09202023 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

FTX MEETING CLAIM DENIED BY PM OFFICE

US chief says founder’s father was to meet Davis - but PM was in Egypt

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Prime Minister’s

Office last night refuted claims that he was due to meet Sam Bankman-Fried’s father on the day FTX imploded because he was away battling on The Bahamas’ behalf against climate change.

Latrae Rahming, communications director for Philip Davis KC, told Tribune Business it would have been impossible for the Prime Minister to have met with Allan Joseph Bankman on November 10, 2022, because he was then

in Egypt at the COP 27 summit.

He also denied that any meeting between Mr Davis and Allan Bankman has ever been scheduled, while asserting that the Prime Minister has never met either of Mr BankmanFried’s parents, in response to the latest allegations levied by FTX’s US chief.

John Ray, who heads the 134 FTX entities presently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, levied claims about the purported meeting in a lawsuit unveiled late on Monday night.

INVESTIGATION ONGOING OVER COVID PROGRAMME

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net

ACTING Commissioner of Police Leamond Deleveaux said an investigation into the Minnis administration’s COVID-19 food assistance programme is ongoing, with officials hoping to conclude it soon.

The scope of the

investigation into the food programme is unclear, but the Davis administration has said the programme lacked proper oversight.

In April, former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said police officers interviewed him earlier this year as part of an extensive criminal investigation into his

TODDLER’S CAUSE OF DEATH STILL UNEXPLAINED

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net

AUTOPSY results for a father and toddler who died in suspicious circumstances could not identify a cause of death for the little boy, but determined the 42-year-old father suffered a cardiac arrhythmia.

The deaths of Jermaine Miller and his son, 22-month-old Anwar Miller, puzzled many. Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson said during a press briefing yesterday that the file would be sent to the coroner before a final conclusion is rendered. He said officials await a toxicology report to show whether drugs were involved.

OFFICER FACES TRIBUNAL OVER STRIKING BOY

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

ACTING Police Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux said the police officer who struck a boy in a viral video was removed from frontline policing and placed before the police tribunal yesterday.

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN teenager is dead after a hit-and-run accident in Orlando over the weekend.

The incident reportedly happened around 3.43am on Sunday, with Latrell

Anderson killed after being struck by vehicle.

According to international reports, a 2005 Ford Expedition was travelling on Edgewater Drive when it ran off the road.

The vehicle reportedly collided with

However, he said a woman who accused the police of punching her in her eye in a separate incident, damaging her retina, was charged with crimes. He declined to elaborate on her case.

A video showed when two police officers on a golf cart near the Mall at

ACTING PM CHESTER COOPER READS AT QUEEN’S COLLEGE

ACTING Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation Chester Cooper participated in Queen’s College “Blast off to Reading” initiative at the school on Village Road on Monday.

He read to students the book “I Am God’s Dream”. The Minister is pictured above reading to the student body during a special assembly.

RIGHT: Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation Chester Cooper at the book stand showcasing the book he read to the students - “I Am God’s Dream”.

ACTING Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation Chester Cooper pictured with Rev. Henry Knowles, principal, and students from the primary school.

ACTING Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation Chester Cooper, right, pictured with Rev. Henry Knowles, principal.

Govt in a cash crunch over payments - Pintard

THE FNM last night claimed that there has been a “significant number of complaints” over payment delays by the government.

Party leader Michael Pintard issued a statement in which said the Opposition had received complaints from Bahamian vendors and financial institutions about “extreme delays” in payments.

He said: “The issues with timely payments have progressively worsened over the two years of the PLP administration.”

He particularly pinpointed concerns over payments to contractors for the Urban Renewal programme in Grand Bahama, who he said had not been paid for months, “despite completing roof repairs months ago”.

Mr Pintard added: “We understand that the government has been increasingly tardy in remitting the funds deducted from civil servants to the various credit unions, insurance companies and other institutions.

“Even though the funds are deducted from their salaries monthly, an

unacceptable number of public servants are now facing late fees and lapsed insurance policies because the government is not sending the monies out of these institutions on time.”

He added: “Some contractors owed by the government indicate that their debts are being settled in small installments due to the scarcity of funds available. Increasingly, businesses only deal with the government if it pays with cash. Far too many family island government departments are allegedly not receiving their allocated funds on time, putting extreme pressure on residents, businesses and those who rely on the public purse.”

Mr Pintard said the party would write to Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis with specifics about the allegations.

The FNM leader dubbed the payment issues for the government a “cash crunch”, saying: “It is the view of the Opposition, however, that the New Day government is in a severe cash crunch and cannot meet its routine obligations

in a timely matter. The cries and complaints from vendors and institutions are getting worse.”

He added: “It’s time for The Prime Minister to be frank with the Bahamian people regarding the government’s reported financial challenges. Additionally, he must immediately move to eliminate the typical PLP-style extravagant and wasteful spending of Bahamian taxpayer funds. These changes are necessary to regain the country’s financial footing.

“It is distressing that this government has found a way to squander record revenues on lavish travel, extravagant parties and excessive events. In the last month alone, the Prime Minister has been crisscrossing the globe with large entourages, often for ceremonial matters not critical to the execution of his duties.

“We will not tolerate some sad story when this government inevitably engages in tax hikes and draconian spending cuts down the road; tough decisions can and must be made in the public’s interest now.”

Officer faces tribunal over striking boy

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Marathon approached a group of students. One of the officers demanded the students “go home and find the bus stop”.

In response, a male student said: “I just reached here. I going to go get something.”

The officer then responded: “Who you think you are talking to like that? Boy, you stupid, ay?”

He then struck the student with a baton. The student was manhandled and placed in the back of the golf cart.

Critics scolded the officer, with attorney Christina Galanos pledging to provide legal

aid for the boy.

“An investigation was conducted, and at the completion of the investigation, it was recommended that the police sergeant be placed before the police tribunal,” said Mr Deleveaux, the acting commissioner of police.

“I wish to inform you that this police officer sergeant will be placed before the police tribunal sometime today this afternoon, and he will be removed from frontline policing until the completion of this matter.”

Mr Deleveaux nonetheless defended officers, saying 99 per cent are honest and hardworking.

“Sadly, less than 1 per cent of our officers from time to time find themselves going against the law,” he said. “Hence, in many cases, we have placed police officers before the courts or before the internal tribunal. All of these officers, though, like anyone else, is innocent until proven guilty.”

Mr Deleveaux also revealed police had charged a woman who accused an officer of punching her in her eye, though it’s not clear what she has been charged with.

Latique Perpall told The Tribune earlier this month she was pursuing legal action after an assistant superintendent of

TODDLER’S CAUSE OF DEATH STILL UNEXPLAINED

from page one

“That’s in the process of being done,” he said. “And we would be in a position to come up to you and say if that was the case.“

On September 12, the toddler’s body was discovered inside a bedroom in an apartment complex on Family Street, off Solider Road. Anwar’s body had no visible wounds, though there was skin discolouration.

Police were alerted to the apartment when a tenant complained he was being attacked by his landlord, later identified as Anwar’s father, Jermaine Miller.

Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson told reporters the landlord was arrested because of his erratic behaviour after he jumped through a window when confronted about attacking his tenant. The man later died.

Last week, Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander said police questioned the mother of 22-month-old Anwar.

INVESTIGATION ONGOING OVER COVID PROGRAMME

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police in plain clothes allegedly punched her in her eye.

The 29-year-old said as she walked into her yard, a police truck drove up to the front. The senior officer and his colleagues then arrested her.

Mr Deleveaux declined to give meaningful details on the matter.

“The police, having conducted an investigation, charged this female after body cam footage and investigation from witnesses,” he said.

“This female is charged with a number of offences which is now before the courts. I cannot comment further on this matter as I indicated it is before the court.”

administration’s COVID-19 food assistance programme.

Dr Minnis, who The Tribune contacted, said three senior officers interviewed him for over an hour. He said police allowed him to be questioned at a police station or a neutral location. He chose the latter and was accompanied by his lawyer.

Commissioner Deleveaux has said Dr Minnis is not a suspect in the investigation.

FNM leader Michael Pintard in the House of Assembly.

ALANNAH Vellacott with the article celebrating her work in Essence magazine.

Celebrating ‘The Real Little Mermaid’

BY DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

ALANNAH Vellacott, a Bahamian marine scientist and conservationist, has been featured in Essence Magazine for her work, passion, and dedication to ocean preservation.

The article ‘The Real Little Mermaid,’ written by Janna A Zinzi, was published in the SeptemberOctober issue of Essence.

Vellacott, 33, is a coral restoration specialist at Coral Vita, the world’s first land-based coral farm for reef restoration. She is from Grand Bahama and grew up loving nature and the ocean.

Vellacott was surprised when Zinzi, who visited Coral Vita to learn more about their work, wrote a story about her. The two women bonded over their love for the ocean and kept in touch.

When Essence accepted Zinzi’s story, Vellacott

was excited to learn that her life’s story would be featured in a magazine highlighting African-American women. Growing up, Alannah remembers always seeing her mother reading Essence magazine at their home.

“I have fond memories of it,” she said. “Whenever there was a new Essence Magazine out, she would go the food store and pick up the magazine.”

Vellacott’s work involves underwater field operations, conducting reef health surveys, identifying corals, scouting areas that need rehabilitation, and monitoring areas that they are currently restoring. She also hosts school tours at Coral Vita and visits schools to talk about coral reefs and marine ecosystems.

Her parents influenced her love for the ocean. Her father was an avid underwater enthusiast, and her mother was a humanitarian.

She is a trained diver of 17 years and a dive instructor. She has also worked as an underwater model and appeared as a diver in the docu-series Enslaved.

Through her upbringing in the community of Queens Cove, adjacent to Hawksbill Creek, one of the largest mangrove creek systems situated on Grand Bahama’s north shore, Vellacott developed a keen interest in nature and the ocean, playing in the mangroves. Vellacott received a scholarship from the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation and attended the Bahamas Environmental Steward Scholars (BES) programme at the Island School in Eleuthera.

She believes that people’s choices can help or hurt the environment.

She emphasises that Bahamians must understand they are caretakers of the earth.

RESIDENTS LEFT WITHOUT POWER FOR HOURS

A NUMBER of residents in New Providence were left without power yesterday for hours, with BPL reporting the cause was faulty transformers. BPL teams were sent out after supply

disruptions in the Eastern Road, Gleniston Gardens, Kent Avenue and Seabreeze Lane areas.

However, residents reported that power had been out for much of the day, with some areas having

been powerless for eight hours or more.

Yesterday evening, BPL reported that two transformers needed to be replaced and that the process would “be a while”.

BAHAMIAN TEEN DEAD IN FLORIDA HIT-AND-RUN

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a utility pole before hitting a contemporary centre, another pole, a parked vehicle, and a pedestrian.

The pedestrian died in hospital from injuries. Another person was injured in the incident.

Relatives yesterday identified the deceased as 19-year-old Latrell Anderson from Grand Bahama. The driver reportedly left the scene of the crash. However, he was later arrested.

Curt Hollingsworth, Consul General for Miami, told The Tribune that

officials are waiting for relatives of the victims to contact them to conduct further investigations.

Relatives said Anderson was a student at Valencia College.

In a statement on Facebook yesterday, Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Academy - the school Anderson once attended - described Anderson as a bold, spirited and fun person.

“Latrell made a lasting impact on the lives of the administration, teachers and students at MSCCA, and his energetic spirit and smiling face will surely be missed,” the school said.

Two arrested after probe into fake licence discs

By LETRE SWEETING Tribune Staff Reporter lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

AN investigation into a fraudulent licence disc ring has resulted in the arrest of a man and a woman found with fraudulent licence disc equipment at their residence.

Chief Superintendent

Michael Johnson, the officer in charge of the criminal investigations department, told the press yesterday: “At present, we are able to say that we have two persons in custody, a male and a female. We executed a search warrant on their residence, and we recovered a number

of fraudulent licence disc equipment that we believe was used to produce these items.”

CSP Johnson said: “We have been conducting road checks, and we were able to stop a number of persons, checking their driver’s licence and disc that are on the vehicles. We discovered that a number of persons were in possession of these fraudulent licences and licence discs. So we are conducting a major investigation, which is still ongoing.”

While commending officers, Mr Johnson warned the public not to obtain car licensing documents unofficially.

“Because of the great work that the officers are doing out there in our Secure City Operation, Ceasefire and all the other operations that are out there on the street, we were able to bring this matter to some conclusion,” he said.

“It’s an ongoing investigation, and there are a number of persons that we still have to see in relation to this investigation.

“I would like to caution persons that if you do not go about the legal process of obtaining a driver’s licence or having your car licensed, you could find yourself before the court being arrested and charged for possessing these

documents. So I admonish you to please go to the proper channels and have these items secured by yourself.”

Updates in this investigation follow a preliminary report that last Tuesday, shortly before 6pm, police officers stopped and searched a Nissan Bluebird

vehicle in the Meadow Street and Hospital Lane area.

The 41-year-old woman driver of the vehicle was arrested after a police investigation of the car led to the discovery of the fake licence disc on her vehicle’s windshield.

After further investigations and checks with the

controller of the Road Traffic Department, police confirmed the licence disc was fraudulent. Police later received additional information leading to the arrest of two men, ages 40 and 48, believed to be involved in a fraudulent licence disc network.

CHIEF Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings, the press liaison for the Royal Bahamas Police Force, was one of the guest presenters at Government High School all-female symposium yesterday. She spoke on the topic “Building Positive Relationships In A Cyberworld and Reality” - and as an alumnus of the school, she also wore the school uniform for part of her visit.

The Tribune Limited

Prince: Innovation provides climate hope

WITH deadly extreme weather hitting all over the globe, rising temperatures peaking during the hottest summer on record and carbon pollution levels that keep climbing, Britain’s Prince William and wealthy entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg promised a warming world a degree of hope.

That comes in the form of innovation, creativity and technology, the trio and others said at a summit Tuesday in the posh Plaza Hotel. They announced finalists for William’s third annual Earthshot Prize that offers five awards of 1 million pounds ($1.2m) to companies and groups that come up with new ways to save the planet.

“We’ve got to hang onto optimism and hope because it is the biggest driver of change, the biggest driver of innovation,” William told the crowd of movers and shakers, after mentioning that he’d slipped away for a morning jog in New York’s Central Park.

While a healthy dose of realistic pessimism about Earth’s climate is important, the heir to the British throne said he wants people to believe “there is hope; there are people out there doing incredible things that will have massive impacts on our futures.”

William’s summit highlighted 15 different finalists from around the world, including efforts to reduce London air pollution from vehicle tires, reduce livestock methane emissions by new types of seaweed feedstock and use DNA technology to make more sustainable textile dyes.

DIFFERING VISIONS OF THE FUTURE

Days after protesters in the street, many of them under 30, talked of robbed futures, speakers at the Earthshot summit – named because it was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s moonshot effort in the 1960s – saw a different world developing, mainly because of changes in technology.

“There’s a lot of climate exaggeration,” said Gates, who founded Microsoft and is now a philanthropist. “The climate is not the end of the planet. So the planet is going to be fine.”

The world will not be able to meet its agreed-upon goal to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures, but it won’t hit the 3-degree Celsius mark either, said Gates, who is not a climate scientist.

Gates cited a reason for thinking it won’t be as bad as it once looked: Since 2015, until last year, the world went on a “gigantic” innovation binge in efforts that could help curb climate change.

Gates promoted a winner from last year who tries to use rock-like resources to safely store carbon dioxide sucked from the atmosphere, speeding up a natural process by 100,000 times. If that company can get the price of storing carbon dioxide down to $50 a ton it “brings in this additional tool that reduces the temperature rise.”

AVOIDING INVESTMENT IN HEAT-TRAPPING GASES

Later, at the same hotel, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked about more down-to-Earth financial issues — how powerful companies could have what’s called net-zero investments, which is not funding industries and firms that emit heat-trapping gases.

“The climate crisis has propelled a massive economic shift,” Yellen said.

She introduced a series of best practices for these financial institutions to carry out their net-zero commitments called “ Principles for Net-Zero Financing and Investment.” They include encouraging banks and other institutions to finance clients pursuing decarbonization in high-polluting industries and investing in clean energy projects. Some financial institutions could supplement emissions reduction measures with the voluntary purchase of carbon credits, according to a handout.

She said the goal is to affirm “the importance of credible net-zero commitments and to encourage financial institutions that make them to take consistent approaches to implementation.”

Yellen also announced that a group of philanthropic organizations – including Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies and others – would pledge $340 million to help financial institutions “develop and execute robust, voluntary net-zero commitments,” she said.

In a statement, David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program, said the new Treasury commitments, “suffer from major shortcomings.”

“Offsets are a loophole large enough to drive most carbon pollution through,” he said.

Afterward, Prince William headed toward ground zero, where he visited with firefighters at FDNY Ten House, the station that was the first on the scene at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks. He then greeted scores of people lined up behind metal barricades across the street. The prince shook outstretched hands and chatted briefly with people.

