The Tribune house & hoMe
85% of guns were bought in the us
Bahamas leads region in firearms traced to American sellers
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
A lARGER proportion of firearms recovered in the Bahamas was traced to the United states compared to any other Caribbean country, a new report highlights.
Eighty-five percent of recovered guns in the Bahamas from 2018 to 2022 were traced to a UsA retail buyer. Among other Caribbean countries, 80 percent of firearms were traced to the UsA in Barbados, the next highest. the data from the Alcohol, tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (AtF) department is highlighted in a
Ruling oveR tuRned foR officeRs accused of assaulting pRisoneR
By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
tHE Court of Appeal has overturned a magistrate’s decision to discharge three prison officers accused of causing harm to michael mcIntosh, an inmate at the Bahamas Department of Correctional services (BDoCs). the case was returned to the magistrate’s Court for continuation of the trial as soon as possible. the case stems from an incident on April 10, 2023, when mcIntosh was approached by correctional officers Garret strachan, troy Hanna, and leslie Ingraham while in the
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Almost 2,000 Bahamians will today start to receive a nearly-$1m collective
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
payout as compensation for being over-charged interest on their loans by one of this nation’s largest used car dealers.
tribune Business can reveal that the first group
NAtIoNAl security minister Wayne munroe said a voluntary withdrawal order for Bahamians in Haiti does not apply to defence force officers. Foreign Affairs minister
of Auto H & l victims were contacted last week about the payments, and to make appointments to collect their cheque.
Fred mitchell, in a voice note, said last week that Bahamian defence force officers and other citizens in Haiti had been given a voluntary withdrawal order, allowing them to leave the country without government approval if they felt Nearly 2,000 to share Auto H&L compensation for interest overcharges
Photo: nikia Charlton
85% of guns were bought in the US
report by the United States Government Accountability Office.
A variety of concealment techniques are used to traffic the guns.
The guns, according to the report, are trafficked “most commonly through shipping transport and can be concealed in large items, such as automobiles and televisions, or broken into components and hidden in household items, such as bags of rice or cereal boxes, and packaged in breakbulk cargo.”
“Firearms are available for illegal purchase in illicit markets and resold for higher prices. For example, Bahamian officials told us that a firearm retailing for $350 in the US can be resold illegally in The Bahamas for $1,600.”
“In addition, US and Caribbean officials told us that corruption within Caribbean government agencies significantly hinders efforts to combat firearms trafficking. For instance, firearms traffickers bribe customs officials to ensure their shipments containing firearms or firearms parts go uninspected, resulting in fewer firearms seizures, according to US and Caribbean officials.”
Prime Minister Philip
“Brave” Davis has highlighted the role the USA plays in this country’s gun problem.
Last year, the country joined Mexico’s $10 billion lawsuit to hold US gun manufacturers accountable for the spread of firearms in the region. Since then, the government has also agreed with the US-based non-profit Global Action on Gun Violence (GAGV) to analyse the prospects of suing firearms dealers, distributors and manufacturers.
In August, a US judge ruled that Mexico did not demonstrate adequate connections between six of the eight defendants and Massachusetts, where the case was filed.
The dismissed companies include Sturm, Ruger, Glock, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Colt’s Manufacturing, and Century International Arms.
The judge said Mexico failed to show that firearms sold in Massachusetts caused it any harm.
Mr Davis has previously said the government’s joined the lawsuit in support of Mexico to hold US gun manufacturers liable for the harm caused by their products. Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago had also joined the appeal as friends of the court.
Airport authority employees vote on whether to remain with BPSU
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
AIRPORT Authority employees voted on Friday to determine whether the Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) or the newly formed Bahamas Public Sector and Health Professionals Union (BPSAHPU) would serve as their bargaining unit.
The results of the vote were unclear up to press time. The BPSAHPU, which
includes public servants and allied workers from quasi-governmental agencies, was officially certified in June 2023. Latonya Symonette, the union’s president, said the union has 2,000 plus members.
Ms Symonette said the BPSAHPU was formed following the BPSU’s election last year, during which the incumbent president, Kimsley Ferguson, defeated challenges led by Alexander Burrows Jr and former Labour Director John
Pinder.
Initially, the election results were not certified due to complaints about alleged irregularities. Public Services Minister Pia Glover-Rolle later certified the results, overturning the Registrar’s decision not to do so.
