been outplayed for most of the match.

Leicester had taken a well-deserved 2-0 lead after goals in each half from Timothy Castagne and Kiernan DewsburyHall before Ivan Toney pulled one back in the 62nd minute.

Leicester dominated the first 45 minutes to such an extent that the lead could have been much bigger than 1-0 at the interval. After Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo volleyed straight at Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward in the 10th minute it was one-way traffic. Brentford goalkeeper David Raya had to parry a swerving effort from Wilfred Ndidi before James Maddison headed Youri Tielemans’ cross just wide.

MANCHESTER City’s Erling Haaland heads the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham United and Manchester City at the London Stadium in London, England, yesterday.

(AP Photos/Frank Augstein) “It was a good start,” Haaland said, adding that he will get even more chances as he becomes more used to playing with his new teammates. “It’s about the connections we do every day in training and about practicing this. So we get better at this, and this will come even more, so I’m not worried.”

Haaland scored 86 goals in 89 games during his three seasons at Borussia Dortmund to establish himself as one of the mostwanted players in Europe before opting to move to City, where his father Alfie played between 2000-03.

Alfie Haaland celebrated in the stands as his son

became just the second City player to score twice on his Premier League debut, after Sergio Aguero did so in 2011.

“Good that he saw both goals,” Haaland said. “It’s a big moment for me, debuting in this competition.”

He was taken off in the 78th to a standing ovation, having missed out on a hat trick when his header sailed high.

Judging by this performance, though, it won’t be long before the next goal comes along for Haaland.

“Now it’s almost 30 minutes since I scored the last goal,” Haaland said in his post-game interview, “so we have to keep going.”

MANCHESTER City’s Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring his sides second goal during the English Premier League soccer match against West Ham United at the London Stadium in London, England, yesterday.

LIVERPOOL STUMBLES, TOTTENHAM IMPRESSES IN EPL OPENERS

By MATTIAS KARÉN Associated Press LONDON (AP) — While Liverpool made a stuttering start to the English Premier League, Tottenham showed it might be ready to take another step forward under Antonio Conte.

Liverpool had to come from behind twice to salvage a 2-2 draw at promoted Fulham on Saturday, largely thanks to new signing Darwin Nunez, after a performance that Jurgen Klopp conceded was well short of the team’s standards.

Tottenham also conceded an early goal but came roaring back to earn a 4-1 victory at home against Southampton after a dominant display that hinted that Spurs are well gelled after a full offseason under Conte, who took over as manager last November.

Chelsea also had a winning start but in less impressive fashion, holding on for 1-0 at Everton after Jorginho netted a late firsthalf penalty.

Newcastle, Leeds and Bournemouth also won in their league openers. At Craven Cottage, Fulham threatened to pull off a major upset as Aleksandar Mitrovic put the hosts ahead twice against Liverpool. But Nunez came off the bench to score one goal and set up the other for Mohamed Salah.

Liverpool nearly grabbed all three points when Jordan Henderson hit the crossbar in injury time with a long-distance shot, but even Klopp agreed that a win would have been undeserved.

“The start of the game was really bad from us,”

TOTTENHAM Hotspur’s Eric Dier celebrates with his teammates after scoring their side’s 2nd goal in the English Premier League soccer match against Southampton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

(Kirsty O’Connor/PA via AP) Klopp said. “No direction, no positivity, no opening up, no breaking lines, nothing (of) what you have to do.”

It was a different story in north London, where Tottenham reacted superbly to going behind in the 12th minute.

Ryan Sessegnon and Eric Dier put Spurs in front by halftime and Southampton defender Mohammed Salibu netted a comical own goal when trying to clear the ball off the line in the 61st minute. Dejan Kulusevski capped a stellar performance by slotting in the fourth two minutes later.

“It was a perfect start for us, despite going behind,” Conte said. “I liked the game a lot for the result but especially the way in which the result was created — creating many chances to score, good possession, good high and medium pressure and we were good when we lost the ball and the intensity to try and get it back. ... Today we have seen (the) summer work with my players.”

Conte spent much of last season complaining about a lack of squad depth, but still opted not to start any of the team’s six offseason signings.

Ivan Perisic, Clement Lenglet and Yves Bissouma came off the bench instead to show that Conte also has increased options this season as Spurs tries to join champion Manchester City and Liverpool in the fight for the title.

NEWCASTLE SPOILS FOREST’S RETURN Nottingham Forest spent most of the game defending in its return to the top flight after an absence of 23 years.

The newcomer held firm for nearly an hour at St James’ Park but couldn’t prevent Newcastle’s Fabian Schar from finally breaking the deadlock with a long-range shot. Newcastle won 2-0 after Callum Wilson added the second in the 78th.

“We were second best in the game no doubt,” Forest manager Steve Cooper said.

“We coped OK in terms of possession and territory but

didn’t play well enough with the ball.”

Fellow newcomer Bournemouth got off to a better start after Scott Parker won the battle of the former England midfielders as his team earned a 2-0 home win over Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.

Jefferson Lerma and Kieffer Moore scored either side of halftime at Vitality Stadium as Gerrard — who played alongside Parker at Euro 2012 — cut a frustrated figure for much of the afternoon.

His expensively assembled team dominated possession in the southcoast sunshine but was toothless in attack.

AARONSON GIVES LEEDS A SPARK There was a distinct American flavor to Leeds’ 2-1 win over Wolverhampton at home.

U.S international Brenden Aaronson played a key part in the winning goal as he rushed in to meet a cross from Patrick Bamford, although it was credited as an own goal by defender Rayan Ait-Nouri, who tried to clear the ball only to poke it into his own.

Leeds went behind early when Daniel Podence scored for the visitors in the sixth minute with a volley that spun off the turf and in off the underside of the crossbar.

Rodrigo leveled for the hosts in the 24th.

Aaronson and fellow U.S. international Tyler Adams made their first starts for Leeds, which is managed

by American coach Jesse Marsch.

“All the debutants did quite well,” Marsch told

the BBC. “(Aaronson) is relentless. He is nonstop.

His work rate is incredible. I know him well and the thing I know about him is he is only going to get better.”

CHELSEA ‘HAVE THINGS TO IMPROVE’ Chelsea earned its first win at Goodison Park in five visits, but coach Thomas Tuchel acknowledged his team looked rusty as he tries to incorporate new signings while coping with the lack of a pure striker.

“We have things to improve but this isn’t a

surprise,” Tuchel said. “We struggled physically but showed the spirit to get the clean sheet.”