By SETH BORENSTEIN and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

A foot-soldier for the truth

EDITOR, The Tribune.

FIRSTLY let me say that I carry no water for any government. Recently, former Prime minister Dr Minnis made some interesting suggestions to the present government (which is his rights) about the redevelopment of downtown.

Among other things he suggested the need for a downtown management authority, proper zoning,

Act like a developed country

EDITOR, The Tribune, THE World Bank classifies The Bahamas as a “high income, developed country”, while the International Monetary Fund places our nominal wealth per capita as slightly higher than that of Japan. We have, in our independent history, never been a “middle income” country or even close.

If that comes as some surprise to both foreigners and Bahamians, it is because (in the case of the former) of persistent stereotypes about black people and their ability to govern themselves and, in the case of the latter, of our own politicians routinely (either by default, “regional comity” or plain ignorance) accepting and repeating a narrative about us that is self-evidently false. It also helps that most Bahamians have never visited a genuine “developing” country.

As a visiting United Nations official recently noted, this is the wealthiest majority black country in world history and the only one that, using standard indicators, does not qualify for any kind of international assistance.

Yet successive Bahamian governments have colluded with international agencies in a determined effort to redefine the entire way the world measures development in order to permit us and a few others to remain viewed as intrinsically and permanently backward and underdeveloped – and to suggest that no internal solution to these conditions is possible.

The facts that we are a huge net destination of migrants and an even bigger net sender of remittances (including to the USA) speak for themselves in making that case. But the case surely took longer and harder to make because of the very kind of stereotypes about black countries that we promote when we go around pretending to be on the poor side of world development, notwithstanding our obvious wealth.

On the other hand, we also spend considerable sums promoting our jurisdiction as a stable, advanced and sophisticated destination for international financial services.

How do we square such efforts with our government officials then going around the world telling people (falsely) that the figures depicting high national development are inaccurate and we are actually quite underdeveloped, backward and in need of assistance?

We got some answer to that question last year in the predictably skewed and stereotyped approach taken by most US-based publications in their coverage of the FTX episode. Sadly, by constantly portraying ourselves as less developed than we are, we helped them construct the “why The Bahamas?” narrative, with its obvious racist subtext.

rating (though high) lags far less wealthy countries. Yet both these matters are entirely within the power of the same politicians with whom she came here to mix and help find external excuses for our lagging outcomes.

Bahamian leaders continuously base their wage policies on the opinions of organizations representing business interests, rather than simply on the cost and wealth profile of the economy. The result is a ratio of wages to prices and profits that not only keeps our income gap artificially high, but suppresses economic growth by keeping money disproportionately in the hands of employers (who spend little), rather than employees (who spend everything they earn).

When you discount the dollar denominations and distortions posed by our high cost economic structure, and see the matter of wages in The Bahamas in comparative value terms, the reality is alarming.

A food store that charges two dollars for a banana pays employees the equivalent of 30 bananas a day. A hotel that charges $800.00 per room night pays employees the equivalent of less than half a room night weekly, despite often having more rooms than employees.

That is a situation that we maintain for no reason other than bad policy choices. Certainly no country that we would customarily call “developed” would make or maintain such choices.

adequate parking, creation of a board walk, a massive clean-up and beautification campaign, and a plethora of other brilliant ideas.

Doesn’t it seem strange how politicians seem to have the answers to every problem once they are no longer in office? It would appear that like Paul in the book of Acts, all the scales would have fallen from their eyes and they would have regained

20/20 vision, or some great revelation or awakening. Question: Does anyone in the public know who was in charge of the last government? Focus on the message, not the messenger. I am just a foot-soldier for truth, with no party labels authority, proper.

ZEPHANIAH BURROWS Nassau, September 19, 2023.

Don’t miss others out

KEVA HIGGINS Nassau, September 18, 2023.

While no sensible Bahamian government realistically expects that anyone is going to actually give the rich Bahamas anything other than symbolic “aid”, they nevertheless pay repeated lip service to the idea in international forums.

The irony is that, rather than somehow benefiting us in the global arena, these symbolic efforts actually damage our international relations in tangible ways.

At present, Bahamians enjoy visa free travel to almost all “developed” countries. In this we stand out from the vast majority of countries worldwide. Much of that is down to the hard efforts of the once-and-present Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell, making the obvious case to individual countries that Bahamians are not high risk economic migrants because of our living standards.

But probably worst of all, this fallacy harms this country by providing politicians with a convenient but false explanation for the many areas where we lag and fail relative to our actual wealth - creating an escape route for the real culprit: bad policy choices.

The most cringeworthy recent example of this was when the same UN official alluded to above tried (with great difficulty and awkwardness) to single out features of the Bahamian experience that would justify a new classification of nations to help keep us on the victim side, despite our wealth.

The two that she settled upon were interesting.

Firstly, she noted (correctly) that, in the context of The Bahamas’ high cost structure, the minimum wage of $260.00 weekly is very low. And secondly, as a general matter, she noted (again, correctly) that our Human Development

On the bigger question of overall Human Development, our lag relates entirely and directly to our political choice to spend an almost worldbeating low proportion of our national wealth on the needs of our population (18 percent, as against a 35 percent average) and to do so primarily at the expense of the poorest, since we also choose to exempt the wealthier among us from a near-universal world norm of income tax.

From these and other bad political choices we derive no economic benefit and nobody is forcing us to make them. But they are the principal reasons for the lags and failings that we then try to sell to the world as some innate condition of dark-skinned people from little islands.

PEOPLE and dogs dig through the rubble of a home that was damaged by an earthquake, in the village of Tafeghaghte, near Marrakech, Morocco, last week.

Photo: Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP

FINED FOR MARIJUANA INFUSED CANDIES

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A 19-year-old youth was fined $1,500 yesterday after admitting to having 27 marijuanainfused candies last week.

Magistrate Samuel McKinney charged Thomas Graham with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

Graham was arrested in New Providence after police found him with 27 marijuana-infused candies on September 13.

After pleading guilty, Graham was ordered to pay a fine of $1,500 or risk six months in prison.

The defendant was also placed on a oneyear’s probation for which defaulting would carry another six months sentence.

Another man was granted $1,000 bail after he was accused of having an estimated $9,500 worth of marijuana last week.

Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans charged Mikhilo Forbes, 29, with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply Forbes was allegedly found with 9.5 lbs of marijuana in New Providence on September 16.

Following his not-guilty plea, Forbes was granted $1,000 bail with one or two sureties.

Under the conditions of this bail, the defendant is expected to sign in at South Beach Police Station every Sunday by 7pm.

Forbes’s trial is set for January 24, 2024.

MAN CHARGED WITH FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING, STEALING

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was remanded to prison yesterday for allegedly defrauding several people of over $15K this year while on bail for 44 other fraud charges.

He also allegedly failed to obey the bail conditions of the fraud and money laundering charges.

Magistrate Kendra Kelly charged Vaughn Antonio Johnson, 50, with two counts of fraud by false pretences, three counts of money laundering and five counts of stealing by reason of service.

Johnson faced a further ten counts of violation of bail conditions.

Johnson was already on bail for 44 fraud by false pretences and money laundering charges from last September after he posed as a mechanic for

over a year.

Johnson allegedly failed to obey his weekly sign-in conditions at East Street South Police Station between July 7 and September 13 ten times.

He is further accused of stealing $15,635 from Quinton Charlton, Bridgette Mills, Romone Adderley and Randolph Curtis because of false service between July 17 and September 16.

During this same timeframe, the

accused allegedly acquired $8,835 through money laundering connected to these crimes.

Johnson also allegedly defrauded Doreen Bain of $5,380 under false pretences between July 16-17. Although the accused pleaded not guilty to all charges, he was denied bail because of the number of charges against him. He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until his trial on October 10.

THREE YEARS FOR FIREARM, AMMUNITION CHARGES MAN ACCUSED OF STEALING BOAT

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday after admitting to having a banned assault rifle and ammunition hidden in a wall in his room during a police raid of an auto shop last week.

Magistrate Lennox Coleby charged Davion Reid, 34, with possession of a prohibited weapon

and possession of ammunition with intent to supply. Reid was further charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of ammunition and possession of a part of a firearm. Police entered Doc’s Auto on Gilder Street off Winder Terrace around 5pm on September 14. A search of Reid’s bedroom attached to the business uncovered a .40 Carbine Assault Rifle

concealed in a wall.

A further search of the room revealed a black Highpoint Smith & Wesson pistol and three .40 magazines.

During this same gun bust, seven rounds of .380 ammunition and 38 rounds of .40 ammunition were also seized. After pleading guilty to all five charges, Reid was sentenced to three years at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

FARMERS AWARDED OVER $50K IN CASH AND PRIZES AT FIRST AGRARIAN AWARDS

A NIGHT brimming with excitement, music and history-making wins occurred at the first ever Agrarian Awards held at Margaritavile Beach Resort on Saturday.

Farmers from across The Bahamas gathered for agriculture’s biggest night and to walk the green carpet.

Also in attendance were Ann-Marie Davis, the spouse of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources

Jomo Campbell, Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs Clay

Sweeting, Minister of Education, Technical and Vocational Training Glenys

Hanna-Martin, Minister of Energy and Transport Jobeth Coleby-Davis, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe and Senator Tyrel Young.

The winners of the event, who received over $50,000 in cash and prizes raised by title sponsor ADO Bahamas, are as follows:

lyn Miller - $10,000

Farmer of The Year: Ventoi Bethune - $5,000

Farmer of The Year: Fredrica Dames - $5,000

Farm: Huel Moss - $5,000 in supplies

Latoya Hutchinson -$2,500

Nash Junior High - $5,000 in supplies

Achievement Award: Diann ‘Lady Di’ Thompson - $10,000 and a seven-day cruise for two to anywhere Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines travels.

In his address, Minister Campbell noted that the Davis administration recognises the potential of agriculture and is seeking allocate more resources to the sector.

He said the awards serve as a beacon of hope for farmers.

“The Agrarian Awards are intended to serve as encouragement to the nominees, finalists and winners to showcase the transformative impact that networks and partnerships can have on the future of agriculture,” he said.

“In doing so, we hope to inspire others, especially young people and women to explore and embrace the agricultural industry.”

Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis shared similar sentiments.

“The event is a testament to our commitment to recognising our farmers and our agricultural communities. These awards have been established to those who not only tilt the soil but also sow the seeds of progress and change,”

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was granted $9,000 bail yesterday after he was accused of stealing a $149,688, 25ft boat last week. The boat was on dry dock in Great Harbour Cay Marina in the Berry Islands.

Acting Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley charged Kareem Rolle, 40, with stealing and damage. Rolle allegedly stole a 25ft

Contender boat with 2/200 HP Yamaha engines belonging to Albert Rene Tano at around 4am on September 15. During this same incident, Rolle is alleged to have caused an estimated $40,000 in damages to an electrical boat lift at the Marina in the Berry Islands. After pleading not guilty to the offence, Rolle was granted $9,000 bail with two sureties. His trial in this matter is scheduled for October 17.

he said.

“Our farmers are not just cultivators, they are nation builders – laying the foundation for sustainable food

production.

“It is through their work that we will take progressive steps to feeding ourselves.”

FEMALE Farmer of The Year: Whitlyn Miller.

SCHOOL Farm of The Year: HO Nash Junior High.

Poor communication between politicians and the public

GIVEN the gutting of the media, one would think that the current government administration would be competent in the area of communications. Expecting it to excel, even with experienced practitioners, would be going too far since we all know that one of the dysfunctions of the government is to constrain people in ways that make the performance of their supposed duties nearly impossible. One really must wonder what the communications staff are doing, day in and day out, when we read and listen to the nonsense that is spewed by far too many government officials about national issues. It might be interesting to see the proposals that have been rejected, resulting in statements that leave the public wondering if it would have been better to have less of the particular kind of “information” shared.

This administration is continuing its efforts to make it difficult for reporters and, by extension, the public to get accurate, timely information.

Members of Parliament are often abysmal at off the cuff. It is clear that they do not receive media training. They read speeches, many of them doing so as though they are seeing the words for the first time, bang on tables, heckle others, and expect that to be enough. We get a chance to really see what, if anything, is happening in their brains when they respond to questions about their constituencies, their ministries, and issues of national concern. We find out

troubling tidbits such as their lack of understanding of basic human biology, that they think “birth starts at conception” and eggs are “conceived,” and they do not know that science is not subject to their personal opinions. It seems that no one tells politicians that, whenever they speak, they need to know what they are talking about. They do not all seem to know that they should continue their education, taking classes, reading books and articles, engaging with subject matter experts, and listening to people with specialised knowledge

and experience. They appear to be incapable of checking their own egos and being honest, clearly stating when they do not have sufficient knowledge or information to give a meaningful response to a question. Has the communications team thrown their hands in the air in defeat? Are they unable or unwilling to train Members of Parliament to engage with the media? It seems that it has opted to hide politicians and delay their engagement with the press as much as they can.

Last week, the weekly Cabinet briefing was

cancelled and the Office of the Prime Minister announced that Cabinet briefings and the Office of the Prime Minister press briefings would be “combined into a single, more comprehensive weekly briefing event to promote efficiency”.

Remember February 2022 when members of the press met orange cones and Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers blocking their access to the Office of the Prime Minister? On that day, then press secretary Clint Watson told reporters that they would have to request interviews in advance. Office of the Prime Minister claimed that Tuesday Cabinet briefings would allow “further access” for the media.

Remember May 2017 when then press secretary Anthony Newbold said then Prime Minister Hubert Minnis would hold quarterly meetings with the press and address the nation twice per year? One year later, not a single quarterly meeting was held.

What next?

It is possible that the communications team has decided to put its focus outside of The Bahamas. They may have deemed the international audience more important than the Bahamian audience. Since the Progressive Liberal Party won the general election in 2021, we have seen the frequent travel undertaken by the Prime Minister.

We have also observed and commented on his deliberate attempts to position himself as some sort of authority on climate change, calling on multilateral organizations and “Global North” countries to take action. The reason for this, when climate change has never been a demonstrated priority for the party or the administration at the national level, remains unclear.

Maybe it is seen as a chorus that is easy to join, maybe it is a part of a plot to access (more) climate financing, and maybe he and/or his team is under the impression that he can make a name for himself with a slim possibility of being mentioned in a string of names following Mia Mottley’s.

I listened to part of a radio talk show yesterday, and both hosts and callers pointed to the issue of the Prime Minister talking about climate change in international spaces as though it is a priority issue when he is not talking about it here, at home, with the people.

The climate emergency is not in question. It is not a future problem as it has been presented to us over the past few decades by western media. It is a current issue that is intensifying every single day, disproportionately impacting countries like and including The Bahamas.

We are experiencing sea level rise. We are experiencing more intense hurricanes at greater

frequency. We are enduring longer, more difficult summers of unbearable heat. We are seeing the seasons change and move as trees bear fruit at different times of the year than they did in previous years. Things are different now, and they are continuing to change. We are being forced to adapt, but not being given the resources for this necessary adaptation.

The government is not talking with us about food

“It seems that no one tells politicians that, whenever they speak, they need to know what they are talking about. They do not all seem to know that they should continue their education, taking classes, reading books and articles, engaging with subject matter experts, and listening to people with specialised knowledge and experience.”

security. It is not talking about the importance of agriculture and fisheries, the ways that these industries are threatened by climate change, or the investment it is prepared to make to protect these industries and enable people — women and young people in particular — to enter them. It is not responding to the energy crisis that is worsening as load-shedding continues to be treated as a norm, exponential increases in electricity bills are lamented without any relief, and there is no clear plan for shifting from dependence on fossil fuel to clean energy.

Flooding continues in the same areas that have always flooded. Potholes and much worse make the roads obstacle courses, and repairs seem like unlikely miracles.

There is no national recycling programme. Owning and driving a car is a necessity for many people, including those who cannot afford it, due to the unreliable and unsafe nature of public transportation. These are everyday issues in our lives, and they are climate issues. They are not being discussed in that way, if at all.

What does the Prime Minister expect to get out of his climate change messaging in international spaces?

Is it a few quotes in some news story? Is it substantial climate financing?

Is it the promotion of false solutions like the carbon market? What, exactly, is the goal? Should we not have an understanding of what he is doing before he uses our tax dollars to do it? Should we, on the frontlines of the climate crisis, not be engaged in a national conversation

about the crisis, its impact on our daily lives, what it means for the future of this country, nationhood, and culture, and how any monetary benefits should be used for the common good?

Mr Davis said: “We want to see more income equality, peaceful communities, food security, improved public healthcare, and more opportunities for Bahamians to own homes and successful businesses.”