Ms Symonette, who had been a BPSU member for 18 years, cited issues with Mr Ferguson’s leadership, including his perceived alignment with management, poor representation, and a lack of responsiveness to
members.
She mentioned lengthy delays in receiving salary increments and highlighted the lack of strategic planning for employees’ progress.
Kristna Dorsette, an Airport Authority employee, said he believes 65 to 80 percent of his colleagues will leave BPSU.
“I know they wasn’t satisfied with his leadership and whatnot,” he said. “Everybody say they can’t reach him. He don’t answer.”
Another worker,
AAIA looking into crash of small plane over three miles short of GB airport
Antoinette Jackson, said she believes Mr Ferguson has led the membership “astray” and that her colleagues have had enough.
“He told us some things, what we was expecting. Come to find out, we didn’t get it,” she said.
“To me, I feel like he was working along with the management team because everything management told him to do, he used to do it and to see he got our money, and he never used to show no kind of attention towards us as a union, as a leader. He was a poor example as a leader. So that’s why we vote against him today.” The Tribune could not reach Mr Ferguson up to press time.
Police show a number of firearms that say they collected from a residence in Grand Bahama in July.
The PiPeR Aztec PA-23-250 aircraft that crash-landed
miles from Grand Bahama International Airport on Friday. Photo: Vandyke hepburn
Ruling overturned for officers accused of assaulting prisoner
Carpentry Shop. The officers allegedly escorted him to his dorm in Maximum Security and accused him of possessing a mobile phone. Although McIntosh admitted to finding the phone, he denied having its SIM card.
The inmate reported the incident to BDOCS’ Internal Affairs Division, but no immediate action was taken before his release from custody.
McIntosh subsequently initiated private criminal proceedings against the officers after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions declined to pursue charges. The officers were arraigned in December 2021, and their trial began soon after.
their plea of autrefois convict; the plea argued that the officers had already been tried and disciplined by the BDOCS Tribunal for the same offence under the Correctional Officers (Code of Conduct) Rules. The Tribunal’s decision was deemed quasi-judicial, likening it to a court proceeding.
same or similar offences. He concluded that the charge of assault and battery under the Penal Code was similar to the Tribunal’s finding of excessive force.
of the autrefois convict plea, which was raised only after the prosecution had presented its case. The court emphasised that such pleas must be addressed before evidence is taken.
remitted the matter for continuation of the trial. It concluded that the magistrate erred in discharging the defendants under section 203 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
According to McIntosh’s claims, the officers physically assaulted him after he refused to surrender the SIM card. He sustained abrasions and a ruptured left eardrum, later diagnosed by the prison doctor.
Magistrate Samuel McKinney discharged the officers after accepting
The appellant challenged this ruling, arguing that the magistrate misapplied the law. The central issue on appeal was whether the BDOCS Tribunal had the legal authority to adjudicate criminal offences under the Penal Code.
Brian Dorsett represented McIntosh. from page one
The magistrate ruled that the Tribunal’s findings barred a second prosecution under section 158 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits retrials for the
The appellate court highlighted procedural flaws, including the timing
The Court of Appeal also found that the Tribunal’s ruling did not constitute a criminal trial under the Penal Code. As such, the officers could not invoke autrefois convict to avoid prosecution in Magistrate’s Court.
The Court of Appeal overturned the magistrate’s decision and
“The principle of autrefois convict was improperly applied in this case,” the appellate court said. “The matter must proceed to a proper determination based on the evidence.” The case will return to Magistrate McKinney for completion.
Fundraiser looks to raise $40k for Bahamian singer Elon Moxey
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
AN online fund -
raiser has been launched to raise $40,000 for Bahamian singer Elon
Moxey, who may need to have both of his legs amputated.
Ashante Moxey, his daughter, told The Tribune yesterday that only $250 has been raised so far.
The goal of the fundraiser is to cover the cost of surgery, therapy, and such essential items as a wheelchair.
Ms Moxey said she started the GoFundMe after considering her
father’s legacy and contributions to Bahamian music.
Mr Moxey is known for such popular songs as “Catch the Crab” and “Oh My Andros.”
His health has been declining for some time.
“He always had a heart issue,” his daughter said.