Everton is also without a striker and lost two more players as Ben Godfrey was carried off early with a suspected broken leg and Yerry Mina exited in the second half with an ankle injury.

Godfrey’s injury meant there was eight minutes of stoppage time in the first half, and Jorginho converted a penalty seconds before the interval after Abdoulaye Doucoure pulled down Ben Chilwell.

MANCHESTER UNITED LOSES 2-1 TO BRIGHTON IN HAG’S 1ST EPL GAME MANCHESTER, England (AP) — New manager, same old problems for Manchester United.

United slumped to a 2-1 loss against Brighton at Old Trafford yesterday in Erik ten Hag’s first Premier League game in charge, dispelling any notion that the Dutch coach could provide an instant fix to the many issues that plagued the team last season.

United looked vulnerable in defence — with Pascal Gross scoring twice in the first half to put Brighton in control — and toothless in attack until Cristiano Ronaldo came on early in the second half.

“Definitely a setback, a real disappointment,” Ten Hag said. “I knew from the start it will not be easy. And it’s a process, it

takes time. But you don’t have time, we have to win games. We should have done better.”

And the questions about Ronaldo’s future at the club remain.

Ten Hag decided to leave Ronaldo out of his starting lineup after the Portugal star only played 45 minutes in preseason amid reports he wants to leave for a Champions League club.

But it’s clear why Ten Hag wants to keep the 37-year-old forward as United looked much more dangerous with him on the field, although the hosts needed a goalkeeping error to pull a goal back. Robert Sanchez failed to punch away a corner and then got in the way of Alexis Mac Allister, who tried to clear the ball only to send it into his own net in the 68th.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, August 8, 2022, PAGE 15

Gold medal glory for Nairn, disappointment for Kendrick Thompson

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net BIRMINGHAM, England — In sports in general, there’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Team Bahamas experienced both ends of the spectrum over the weekend at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

While LaQuan Nairn got the chance for the Bahamas flag to be raised and the national anthem played inside Alexander Stadium for his triumphant victory in the men’s long jump, Kendrick Thompson had to withdraw from the men’s decathlon with an injury.

It came during the pole vault competition on the final of the two-day competition on Friday for the 10-event competition.

As he ascended for his first jump at 4.40 metres, Thompson knocked the bar down and landed awkwardly on the apparatus.

The 24-year-old, making his debut as the first Bahamian to compete in the decathlon at the games, could not continue as he suffered a sprained left ankle.

He got some medical treatment as the morning session was completed and he prepared for the final two events in the evening.

Sitting in seventh place going into his specialty in the javelin, Thompson struggled to get in one throw with (50.88m) as he grimaced in pain.

He ultimately called it a day and withdrew from the competition.

Unable to come back for the gruelling 1,500m and to enjoy the celebrations that comes at the completion of the event, no matter who wins or loses, all of Thompson’s performances from one day in the 100m (11.18), long jump (24-4 ½), shot put (38-3), high jump (6-4 1/4) and 400m (50.07) with the final day’s ledger in the 110m hurdles (14.72m), discus (125-10), pole vault (13-9 1/4) and javelin (16510), didn’t matter.

His account didn’t have an end balance because

of his absence from the 1.500m. He sat in pain and watched as Grenada’s Lindon Victor sealed the gold with 8,233 points ahead of Australian duo Daniel Golubovic (8197) and Cedric Bubler (8030) who picked up the silver and bronze respectively.

There was no question that at the other end of the spectrum, there was great celebrations for the achievement of Nairn on Thursday night as the first Bahamian male athlete to win a gold medal at the games.

After he emerged out of the qualifying round on Tuesday with the second best jump of 25-11m behind India’s Sreeshankar with the only automatic qualifying mark of 26-5 over the standard of 26-3, Nairn guaranteed “gold” and even predicted that Craig Hepburn’s national record of 27-7 ¼ set back in Nassau on June 17, 1993, would fall.

It came down to a duel between Nairn and Sreeshankar for the gold after they both cleared 26-6 ¾.

But while Nairn had already taken the lead on achieving the mark first on his second attempt, Sreeshankar needed to surpass his effort in the fifth attempt.

On the final attempt as Jovan van Vuuren had already settled for the bronze with a scratch, but the third best mark of 26-5 ½ as well on his second try, Sreeshankar fouled his final try to hold onto the silver.

That left Nairn as the last man standing and with the gold already wrapped up. His final attempt only produced 26-2 ¾, but it didn’t matter. The 26-yearold former CR Walker

KENDRICK THOMPSON, of the Bahamas, throws the discus in the decathlon during the athletics in the Alexander Stadium at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Friday, August 5.

MAKING HISTORY: Laquan Nairn, of The Bahamas, poses on the podium after winning the gold medal in the long jump final during the athletics competition in the Alexander Stadium at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Thursday, August 4, 2022.

(AP Photos/Alastair Grant) basketball star, who went on to compete for St John’s College, would ascend the podium as the Commonwealth’s best for 2022 and Hepburn could still breath a sigh of relief as his record remained intact.

Nairn, who has now completed his eligibility at the University of Arkansas and is on his first year as a professional athlete, said he would go after the record when he returns home for the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships in Grand Bahama August 18-21.

It was a turnaround for Nairn from the World championships two weeks ago when he placed 18th with a best of 25-7 ¼, compared to Sreeshankar’s

seventh in the final with 26-1 ½. Nairn attributed his achievement to legendary long jumper and coach Peter Pratt, aswell as his close friend and rival Kaiwan Culmer for their assistance on the runway.

“That’s crazy. I don’t know what to say,” Nairn said. “First Bahamian male to win a gold medal, it’s just a blessing. I thank my family, my mother, Monalisa McKinneu, my father Lourawls Nairn Sr and my big brother Tum Tum (Lourawls Nairn Jr). I don’t know what to say.

“This is for you all. I love you all and I appreciate you all, the Nairn family and the McKinney family. I just appreciate all the love and support you have given. I love you all.”

With the jammed-packed stadium cheering him on, Nairn said he never experienced anything like this in his life.

“I got one piece of the goal, which is the gold medal. This is very important to me,” said Nairn after he claimed his first global medal in the process.

“I still have some more meets, I think going back home to the Bahamas for the NACAC Championships is a good place to break the national record.”

For now, the celebrations have begun for Nairn and it’s back to the drawing board for Thompson as he recuperates form his injury as the two Bahamian athletes deal with their contrasting conclusions at the games.