Well, that sounds about right, doesn’t it? If he is going to talk about tax justice and climate justice on the global stage, he ought to bring it home too. Income equality cannot be discussed without attention to the gender wage gap. Peaceful communities cannot exist where there is gender-based violence. Food security is threatened by climate change. Public healthcare has to adapt to the changing climate and respond to the climate events we will experience. Homeownership depends on the ability to save, the ability to borrow, and the confidence that land purchased will not be under water before the mortgage term ends. These are topics that have been avoided at the national level, but are taking place in international spaces.

The Attorney General already told us that gender is too complicated a construct to explain to the Bahamian people. Is climate change also above the heads of Bahamians?

How long will it be before this administration gives up on climate justice and decides to pretend it doesn’t exist or require a specific response, like gender-based violence?

This administration’s communication, like the one before it, leaves much to be desired.

It is not just about the speeches that are made or the social media posts that are promoted. It is also about the preparation of government officials to engage with the people, their employers.

It is about representatives being able to meaningfully engage with constituents and truly represent their points of view and champion the issues they care about. It is about the government clearly communicating its obligations and that they are separate and not subject to personal opinions. It is about the people being sufficiently educated on the matters that are being discussed beyond the national level to enable consent or mechanisms for providing contributions and engaging in consultation to develop a message that is aligned with our needs.

They all need to figure out to report on their portfolios, be as passionate about human rights at home as they are when abroad, be accountable to the people, and demonstrate it in coherent communications. We are two years in, this is not a drill, and the “new day” is feeling rather old.

GOOGLE BRINGS

ITS AI

CHATBOT, BARD, INTO ITS INNER CIRCLE, OPENING DOOR TO GMAIL, MAPS AND YOUTUBE

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer

Google is introducing Bard, its artificially intelligent chatbot, to other members of its digital family — including Gmail, Maps and YouTube — as it seeks ward off competitive threats posed by similar technology run by Open AI and Microsoft.

Bard’s expanded capabilities announced Tuesday will be provided through an English-only extension that will enable users to allow the chatbot to mine information embedded in their Gmail accounts as well as pull directions from Google Maps and find helpful videos on YouTube. The extension will also open

a door for Bard to fetch travel information from Google Flights and extract information from documents stored on Google Drive.

Google is promising to protect users’ privacy by prohibiting human reviewers from seeing the potentially sensitive information that Bard gets from Gmail or Drive, while also promising that the data won’t used as part of the main way the Mountain View, California, company makes money — selling ads tailored to people’s interests.

The expansion is the latest development in an escalating AI battle triggered by the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT

chatbot and Microsoft’s push to infuse similar technology in its Bing search engine and its Microsoft 365 suite that includes its Word, Excel and Outlook applications.

ChatGPT prompted Google to release Bard broadly in March and then start testing the use of more conversational AI within its own search results in May. The decision to feed Bard more digital juice i n the midst of a highprofile trial that could eventually hobble the ubiquitous Google search engine that propels the $1.7

trillion empire of its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.

In the biggest U.S. antitrust case in a quarter century, the U.S Justice Department is alleging Google has created its lucrative search monopoly by abusing its power to stifle competition and innovation.

Google contends it dominates search because its algorithms produce the best results.

It also argues it faces a wide variety of competition that is becoming more intense with the rise of AI. Giving Bard access

TIKTOK IS LAUNCHING NEW TOOL THAT WILL HELP CREATORS LABEL AI CONTENT ON THE APP

IN ITS bid to curb misinformation, TikTok said on Tuesday it will begin launching a new tool that will help creators label AI-generated content they produce.

TikTok said in a news release that the tool will help creators easily comply with the company’s existing AI policy, which requires all manipulated content that shows realistic scenes to be labeled in a way that indicates they’re fake or altered.

to a trove of personal information and other popular services such as Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube, in theory, will make them even more helpful and prod more people to rely in them.

Google, for instance, posits that Bard could help a user planning a group trip to the Grand Canyon by getting dates that would work for everyone, spell out different flight and hotel options, provide directions from Maps and present an array of informative videos from YouTube.

FLYING TAXIS TO BE MADE IN OHIO, HOME OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS AND ASTRONAUT LEGENDS

By JULIE CARR SMYTH

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) —

The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon be manufacturing cutting-edge electric planes that take off and land vertically, under an agreement announced Monday between the state and Joby Aviation Inc.

“When you’re talking about air taxis, that’s the future,” Republican Gov. Mike DeWine told The Associated Press. “We find this very, very exciting — not only for the direct jobs and indirect jobs it’s going to create, but like Intel, it’s a signal to people that Ohio is looking to the future. This is a big deal for us.”

Around the world, electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL aircraft are entering the mainstream, though questions remain about noise levels and charging demands. Still, developers say the planes are nearing the day when they will provide a wide-scale alternative to shuttle individual people or small groups from rooftops and parking garages to their destinations, while avoiding the congested thoroughfares below.

Joby’s decision to locate its first scaled manufacturing facility at a 140-acre (57-hectare) site at Dayton International Airport delivers on two decades of groundwork laid by the state’s leaders, Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said. Importantly, the site is near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the headquarters of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratories.

“For a hundred years, the Dayton area has been a leader in aviation innovation,” Husted said. “But capturing a large-scale manufacturer of aircraft has always eluded the local economy there. With this announcement, that aspiration has been realised.”

The Wright brothers, Orville

and Wilbur, lived and worked in Dayton. In 1910, they opened the first U.S. airplane factory there. To connect the historical dots, Joby’s formal announcement Monday took place at Orville Wright’s home, Hawthorn Hill, and concluded with a ceremonial flypast of a replica of the Wright Model B Flyer.

Joby’s production aircraft is designed to transport a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 miles (321.87 kilometres) per hour, with a maximum range of 100 miles (160.93 kilometres). Its quiet noise profile is barely audible against the backdrop of most cities, the company said. The plan is to place them in aerial ridesharing networks beginning in 2025.

The efforts of the Santa Cruz, California-based company are supported by partnerships with Toyota, Delta Air Lines, Intel and Uber. Joby is a 14-year-old company that went public in 2021 and became the first eVTOL firm to receive U.S. Air Force airworthiness certification.

The $500 million project is

supported by up to $325 million in incentives from the state of Ohio, its JobsOhio economic development office and local government. With the funds, Joby plans to build an Ohio facility capable of delivering up to 500 aircraft a year and creating 2,000 jobs. The U.S. Department of Energy has invited Joby to apply for a loan to support development of the facility as a clean energy project.

Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt told the AP that the company chose Ohio after an extensive and competitive search. Its financial package wasn’t the largest, but the chance to bring the operation to the birthplace of aviation — with a workforce experienced in the field — sealed the deal, he said.

“Ohio is the No. 1 state when it comes to supplying parts for Boeing and Airbus,” Bevirt said. “Ohio is No. 3 in the nation on manufacturing jobs — and that depth of manufacturing prowess, that workforce, is critical to us as we look to build this manufacturing facility.

JobsOhio President and CEO

J.P. Nauseef noted that its dedication to aviation has carried the Dayton area through serious economic challenges. That included the loss of tens of thousands of auto and auto parts manufacturing jobs in the early 2000s and the loss of ATM maker NCR Corp.’s headquarters to an Atlanta suburb in 2009.

“This marries that heritage and legacy of innovation in aviation with our nuts and bolts of manufacturing,” Nauseef said. “It really marries those two together, and that’s never been married together before — not in this town. For a community the size of Dayton and Springfield, (whose people) take great pride, (and) have had rough, rough decades, it’s a wonderful project.”

Bevirt said operations and hiring will begin immediately from existing buildings near the development site, contingent upon clearing the standard legal and regulatory hurdles. The site is large enough to eventually accommodate 2 million square feet (18.58 hectares) of manufacturing space.

Construction on the manufacturing facility is expected to begin in 2024, with production to begin in 2025.

Toyota, a long-term investor, worked with Joby in 2019 to design and to successfully launch its pilot production line in Marina, California. The automaker will continue to advise Joby as it prepares for scaled production of its commercial passenger air taxi, the company said.

The announcement comes as a bipartisan group of Ohio’s congressional representatives has recently stepped up efforts to lure the U.S. Air Force’s new U.S. Space Command headquarters or Space Force units to Ohio. There, too, state leaders cite the aerospace legacy of the Wrights, as well as Ohio-born astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.

TikTok prohibits deepfakes – videos and images that have been digitally created or altered with artificial intelligence - that misled users about realworld events. It doesn’t allow deepfakes of private figures and young people, but is OK with altered images of public figures in certain contexts, including for artistic and educational purposes.

Additionally, the company said on Tuesday it will begin testing an “AI-generated” label this week that will eventually apply to content it detects to been edited or created by AI. It will also rename effects on the app that have AI to explicitly include “AI” in their name and corresponding label.

HYUNDAI RUSHING TO OPEN GEORGIA PLANT BECAUSE OF LAW REWARDING DOMESTIC ELECTRIC VEHICLE PRODUCTION

By JEFF AMY Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — A top Hyundai executive said Tuesday that the company is rushing to start electric vehicle and battery production as soon as possible at a $7.6 billion complex in coastal Georgia, spurred by federal electric vehicle incentives that reward domestic production.

Hyundai President and Global Chief Operating Officer Jose Munoz made the remarks to reporters in Atlanta after signing a partnership with Georgia Tech aimed at strengthening research into hydrogen-fueled vehicles and producing workers for the Korean company.

Among attendees was Euisun Chung, executive chairman of parent Hyundai Motor Group.

The group, which also makes Kia and Genesis vehicles, has complained that the Inflation Reduction Act is unfair to companies importing electric batteries or vehicles from outside North America.

The massive federal law, one of President Joe Biden’s signature accomplishments, is aimed in part at combating climate change.

The law provides a tax credit that saves EV buyers up to $7,500, but only on cars made in North America with domestic batteries.

JOBY’S pre-production prototype aircraft at the company’s flight test facility in Marina, California. (Eric Adams/Joby Aviation via AP)

VARIOUS Google logos are displayed on a Google search. Google announced that it is introducing its artificially intelligent chatbot, Bard, to other members of its digital family, including Gmail, Maps and YouTube, as part of the next step in its effort to ward off threats posed by similar technology run by Open AI and Microsoft. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

By AAMER MADHANI and SEUNG MIN KIM

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Joe Biden made his case before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression, warning that no nation can be secure if “we allow Ukraine to be carved up” as he tries to rally support for Kyiv’s effort to repel a nearly 19-month-old Russian invasion that has no end in sight.

The U.S. president called on world leaders to not let support for Ukraine diminish, arguing that Russia is counting on countries to grow tired of prolonged conflict in Kyiv which will “allow it to brutalise Ukraine without consequence.” Russia alone is standing in the way of a resolution, Biden argued, saying that Moscow’s price for peace was “Ukraine’s capitulation, Ukraine’s territory and Ukraine’s children.”

“I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?” Biden said in his address. “If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?

He continued: “I’d respectfully suggest the answer is no.”

The president’s forceful rhetoric on Ukraine appeared aimed not just for a global audience but for Washington, where an increasingly isolationist strain of the Republican Party is jeopardising the prospects of the U.S. successfully replenishing the steady flow of aid that has gone to Kyiv since the war began in February 2022.

The Biden administration has asked Congress to greenlight an additional $24 billion in security and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but Republicans who control the House have all but ignored that request as lawmakers scramble to ensure government funding remains flowing beyond the end of September. Animated by the views of former President Donald Trump, a vocal faction of House Republicans remain steadfastly opposed to more Ukraine aid, even as other GOP lawmakers, primarily in the Senate, continue to advocate support for Kyiv to dissuade Russia from spreading its attacks beyond Ukraine’s borders.

“We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,” Biden said in his U.N. address. “That’s why the United Statestogether with our allies and partners around the world — will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom.”

Other senior members of the Biden administration were making their case on Tuesday, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austinpushed allied defence leaders in remarks at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to “dig deep” and provide more air defence systems for Ukraine to help the country wage its counteroffensive.

Indeed, the broader message is intended to resonate beyond Moscow and even Capitol Hill. Washington remains on guard against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, where competing territorial claims have caused tension in the region. Beijing also wants to reunite the mainland with the self-governing island of Taiwan, a goal that raises the prospect of another war.

During his address, Biden described the partnerships that the U.S. government was fostering around the globe — from Africa to the Indo-Pacific — that he said were creating economic, security and other advancements, even as he stressed that those relationships were not about “containing any country” — a clear reference to Beijing.

LIBYAN LEADER SAYS FLOODED CITY HAS BEEN DIVIDED TO CREATE BUFFERS IN CASE OF DISEASE OUTBREAKS

DERNA, Libya (AP) —

Authorities have divided Libya’s flood-stricken city of Derna into four sections to create buffers in case of disease outbreaks, the prime minister of Libya’s eastern administration said Tuesday, a day after thousands of angry protesters demanded the city’s rapid reconstruction.

Last week, two dams collapsed during Mediterranean storm Daniel, sending a wall of water gushing through Derna. Government officials and aid agencies have given death tolls ranging from about 4,000 to 11,000, with thousands more missing.

“Now the affected areas are completely isolated, the armed forces and the government have begun creating a buffer out of fear of the spread of diseases or epidemics,” Prime Minister Ossama Hamad said in a telephone interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV. No further details were given.

According to local media, the internet went down in the east of the country on Tuesday morning.

The United Nations had warned on Monday that a disease outbreak could create “a second devastating crisis.”

Libyan protesters gathered in central Derna on

Libya. The devastating storm that dumped torrential rains along the Libyan coast this month was up to 50 times more likely to occur and 50% more intense because of human-caused climate change, according to an analysis released Tuesday, Sept. 19. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad, File)

Monday in the first mass demonstration since the flood. Outside the city’s alShabana mosque thousands called for a rapid investigation into the disaster, the urgent reconstruction of the city and other demands.

On Monday evening, the former mayor of the city, Abdel-Moneim al-Gaithi, said his home was set on fire by protesters.

Public prosecutors opened an investigation on

Saturday into the collapse of the two dams, built in the 1970s, as well as the allocation of maintenance funds for them. That same day al-Gaithi was suspended pending the investigation.

Many of the city’s residents see politicians as the architects of the crisis. The country has been divided between rival administrations since 2014. Both are backed by international patrons and armed militias

whose influence in the country has ballooned since a NATO-backed Arab Spring uprising toppled autocratic ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Both authorities have deployed humanitarian teams to the city but have struggled to respond to the large-scale disaster. The recovery operation, with help from international teams, has been poorly coordinated, and residents

say aid distribution has been uneven.

Conflicting death tolls and statistics have been released by various official bodies.

Bashir Omar, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said Tuesday search and rescue teams were still retrieving bodies from under the rubble of wrecked buildings and from the sea. He told The Associated Press that the fatalities are “in the thousands,” but didn’t give a specific toll for retrieved bodies, explaining that there are many groups involved in collecting them.

Libya’s Red Crescent had said last week that at least 11,300 people have been killed and an additional 10,000 are missing. After earlier reporting the same death toll, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is now citing far lower numbers, about 4,000 people killed and 9,000 missing. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres began his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday by evoking the tragedy in Libya. “Just nine days ago, many of the world’s challenges coalesced in an awful hellscape,” he said. “Thousands of people in Derna, Libya lost their lives in epic, unprecedented flooding.”

RUSSIAN DRONE ATTACK ON A CITY IN WESTERN UKRAINE SPARKS AN INFERNO AT A WAREHOUSE AND KILLS ONE

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a massive drone attack on the western city of Lviv early Tuesday, burning down a warehouse said to house humanitarian supplies and killing one man, Ukrainian authorities said. It was one of at least three deadly attacks in different cities.

Ukraine intercepted most of the 30 Shahed drones overnight, the country’s air force said. But drones that got through air defence systems sparked an inferno at the industrial storage facility, Gov. Maksym Kozytsky said.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine condemned the drone strikes and said they had burned down a charity’s warehouse that contained vital relief supplies.

Denise Brown said the attack violated international humanitarian law that protects workers, facilities and supplies.

“Attacks impacting humanitarian assets have escalated throughout the year and ultimately impact those who are suffering the horrific consequences of the war,” Brown said.

In other Russian attacks, a guided aerial bomb killed three civilians in Kupyansk, a city in the eastern Kharkiv region, and an artillery strike in Kherson in the south struck a bus, killing a police sergeant and wounding two men, Ukrainian officials said. That strike also torched a warehouse.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. Troops from both sides are currently engaged in fierce

battles in the country’s east, where Ukrainian forces are making slow but steady advances as part of a grinding counteroffensive.

On Tuesday, Russia blamed Ukraine for an explosion that struck a market in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region two weeks ago, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 30 others.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine had fired the missile from a Buk surface-to-air missile system which struck the city of Kostiantynivka on Sept. 6. In her Telegram post, she pointed to a New York Times investigation published Monday, which cited evidence suggesting it was an errant Ukrainian missile that exploded over the market.