The 75-year-old singer has been in Princess Margaret Hospital since Thursday following a doctor’s appointment.
“Where his heart is, it’s irregular. It caused clots, which caused poor circulation in his leg, which led to his legs having to be amputated.”
“He’s accepting what is what and trying to move forward with whatever decisions comes out of the situation.”
Ms Moxey admitted she is disappointed about the amount of money raised so far.
“There were a lot of shares on the Facebook platform,” she said. “Donation, no, there has not been anything else. Maybe one or two, three donations have come through so far, but nothing else.”
“It is disappointing just to know that he is such a household name and well known, yet no one has really reached out or anything like that as yet.”
Service Week festivities continued, Friday, in Grand Bahama with Public Service Activity Day during which various departments and ministries were invited to host their own Fun Day. Bahamas Information Services/North got in on the action with a lively and competitive scavenger hunt, featuring teams from various government agencies. The scavenger hunt was a great success, providing an opportunity for teamwork and friendly competition among public sector employees. Participants from different departments scattered across the island, from east to west, worked in teams to solve clues and complete challenges in a race to the finish. The simple scavenger hunt and selfie challenge was also used as an exercise in social media engagement. The winners of the event were:
Elon ‘ThE Crab Man’ MoxEy
Voluntary withdrawal ‘does not apply’ to RBDF
unsafe.
Yesterday, Mr Munroe said this only applies to Ministry of Foreign Affairs workers.
“Defence Force marines and officers who are there as a part of the MSSM mission, he’s not speaking about that,” he said, referring to the United Nations Multinational Security Support Mission.
“He is talking about the people in the embassy and those personnel. We do have defence force officers in the embassy. The current Charge d’Affaires is a defence force officer. They’re the ones who can say this is too dangerous for embassy activities and close the embassy.”
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) has so far deployed six officers as part of the United
Nations Multinational Security Support Mission. The government has committed 150 officers to the mission.
Their roles include securing ports for humanitarian aid, conducting maritime patrols to prevent illegal migration, and working with regional partners to support stability in Haiti. The officers are scheduled to serve a six-month term.
Bahamasair flights to Haiti have been halted after a recent security incident.
Spirit Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue suspended flights to Portau-Prince after a Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale was struck by gunfire while attempting to land. The plane was forced to divert to Santiago, Dominican Republic, where it landed safely, though a flight attendant sustained minor injuries.
Cabinet approves ConstruC tion of medium, high and super-maximum prison
By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
NATIONAL Security Minister
Wayne Monroe said Cabinet has approved the construction of medium, high, and super-maximum security housing units at the prison, which will include mental health cells, a clinic, and a medical facility.
He could not say how much the expansion project would cost, but Cabinet’s decisions came long after he and Prison Commissioner Doan Cleare began agitating for approval to expand the prison.
In September 2023, Commissioner Cleare revealed that the cost of the prison expansion had been reduced by 40 percent, from an initial $93m.
Mr Munroe said: “The juvenile facility and the female facility is easier to remedy because they’re just cells to isolate inmates if he or she is sick. The remand centre is a little more difficult, because we have to take out all the toilets and replace them because the fire that happened there was because of inmates throwing little things down. So that’s going to be longer than doing the isolation cells. The isolation cells may be a matter of months, whereas that’s a longer process.
National security officials say upgrading the prison is critical to securing accreditation from the American Correctional Association.
Commissioner Cleare admitted earlier this year that the prison failed an accreditation inspection in 2023, saying officials knew the prison would “fail miserably.” He said the most significant remaining problem is the inadequate toilet system, noting the prison’s slopping practices, a defining characteristic of the institution in Bahamian culture, must be eradicated to be accredited. Her Majesty’s Prison at Fox Hill.
NatioNal security MiNister WayNe MuNroe
The Tribune Limited
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“Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”
LEON E. H. DUPUCH
Publisher/Editor 1903-1914
SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH, Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .
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RT HON EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B.
Publisher/Editor 1972-
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No room for guns nor bribes
IT comes as no surprise that the majority of the guns on our streets have come from the US – the question is, what can be done about it?
Our country leads the region in the percentage of guns that come from the US. It’s a category we would have no wish to take the lead in.
Eighty-five percent of guns recovered here trace back to buyers in the US. Barbados comes next with 80 percent.