ASHLEIGH Buhai (AP)

ASHLEIGH BUHAI WINS WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN AFTER PLAYOFF MUIRFIELD, Scotland (AP) — Ashleigh Buhai recovered from throwing away a five-shot lead at the Women’s British Open by beating In Gee Chun in a playoff yesterday to win her first major title.

With the light fading, the South African golfer made a superb bunker shot on the fourth playoff hole to leave herself with a short par putt, while Chun settled for a bogey.

Buhai calmly rolled in from less than three feet and then clutched her face in relief, before being drenched in water and other beverages by her entourage.

She made things a lot more difficult than they had to be, though.

Buhai entered the final round with a commanding five-shot lead and was still three strokes ahead before a triple bogey on the par-4 15th that put her level with Chun.

She then missed a birdie putt on the par-5 17th that would have restored a one-shot lead.

Both players missed long birdie putts on the 18th as they settled for a playoff after finishing on 10-under 274.

Buhai shot a 4-over 75 in the final round, while Chun carded a 70.

Hinako Shibuno of Japan, the 2019 champion, finished one shot back in third after missing a chip from just off the green that would have made it a three-way playoff.

AUSTRALIA’S BARBER TAKES JAVELIN GOLD AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES

By COURTNEY WALSH Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Australia’s double world champion javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber has again played the waiting game to perfection at the Commonwealth Games yesterday.

After adding the 2022 world championship title in Oregon in July to her success in Doha in 2019, Barber travelled to England favoured to claim her first Commonwealth gold medal.

But on the eve of the opening ceremony on July 28, she tested positive to COVID-19, putting her into isolation and casting doubt over her participation.

It was not until Thursday that the 30-year-old received clearance to compete in the event, but she said the days spent in isolation recovering from the illness did not detract from her belief.

“Mentally, I coped. I wasn’t going to let it affect my performance today,” Barber said.

Seeking to complete the full set of Games’ medals after winning a bronze in Glasgow in 2014 and a silver on the Gold Coast four years ago, Barber saved her best throw for last.

She trailed her teammate Mackenzie Little, who threw a personal best of 64.27 metres, into the last round. But Barber responded with an effort of 64.43 metres to clinch the gold medal.

KELSEY-LEE BARBER, of Australia, celebrates after winning the javelin final at the Commonwealth Games yesterday.

(AP Photo/Manish Swarup) It continues a theme of the 2022 Games, which for the Australian, whose includes 16 to be contested first world title in Doha in boxing. England won its was achieved with her last first able-bodied gold medal throw, so too the bronze on the track when the medal she claimed at the 4x100-metre men’s relay Tokyo Olympics last year. team sprinted to success “I had great confidence over Trinidad and Tobago from the world (champion- and Nigeria. ships) and a good feel for Zharnel Hughes backed my javelin. I trusted that up from his second in process, so today I was the 200-metres final on focused and knew what I Saturday night to run a wanted to achieve here,” strong second leg when she said. seizing the advantage for “I’m not going to lie. It England, which clocked is nice to know I have the 38.35 seconds. confidence I can keep lift“I think we did a good ing through a competition job with the exchanges. and I can find something in It ran smoothly,” he said. that last round.”

“Coming away with two Barber claimed one of medals, I couldn’t be any the 45 gold medals on offer happier. To do it on home on the penultimate day soil is spectacular.”

KELSEY-Lee Barber competes in the women’s javelin final during the athletics in the Alexander Stadium at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, yesterday.

(AP Photo/Alastair Grant) break the stranglehold the The English rider said the Nigeria claimed the women’s 4x100-metres relay Australian team appeared Australians, aware of their gold medal from England, to have on the race when collective strength, rode a with Jamaican champion making several attacks boring race.

Elaine Thompson-Herah during the 112-kilometre finishing strongly as the (69.5 mile) race.

But it was to no avail. anchor to clinch bronze for Women’s time trial gold her nation.

Australia also claimed medallist Grace Brown success in cycling when countered those attacks, Georgia Baker won the sacrificing her own hopes women’s road race, giving when giving Baker every her three gold medals for chance to succeed.

Henderson was critical of the Games after wins in the velodrome in London the Australian tactics after last week. English rider the race, describing them as Anna Henderson tried to “rubbish”.

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PAGE 16, Monday, August 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

CYCLISTS NEELY AND SAWYER ‘DROPPED OFF 100-MILE COURSE’

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net BIRMINGHAM, England — Neither Lorin Sawyer nor Felix Neely lasted past the second round of the men’s road race yesterday at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

They both were dropped off the 100-mile course in Warrick after they were behind the 10-minute mark behind the peloton.

For both competitors, who also didn’t get to complete the time trials on Thursday, it was a learning experience as they made their debut in a global competition.

“About three quarters in the race, I started to hear some noise and I could feel my chain getting knocked.

I was wondering what was going on because it kind of slowed me down,” Sawyer said.

“The noise went away so I hung on with a group. But once you lose the breakaway group, it’s tough to get back in the race. On

the second lap, we went up the hill and the spoke again came loose and it knocked my chain off. I got off the bike and tried to fix it and rode down a few more riders.”

But it was a little too late as he and the group of riders were pulled from the race that saw New Zealand’s Aaron Gate take the gold in a sprint to the line in three hours, 28 minutes and 29 seconds.

The silver went to Daryl Impey of the Republic of South Africa in 3:28.29.

Finn Crockett of Scotland got the bronze in 3:28.29.

“You can’t be happy when you lose,” Sawyer said.

“I’m glad I got the experience to see how much further I have to try and push myself the next time.”

Sawyer, a resident of Spanish Wells, said the greatest thing that the cyclists lack in the Bahamas is experience.

“We don’t get the experience these guys get,” he said. “These guys probably compete about 50 times a

year. Me and Felix probably do about three or four.

That’s a big disadvantage.”

Neely, on the other hand, got caught in a crash and although he maintained his composure to continue, he got the red flag and was eliminated.

“I am phyisically fit, but my body didn’t have the power to go out there,” Neely said. “So I got dropped. It was very tough and it was hard. It is what it is. I’m disappointed, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Neely, the youngest competitor in the competition at age 19, said he will regroup and get himself ready to

compete in a race in Grand Bahama at the end of the month and with Sawyer again in the Caribbean Cycling Championships in September in Guyana.

Chef de mission Roy Colebrooke, the president of the Bahamas Cycling Federation, said he feels the cyclists did the best that they could under the circumstances.