“Even if the action wasn’t premeditated, it’s obvious to everyone that a complete demilitarisation of the Kyiv regime isn’t merely a demand but an acute necessity,” Zakharova declared.

Ukraine’s SBU state security service rejected the findings of the New York Times report, saying that an ongoing investigation so far showed the attack was carried out by Russia. Missile fragments found at the scene were identified as a S-300 surface-to-air missile, it said.

Doubts have emerged about the origin of the strike after the NYT report, which cited evidence — including missile fragments, satellite imagery and witnesses — that suggested Ukraine had fired an air defence missile that failed to hit its intended target.

Kyiv blamed Russia for the attack at the time, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it a “deliberate” strike at a civilian area. The White House also blamed Russia for the attack, one of the deadliest bombardments of civilians in the 18-month-old war.

Throughout the war, Russian officials have repeatedly claimed without offering evidence that strikes on apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine came from the Ukrainian forces. It was the case again with the Sept. 6 strike on Kostyantynivka, when Russian officials quickly pointed the finger at Ukraine.

Speaking at the United Nations after the attack, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the West of covering up what he described as a “horrible crime and a terrible provocation by Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy meanwhile was in New York preparing to address the U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council before traveling to Washington on Thursday to meet with lawmakers and President Joe Biden.

Zelenskyy has continued to drum up funding and support for new weapons as the counteroffensive Ukraine launched in June approaches what could be its final weeks before wet weather slows progress. Ukraine has made small advances but no major breakthroughs.

Other allies pledged money and weapons at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany.

RESCUERS and relatives of victims set up tents in front of collapsed buildings in Derna, Libya, Monday. Some 11,300 people died when two dams collapsed during Mediterranean storm Daniel last week sending a wall of water gushing through the city, according to the Red Crescent aid group. A further 10,000 people are missing, and presumed dead. (AP Photo/Muhammad J. Elalwany)

DIVERS look for flood victims in the city of Derna,

EMERGENCY services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Lviv, Ukraine, Tuesday. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Grenada ‘ready’ to face The Bahamas

Women’s national soccer teams in Concacaf Gold Cup opener

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Although they were unsuccessful in their debut at the international level last year, Grenada women’s national soccer team is confident that the experience gained will help them prevail against the Bahamas in their opening match of the Concacaf Gold Cup.

The team, comprising of a mixture of youth and experience, the majority of whom are under the age of 25, will face the Bahamas tonight at 7pm at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

This will be the Bahamas’ first international game for its senior women’s team in more than three decades.

Head coach Jake Rennie said the team has been preparing for their second consecutive appearance in the Concacaf Gold Cup since February and they are ready.

“Our preparation is good and I’m satisfied with the players and the level where the players are at now,” said Rennie of the team’s final preparation for the game.

Last year, Rennie said they were excited to have played in the tournament, but in making their debut in The Bahamas, he said they have all enjoyed the weather and the hospitality shown by the Bahamian people, but they are motivated and anxious to play.

“Our expectations for this game is to do our best and hopefully we will come

JONQUEL, LIBERTY ADVANCE TO WNBA PLAYOFF SEMIFINALS

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

WOMEN’S National Basketball Association (WNBA) player Jonquel Jones posted her second straight double double to complete the 2-0 sweep against the Washington Mystics last night.

The seventh-seeded Eastern Conference team showed why they evened the season series 2-2 as they forced the Liberty to work for the feat in overtime.

The 90-85 win makes it the first time since 2015 the league’s second best team have advanced out of the first round en route to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs.

The Liberty were in control of game two in the opening period after their team ran out to a 21-18 lead at the Barclays Centre.

After having an off night in their opening playoff game, Associated Player of the Year Breanna Stewart got back into her groove last night.

out victorious,” Rennie said. “Mentally and physically, I think we are there, knowing what we had gone through in this hard training.

“At this moment, the players are excited, they are happy and so that brings joy to me. Mentally and physically, we are ready.”

Frank, a left wing and striker who can play multiple positions, said it’s key for them to win the game to give them the motivation for their next game.

“My expectations coming into this game is very high because we have been training very hard over the couple of weeks and months and I think

“Our expectations for this game is to do our best and hopefully we will come out victorious. Mentally and physically, I think we are there, knowing what we had gone through in this hard training.”

the team is ready to go out there and execute everything the coaches have been teaching us so far.”

Looking at the makeup of their team, Frank said they have a very strong team offensively and defensively but they just need to do what the coaches have instilled in them and they will be in a position to win.

“I am confident in all of my players. We play as a team and not only one player, so I’m very confident in all of my players,” Rennie summed up. Having played against teams like the Dominican Republic and Jamaica was able to give the team the exposure that they needed to get them ready for the Gold Cup journey this

Real Madrid tries to extend perfect start to the season against Union Berlin in the Champions League

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer

MADRID (AP) —

After a perfect start in the Spanish league with five straight wins, Real Madrid will look to keep its momentum going in the Champions League today.

The record 14-time European champion kicks off its Champions League campaign against newcomer Union Berlin at home.

It will be Madrid’s 27th straight appearance in the group stage — and Union Berlin’s first-ever game in the competition.

“The Champions League is a special competition for us, and we are going to treat tomorrow’s game as something special,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said yesterday.

“We want to get off to a good start in the group stage and we are playing at home. Our opponent is a

well-organised, strong and solid side. We will need to play at a high intensity.”

Madrid is enjoying a winning streak to sit at the top of the Spanish league.

“It’s been a perfect start, five wins from five matches,” said Jude Bellingham, the club’s new signing who has thrived early on.

“It’s important we keep it up. With the support of our fans and the quality of the players here, if we keep going like this, we’ll be on the right path.”

Bellingham, who will play his first Champions League game for Madrid after arriving from Borussia Dortmund, scored five goals in the team’s first four league matches and has been a key factor in the team’s hot start.

Madrid’s league wins came against Athletic Bilbao, Almeria, Celta Vigo, Getafe and Real Sociedad, with Ancelotti’s

team having to come from behind in three of them.

Madrid outscored its opponents 10-3 and is the only team with a perfect record in the league. It will be Madrid’s first match

against Union, which qualified by finishing fourth in the Bundesliga for its highest league result. Union is enjoying its third

year. But he said they only have one goal in mind and that is to win. “My main personal goal is to go our there and win the game for my country, for my coaches and my team-mates and rejoice,” Frank said.

They will have to do it against a Bahamian team, coached by Ricqea Bain, who will be loaded with collegiate and locally based players, who too are looking forward to winning their first match in the Gold Cup home and away tour before they head to Grenada to play on Sunday at 4pm.

Tickets for tonight’s game are priced at $20 for adults and $5 for children under the age of 12.

At the end of the first period, the league’s second highest scorer was up to 11 points in the game. She ended the night with a dominant double double, posting a team-high 27 points along with 10 rebounds in the narrow win.

In the second quarter, New York’s formidable women’s team had their highest scoring segment of the game.

The team outscored the Mystics 25-17 and closed out the period with an 11-point cushion to break for the second half.

Grand Bahamian Jones was a force to be reckoned with inside the paint once again. She notched her second consecutive double double of the series with 19 points alongside 14 boards and three blocks.

The former WNBA MVP also shot 6-for-9 from the

SEE PAGE 14

CHISHOLM JR AND MARLINS BEAT METS 4-3 AFTER BLOWING LATE LEAD

MIAMI (AP) — Jake

Burger hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets 4-3 last night after blowing a late lead.

Josh Bell had an early RBI double and Braxton Garrett did not allow an earned run in six stellar innings for the Marlins, who began the day a half-game out of the final NL wildcard spot.

All-Star infielder Luis Arraez, who leads the majors with a .354 batting average, was a late scratch from Miami’s lineup because of a left ankle sprain. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said Arraez stepped on a baseball during pregame drills.

Miami took a 3-1 lead into the ninth, but closer Tanner Scott (9-5) gave up a two-run double to Brandon Nimmo with two outs. Scott also served up

Jeff McNeil’s tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning of Monday night’s 2-1 loss.

Before that, the lefthander hadn’t permitted an earned run in 18 appearances since July 31.

New York reliever Trevor Gott (0-5) hit Nick Fortes with a pitch leading off the bottom of the ninth. Xavier Edwards’ sacrifice bunt advanced Fortes and, after Jorge Soler was intentionally walked, Yuli Gurriel’s groundout advanced pinchrunner Joey Wendle and Soler.

Burger then lined an 0-2 pitch into centre field to end it.

McNeil hit a leadoff double in the top of the ninth and went to third on Mark Vientos’ single.

Two outs later, Nimmo’s drive to deep right-centre scored McNeil and DJ Stewart. Jon Berti hit a

GRENADA’s head coach Jake Rennie and team captain Roneisha Frank can be seen at a press conference ahead of their Concacaf Gold Cup soccer match against the Bahamas women’s national soccer team at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium tonight.

REAL Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, centre, and Real Sociedad’s Robin Le Normand fight for the ball during their Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday.

(AP Photo/Jose Breton)

— Grenada’s head coach Jake Rennie

BURGER HITS GAME-WINNING

SINGLE IN 9TH, MARLINS BEAT METS AFTER BLOWING LATE LEAD

FROM PAGE 11

leadoff double in the fifth for Miami and scored on a throwing error by Mets starter Joey Lucchesi to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead. Lucchesi fielded Edwards’ bunt and threw to third — which was uncovered after third baseman Ronny Mauricio also charged the ball. Garrett Hampson’s RBI single in the sixth made it 3-1.

Garrett also committed a throwing error that led to the Mets’ first run in the third. Pete Alonso scored from second when Garrett fielded Francisco Lindor’s dribbler near the third-base line and made an errant toss past first.

Consecutive two-out doubles from Soler and Bell in the bottom half tied it at 1. Garrett struck out seven and allowed five hits. The left-hander has completed six innings in five of his last six outings.

Lucchesi’s outing ended after 5 2/3 innings. The lefthander gave up three runs, six hits, struck out five and walked two.

HONOURS

The South Florida Chapter of the BBWAA chose Arraez as the Marlins’ 2023 Most Valuable Player and pitcher Eury Pérez as the team’s Rookie of the Year. Arraez was not available to receive the award during a brief pregame ceremony.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: Rookie 3B Brett Baty (left groin strain) missed his sixth straight game. He was available to pinch hit. RF

Springer hits a leadoff homer on his birthday, Blue Jays beat the Yankees 7-1

NEW YORK (AP) —

George Springer celebrated his 34th birthday with his 57th career leadoff homer, Bo Bichette hit a two-run drive and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 7-1 last night.

Toronto began the night one game ahead of Seattle and Texas for the second AL wild card. The Yankees entered six games back for the last AL wild card, needing to overcome Seattle and Texas.

Yusei Kikuchi (10-6) was pulled one batter into the sixth because of a left upper trap muscle cramp. Kikucki allowed one run in fiveplus innings for his first win since August 2.

Springer reached 20 homers for the eighth time when he connected off Clarke Schmidt (9-9). Springer also walked ahead of Bichette’s first homer since August 20.

Alejandro Kirk padded the lead with a two-run shot in the ninth.

TWINS 7, REDS 0

CINCINNATI (AP) —

Willi Castro hit a two-run homer and made two spectacular catches in center field, Kenta Maeda combined with four relievers on

a four-hitter and Minnesota beat Cincinnati in another step toward its third AL Central title in five seasons.

Ryan Jeffers added a solo homer for the Twins, who entered with a seven-game lead over second-place Cleveland.

Cincinnati, shut out for the 10th time, remained just outside playoff position in the National League.

In his first season after Tommy John surgery, Maeda (6-7) won his third straight start after four nodecisions. He allowed one hit in five innings, retiring his first 11 batters. He struck out eight and walked one.

Fernando Cruz (1-2) took the loss.

RAYS 6, ANGELS 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Osleivis Basabe hit a tiebreaking two-run double in a four-run eighth inning and playoff-bound Tampa Bay topped Los Angeles.

Tampa Bay loaded the bases against Aaron Loup (2-3) before Basabe lined his double to center field. René Pinto followed with a two-run single. Randy Arozarena homered for the AL wild

card-leading Rays, who started the day 2 1/2 games behind first-place Baltimore in the AL East. Yandy Díaz had three hits and Robert Stephenson (3-4) won in relief.

Logan O’Hoppe and Zach Neto homered for the Angels, who have lost six in a row.

Angels star Shohei Ohtani had elbow surgery earlier in the day, and his doctor said he expects the two-way star will be

available as a hitter on opening day next season and will return to the mound as a pitcher in 2025.

BRAVES 9, PHILLIES 3 ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. homered twice on his bobblehead night and stole his 67th base, leaving him one long ball shy of becoming Major League Baseball’s first 40-60 player, and Atlanta beat Philadelphia to stop a four-game losing streak.

Spencer Strider (18-5) increased his major leagueleading wins total and struck out 11 to increase his big league-high total 270 with his 17th career doubledigit strikeout game, his 11th this season.

Acuña homered on the first pitch of the game from Cristopher Sánchez (2-5) and had another solo homer off Yunior Marte in the sixth.

Acuña has a Braves record 33 leadoff homers,

including seven this season. NL East champion Atlanta avoided its first five-game skid since September 2017. Marcell Ozuna drove in three runs with three hits, including a two-run double, as the Braves outhit the Phillies 13-4.

Bryce Harper hit his 19th homer for Philadelphia, which leads the NL wildcard race.

NATIONALS 4, WHITE SOX 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pinch-hitter Joey Meneses launched a three-run homer in the seventh inning and Washington defeated Chicago.

Jackson Rutledge, a 2019 first-round draft pick, allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings in his first home start for Washington. The last-place Nationals had lost six of seven.

Luis Robert Jr. and Yoán Moncada homered for the White Sox, who have lost 13 of 18. Robert Garcia (2-2) retired both hitters he faced.

Kyle Finnegan gave up Moncada’s run-scoring single in the ninth but earned his 26th save. Meneses connected off Bryan Shaw. Aaron Bummer (4-5) took the loss.

Starling

Marte (right groin strain) moved his rehabilitation to the Mets’ spring training facility in Port St Lucie. Marte did running drills while with the club for the series opener Monday. Marlins: OF Bryan De La Cruz returned after a four-game absence because of right ankle discomfort and went 1 for 4.

MIAMI Marlins’ Jake Burger, centre, is doused by Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr, left, as he is interviewed after hitting a single to drive in the winning run during the ninth inning of the team’s baseball game against the New York Mets last night in Miami.

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

MARLINS’ JAKE BURGER, right, is met by Jazz Chisholm Jr (2) after hitting a two-run home run during the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, September 17, 2023, in Miami.

MIAMI Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm Jr, right, is met by Jorge Soler (12) after hitting a grand slam during the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday in Miami.

TORONTO Blue Jays’ George Springer celebrates after hitting a home run against the New York Yankees during the first inning of a baseball game yesterday in New York. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)

Golfer Richard Gibson Jr gains valuable experience

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

RICHARD Gibson Jr, the Bahamas’ top ranked international amateur golfer, returned home last week after participating in the 42nd US Mid-Amateur Championships that took place at the Sleepy Hallow Country Club in Scarborough, New York.

He wasn’t successful in making the cut for the top 64 out of the field of 264 field to advance to the match play for the hardware, but Gibson said the experience gained was just as valuable.

“That’s the best experience I ever had in golf and it was a new experience for me,” said Gibson, who was only the second Bahamian to play in the event, following on the heels of DeVaughn Robinson.

“I never experienced some of the stuff that I went through. I give thanks to God for giving me the opportunity, but I never played on a golf course that was so rough. The rough length was about 4-5 inches. I never played the rough that high before and I never played greens in competition that was that fast. That’s the fastest I’ve ever played the golf course before in terms of putting.”

The 31-year-old Gibson Jr, whose world ranking is pegged at 245 before the start of the tournament in New York, admitted that in order for him to continue to improve, he will have to definitely play more competition in the United States.

“The Caribbean golf is pretty much the same. You might find a golf course where the rough is a little bit higher, but for the USGA event, they intentionally grow the rough up because they want you to play a championship course.

“So they will grow the rough up from maybe 3 ½ inches to about five inches. They penalise you if you miss the fairways. So you need to hit the fairways. If you miss the fairways, you

will be penalised. Other than that, you have to learn how to deal with the weather delays.”

In most tournaments he’s played here around the Caribbean, Gibson Jr said the organisers would more than likely cancel the rest of the match play or shorten the rounds whenever it rains. With the rain delays in New York, Gibson Jr said the organisers just pushed the tee times back.

“I was supposed to play on Saturday and Sunday, but I ended up playing on Saturday and Monday because my tee times were pushed back,” he said.

“Originally, I was supposed to tee off at 1:38pm on Sunday, but after the rain delays, it was pushed back to 6:38pm. Then we had another delay and when I went to check to see what’s going on, they told me my tee time had

RYDER CUP ‘23: The exhibition that turned into golf’s biggest spectacle

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP)

— What started as a friendly golf exhibition nearly 100 years ago is anything but that now.

The Ryder Cup has become the biggest spectacle in golf, held once every two years between the United States and Europe for nothing more than bragging rights and ownership of a 17-inch gold trophy. Seth Waugh, the CEO at the PGA of America, referred to the Ryder Cup as a “combination of the Olympics and the Super Bowl and a (Rolling) Stones concert.”

While the United States has a 27-14-2 lead in the series dating to 1927, Europe has a 11-9-1 edge going back to 1979 when continental Europe was invited to join players from Britain and Ireland.

The Americans have not won on European soil in 30 years. This could be their best chance to end that drought, coming off a 19-9 mauling in 2021 at Whistling Straits.

Of course, they say that every time the Ryder Cup comes to Europe. And the gold trophy never seems to go home with them.

WHEN AND WHERE IS THE RYDER CUP?

The Ryder Cup starts September 29 and ends

October 1 at Marco Simone outside Rome. This is only the third Ryder Cup to be held in continental Europe since European players were invited to play in 1979. The others were at Valderrama in Spain in 1997 and Le Golf National in France in 2018.

HOW TO WATCH

NBC Universal and Sky Sports provide wall-to-wall television of the coverage. For American fans, that means getting up early on the East Coast. USA Network will carry the opening day of fourballs and foursomes from 1:30am until noon Eastern.

On Saturday, USA Network will broadcast team sessions from 1:30 to 3am, and then NBC Sports will pick up coverage until noon. For the Sunday singles, NBC will start coverage at 5:30am until its conclusion, expected to be around 1pm.

In Europe, Sky Sports will have coverage from the start to the end of the matches each day.

TEAM USA VS TEAM EUROPE

Zach Johnson is the US captain. The Americans return seven players from the 2021 team that handed Europe its worst loss — Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Brooks

Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

The four Ryder Cup rookies are US Open champion Wyndham Clark, British Open champion Brian Harman, Max Homa and Sam Burns. Rickie Fowler rounds out the team. He’s playing for the first time since 2018.

Koepka is the only player from LIV Golf on the team, one of the six captain’s picks after just missing out on automatic qualifying.

Luke Donald is the European captain. Henrik Stenson was the original choice but was dismissed as captain when he joined LIV Golf. Europe is in a rebuilding year but still has a strong core of experience — Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry.

The four Ryder Cup rookies are Robert MacIntyre, Sepp Straka, Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg, who turned pro only in June. The LIV effect is strong.

Missing from the European team room are Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell. Europe has always leaned on its heritage.

would lift it and clean the dirt off and play. But they just let us go with the ball down where you just played from wherever your ball landed on the fairway.”

Gibson is now preparing to team up with Nolan Johnson, the Bahamas’ second highest ranked international amateur golfer at 887, in the US Amateur Fou Ball Championships that will be staged in Bayou Oakes South Course in New Orleans, Louisiana.

“We’re going to give it our best shot,” Gibson Jr said.

If they are successful, they will advance to the 2024 US Amateur Four Ball Championships that will be held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Philidelphia May 25-29.

helping me,” he stated.

“For me to get better, I know I have to get to the United States or Europe or Canada where there are a lot more golfers who I don’t know and I have to perform.

“That’s the only way that I am going to get better to get on the professional tour where they are watching you play on TV. That is where I want to go, but I know I have to get in some more tournaments to improve my scores and my game.”

Compared to a Professional Golf Association pro, Gibson Jr said those players wake up in the morning and head to the gym to lift weights. They then go on the golf course for the rest of the day, practicing and playing golf.

been moved to Monday at 8:38am.

“So that was a new experience for me. I always wanted to see how that worked out. I always watched it on TV, but to actually be a part of it was something else. The only thing I didn’t somewhat like, because it was raining so much, I thought they would have done lift, clean and place where once your ball hit the fairway, you

At this stage in the game, Gibson Jr said he’s been pleased with his progress since he started playing the game at the age of eight with his father, Richard Gibson Sr. But he admitted while he enjoys the competition here, he needs more of a challenge to get to the point where he could be a contender in the big tournaments on the international scene, especially in the USA.

“When I’m playing against a group of people and I know I’m going to be coming in either first, second or third, that’s not

When he gets up, he spends the majority of his time working on the golf course where he’s assisting the visiting amateur and pro golfers as they practice and compete at the Royal Blue Golf Club at Baha Mar where he is the operations assistant.

“I can’t practice on the golf course until I get off. That’s a big difference,” Gibson Jr pointed out.

“Until I can find a big sponsor who will enable me to stop working, I still have a lot more to do before I can take that step and turn pro.”

THE STREAK

Nearly half the players at Marco Simone — five Americans and six Europeans — were not even born the last time the Americans won the Ryder Cup in Europe. That was in 1993 at The Belfry in England. The winning putt came from a Ryder Cup rookie, Davis Love III, who now is a 59-year-old vice captain for the US.

Since then, the Americans have lost in Spain, England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France.

BETTING GUIDE

The Americans are always favoured, and this year is no exception. FanDuel Sportsbook has Team USA as a slight favourite (-110) over Europe (+125). Even though the US hasn’t

won away from home since 1993, it is coming off a 19-9 victory, its widest margin ever against Europe.

FanDuel also has odds on who will be the top scorer, and that gets a little tricky. That will depend partially on how often someone plays. Two years ago, the Americans had only one player (Dustin Johnson) go all five matches. Europe had two (Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland).

Scottie Scheffler is favoured to earn the most US points (+470) over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (+600).

For Europe, Rory McIlroy is the favourite (+430) over Jon Rahm (+500). IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Some of the top stories:

— Ryder Cup is the ultimate test for the unflappable Swedish rookie Ludvig Aberg

— Netflix’s ‘Full Swing’ won’t be getting full access to the Ryder Cup team rooms — US Ryder Cup team adds familiar picks with Fowler and Thomas. It also gets a LIV player with Koepka

JUSTIN Thomas follows his putt on the third green of the Silverado Resort North Course during the first round of the Fortinet Championship PGA golf tournament in Napa, California, September 14. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

RAYSHARD and Richard Gibson and Makeda Johnson in New York at the 42nd US Mid-Amateur Championships that took place at the Sleepy Hallow Country Club in Scarborough, New York.

GOLFER Richard Gibson Jr and his brother, caddie Rayshard Gibson in New York.

BROTHERS Rayshard and Richard Gibson Jr in New York.

BGDBA Playoffs: Panthers lead 2-1 in series, Cybots remain undefeated

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture (MOYSC) Panthers and Bain and Grants Town Cybots are heating up in round two of the Bahamas Government Departmental Basketball Association (BGDBA) playoffs.

With the top three 2023 regular season teams battling to advance to the next round, competition levels have picked up at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

Last year’s defending champions, the Panthers, rebounded with a 80-78 narrow win against the Police Crimestoppers on Monday night following their loss on the weekend.

The Cybots remain in the driver’s seat after collecting a 86-79 win to make it their fourth straight of the playoffs and second win of the series over the Bamboo Shack Patrollers.

Panthers vs Crimestoppers

The Panthers regained their footing in the best-offive series on Monday night against the Crimestoppers. Coming into the game the series was tied 1-1 but the team closed out game three by two points following a big game by Kemsey Sylvestre.

Before Monday’s game the Crimestoppers’ game plan was to slow down the Panthers star and his teammate Roosevelt Whylly. However, the latter did not play but his teammate stepped up in a big way.

The former national basketball team member pushed his team to a 2-1 series lead after he put up a jaw-dropping 23 points and 21 boards for a double double in the victory. Additionally, he amassed eight assists, nabbed two steals and blocked two shots.

In one of the more competitive series of the BGDBA playoffs, the Panthers and Crimestoppers started the first quarter of play in typical form, evenly matched.

After leading 13-4 in the first five minutes of the game, the Panthers closed out the first period leading 24-22. The following quarter saw the score differential change to six points this time favouring the Crimestoppers who outscored their opponents 24-16 before the halftime break. The score was 46-40 as both teams prepped for the second half.

The third quarter saw the Crimestoppers lead 55-51 early in the period with Jeron Smith and Michael

Furley Bain Jr leading the way. Smith ended the night with a team-high 17 points and shot 58.3 per cent from the field in the tough loss. Meanwhile, Bain notched 15 points, 6 rebounds and five assists.

Despite shooting more than 47 per cent in the paint compared to the Panthers’ 35 per cent, the Crimestoppers could not stop their opponents on the boards. The Panthers secured 64 rebounds to the 43 grabbed by the Crimestoppers.

Although the Crimestoppers also bested the Panthers in fastbreak and bench points, the team’s free throw woes soiled their chances of earning their second win of the series.

With 0.40 seconds remaining in the ball game, Sylvestre hit a big bucket to push the lead to 79-78.

Cyril Rolle, his teammate, knocked down a key free throw to make the score 80-78.

On the final play, Bain was awarded two foul shots that gave the Crimestoppers a chance to play an extra period for overtime. However, both of his free throw attempts clanked off the iron to close the curtain on the Crimestoppers.

ADVANCE TO WNBA

field and was instrumental down the stretch for the Liberty.

The pesky Mystics seemed determined not to go home after the break. Mystics guard Natasha Cloud was valiant in her efforts to thwart the Liberty’s chances of advancing to the semifinals.

The floor general poured in a career and game-high of 33 points, 9 dimes, six rebounds and also connected on five shots from behind the arc.

The seventh-seed outscored the Liberty 21-13 in the third period.

In the final quarter of regulation, Washington charged ahead at the 4:55 mark 67-63 in their quest to upset the Liberty’s chances of executing the sweep.

With 33 seconds remaining in the win-or-go home elimination game, Mystics small forward Brittney Sykes nailed a timely three-point shot to tie the score 74 apiece.

Cloud iced two free throws with under 30 seconds remaining to put the Mystics up by 2.

Ultimately, in true playoff fashion, Jones returned the favour, canning her own pair of free throws to give her newest team a chance at the sweep in OT.

The extra period play saw the Liberty strike first after being on the ropes at the end of regulation.

Jones’ team went up 84-79.

However, the Mystics remained hungry and got the score within one (8685) following some big free throws from Ariel Atkins. Washington’s team

Sylvestre talked about the difficult win against the Crimestoppers.

“We know being down two starters everybody had to dig deep and everybody just had to come and play. It took a full team effort, I was thankful to my team for giving me a little break so I could bring them home at the end,” he said.

He added that the Crimestoppers made a crucial mistake switching their defensive set to a box-andone zone which he took advantage of on the goahead bucket for the win. Cybots vs Patrollers

The Cybots are one of the more experienced teams in the BGDBA

playoffs and it showed against the Patrollers on Monday night. The team earned a seven-point win to push their series lead to 2-0 and will look to complete the sweep tonight at 7:30pm.

The Patrollers kept up with the Cybots throughout the first two quarters. The lead was 38-34 going into halftime with the Bamboo Shack team in charge.

However, in the third period the momentum shifted for the Cybots who started the quarter leading 49-44 and ran the lead up to 10 points to close out the 10 minutes of play.

The Cybots placed their feet on the gas pedal and

got out to a 75-53 scoring run to earn a 22-point lead which was their biggest of the game.

Despite narrowing the lead down to single digits in the final period, the Patrollers were unable to regain the lead anymore after the second half.

Wayde Watson, head coach of the Cybots, said it was a good win and the Patrollers played hard and came back strong but was thankful his team was able to pull it off. He added that the goal remains to win every quarter and every game to advance.

The 2023 BGDBA playoffs will continue tonight at 7:30pm.

BOULOGNE-Levallois’ Victor Wembanyama celebrates after a dunk against Lyon-Villeurbanne during a basketball game in Levallois, France, on January 9, 2023. Wembanyama will be aiming for the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

OLYMPICS: ‘WEMBY’ WILL BE AIMING FOR GOLD MEDAL WITH FRANCE

PARIS (AP) — Victor Wembanyama will be aiming for the gold medal with France at the Paris Olympics.

The San Antonio Spurs rookie reaffirmed his commitment to France’s national squad at the Summer Games next year in his home country. He spoke in the wake of France’s poor showing at the World Cup last month, where he did not play.

“Performing well at the Olympics would be a great story,” Wembanyama told French media. “I’ll be present at the Olympics, and there’s no other goal than gold.”

“The World Cup was very disappointing,” he was quoted as saying on Tuesday. “But I have no judgment to make as I wasn’t there.”

The No. 1 draft pick had decided not to play at the World Cup in order to prepare for his rookie season. France came to the World Cup as the reigning Olympic silver medalists but failed to qualify for the second round.

LAS VEGAS ACES FORWARD ALYSHA CLARK CHOSEN WNBA SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas forward Alysha Clark was selected WNBA Sixth Player of the Year on Monday after averaging 6.7 points and 3.4 rebounds this season for the top-seeded Aces.

Clark, who made 44.4% of her field goals that included 38.6% from 3-point range, is the fourth Las Vegas player in the past five years to win this award. Dearica Hamby won it in 2019 and 2020 and Kelsey Plum in 2021.

No other team has had more than three winners.

Clark received 35 of 60 votes from a national media panel. Connecticut Sun forward DiJonai Carrington was second with 13 votes, and Chicago Sky guard Dana Evans was third with nine votes.

win

was

The Aces defeated the Sky 92-70 on Sunday to advance to the WNBA semifinals. They await the winner of the Dallas WingsAtlanta Dream series. The teams meet Tuesday in Dallas with the Wings up 1-0.

unable to steal the

after Stewart made the two separate pairs of clutch free throws to help the Liberty to advance to the semifinals.

The Liberty collected 41 rebounds and shot 85.7 per cent from the charity stripe in the big win. The team will now await the winner of the

Connecticut Sun versus Minnesota Lynx series tonight at 8pm. The semifinals get underway for Jones and the Liberty on Sunday.

GRAND Bahamian Jonquel Jones posted her second straight double double to complete the 2-0 sweep against the Washington Mystics to advance to the semifinals of the WNBA Playoffs last night.

PLAYOFF REPLAY: The Bain and Grants Town Cybots advanced to a 2-0 series lead and remain undefeated against the Bamboo Shack Patrollers.

(AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Anya James thrilled to be new president of Bahamas Football Association

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHE’S been in office for four months but, for Anya James, it’s an honour to be serving as the first female president of the Bahamas Football Association.

Although it’s widely considered a “male-dominated sport,” James is not operating in her first rodeo. She previously served as the executive vice president for the past eight years under the presidency of Anton Sealey.

But now at the helm since elected on May 16, James said she has some plans to grow the sport from the grassroots level to the women’s game throughout the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

“We’ve targeted Grand Bahama because Grand Bahama has a very strong youth women’s programme and I think they have a few players coming in from Grand Bahama to play on our women’s national team,” James said.

“We are looking at improving and expanding the women’s programme in Grand Bahama, we are looking at expanding in Abaco, Exuma and Eleuthera for starters. We plan to get more players in and also now that we have our senior women’s national team playing, we have some of the older

players and senior players interested in coming back.”

Through the support of the Ministry of Education, Science and Tecnology, James said they are looking at enhancing their programme in the schools and they have already shipped equipment to Cat Island, Inagua and a few other islands so that they can start and sustain their programmes.

“But we want to start with those four islands that I mentioned earlier with those because we know we have people on the ground who can sustain the programmes,” she stated. “We don’t just want to introduce the programme, but we want to make sure they are sustainable as well.”

Funding, according to James, won’t be an issue for the BFA.

“For some of the programmes, we will get some assistance from the FIFA Foundation and FIFA also has a programme called Football for Schools, so that’s one of the avenues that we are to use to introduce football to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.”

In an era where more women are coming to the forefront in sporting organisations on the global stage, James said she has embraced her opportunity at the national level.

“I didn’t think that being president of the BFA was

attainable at some point because football is still a man’s world,” James said.

“But I was actually encouraged by my late father, my husband and my sons, so I actually had men encouraging me to step forward.

“Being involved in the administration of football over the past eight years, why not.”

But, at the same time, it’s always good to be the first to break the glass ceiling.

“As women we bring a different perspective to the table. We’re not here to take over, but we’re here to sit at the table and add value,” James stated.

“So it’s exciting and I’m encouraging other women to step forward because I know there are a few other women who are capable of leading, so I’m the first female, but I definitely won’t be the last female.”

And while she will be the trailblazer, James said

she’s encouraged to have another female in Daria Adderley serving on the board as well as the council member responsible for the women’s programme.

“Most people will know that soccer is her life,” James said. “She’s contributed a lot to the sport, so it’s exciting and I will be encouraging a lot more women to get involved in all aspects of football.”

As for her tenure in office so far, James admitted that it’s been busy. “I’m going to stay focused on the plans that we have. I have an excellent combination of council members, a few that have served previously and a few new members,” James said.

“They have brought a lot of new ideas and a lot of new ideas to execute our plans, so it’s exciting.”

Before her four-year term is done, James said she intends to get more people involved in the sport.