“Today, this 100-mile road race, Lorin’s had some problems with his bike and once the sweep wagon comes behind you, you have to go off the course,” Colebrooke.

“In speaking with Felix, he felt the competition was just too much for him at this time. “Again we have two good athletes whom we can build on. We will try to get Felix into Colombia for a year or two as he tries to build and develop in the sport of cycling. We believe that if Lorin gets more exposure, he too can be very competitive in these events.”

Team manager and coach Kenton Roker said the

SHOWN, from left to right, are cyclist Lorin Sawyer, chef de mission Roy Colebrooke and cyclist Felix Neely. cyclists performed up to their abilities. “I can tell you, this event opened my eyes as to where we need to go in cycling,” the Grand Bahamian native said.

“We need sponsorship and our cyclists need to attend more events so that they can be at the level of

SUMMER OF THUNDER BASKETBALL CAMP HOOPS WITH INTERNATIONAL TEAMS FOR A WINNING WEEKEND THE game of basketball can positively redirect the path of a young boy or girl, unlocking countless opportunities while building camaraderie and strengthening physical fitness.

The pandemic forced families inside, prevented social interaction and caused major reductions in consistent exercise for young adults who happily opted for hours of mindless computer games and YouTube surfing.

Thankfully, The Bahamas Basketball Federation and Ballin’ By Da Beach camps offered a free camp during its annual Summer of Thunder two-week tournament, featuring several top Bahamian, NCAA, US and foreign national teams.

The 2022 Summer of Thunder Basketball Camp was held at Sir Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium August 5-6.

Children aged 5-18 learned basketball fundamentals from top-tier local and international coaches from She Hoops Elite and the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team.

BBF secretary general Jurelle Nairn-Mullings, also president of the Ballin’

By Da Beach camps, said she was excited about this weekend’s camp and the partnerships.

“We are so excited to see the Summer of Thunder Basketball camp leverage the expertise of our high level international coaches at the Division One and semi-pro levels.

“Their willingness to give back and provide training to the future basketball players of The Bahamas is commendable. The twoday camp will allow our kids to again socialise, as we build sports tourism in the country.

“The Federation and Ballin’ By Da Beach camps are committed to national development and training of our young people, what better way to do this than through sports?,” expressed Nairn-Mullings.

Bahamian born Robyn Swaby, CEO of She Hoops Elite, and business partner Kiara Slaton formed the Bahamian owned business which inspires, impacts and motivates the next generation of athletes to pursue their dreams of playing basketball at a high level.

“We have a network of over 400 female athletes in South Florida whose backgrounds range from professional basketball players to trainers to coaches.

these cyclists. “They have the potential, but we just need to get them the exposure by competing in three or four events a year of this calibre. We just need corporate Bahamas to sponsor us so we can give these cyclists the exposure that they need.”

CONNECTICUT Sun forward Jonquel Jones (35) looks for a rebound between Phoenix Mercury players during a WNBA basketball game on Thursday, August 4, 2022, in Uncasville, Conn.

(Sarah Gordon/ The Day via AP)

JONQUEL FROM PAGE 20

three assists in the final 2:41, missed a deep potential winning 3 at the buzzer. She finished with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and six assists.

Alyssa Thomas added 16 points and eight boards. Sims scored 13 points, Courtney Williams had 12 and Brionna Jones added 10.

Connecticut was missing head coach Curt Miller who was spending time with his family after his mom Bev died earlier this week.

EASTERN Kentucky University women’s basketball team joined forces with Summer of Thunder basketball camp over the weekend.

JURELLE NAIRN-MULLINGS, organiser of the 2022 Summer of Thunder Basketball Camp, and secretary general of the BBF.

ROBYN SWABY, CEO of She Hoops Elite.

“We decided to partner with The Bahamas Basketball Federation to facilitate the Summer of Thunder Basketball Camp because this is one of our most valued platforms that we utilise to give back to our community.

“Our team is looking forward to meeting all of the campers and ensuring

SHE HOOPS ELITE players enjoy the Summer of Thunder basketball camp. that everyone learns a new skill and has a great time at camp,” says Swaby.

Nairn-Mullings and Swaby, both former junior girls national basketball team players, are giving back as they too can

appreciate the work of The Bahamas Basketball Federation helping them as athletes. “I can appreciate the work of the BBF because as a national team player, we were able to develop better techniques,

strengthen our skills and travel due to the sacrifices of coaches and the Federation. As a result, paying it forward is something we both understand is a necessary thing to do,” said Nairn-Mullings.

EKU women’s basketball team from Richmond, Kentucky, also assisted with the camp which started on Friday, August 5, and ended noon Saturday at the Sir Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, August 8, 2022, PAGE 17

ELAINE THOMPSON-HERAH, of Jamaica, poses after winning the gold medal in the Women’s 200 metres, setting a new Games record during the athletics competition in the Alexander Stadium at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Saturday, August 6.

Jereem Richards follows mourning with 200 gold

By COURTNEY WALSH Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Jereem Richards is in the midst of a difficult year yet the Trinidad and Tobago sprinter continues to be an inspiration on the athletics track.

Richards successfully defended his Commonwealth Games 200 metres crown in Birmingham on Saturday night in 19.80 seconds.

A finalist at the Tokyo Olympics, he seized control from the start and set a Commonwealth Games record.

He defeated England’s Zharnel Hughes by 0.38 seconds. Ghana’s Joseph Paul Amoah clinched the bronze medal.

It is almost eight months since Richards’ close friend and compatriot Deon Lendore, an Olympic medallist who had been “an inspiration” since he was a boy, died in a car crash in Texas.

Richards vowed to continue Lendore’s legacy and devote his racing efforts this season to his memory. His contribution in Birmingham was one to remember.

“This has been a long season and I am just grateful that I have come through,” he said.

Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah added a Commonwealth Games sprinting double to her remarkable deeds in the Olympics with a superb effort.

Thompson-Herah was outsprinted by her compatriots Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson in the 100 metres at the world championships in Oregon last month.

But the five-time Olympic gold medallist rebounded brilliantly in Birmingham and added the 200 crown to her 100 with a comprehensive victory.

Thompson-Herah, who also

JEREEM RICHARDS, of Trinidad and Tobago, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men’s 200 metres during the athletics competition in the Alexander Stadium at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Saturday.

(AP Photos/Manish Swarup) completed the sprint double in the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympics, clocked 22.02 to defeat Favour Ofili by almost half a second.