“Football is the world’s favourite sport, so we plan on taking over,” she said. “It might not be the favourite sport in The Bahamas, but that’s part of my plan. That is going to change soon.”

One of the changes will be the return of some of the former players as they participate in the formation of a senior women’s league that is high on the agenda for James.

MAN UNITED FACES BAYERN MUNICH IN OPENER

MUNICH (AP) — Manchester United might have to summon the spirit of 1999 when it opens its Champions League campaign at old rival Bayern Munich.

United has started the Premier League with three losses in its opening five games and was booed by its own fans after the latest defeat against Brighton on Saturday.

Off-field issues involving Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho and Antony have provided unwanted distractions for United manager Erik ten Hag, who insisted after losing to Brighton that the team is not in crisis.

Today’s trip to Munich could deal Ten Hag’s players another blow — unless he manages to galvanise the team to atone for its poor start.

United defeated Bayern in improbable circumstances before. Injury-time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær earned United the 1999 Champions League title with a 2-1 win over Bayern in the final.

Bayern, the 11-time defending champion in the Bundesliga, is unbeaten so far this season, though it dropped its first points Saturday when Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to draw 2-2 in Munich.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel is suspended following his sending off in the team’s loss to Manchester City in the quarterfinals last season.

Tuchel will be forced to watch the game from the stands and it’s likely Zsolt Löw and Anthony Barry will direct the team in his place.

United will be without right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who was injured after making a short appearance toward the end of Saturday’s loss to Brighton.

LAZIO GOALKEEPER SCORES LATE TO EARN DRAW, BARCA, MAN CITY AND PSG START CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WITH WINS

By CIARÁN FAHEY AP Sports Writer

BERLIN (AP) —

Barcelona’s João Félix, Manchester City’s Julián Álvarez and Paris Saint Germain’s Kylian Mbappé all scored yesterday as their teams made winning starts in the Champions League.

But the wildest celebrations of the night came in Rome, where Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel headed in the team’s equaliser in the fifth minute of injury time to earn a 1-1 draw with Atlético Madrid. It was the last action of the game. As the group stage began without either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time since 2002-03, a 16-year-old almost scored on his competition debut for Barcelona.

Lamine Yamal struck the side netting, then saw an effort saved by Antwerp goalkeeper Jean Butez after coming on as

a substitute in Barcelona’s 5-0 win over the Belgian team.

Celtic finished with nine players in a 2-0 loss at Feyenoord that stretched the Scottish champion’s winless streak in the group stages to 11 games.

Here’s a closer look at yesterday’s games: CITY HAS TO COME FROM BEHIND

Manchester City started its title defence by coming from behind to beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 at home.

City had 22 shots on goal in the first half yet found itself 1-0 down at the break after Mirko Ivanic played Ghana winger Osman Bukari through to score in first-half injury time.

The linesman raised his flag, but a VAR check confirmed Bukari was onside, setting off celebrations among the 3,000 travelling supporters. Álvarez equalised right after the break, finishing from a narrow angle after going past the goalkeeper,

and it seemed only a matter of time before the second goal arrived as the home team pushed for more.

The otherwise outstanding goalkeeper Omri Glazer was at fault when it came on the hour mark, missing the ball as he went to punch away a free kick from Álvarez that sailed inside the far post.

Spanish midfielder Rodrigo sealed the win in the 73rd.

Leipzig defeated Swiss team Young Boys 3-1 away in the other Group G game.

BARCELONA

FLYING

Antwerp endured a chastening evening in Barcelona, where Jelle Bataille’s own goal in the 22nd minute came after João Félix had already scored and set up Robert Lewandowski for another.

There was no respite for the visitors, with Gavi adding another in the second half before Félix grabbed his second. Porto

defeated Ukrainian champion Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 away in the other Group H game. Shakhtar is playing its home games in Hamburg, Germany because of the Russian invasion of its country.

PSG OFF THE MARK

Mbappé scored a penalty to break the deadlock as Paris Saint-Germain earned a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund. Achraf Hakimi scored against his former team to seal what was a deserved win.

Dortmund midfielders Marcel Sabitzer and Marius Wolf both left the field with injuries.

AC Milan was held to 0-0 draw by Newcastle in the other Group F game.

GOALKEEPER HAS LAST WORD

Atlético coach Diego

Simeone was booked for protesting on his return to the Stadio Olimpico and Lazio, the club he won four trophies with as a player.

Young Atlético midfielder Pablo Barrios put the visitors ahead in what was a heated game, but the biggest drama came at the end, when Provedel left his area to add support in attack and managed to score with a header to Luis Alberto’s cross.

Provedel didn’t know where to run as the stadium erupted around him.

Also in Group E, Feyenoord had two goals ruled out by VAR for offside and saw a penalty saved in its 2-0 win over Celtic.

Calvin Stengs broke the deadlock in first half injury time but the home team had to wait till the 76th minute for Iran midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh to get the second goal.

Celtic defender Gustaf Lagerbielke was sent off with his second yellow card as he conceded the penalty, and substitute Odin Thiago Holm followed him off with a straight red for a dangerous lunge at Mats Wieffer.

REAL MADRID FROM PAGE

11

consecutive season in a UEFA competition, and fourth overall.

“They are a new team in the Champions League but the fact that they are here means they have done very well,” Ancelotti said.

“They are well-organised defensively, they are solid and they play with intensity.

“We have studied them carefully and hopefully we can put in a good performance tomorrow.”

Madrid last failed to reach the group stage back in 1996-97.

It has advanced from its group every time since then, having reached at least the semifinals in the last three seasons.

Madrid is still without forward Vinícius Júnior, and defender Dani Carvajal is also out because of a muscle injury sustained in practice on Tuesday. Ancelotti said Carvajal will be replaced by Lucas Vázquez.

The other Group C teams are Napoli and Braga, which play in Portugal today.

After Union, Madrid’s next match will be the city derby at Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league on Sunday.

ANYA JAMES, the first female president of the Bahamas Football Association.

LAZIO’s goalkeeper Ivan Provedel celebrates with his teammates at the end of a Champions League group E soccer match between Lazio and Atletico Madrid, at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, yesterday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

MANCHESTER United’s head coach Erik ten Hag. (AP)

Wall Street slips ahead of Fed decision on rates

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

U.S. stocks edged lower, and yields climbed on Tuesday as Wall Street waits for the Federal Reserve’s latest decision on interest rates.

The S&P 500 slipped 9.58 points, or 0.2%, to 4,443.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 106.57, or 0.3%, to 34,517.73, and the Nasdaq composite lost 32.05, or 0.2%, to 13,678.19.

Stocks have been seesawing for weeks on uncertainty about whether the Fed is done with its market-shaking hikes to interest rates. By pulling its main interest rate to the highest level in more than two decades, the Fed has helped inflation to cool from its peak last year but at the cost of hurting prices for investments and damaging some corners of the economy.

The Fed began its latest meeting on interest rates Tuesday, with an announcement scheduled for Wednesday. The overwhelming expectation is for the Fed to announce no change to rates. More focus will be on updated projections Fed officials give for where they see rates heading in upcoming years.

Traders are split on whether the Fed may raise rates again this year, but they’re largely expecting the Fed to begin cutting rates next year. Such cuts can act like steroids for financial markets,

giving a lift to all kinds of investments.

Optimists say inflation has come down enough for the Fed to cut rates meaningfully next year, while the economy continues to hum due to a solid job market.

Others say the Fed may need to keep rates higher for longer than investors expect to get inflation down to its 2% target, while the threat of a recession still looms.

A soft landing, where inflation gets back to the Fed’s target without the economy having to suffer a painful recession, “is still possible, but not probable in our view,” according to Joe Davis, chief global economist and head of Vanguard’s investment strategy group.

A risk remains that the Fed could misread a temporary slowdown in inflation as having accomplished its mission, which could lead to a cycle reminiscent of the late 1960s where inflation reaccelerates, the Fed hikes rates further and a recession eventually hits.

High rates have already hit the manufacturing and housing industries. A report Tuesday showed that homebuilders broke ground on fewer new homes in August than economists expected. The 11.3% drop from July’s level was much worse than the 0.8% forecasted. But activity for building permits, a possible indicator of future activity, rose more than expected.

On Wall Street, shares of Instacart climbed 12.3% in their first day of trading.

The company raised $660 million in its initial public offering, which priced the stock at $30 per share.

It arrived on the heels of another highly anticipated IPO by chip designer Arm Holdings. The offerings could mark a warming environment for IPOs, which fell off sharply after stocks tumbled last year with worries about higher interest rates. Arm jumped in its first day of trading on Thursday but has since followed that with three days of losses.

The Walt Disney Co. fell 3.6% for one of the largest losses in the S&P 500 after it announced a big investment plan for its theme parks and cruise lines. It plans to double its investment in its parks, experiences and products business to $60 billion over the next 10 years versus the prior decade.

Shares of AutoZone slipped 1.9% despite its reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The auto parts retailer said growth in its domestic commercial business was weaker during the quarter than expected.

On the winning end of Wall Street was U.S. Steel, which rose 3.7% It said it expects to deliver strong results for the summer, above what analysts were expecting.

$657k ‘pipeline’ blockage kept ArawakX insolvent

FROM PAGE A24

the company’s solvency at February 2023, but do provide evidence that the company has a source of revenue that will allow it to return to solvency when the restrictions are lifted.”

Mr Longley’s e-mail, which was included among the documents filed with the Supreme Court to support the Securities Commission’s petition to wind-up ArawakX, also revealed that the crowd-fund platform had raised $423,780 in additional capital that the Securities Commission had yet to approve.

But, with ArawakX suffering from $181,734 in negative net equity at end-December 2022, Mr Longley added: “After reversing the active user pipeline revenue from the company’s accounts at February 28, 2023, the company had negative net equity of $168156 based on its unaudited financial information.

“We have not reviewed any financial information after February 28, 2023, but it appears that the company was no longer solvent at February 2023 and continued to have negative working capital, after adjusting for receivables related to the ‘pipeline’ revenues, of approximately $1.076m subject to any additional adjustments that might result from an audit of the numbers.

“The company’s lack of solvency is further

illustrated by the fact that a significant portion of our audit fees billed to-date have not yet been paid.

Management is of the view that its negative equity and lack of solvency are temporary positions that have resulted from its inability to generate revenues following its dispute with [Jimmy] Campbell and Bank of The Bahamas, which precipitated the imposition of restrictions by the Securities Commission.”

Meanwhile Christina Rolle, the Securities Commission’s executive director, revealed that ArawakX’s compliance officer had provided information to the capital markets regulator “which demonstrated that approximately 30 percent of the KYC (Know Your Customer due diligence) was missing” for the potential new investors in the crowdfund platform that have yet to be approved.

D’Arcy Rahming, ArawakX’s chairman and chief executive, in a June 8, 2023, e-mail said many of those without documents had “received shares in lieu of payment for services, such as the expertise required in the application process. This is common in Fintech (financial technology) start-ups”. Ms Rolle, though, branded this as “wholly unacceptable” and said the arrangement had never been disclosed to the Securities Commission. The Securities Commission, which previously

received ArawakX’s draft financial statements for the year to end-July 2022 on July 11 this year, said Mr Longley and his associate, Charlene Fox-Deveaux, had noted how $1.9m in equity capital had been raised from investors not approved by the regulator.

“The auditor, as a result, is proposing on the draft to classify these persons as creditors rather than equity investors,” the Securities Commission’s winding-up petition said. It also noted that ArawakX had incurred a “major net loss” for 2022, with the amount of ‘red ink’ growing “two times’ for the same 12-month periodfrom $908,637 to $1.75m.

Revenues of $211,135 were dwarfed by $1.909m in operating expenses, and the Securities Commission noted that its “negative equity” had “grown substantially” - increasing more than four-fold yearover-year - from -$551,000 in 2021 to -$2.3m.

“Income of $200,000 is only enough to pay the annual rent and cannot cover other operations expenses,” the regulator added. “Note indicated that accounts payable grew by 1,032 percent and additional debts of approximately $500,000 were indicated in notes 11 and 12. That this company does not have sufficient total assets to discharge itself of its debts, hence the equity is negative.

A TRADER looks at his screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Stocks are churning in place on Wall Street after a highly anticipated report showed inflation accelerated across the country last month, but not by much more than expected.

Photo:Richard Drew/AP

ArawakX dismissed top investor as ‘over his head with Fintech’

required to become ArawakX’s chairman.

The Securities Commission’s bid to wind-up ArawakX, launched last week, on the basis of an alleged $2.4m solvency deficiency plus “governance irregularities, regulatory breaches and possible criminal infractions” suggests the capital markets regulator’s subsequent investigation found sufficient evidence to back Mr Campbell’s concerns.

Meanwhile, other documents viewed by Tribune Business reveal that ArawakX contacted all of Prime Minister Philip Davis KC; Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs; and Central Bank governor, John Rolle, in early November 2022 in an attempt to pressure Bank of The Bahamas to unfreeze its accounts.

The BISX-listed institution had blocked access to the crowd-funding platform’s accounts from October 31, 2022, due to uncertainty over whether Mr Rahming and his son, D’Arcy junior, or Mr Campbell were the proper control persons. This prompted Mr Rahming

senior to write to both the Prime Minister and Mr Halkitis, given that Bank of The Bahamas is majority government-owned, via an e-mail headlined: ‘Urgent: Injustice in financial markets to small investors’.

“Please find attached a letter regarding a grave injustice being done to investors in the country by the Bank of The Bahamas that needs your urgent intervention,” Mr Rahming wrote to Mr Davis and Mr Halkitis.

Then-Bank of The Bahamas managing director, Kenrick Brathwaite, was left distinctly unimpressed.

“It is unfortunate that you have chosen to communicate in this manner considering that you are fully aware of the total circumstances which have caused this bank to place a freeze on your account,” he told Mr Rahming in a November 2, 2022, e-mail. “The situation that caused this ongoing apparent conflict within the company is as a result of decisions made by the principals and may result in unnecessary exposure to Bank of The Bahamas. Incidentally, the captioned referring to any injustice appears a bit disingenuous

when we consider the cause of this conflict and the fact that our duty is to mitigate any possible exposure as a result of this ongoing internal conflict.”

That ‘conflict’ was seemingly the battle between Mr Campbell and the Rahmings. When questioned by Ms Rolle at the April 12 interview as to why he wrote to the Prime Minister, Mr Rahming replied: “That they would understand that this was good for the country. We had major markets...”

The Securities Commission chief then asked if Mr Davis was contacted on the basis that Bank of The Bahamas is a governmentowned bank, to which Mr Rahming responded: “Exactly. So that’s the capacity of.. ‘Please can you address this issue’. These are client funds. People are trying to invest. That was the passion behind this.”

Earlier in the same interview, confirming that the relationship with Mr Campbell had completely broken down after the latter approached the Securities Commission, the ArawakX chief sought to discredit the former Colina Insurance president by asserting: “Mr

Campbell is a businessman from a different era.”

When asked what he meant by Ms Rolle, Mr Rahming replied: “What I mean is that this is a Fintech (financial technology) era. He can’t use a computer, so he doesn’t understand the fundamentals of business. I didn’t realise that. We were friends, and I didn’t really realise that. So maybe some of the explanations in terms of how Fintech developed was over his head, in my opinion.”

Mr Rahming alleged that Mr Campbell’s concerns may have originated from the fact ArawakX’s initial financial projections were not met, as the crowdfunding market took time to develop, with their relationship deteriorating over efforts to develop a savings bond product for the Government.

“Then he began to put on some ridiculous demands. Saying ‘Oh, I need to see this report. I need to see that report. I need to be able to see that report’. So the relationship grew contentious because I don’t work with Jimmy. Jimmy is just an investor.... He was supposed to.. the idea was that he is supposed to open up his network to us so that

we could...” Mr Rahming asserted.

“We were trying to get things done properly at this point to get him to actually come on board properly to be a chairman. You will see from our notes and stuff, we even set up an appointment with him. He was supposed to come in. I don’t know if the paperwork drove him crazy or what. But he just flipped and so he came here [to the Securities Commission].... So at this point, the relationship is kaput.”

Hillary Deveaux, one of Ms Rolle’s predecessors as Securities Commission executive director, was on Mdollaz/ArawakX’s Board but he resigned on December 9, 2022, to become a whistleblower. Together with Mr Campbell and Felix Stubbs, the former IBM Bahamas chief, he met with the regulator on October 11, 2022, to voice concerns about the platform’s operations and corporate governance structure.

“Mr Campbell, in particular, who is a silent investor in the company and invested roughly $1.2m, expressed deep concerns about the direction and operations of the company,” the Securities Commission’s winding-up petition alleged.

CALIFORNIA TRUCK DRIVERS ASK GOV. NEWSOM TO SIGN JOB-SAVING BILL AS SELF-DRIVING BIG RIGS ARE TESTED

By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press

CALIFORNIA lawmakers, union leaders and truck drivers are trying to steer Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom toward signing into law a proposal that could save jobs as selfdriving trucks are tested for their safety on the roads.