Namibian Christine Mboma claimed the bronze medal.

Fraser-Pryce and Jackson were criticised by Games officials for snubbing the event in preference to

athletics events in Europe.

Jackson won the 200 at a meeting in Poland earlier on Saturday in 21.84.

Back in Birmingham, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo added the 5,000 metres gold medal to success earlier in the week in the 10,000 when surging to the line.

Vinesh Phogat was among six India wrestlers

to claim gold medals in Birmingham. Phogat, who won the women’s 53-kilogram division, said her success provided a boost in confidence as she looks towards the Paris Olympics in two years.

“My last year has not been that great. After so much training and doubting myself, this is very

important to me,” she said.

“This medal will boost my confidence for the next two years, for the Paris Olympics. I’m back.”

India reached the final of the men’s field hockey after defeating South Africa 3-2. Singh Manpreet said they learned from a loss in the semifinals on the Gold Coast in 2018.

“We knew they’re going to give us a good fight,” Manpreet said “We were prepared.”

In women’s cricket, Australia will face India in a highly anticipated final after a convincing victory over New Zealand in a semifinal at Edgbaston.

India earlier defeated host England by four runs in a thriller.

After the overall gold medal race had tightened the previous day, Australia extended its lead at the top of the standings by winning nine golds on Day 9.

Australia has 59 golds and 155 medals in total, ahead of England in second place (50 golds and 148 medals overall) with two competition days remaining.

India is fifth with 13 gold and 27 minor medals.

BAHAMIAN WRESTLERS DON’T LAST LONG AT COMM GAMES

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net BIRMINGHAM, England — The encore appearance for Rashji Mackey and the debut of Thorn Demeritte didn’t last that long in their men’s wrestling matches at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. But the duo are confident that they will be back more prepared for the 2024 games in Paris, France.

Mackey, who made his initial appearance in 2018 in the Gold Coast, Australia, competed out of his 86 kilo weight class and lost 10-0 to Tayab Raza from Pakistan in the 97 kilogram class in a bout that lasted one minute and 52 seconds at the Coventry Arena.

Coached by Clint Burke, the pair participated in free style wrestling, which allows the use of the wrestler’s or his opponent’s legs in offence and defence.

A wrestler is declared the winner by throwing and pinning his opponent on the mat.

Demeritte, in his initial games, was the first to compete on Saturday, but he also got stopped 10-0 by Charlie Bowling of England in the 74 kilogram class in 1:48.

For Demeritte, it was an experience that he will not forget. “It was a learning experience. This was my first fight in years, but I thought I could do better,” he said. “I’m happy to be working with coach Burke because he’s trying to get

me to better my craft. I love this experience. I can’t wait to come back.

“This is obviously not the end for me. I want to show Bahamians that we can excel in this sport too.

We grow up dashing people and so we just need to come out and get more people involved so the sport can grow.”

In his bout, Demeritte had a difficult time dealing with the taller Bowling and it showed when he got pinned on the mat.

Demeritte said he realises that he needs to work on his “endurance, but there are a lot of other things that I need to do.

“Coach Burke showed me so much things to do while we were in training leading up to this fight. I learned so much from him.

Demeritte, 32, said after performing wrestling in college at Norman North, he said he was surprised to come home and find that there was an association in the Bahamas and he joined up.

But he admitted that based on what he saw at the competition, he is more hungry to get back home and into the gym training for the next major competition.

Despite losing for the second trip to the games, 36-year-old Mackey said he had an “awesome time” this time around.

“I enjoyed it. I came out prepared. It was a pretty good match,” he said. “I could have done a lot more fakes and even put my stomach down flat so he

RASHJI Mackey wrestles against Tayab Raza.

BAHAMAS wrestling team of Thorn Demeritte, coach Clint Burke and Rashji Mackey. wouldn’t be able to turn me the way he did and do a lot more leg snatches because he had some very long legs.

I couldn’t get a good grip of them.”

By fighting in a higher class, Burke said Mackey gave away 20-30 pounds to Tayab and that made the difference in the outcome of the fight.

“He was fighting the tallest guy in the tournament, so I am impressed with the things he did, things we were working on in practice,” Burke said.

“His stamina is great and his strength is improving immensely since the last Commonwealth Games.

“I just wished he was at his original weight class. I think it would have been a different outcome. But overall from my technical observation, he performed very well.”

As for Demeritte, Burke said he was also impressed with the things he did.

“Of course, we wanted the win. He wanted the win. We also wanted him to win,” he said. “But as a coach, I don’t just look at the win. I look at the wrestler based on how we trained them in practice and based on that, Thorn has some growth to do in this sport.

“He has been a collegiate wrestler where the rules are entirely different. He resorted a few things to his collegiate style of wrestling instead of sticking with the free style of wrestling.

“That’s something we can work on in the dojo.

I think he’s going to be a name to reckon with in the Commonwealth and internationally.”

Burke, who resides in Chicago, helped to start

the wrestling programme in the Bahamas with the late George Mackey.

He said they are still building and looking forward to great success in the future through the Bahamas Amateur Wresting Federation, headed by former journalist Clarence Rolle, who is also a vice president of the BOC. “We want to bring a full wrestling team to these games from the Bahamas so that we can make some noise just like the other sports do,” said Burke, who provides internet training, but would prefer to be stationed in the Bahamas to further help the Bahamian wrestlers.

Chef de mission Roy Colebrooke, who was on hand along with team doctor Ricky Davis to view the matches, said despite their shortcomings, the Bahamas Olympic Committee is just pleased to be able to get more of the smaller

sports competing at the games.

“The wrestlers went out and they represented the Bahamas very well,” said Colebrooke, who also serves as vice president of the BOC. “It also shows the growth of the various sporting disciplines in the country.

“The aim and objective is to create more wrestlers so that we can see more competitors coming to compete at the international level.

As more wrestlers become a part of it, I believe we can do very well in the sport of wrestling.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Miller-Uibo places 2nd in return to 200 metres

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net FRESH off the end of what could be described as her swan song in the women’s 400 metres at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon a couple weeks ago, Shaunae MillerUibo returned to the 200 metres where she placed second.

It was the return of athletes on the international scene after the World Championships as they competed in Chorzow, Poland, on Saturday where Miller-Uibo was greeted back with a second place finish in 22.35 seconds.

Taking the tape was Jamaica’s world champion Shericka Jackson in 21.84 as the two athletes were among a group of stars from Eugene, who opted not to participate in the Commonwealth Games this past week in Birmingham, England.