The legislation would ban self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) — which would include vehicles from UPS delivery trucks to massive semi-trucks — from

operating on public roads unless a human driver is on board. Proponents of the bill say it would help address concerns about safety and losing truck driving jobs to automation in the future. Under the bill, the rules would be in effect until at least 2029.

Republican Assemblymember Tom Lackey, one of the bill’s co-authors, said lawmakers aren’t “against technology,” but they see the bill as a safer way for companies to test self-driving trucks.

“We want balance because we believe in people, and we believe in public safety,” Lackey said. “When surprises happen, physics is not your friend.”

The bill coasted through the Legislature with few lawmakers voting against it.

It’s part of ongoing debates about the potential risks of self-driving vehicles and how workforces adapt to a new era as companies deploy technologies to do work traditionally done by humans.

Newsom, who typically enjoys strong support

from labor, is facing some pressure from within his administration not to sign it. He has until Oct. 14 to make a decision. His administration’s Department of Finance projected it would cost the state about $1 million annually to implement the bill’s requirements, and his Office of Business and Economic Development says it would push companies making self-driving technologies to move out-of-state.

“Our state is on the cusp of a new era and cannot risk stifling innovation,”

Dee Dee Myers, the office’s director and senior adviser to Newsom, said in a letter opposing the bill.

Other opponents of the bill say self-driving truck regulations should be left up to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles and officials with expertise on keeping the roads safe. They argue self-driving cars that are already on the roads haven’t caused many serious accidents compared to cars driven by people.

Businesses say self-driving trucks would help them transport transport products more efficiently in the future.

The bill comes as the debate over the future of autonomous vehicles heats up. In San Francisco, two robotaxi companies got

The former Colina chief asserted “that since operations began the company had been cash strapped, and that roughly $1.5m received from investors had been spent as only one out of the six crowdfund offerings that was listed on the platform had met its minimum ask”.

It was also claimed that ArawakX staff “had not been paid for several months”, while $40,000 “was moved from the fiduciary account to the operating account” - suggesting that client/investor monies were used to finance the platform’s operating expenses. When this was brought to Mr Rahming senior’s attention, he allegedly described this as “an error”.

Mr Campbell also alleged that senior ArawakX executives were travelling and spending lavishly to promote the business, which he argued was not wise given the company’s financial position. The Securities Commission, meanwhile, noted that the former Colina chief’s appointment to ArawakX’s Board on January 10, 2022, was a breach of the Securities Industry Act because it had not received prior approval from the regulator.

approval last month from state regulators to operate in the city at all hours, despite concerns about these vehicles making unexpected stops and blocking traffic. In Phoenix, companies have tested self-driving trucks on highways and to deliver mail through a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.

On Tuesday in Sacramento, hundreds of truck drivers, union leaders and other supporters of the bill rallied at the state Capitol. Drivers wore shirts representing their chapter of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a large union backing the bill, and chanted “sign that bill” as semi-trucks lined a street in front of the Capitol. Some chants were laced with profanities as they urged Newsom to support their cause. There are about 200,000 commercial truck drivers in California, according to Teamsters officials.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that LARDUSSE MOISE, of P.O Box SB-52453 Carmichael Road , New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 13th day of September 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

PM ‘couldn’t have met’ SBF’s father on day FTX imploded

calendar invitation for a meeting with Binance scheduled for November 9, 2022.” Binance was the rival crypto exchange that FTX sought unsuccessfully to sell its business to in the final days before its collapse.

Then, without providing any supporting evidence, Mr Ray and FTX Trading asserted: “On November 10, 2022, the day before the Chapter 11 filing, Bankman was scheduled to meet with The Bahamas’ Prime Minister.” This was emphatically rejected by Mr Rahming last night, who said it would have been impossible for Mr Davis to see Mr Bankman on that day even if a meeting was set up.

“The Prime Minister was at COP [and] not in the country,” Mr Rahming pointed out. “The Prime Minister has never met the parents, was never scheduled to meet the parents and was at COP 27 on the date in question.” Tribune Business checks confirmed the validity of Mr Rahming’s statement, as the COP 27 climate change summit was held from November 6-18, 2022, thus covering the period when FTX collapsed.

This newspaper’s reports from November 10, 2022, also confirm that Mr Davis was in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, that day as he commented from afar on the flooding caused in Abaco and Grand Bahama by the passage of Hurricane Nicole.

The date cited by Mr Ray is especially significant. Not only did FTX implode on November 10, 2022, but it was also the day when the Securities Commission petitioned in the Bahamian

Supreme Court to place the crypto exchange’s local subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, into provisional liquidation.

And it was also the date when Mr Bankman-Fried opened FTX for a 25-hour ‘window’, in violation of both Supreme Court and Chapter 11 orders that froze or shut down the crypto exchange, so that 1,500 alleged “Bahamian” investors could withdraw a collective $100m in assetstransactions that are likely to be treated as “voidable preferences” and subject to being clawed back by both the Bahamian provisional liquidators and Mr Ray.

Meanwhile, Mr Ray is alleging that Mr Bankman-Fried’s parents - both Stanford University Law School professors - “exploited their access and influence within the FTX enterprise to enrich themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars” at the expense of the crypto exchange’s creditors and investors. Together, it was claimed they “siphoned millions of dollars out of the FTX group for their own personal benefit and their chosen pet causes”.

The FTX founder’s father was said to have “recommended the acquisition of property in The Bahamas” using FTX monies, and Mr Ray said of both parents: “Despite knowing or blatantly ignoring that the FTX group was insolvent or on the brink of insolvency, Bankman and Fried discussed with BankmanFried the transfer to them of a $10m cash gift and a $16.4m luxury property in The Bahamas.”

Besides paying to acquire that Old Fort Bay property, the FTX US chief

also alleged that investor monies were used to pay the $15,000 Bahamian permanent residency fees for both Mr BankmanFried’s parents shortly after his father took “a leave absence” from Stanford Law School in December 2021 to become employed as a senior adviser to FTX’s foundation.

Asserting that Allan Bankman “lobbied his son to massively increase his own salary”, Mr Ray alleged: “Bankman’s influence paid off, not only for him, but for Fried, too.

Within two weeks, Bankman-Fried gifted Bankman and Fried together $10m in funds originating from Alameda Ltd.

“Within three months, Bankman-Fried caused the couple to be deeded a $16.4m property in The Bahamas paid for with funds ultimately provided by FTX Trading. Bankman and Fried enjoyed the benefits of more than $90,000 in expenses, paid for by FTX Trading, for their Bahamas residence.” The property in question was called ‘Blue Water’.

“On or about February 11, 2022, Bankman and Fried signed an agreement to purchase a $16.4m, 30,000 square-foot luxury property (for the two of them) with unobstructed ocean views in the Old Fort Bay community in The Bahamas,” Mr Ray asserted.

“The total cash payment for Blue Water amounted to $18.914m, inclusive of all costs, taxes and fees. Neither Bankman nor Fried contributed any money of their own towards the purchase of Blue Water. Rather, all of the funds were sourced from cash provided by the debtors.

“The transaction worked as follows. On February 14 and April 14, 2022, FTX Bahamian affiliate, FTX Digital Markets, a non-debtor entity wholly funded by FTX Trading, executed two wire transfers totaling $18.914m. These funds were debtor funds that were sourced from an FTX Trading bank account with commingled customer funds.,” Mr Ray claimed.

“FTX Digital Markets had only two sources of cash: Deposits from FTX Trading and deposits from customers of FTX Trading.

FTX Trading had deposited $362m into the FTX Digital Markets account within almost eight months before the final closing on Blue Water, $150m of which was deposited on March 17, 2022, less than one month before FTX Digital Markets initiated its second wire transfer of more than $14.8m towards Blue Water.”

Internal documents, Mr Ray alleged, described the Old Fort Bay property as having been bought for FTX employees to disguise that it was for Mr Bankman-Fried’s parents. “Indeed, in September 2021, approximately five months before Bankman and Fried closed on Blue Water, Bankman and Fried applied for permanent residency in The Bahamas, which was granted in October 2022,” he added.

“A $15,000 fee for Bahamian permanent residency for each of them was expensed to FTX Digital Markets and ultimately paid for by FTX Trading. Bankman and/or Fried also arranged for cleaning and maintenance services at Blue Water. Bankman even asked FTX Digital Markets employees if the company

that provided landscaping services to Blue Water could ‘bill FTX directly’. “Less than one month after closing on Blue Water, Fried instructed FTX Digital Markets employees to place online orders, including for a sofa, at least eight vases and five rugs, one of which was a Persian handknotted rug costing more than $2,500, to furnish their Bahamian residence. The furnishings were purchased with either an FTX Digital Markets corporate credit card or the personal credit card of an FTX Digital Markets employee, who was reimbursed using funds that belonged to FTX Trading.”

Prior to FTX’s implosion, Mr Ray alleged that some $90,000 worth of expenses incurred by Mr Bankman-Fried’s parents at Blue Water were paid by the crypto exchange and, by extension, its clients and investors. These costs included maintenance, cleaning services, utilities, furnishings, property assessments and residency fees.

“The debtors have identified no record of either Bankman or Fried reimbursing the FTX Group for the purchase of Blue Water or any maintenance, services, furnishings or fees associated with the property and paid for by the FTX Group,” the FTX US chief alleged. “Neither Bankman nor Fried provided, or agreed to provide, plaintiffs [with] consideration reasonably equivalent to the fair market rental value of the property, services, or furnishings or fees.

“As a direct result of Bankman’s and Fried’s receipt and use of the Blue Water property and enjoyment of related

benefits, including services and furnishings, Bankman and Fried were unjustly enriched at FTX Trading’s expense in an amount to be determined at trial based on the fair market value of the benefits Bankman and Fried received from residing at the property.”

Mr Ray also contradicted assertions by the Bahamian provisional liquidators for FTX Digital Markets, Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton senior partner, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accounting duo, Kevin Cambridge and Peter Greaves, that Mr Bankman-Fried’s parents had “voluntarily” handed Blue Water over.

“A recent title search, however, shows that the title to the property remains in Bankman’s and Fried’s names, and all available information indicates that Bankman and Fried still retain title to the property,” Mr Ray alleged. He is also claiming actual and constructive fraudulent transfer against the couple.

A statement from Bankman and Fried’s attorneys yesterday denied all allegations against the couple, saying they are “completely false”.

“This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their child’s trial begins. These claims are completely false. Mr Ray and his massive team of lawyers, who are collectively running up countless millions of dollars in fees while returning relatively little to FTX clients, know better,” said Sean Hecker, counsel to Bankman, and Michael Tremonte, counsel to Fried.

Retailers ‘not easing up’ on gas margin increase

FROM PAGE A24

everything up. We cannot wait for a good time. When the price of oil went down, they didn’t move, and now it’s going up they will say they can’t do anything.”

The Davis administration, largely via Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, has made clear it will not approve a margin increase because this will impose a cost increase on all Bahamians at a time of heightened inflation.

Now, with global oil prices forecast to soon reach $100 per barrel again, due to a combination of rising Chinese demand and production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, Bahamian petroleum retailers are once again faced with the prospect of having to pay an increasing amount to purchase their fuel inventories.

With the industry’s pricecontrolled fixed margin structure ensuring retail and wholesale margins do not change, regardless of pump prices, retailers often have to incur increased overdraft, credit card and other bank-related fees as a result to cover the increased outlay on fuel inventories.

Mr Jones, pointing out that banks typically charge a 1 percent fee on any transaction over $10,000, said: “We continue to pay these extra fees. All it does is further erode that 54 cent margin that is already being eroded. We cannot ease up.

This is the time we have to push to survive.”

While petroleum dealers, like all other industries, have had to contend with the 70 percent increase in total BPL rates since October 2022 as the utility seeks to recoup prior fuel cost under-recovery, Mr Jones said his sector’s price-controlled fixed margins mean it cannot follow others in adjusting prices to maintain profitability. As a result, the higher light bills have combined with other factors such as the minimum wage rise and greater NIB contributions, to squeeze margins.

“On top of that, with the price of fuel going up, the VAT [on gasoline sales] goes up so the Government is making more money while we’re making less,” he added. “We have to keep the pressure up. We want a regime change in the rate; to get a rate increase. We’re talking 20 cents, 25 cents per gallon. It’s not significant, but it will do a lot for retailers. “We don’t want to be a force attacking the Government but we have to engage them and need a resolution now. We cannot wait.

If you want us to survive in a price-controlled environment, you have to increase the margins. If not, then you will have a number of retailers out of business in another two months.”

Asked whether the Association’s members

NOTICE

International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000)

Cube Penthouse Limited

Registration Number: 196178 B

(In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000)

Cube Penthouse Limited, commenced voluntary liquidation on the 20th day of September, 2023.

Any person having any claim against Cube Penthouse Limited, is required on or before the 20th day of October, 2023 to send their name, address and particulars of the debt or claim to the Liquidator of the company, or in default thereof they may have excluded from the beneft of any distribution made before such claim is approved.

GSO Corporate Services Ltd., of 303 Shirley Street, Nassau, The Bahamas is the Liquidator of Cube Penthouse Limited.

GSO Corporate Services Ltd. Liquidator

had informed him of such an outcome, he replied: “Yes. We cannot afford to keep carrying higher costs. Credit card fees on $6, that’s between 12 cents and 14 cents per gallon per transaction. You cannot negotiate that. That’s your fee. “They give you what is left in this environment. No one is going to go backward and say you have to pay by credit card because digital transactions are the direction the global economy is going in. The pressure is back on, and even more so.”

O

N

Oil prices last night, as Tribune Business went to press, had eased slightly compared to earlier this week, standing at $90.45 per barrel on the West Texas Intermediate index and $93.52 for Brent Crude. Global oil prices have increased by 30 percent since June 2023 as speculators and the markets react to the move by Russia/ Saudi Arabia and increased Chinese demand. Bahamian petroleum retailers had previously been seeking a 30 cent per gallon margin increase since April 2022. Based on

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:-

a) IRXOZ LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on 12th September, 2023 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

c) The Liquidator of the said company is Octagon Management Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, Nassau, Bahamas.

Dated this 20th day of September, A. D. 2023

N O T I C E

(a) Lerwick Capital Investment Ltd. (the “Company”) is in dissolution under the provisions of the International Business Companies Act, 2000.

(b) The dissolution of the said Company commenced on the 26th day of July, 2023 when its Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c) The Liquidator of the said Company is Crowe Bahamas.

Dated the 19th day of September, 2023.

Crowe Bahamas Liquidator

the current 54 cents per gallon, that would take the margin to 84 cents, representing a 55.6 percent increase. In contrast, the Government earns a fixed $1.16 per gallon on all fuel sales plus 10 percent VAT.

Asked about the pressures on the current 54-cent margin, Mr Jones replied:

“We’re at the point where it’s basically gone. There is no profitability. You’re keeping the doors open because you have too much invested to say: ‘The hell with it.’ If you stop you’ve got more to lose than if you

keep pushing to find innovative ways to improve.

“We’re stuck. We cannot adjust our margins to reflect the actual reality. We’ll not be at war with the Government, but we have to continue the dialogue with the Government to make them understand our plight. There’s no easing up because the margin is not increasing. We continue to talk to them and find ways to implement. We can do it in small increases at a time, but it has to get done.”

N O T I C E LAURITA LTD.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:-

a) LAURITA LTD. is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on 18th September, 2023 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

c) The Liquidator of the said company is Octagon Management Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, Nassau, Bahamas.

Dated this 20th day of September, A. D. 2023

Octagon Management Limited Liquidator

STRONGER INFRASTRUCTURE KEY TO CLIMATE RESILIENCE

STRONGER climate

resilient infrastructure is critical to the region’s future economic prospects, according to presenters at the 2023 Caribbean Infrastructure Forum (CARIF).

Executives in multiple industries, including finance, tourism, ports, transport and agriculture, discussed both the opportunities and need for investment in sustainable infrastructure throughout the Caribbean to counter increasingly frequent and severe hurricanes plus other climate-related disasters.

William Duguid, senior minister in the Barbadian prime minister’s office, said he wants the Caribbean to develop to the point where hurricanes are “just events” and not a disaster for regional infrastructure.

“What we have to do is build for an expected rate of speed of wind, as well as an expected volume of rainfall in a certain amount of time,” Mr Duguid explained during the forum held at the Ritz-Carlton resort in Miami, Florida.

“So, volume and timerelated culverts, wells, roads, outfalls.... to be able to recognise that we are at risk of getting sometimes

one in a 100-year climate events every ten years. We have to understand that our previous infrastructure was built for a climate that no longer exists.”

He added: “So, we have to build our new infrastructure for the new climate, recognising greater volumes in shorter times, higher levels of wind speeds at greater intensities and for longer periods. The engineering is possible.