Tynia Gaither, who was in Birmingham where she

DEVYNNE FROM PAGE 20

While David Charlton said he will probably get a “drink or two” to celebrate, Charlton said she will cheat with some extra dessert for dinner, but she doesn’t want to overdo it because she still has the NACAC Championships and a few meets on the European circuit, including the Wanda Diamond League, to complete.

“It will definitely be a confidence booster, but I can’t rely on my success because every time you line up, no victory is certain,” she said.

“Coming into any race, it’s just a matter of how well you execute and so I hope to be focused on the task ahead of me.”

When asked why she opted not to go to Poland like some of the top athletes

got seventh in the 100m final but left for Poland the same day as the start of the 200m, was fourth in Saturday’s race in 22.70 behind American Jenna Prandini, who did 22.39.

In getting back to what she called her “first love,” Miller-Uibo said she enjoyed the entire atmosphere in Poland.

“I did not want to put too much pressure on myself and wanted to have fun,” she stated. “I think I’m going to skip the indoor season and just focus on the outdoors next year. This is a part of the preparation.”

Miller-Uibo was also asked about whether or not she will join her husband decathlete Maicel Uibo and venture into the heptathlon, now that she indicated that she’s done with the 400m.

She noted that “I am still not sure about multievents.

Before the next season, we start with the endurance.”

While she didn’t run the 400m, Femke Bol from the Netherlands took the title in a national and meet

FROM PAGE 20

KYRGIOS FROM PAGE 20

— in the opening game of each set and again in the match’s final game.

This marks quite a bit of unusual consistency for Kyrgios, who was coming off a run to his first Grand Slam final at the All England Club, where he lost to Novak Djokovic last month. Kyrgios did not get any rankings points for that showing — there were no points awarded to anyone at Wimbledon — but the title in Washington will push him from 63rd to 37th, within shouting range of a possible seeding at the US Open.

Play begins at Flushing Meadows on August 29.

record of 49,75. MillerUibo, who left the world leading time of 49.11 on the board with her gold medal performance in Eugene, is still sitting in fourth place in the Diamond League standings with 16 points.

Jamaica’s Stephanie-Ann McPherson is out front with As for the 200m, MillerUibo is also fourth with 12 points, while Gaither is sitting in seventh with 10 points. Jackson tops the chart with 23, followed closely by Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith with 20.

did after the World Championships, Charlton said she wanted to put country first.

“I think everybody has their goals and the path they want to take to get to their ultimate goal,” she said.

“For me, I chose to represent my country as much as I could in as many national teams as I could to get on the podium.

“So my goals this season was to represent the Bahamas as best as I could.

After not getting a medal in Eugene, I decided to come here and concentrate on getting the job done. I am glad that I did.”

To the Bahamian fans who rooted for her, even if they missed the race being ran at 5:30 in the morning, Charlton said she was just proud to win another medal, the same for the Bahamas at the games after the gold from Nairn.

KEYSHAWN 79.36m and Max Dehning of Germany was second with a throw of 77.24m.

At the last U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, Strachan finished seventh with his throw of 70.30m on his second attempt.

His 2022 season of milestones saw him improve to the second leading mark in the world this year with his national record setting throw of 79.89m in regional competition at the CARIFTA Games and now a global bronze medal.

Feltner, the silver medallist in Nairobi, also improved on his performance with his gold in 2022.

Andrews also made Bahamian track and field history with his gold medal record setting performance in the 110m hurdles on August 3.

He ran a time of 13.23 seconds, lowering his own

SHAUNAE Miller-Uibo placed second in the 200 metres during a meet in Chorzow, Poland, on Saturday. In the photo above, gold medallist Miller-Uibo reacts after a win in the final of the women’s 400-metre run at the World Athletics Championships on Friday, July 22, 2022, in Eugene, Oregon.

(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

ANTOINE Andrews in action. national record and setting a new U20 world leading time.

Andrews highlighted day one for team Bahamas with his then record setting time of 13.36 in heat three of the opening round. His time surpassed the mark of 13.38 set by Shamar Sands in 2009 and the junior national record of 13.67 set by Sands in 2002.

The Wanda Diamond League encompasses 32 Diamond Disciplines, following a championship style model. Athletes earn points at the 13 series meetings to qualify for the final of their discipline.

At the end of the 13 series meetings, athletes are awarded 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 points for ranking from first to eighth place respectively.

The top six in the field events, top eight for the 100m-800m and the top 10 for the 1,500m and long

DEVYNNE and coach Lonnie Greene.

Andrews also improved on his performance in Kenya when he ran 14.08 to finish no.23 overall in the field.

Corrington Maycock served as the head coach for team Bahamas. A total of 1,387 athletes from 126 countries participated in the event, including 735 men and 652 women. The meet produced two top U20 world performances, 14 championship records, nine sub 20 area records, 10 senior national records, 97 U20 national records and 518 new personal bests.

World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon said that Colombia’s Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium was ideal for fast times and great performances.

“I think we all agree that the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 2022 has been a spectacular event and we celebrate that it is one of the best versions in the history of the event with magnificent moments in the achievement of medals and resounding results in new records.”

GOLF

FROM PAGE 20 Dominican Republic was third at 484 (+52), Barbados was fourth at 497 (+65) and Turks and Caicos was fifth at 527 (+95).

Michel was the top finisher for Team Bahamas and concluded her three round total in 13th place.

She shot identical rounds of 87 and a final round of 86, for a total score of 260 (+44).

Smith finished in 14th place with a total score of

269 (+53). She followed her round of 90 with a a second round 93 and concluded with a tournament low 86.

For the Hoerman Cup, the men’s team of Sebastian Iberri, Horace Miller, Richard Gibson Jr, Heathcliffe Kane, Lynford Miller and Nolan Johnson produced a combined score of 943 (+79) to finish sixth in the eight-team field.

Puerto Rico dominated the field as the only team to shoot under par with a score of 860 (-4).

The Dominican Republic was second at 882 (+18),

TYNIA Gaither was fourth in Saturday’s race in 22.70 behind American Jenna Prandini, who did 22.39. At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she placed seventh in the 100m final.

distances will qualify for the final.

In case there is a tie, the best legal performance of the qualifying phrase wins.

The winner of each Diamond Discipline at the final will become “Diamond League Champion” and be awarded a Diamond Trophy, USD 30,000 prize money and a wild card for the World Athletics Championships with certain conditions applied.

While the winner receives the hefty $30,000.

The reaming eight places in

DEVYNNE and mother Laura Charlton.

order will collect $12,000, $7,000, $4,000, $2.500, $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000.

For each series meeting, the winner earns $10,000, while from second to eighth, the figures are $6,000, $3,500, $2,000, $1,350, $1,000, $750 and $500 for the remaining positions.

The Wanda Diamond League started in Doha, Qatar on May 14 and will wrap up on September 2 in Brussels, Belgium. The final will be staged from September 7-8 in Zurich, Switzerland.

DEVYNNE and father David Charlton.

ZIMBABWE CHASES DOWN 291 TO WIN ODI SERIES OVER BANGLADESH

KEYSHAWN Strachan throws the javelin in this file photo.

Cayman Islands was third at 886 (+22), Jamaica was fourth at 895 (+31), Trinidad and Tobago fifth at 916 (+52), Turks and Caicos seventh at 985 (+121) and Barbados eighth at 997 (+133).

Iberri was the top finisher among the group at No.17 overall.

He opened with a 75, shot a 78 in round two and finished with a 76 in round three for a score of 229 (+13).

Gibson finished tied for 22nd with a score of 233 (+17). He opened with an 84, shot 77 in round two,

and a tournament low 72 in the final round.

Lynford Miller was fourth at no.36 with rounds of 86, 73, and 84 for a score of 243 (+27) while Horace Miller finished two strokes behind, at no.38 with his score of 245 (+29).

He produced rounds of 83, 83, and 79.

Johnson finished at no.42 with rounds of 87, 90, and 81 for a score of 258 (+42).

Kane shot an opening round 84, withdrew from the second round and concluded with a score of 79 in the final round.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Sikandar Raza and Regis Chakabva scored centuries as Zimbabwe successfully chased down almost 300 runs to win the second one-day international against Bangladesh yesterday and take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

Bangladesh scored 290-9 after losing the toss and being asked to bat first. Zimbabwe reached 291-5 in 47.3 overs in reply for a five-wicket victory.

Raza was 117 not out off 127 deliveries, including eight fours and four sixes, and Chakabva was even faster with a 75-ball 102. The pair took Zimbabwe from 49-4 to 250-5.

Mahmudullah top scored for Bangladesh with 80 not out off 84 balls. Raza took 3-56 in 10 overs of spin.

The third and final ODI is on Wednesday.

The CAGC is the region’s premier event, played both as an individual stroke play event and as a country team competition.

THE TRIBUNE

KAIWAN CULMER 7TH IN TRIPLE JUMP FINAL

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BIRMINGHAM, England — Seventh best was all that Kaiwan Culmer could muster as the Bahamas wrapped up competition at the 2022 Commonwealth Games yesterday at the Alexander Stadium.

Culmer was the last of the Bahamian delegation to compete.

In his first global international meet, Culmer said he felt he did his best.

He cleared 52-feet, 7 ½-inches or 16.04 metres on his first attempt to open his account that included (15.12m) on his fourth and scratches tallied on his second, fourth, fifth and six tries.

“It was a good environment, I was prepared. I could have continued on with the momentum in the competition, but I had some issues with my approaches and being consistent,” he said.

“But overall, it was good.

I can’t complain.

“I just need to get some more competitors to compete against at home and get an opportunity to participate in some more meets overseas so I just have to be prepared when you get to environments like this.”

Alexander Stadium provided more than he anticipated as he watched Eldhose Paul, who led a India sweep of the top two medals with gold 55-10 ½ (17.03m) and Abdulla Aboobacker Narangolintevida with the silver 55-10 ¼ (17.02m). The bronze went to Jah-Nhai Perinchief from Bermuda with 55-6 ¼ (16.92m).

“God is good. I thank him for allowing me to be able to experience something like this. Not too many people get to this level,” he said. “I didn’t even think I was on the team and I didn’t have any faith in God that I would make it. “Then I got the call and it just shows that whatever you do, he’s going to be behind you and he’s going to push you.

Nobody can really change what he has for you. I really thank him for giving me this opportunity. I’m healthy and not injured.”

Culmer said he will be going to Grand Bahama for the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships where he intends to correct some things he did wrong at the games and hopefully he can get the medal that slipped away from him here.

“There’s nothing I can do now, but to keep up faith in God and get ready for Freeport,” he said.

At the start of the competition, Culmer took the early lead from his first jump, but he scratched the second attempt as he dropped to seventh. He came back with 15.12m on his third attempt, but there was no improvement in the standings.

While he missed out of getting on the podium, Culmer said he was delighted to witness the achievements of LaQuan Nairn with his gold medal in the men’s long jump and Devynne Charlton in the women’s 100m hurdles.

“That was beautiful,” Culmer said. “I feel real happy for Devynne and LaQuan. Over the past few years, it’s been two athletes excelling, but now we have some athletes in the pipeline who are here and are doing their best and making us all proud.

“I’m proud of them. All I could do is look up to them.

I got on the bus with Devynne this morning and she said she was ready. I was ready too, but things didn’t work out the way it did for her and LaQuan. But I’m happy for them both. Hopefully I will get my chance in Freeport.”

Peter Pratt, who coached Culmer and long jump gold medallist LaQuan Nairn, said he was elated to be a part of the team here in Birmingham.

“These two athletes, as well as the other members of the team, performed very well,” Pratt said.

“I believe we just need to increase our training regimen and get some more funding for them to be able to compete in more meets overseas.

“But I was very proud of what LaQuan was able to achieve. He came here having had some meets that he competed in overseas, so he was alright. But I think if Kaiwan can do the same thing, I think he will have a much better performance when he comes back to these types of meets.”

Monday, August 8, 2022, PAGE 19 KAIWAN Culmer of the Bahamas competes in the men’s triple jump final during the athletics in the Alexander Stadium at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, yesterday.

(AP Photo/ Alastair Grant)

SPORTS PAGE 20

MillerUibo, Page 18

MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2022

KEYSHAWN STRACHAN SECURES BRONZE IN JAVELIN AT U20 WORLDS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SILVER STARDOM DEVYNNE CHARLTON 2ND IN 100 HURDLES, MAKES HISTORY

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net BIRMINGHAM, England — After starting the season as the first Bahamian female silver medallist at the World Championships in March, Devynne Charlton added another historic second place as the first Bahamian to medal in the women’s 100 metres hurdles at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

In passing up the opportunity to earn some Wanda Diamond League points in Poland on Saturday, Charlton stormed from behind yesterday in a time of 12.58 seconds to pick up the silver behind Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, who established a games record of 12.30 coming off her World Championship title with a world record of 12.12 in the semifinals.