“We were able to land a man on the moon. So, we know that we can engineer to these new climates. Once we start that and inculcate that into our standards, then hurricanes will become events like a storm which will not cause the devastation that we’re seeing now.”

The renewal of port infrastructure; building and road resilience; financing and more sustainable agricultural practices were among the main topics discussed during CARIF.

That's the spirit! Graycliff triumphs in global awards

CIBC First Caribbean’s chief commercial officer, Pim van der Burg, said such forums are critical in developing climate-resilient infrastructure.

“It is a very important topic for all of our clients, and so it is an important topic for us at CIBC FirstCaribbean as we are supporting them in achieving their financial goals,” he said. “Action is required. There is no better day to start than now. CIBC has been sponsoring this forum for seven years now, and people are starting to realise that this is topic of climate resilient infrastructure is really important to us, our clients and our communities. “

Bahamas-based BRON Ltd’s founder and chief executive, Carlos Palacious, told CARIF: “Now, more so than ever, technology is the great equaliser for small island developing states. Technology now allows us

to level the playing field for agriculture in a way we could not have before.

“Using technology and leveling AI (artificial intelligence), the things that used to restrict us, in terms of challenges, are limited. But the challenges still come in energy security. So, the ability to create microgrids and technology now opens unprecedented opportunities to feed ourselves.”

Mr Palacious said the ability for the Caribbean to feed itself and keep foreign currency earnings within the region, through leveraging technology within agriculture, will open opportunities for all countries within the region.

The conference was hosted by New Energy Events. Matthew Perks, its chief executive, said: “From increased flows of capital to resilient infrastructural projects in the region across multiple sectors, national development plans which

transcend political terms, regional collaboration wherever it is possible, we want this conference to play a role in all of the above, whether big or small.

“Climate resilient infrastructure is the number one priority here. We’ve heard a lot of conversations about people planning projects which have a duration of 20-30 years and, more than I’ve heard before, I’ve heard people saying the world is changing very rapidly and the parameters of a project that works today will not work for that same project 15-20 years down the line.

“So, I’m hearing a very real grasp to projects that are resilient, that are flexible and adaptable to the change that’s happening right now.” CIBC FirstCaribbean and KPMG served as the official sponsors of CARIF 2023.

FARMERS HONOURED DURING SECTOR’S FIRST-EVER AWARDS

FARMERS from across

The Bahamas gathered for the industry’s first-ever Agrarian Awards held at Margaritavile Beach Resort on Saturday, September 16.

Among those in attendance were the Prime Minister’s wife, Ann-Marie Davis; Jomo Campbell, minister of agriculture and marine resources; Clay Sweeting, minister of works and Family Island affairs; Glenys Hanna-Martin, minister of education, technical and vocational training; Jobeth ColebyDavis, minister of energy and transport; Wayne Munroe, minister of national security; and Senator Tyrel Young.

The winners, who received more than $50,000 in cash and prizes raised by title sponsor, Agricultural Development Organisation (ADO) Bahamas, were:

* Female Farmer of the year: Whitlyn Miller - $10,000

* Prime Minister’s Youth Male Farmer of the Yyear: Ventoi Bethune - $5,000

* Prime Minister’s Youth Female Farmer of the year: Fredrica Dames - $5,000

* Governor General’s Community Farm: Huel Moss - $5,000 in supplies

Year: Latoya Hutchinson -$2,500

Year: HO Nash Junior High - $5,000 in supplies -

time Achievement Award:

Diann ‘Lady Di’ Thompson - $10,000 and a seven-day cruise for two on Royal Caribbean.

Mr Campbell said the Davis administration is seeking allocate more resources to agriculture, adding that the awards serve as a beacon of hope for farmers.

“The Agrarian Awards are intended to serve as encouragement to the nominees, finalists and winners to showcase the transformative impact that networks and partnerships can have on the future of agriculture,” he said. “In doing so, we hope to inspire others, especially young people and women, to explore and embrace the agricultural industry.”

The Prime Minister said: “The event is a testament to our commitment to recognising our farmers and our agricultural communities. These awards have been established for those who not only till the soil but also sow the seeds of progress and change. Our farmers

are not just cultivators, they are nation builders – laying the foundation for sustainable food production. It is through their work that we will take progressive steps to feeding ourselves.”

Sponsors of the Agrarian Awards include title sponsor ADO Bahamas; AFS Insurance; ALIV; Atlantis; Bahamas Development Bank; Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation; Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI); Butterfield Bank; Caribbean Bottling; Centreville Food Store; Commonwealth Bank; the Department of Local Government; Island Site Development; Royal Caribbean; Super Value and Yellow Space Studio. Media partners included the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas; The Guardian Group of Companies; Jones Communications; the Movi Group and the Tribune Media Group. The Agrarian Awards are expected to be held every two years.

GRAYCLIFF Hotel & Restaurant's team with the Bahamas

High Commissioner and diplomatic corps. From L to

R: Justin E. Smith, second secretary; Maria Grazia Marino, general manager, Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation; Paul A. Gomez, Bahamas high commissioner to UK; Roberta Garzaroli, Graycliff Hotel & Restaurant; Michael Scott, Graycliff Hotel & Restaurant; Allison P. Nortjé, special advisor/consultant; Julika Thompson, first secretary/consul; and Marché A. Mackey, deputy chief of mission.

GRAYCLIFF Hotel & Restaurant has revealed it was the global winner for the best spirits selection at The World’s Best Wine Lists Awards held in London on September 11, 2023. The latest honour came after the same awards ceremony gave Graycliff six South & Central America and the Caribbean regional awards for best hotel wine list; best designed wine list; best champagne and sparkling wine list; best dessert and fortified wine list; best long wine list; and best spirits list.

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products that would generate revenues

• Performs other ad hoc duties as required by

the Supervisor and Department Head

Send your resume to:Bahamasjobs8@Gmail.com

WILLIAM DUGUID

Photos:Patrice Johnson/BIS

Caribbean’s climate financing need up ‘hundreds of millions’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

CARIBBEAN governments and private companies have increased their pursuit of sustainable and climate resilient financing by hundreds of millions of dollars, a senior CIBC FirstCaribbean executive has revealed.

Adam Carter, the bank’s managing director and head of investment banking, foreign exchange and derivatives, told the seventh Annual Caribbean Infrastructure Forum (CARIF) that the increased demand is driven by Caribbean countries needing to become better prepared to mitigate climate disasters.

“We’re seeing an increase in governments, particularly, looking to access blue financing, and we’ve seen a massive increase in renewable energy applications, resilient project applications, utilities looking to be more resilient, hospitals looking to do upgrades, roads, cruise ports... Just across the board we’re seeing the increase,” Mr Carter added.

“It’s certainly in the hundreds of millions over the

last few years where sustainable was not the theme. Resilience was always a theme in the Caribbean. But now we’re seeing resiliency fit under sustainability, which I think is more fitting. So, under that umbrella or title, we’re seeing a markable increase in appetite for projects that fit those criteria.

“We’re in a hurricaneimpacted region. Designing for Category three, four or five is now the thing where you kind of have no other choice but to.” Mr Carter explained that funding for such projects, at a time when the world’s focus is now on supporting measures that protect the environment and addressing climate change, is available.

“The funding is generally there,” he said. “Financing is absolutely available. It’s prudent to get the right projects in place with the right parameters and frameworks. Once those are established, and you’ve got the political and community buy-in, lenders and financial institutions are ready to go.”

Therese Turner-Jones, the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB)

director of projects, said that while the demand for funding exceeds the supply of capital for all countries with these needs, multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) offer alternative sources. However, she added that countries need to get a better grasp of their exact needs.

“First of all, I think there’s a bit of a deficit in countries recognising what they need,” Ms TurnerJones explained. “Because of how fast the external

environment is changing, not just in terms of availability of finance but also climate change and how the world is changing, we can’t expect that our member countries are always up-to-date.

“But this is why we’re here. To provide those advisory services to help them do the technical work. This is not to say that the capacity doesn’t exist in-country, but to say that multilateral banks are in a better position to offer that advice. So, what I say to clients is to come to the MDBs

(multilateral development banks) first.”

Ms Turner-Jones continued: “Explore the options with CDB, the IDB, the World Bank first. Because, firstly, that money is cheaper and it always comes with technical assistance. They just need to ask. I would say that because we’re at such a critical juncture in terms of the needs of the region, we need to now think about what resilience means.

“You heard about renewable energy projects being important, roads and whether they’d be able

to sustain a significant amount of rainfall, hurricanes, etc. So, there’s a lot of new information out in the infrastructure domain that the multilateral development banks have at their fingertips that the countries may not have. It’s best to work with us [MDBs].” This year’s CARIF conference gathered some of the region’s leaders in policy, finance and infrastructure development for two days of solution-building and networking. It was sponsored by CIBC FirstCaribbean and KPMG.

CIBC FirstCaribbean’s managing director for investment banking, forex (foreign exchange) and derivatives sales, Adam Carter, speaking during CARIF 2023.

THERESE Turner-Jones (second right) making a point at one of the sessions, while other panellists including Adam Carter, managing director, CIBC FirstCaribbean, listen.

PM ‘couldn’t have met’ SBF’s father on day FTX imploded

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE PRIME Minister’s Office last night refuted claims that he was due to meet Sam BankmanFried’s father on the day FTX imploded because he was away battling on The Bahamas’ behalf against climate change.

Latrae Rahming, communications director for Philip Davis KC, told Tribune Business it would have been impossible for the Prime Minister to have met with Allan Joseph Bankman on November 10, 2022, because he was then in Egypt at the COP 27 summit.

He also denied that any meeting between Mr Davis and Allan Bankman has ever been scheduled, while asserting that the Prime Minister has never met either of Mr Bankman-Fried’s parents, in response to the latest allegations levied by FTX’s US chief.

John Ray, who heads the 134 FTX entities presently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, levied claims about the purported meeting in a lawsuit unveiled late Monday night where he accused Mr Bankman-Fried’s parents of “unjust enrichment” at the expense of the collapsed crypto exchange’s investors and creditors. Specifically, he is alleging that the duo

ArawakX issuers await funds, investor listing

By NEIL HARTNELL and YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporters

TWO companies that raised equity capital through the embattled ArawakX crowd-funding platform yesterday complained that they are either still owed money or have yet to learn who their new shareholders are.

Mark Newell, Nassau Gas & Tanks principal, told Tribune Business it was “bizarre” he still does not know the identity of his investors more than nine months after completion of his capital raise even though he is now receiving calls from those increasingly alarmed by the Securities Commission’s bid to wind-up the crowd-funding platform over multiple alleged governance, regulatory and solvency breaches.

He asserted that ArawakX had informed him it was “policy” not to disclose the register of investors/shareholders to issuing companies, but this was immediately refuted by D’Arcy Rahming senior, the platform’s chairman and chief executive, who affirmed that it was Mr Newell and Nassau Gas’ “right” to possess such information.

“Mark’s mistaken,” Mr Rahming told this newspaper. “The conversation I had with him was that I

have to get the Securities Commission’s ‘OK’. The issue has gone through, the other guys got their [investor] lists and he will get his list as well. I can provide it, give the list, but we have to get the Commission’s permission.

“I can get the list to him at any time. By all of this, they [the Commission] have acknowledged that he has received his stuff and I’m now in a position to get him his list. We’ve done it for everybody else. We’re doing it for him.

ArawakX dismissed top investor as ‘over his head with Fintech’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

ARAWAKX’S chairman dismissed the company’s largest investor as someone who “can’t use a computer” and was “over his head on Fintech” after he turned whistleblower over its financial, governance and regulatory concerns.

D’Arcy Rahming senior, also the crowd-funding

platform’s chief executive, told Securities Commission executives during an April 12, 2023, interview that James Campbell was “a businessman from a different era” after their battle for control resulted in Bank of The Bahamas freezing all ArawakX’s bank accounts.

The meeting, led by Christina Rolle, the regulator’s executive director, produced the disclosure that Mr Campbell had

provided MDollaz, which traded as ArawakX, with nearly $1.6m in total financing. This was broken down into a $1.3m “option” which, if exercised, would give the former Colina Insurance Company president a 22 percent equity stake in the platform plus a further loan for $279,000.

Based on the $1.9m raised from outside investors, as noted in ArawakX’s draft financial

used almost $19m in FTX client money to acquire their Old Fort Bay home and cover $90,000 in maintenance.

Referring to Mr BankmanFried’s father, the FTX US chief alleged: “Bankman remained intimately involved in the FTX Group until the end. On November 7, 2022, Bankman flew to The Bahamas and joined the scramble to find sources of capital to save the FTX group.

“As has been well-publicised, Bankman-Fried pursued a sale to Binance in a last-ditch effort to salvage FTX Trading, and Bankman was included in the small group that received the Binance Letter of Intent and a

SEE PAGE A19

Retailers ‘not easing up’ on gas margin increase

It’s his right to have that. It’s his.” Mr Rahming also previously told Tribune Business that neither companies that have finished their capital raise, such as Nassau Gas, nor their investors will be impacted by ArawakX’s threatened winding-up.

Mr Newell, though, yesterday told Tribune Business it was “embarrassing” to be contacted by purported investors in Nassau Gas and not know if they are genuine. “I am now getting concerned messages from people saying they invested and want an update on the Arawak X debacle. I have no idea what to tell them,” he said, complaining that he had been left “totally in the dark” by the crowdfund platform. While Nassau Gas’ equity capital raise closed

SEE PAGE A20

statements for the year to end-July 2022, Mr Campbell’s $1.3m option accounted for 68.4 percent - or more than two-thirds - of the new equity capital that the platform was hoping to obtain Securities Commission approval for.

Mr Rahming, who labelled the relationship with Mr Campbell as “kaput” by that stage, also alleged that the former insurance executive must have “just flipped” to go to the Securities Commission with his concerns and suggested he was “driven crazy” by the paperwork

SEE PAGE A18

$657k ‘pipeline’ blockage kept ArawakX insolvent

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS’ first-ever crowd-funding platform was branded “no longer solvent at February 2023” by external auditors who warned that $656,500 in “pipeline” revenue could not be used to restore a “net equity” position. Lambert Longley, LDL & Associates managing partner, told the Securities

Commission in a July 3, 2023, e-mail that ArawakX had sought to use this income - derived from projected listing and ‘roadshow’ fees that had yet to be earned - to eliminate its solvency deficiency as at February this year.

He, however, advised the crowd-funding platform that such sums could not be included in its management accounts yet.

“The company’s net equity improved to $488,344 at February 28, 2023, but included ‘active user

pipeline’ revenues from roadshow fees of $596,500 reported as generated in January and February 2023, and $60,000 from listing fees reported as generated between September and December 2022,” Mr Longley told the capital markets regulator.

“This revenue of $656,500 related to persons who have agreed to list on ArawakX (subject to verification of the details) but for whom services have not yet been delivered because of restrictions imposed by

the Securities Commission. As such, we have advised that it would not be appropriate to recognise receivables or revenues for those transactions in the company’s accounts.

“We advised further that these future revenues represent an important source of capital that is expected to be injected in the future, but it cannot be recognised in the management accounts yet. They do not directly impact

SEE PAGE A17

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS Petroleum Retailers Association’s (BPRA) president yesterday asserted that the industry is “not easing up” on demands for a margin increase with several dealer “unable to survive” more than another two months.

Raymond Jones, contradicting Vasco Bastian, his vice-president, told Tribune Business that a margin increase has become even more “urgent” with global oil prices forecast to soon hit $100 per barrel as this will impose further pressure on already-heightened costs that have effectively wiped out petroleum retail profits.

With gas station operators stuck with the same price-controlled fixed margins regardless of fuel prices, he warned that many were “keeping the doors open because we have too much invested to say the hell with it” by closing down. Besides the increasing cost of purchasing fuel inventories due to rising oil prices, which will likely see retailers incur greater overdraft, credit card and bank fees, the industry has also been hit by Bahamas Power

& Light’s (BPL) soaring electricity bills. While other industries can adjust their prices to cover these costs, petroleum retailers cannot, and Mr Jones told this newspaper that a margin increase of around 20-25 cents per gallon of gasoline is now critical if the Government “wants us to survive in a price-controlled environment”. He added, though, that the Association and its members are open to a phased implementation of such a rise, rather than a one-time increase, to ease the burden on motorists.

“The retailers are not easing up. That’s not the case,” Mr Jones reiterated.

“We cannot ease up. Like everything else, the Government takes positions on different things. We understand they’re probably not inclined to do something, but we’re not going to stop. We’re not going to take a break. I was there [at the Ministry of Finance] today, and had a brief chat with a representative of the Government on the need to find a solution to this on an urgent basis.

“We’re not easing up. Inflation and global pressures are pushing

SEE PAGE A19

PHILIP DAVIS KC

SAM BANKMAN-FRIED

$6.05 $6.11 $6.12 $6.17