Great Britain’s Cindy Sember got the bronze in 12.59.

“I feel good now. When I finished the race, I thought I was fourth. I was just hoping to be in the bronze medal position, but after getting the silver, I can’t complain,” said Charlton after she leaned at the tape to edge out England’s Cindy Sember.

In joining LaQuan Nairn, who the day before captured the first gold medal by a Bahamian male long jumper, Charlton’s medal gave the Bahamas a total of two medals on the final medal chart, finishing tied with Grenada for the 23rd spot.

With two silver medals to her collection in one season, Charlton said she can’t complain although she would have preferred to secure a medal at the World Championships where she was seventh in Eugene. “I’ve been a senior since 2015 and World Indoors was my first international medal and to come out here and make podium again is very special.” Charlton said.

“I just hope that I can go home and do it again at NACAC (Championships in Grand Bahama from August 18-21).”

MAKING HISTORY: Devynne Charlton, celebrating with her parents at top, is pictured with with chef de mission Roy Colebrooke and LaQuan Nairn, who the day before captured the first gold medal by a Bahamian male long jumper. Charlton’s medal pushed the Bahamas to finish tied with Grenada for the 23rd spot with a total of two medals on the final medal chart.

In her race, Charlton admitted that her start wasn’t what she anticipated as she stumbled out of the blocks. But she was able to make up enough ground to stay in contention for a medal. “I tried to hold form coming down the line,” Charlton stated.

As she crossed the finish line, she returned to the stands to be greeted by

her parents, Laura and David Charlton, as she was draped with the Bahamian flag to start the celebrations. They were joined

by Team Bahamas head coach Bernard Rolle and assistant coach Ravanno Ferguson.

“Anywhere I go in the world, I know they will be there to support me and they’re my biggest fans, so

just having them there to greet me first was very special,” Charlton said.

Her mom said it was simply a dream come true.

“We know what her plans and her goals were,” said Laura Charlton, who did the same thing at World Indoors. “She was chasing her dream of getting on the podium for the Bahamas and so that was an exciting moment for us to witness her achieving her goal. This year has been an awesome year for her. Thank God.” And David Charlton, who gave all the credit to her coach Bahamian Lonnie Greene, who was also in attendance at the games, said he’s just elated for his daughter.

“I’m on top of the world.

I’ve never been this nervous as an athlete, but as a parent, this has been nerve wrecking,” he said. “{I’m very proud of her, very proud to be here to witness it and was happy to hug her after the victory.

Very proud of her.

“Kudos to coach Greene, who planned the whole thing. He coached her though a very competitive year and everything came together, so kudos to him for getting the job done.”

SEE PAGE 18

THE Bahamas finished the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in a five-way tie for 18th place as the event concluded last weekend at the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium in Cali, Colombia.

Keyshawn Strachan concluded the competition with a bronze medal in the men’s javelin in addition to the gold medal from Antoine Andrews in the 100m hurdles earlier in the meet.

Other nations tied with The Bahamas with one gold and one bronze medal were Ukraine, Serbia, Italy and Estonia.

Strachan claimed bronze in his signature event with his throw of 72.95m.

Ukraine’s Artur Felfner took gold with a throw of

SEE PAGE 18

TEAM BAHAMAS 6TH OVERALL IN CARIBBEAN AMATEUR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas concluded the 65th Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships with a sixth place finish in the standings for both the George Teale Trophy and the Hoerman Cup. The tournament was hosted by the Turks and Caicos Islands Golf Association (TCIGA) at the Royal Turks and Caicos Golf Club.

Other participating teams included the hosts Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands.

The team of A’Marie Smith and Ashley Michel finished with a score of 529 (+97). Jamaica solidified their dominant performance to claim the George Teale Trophy, finishing at 466 (+34).

Puerto Rico was second at 478 (+46), The

SEE PAGE 18

Kyrgios wins Citi Open again, Jonquel Jones has 17pts Samsonova takes women’s title and 10 rebounds but Sky get 94-91 win over Sun

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios ended a three-year title drought by claiming the trophy at the site of his last triumph, saving the only break point he faced in the Citi Open final yesterday along the way to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Yoshihito Nishioka.

Kyrgios’ seventh career tour-level championship came where his sixth did in 2019 — on the hard courts of the US Open tuneup in the American capital.

Earlier yesterday, Liudmila Samsonova won her second career WTA title by coming back to beat

NICK Kyrgios reacts during a semifinal against Mikael Ymer, at the Citi Open tennis tournament on Saturday.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass) sixth-seeded Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Citi Open women’s final.

As usual when Kyrgios is on his game, the serve led

the way for the 27-year-old Australian: He hit 12 aces and won 22 of 25 first-serve points.

He won all nine of his service games against Nishioka, making him 64 for 64 in the tournament, wrapping up the week by saving all 10 of his opponents’ break points.

The only one Kyrgios had to deal with yesterday came at 3-2 in the first set, and Kyrgios dismissed it via a volley winner.

At the other end, Kyrgios managed to break Japan’s Nishioka, who is ranked 96th and eliminated topseeded Andrey Rublev in the semifinals, three times

SEE PAGE 18

CHICAGO (AP) — Jonquel Jones had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Connecticut (22-11) but it wasn’t enough as the Chicago Sky beat the Sun 94-91 yesterday to set the franchise record for wins in a season.

Candace Parker scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and tipped a pass to Emma Meesseman for a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to help the Sky get the victory.

Courtney Vandersloot had 20 points, five assists and four steals for

Chicago (25-8). Meesseman and Allie Quigley added 15 points apiece and Kahleah Copper scored 11.

Alyssa Thomas made a driving layup with 4:37 left in the third quarter to give the Sun — who trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half — their first lead at 58-56 and Odyssey Sims capped a 10-0 run with a driving layup that gave Connecticut a 75-69 lead early in the fourth.

Vandersloot made two 3-pointers as the Sky

scored 15 of the next 19 points before DeWanna Bonner converted a fourpoint play.

Bonner then found Thomas for a layup to make it 89-all with 43.6 seconds to go but Parker, in the post, tipped a touch-pass out to Meesseman for a wide-open 3-pointer to make it 92-89 with 28.0 seconds remaining and the Sky led the rest of the way.

Bonner, who scored eight points and had

SEE PAGE 16