A report from the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) department in the US said that firearms can be bought in the US for $350 and sold illegally here for $1,600.
From The Tribune’s reporting over the years, we can add that does not take into account the number of times a gun is rented by someone.
Pay a hundred bucks and it might get you the loan of a gun for the weekend, we have been told.
Get caught, however, and you may well find the gun has a history – a bloody one at that. Multiple murders can be committed with a single gun, and the criminal that gets caught with it gets linked with every one of those crimes, even if it was in the hands of another killer at the time.
The report tells us that the guns usually come in through shipping transport, and often are inside larger items, such as cars or televisions or broken down and hidden in household items.
Police officers here have shown at briefings how they have found guns concealed inside such things as cereal boxes.
The report also mentions one of the other hindrances in tackling such a problem – corruption.
It says: “For instance, firearms traffickers bribe Customs officials to
ensure their shipments containing firearms or firearms parts go uninspected, resulting in fewer firearms seizure, according to US and Caribbean officials.”
On the heels of last week’s report that three-quarters of businesses in The Bahamas have paid bribes routinely in order to get things done, it paints a bleak picture.
A gun runner brings a weapon into the country. An official takes a bribe. The gun goes undetected. It gets sold on. And someone on the streets uses it for yet another murder. And so the blood keeps being spilled.
Our government did join a lawsuit, filed by Mexico, to tackle the problem –but that case went nowhere fast.
The incoming Trump administration seems focused on less regulation rather than more – so we would not hold out much expectation of a clampdown from that side of the water. So what do we do?
These weapons are killing our young men in particular. They are killing our future.
We can start by making a decision not to tolerate the corruption that often exists in plain sight. No room for bribes. Maximum punishment for those who take them. No excuses. No matter how high the corruption goes. That should be across the board.
How many of us think that will really happen? How many think our authorities are minded to tackle that issue?
Until we do, we accept the criminals in our midst. Bribery feeds the chain of murder that haunts our streets. It is not a harmless crime. It should be dealt with accordingly.
Govt needs to discount properties
EDITOR, The Tribune. KINDly allow me space in your column to offer an opinion on the housing crisis in New Providence, according to Thursday’s November 7th Tribune. Having practiced real estate for the past 37 years and having spent nine of those years working for at that time the largest real estate developer in New Providence I believe I qualify to throw my hat in the ring so to speak.
Under the previous administration, I worked as a consultant in the department of housing on contract. At that time I believe the government was on the right course in that it was making it possible to own a lot by offering a 70 percent discount off the appraised value.This was perfect in that it allowed the financial institution to use the equity owned by the prospect towards his/her downpayment and closing costs for a pre-constructed home.The fact of the matter is the government owns hundreds, probably thousands of acres of crown land in New Providence.
For example, the government’s newest subdivision The Renaissance formerly known as Carmichael Estates has almost 400 lots. I am advised that those lots being sold for $80,000.00 to $85,000.00, part of the cost of a newly constructed home. If the government really wants to put a dent in the housing crisis it would
discount those lots by 70 percent. This would now enable hundreds of Bahamians to qualify for a home. The house and lot package price remains the same. The financial institution understands that it is an incentive for new homebuyers. That would make a hell of difference for many Bahamians. It is crown land. The government never paid a red-cent for it. And the 30% collected on the lot by the government should cover the cost of infrastructure. This can be done. It should be done for those hundreds of Bahamians who dream of owning a roof over their heads.I believe it is incumbent for the government to push those persons over the finish line. Because the government is in possession of thousands of acres of crown land, it may want to entertain the idea of assigning 25, 50, 75 or 100 acres to private home developers. With the understanding that when the land is developed, it will offer lots at 70 percent off the appraised value assuming the prospect is buying a new home. I can almost guarantee that this will enable hundreds of Bahamians to own a piece of the rock. The point is we need creative solutions to solve our housing crisis.
Madam Editor, if we continue with the status quo we will continue to get what we are getting.
According to the housing ministry, there are 12,000 applicants on file for homes. While that may be true, I believe only 20 percent will qualify for a home mortgage as it presently stands. As for the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation, they have lost their way a long time ago. They were created to help ‘the small man’. However, nowadays they are competing with the commercial banks. BMC’s interest rate ought to be in the ballpark of two percent. The down-payment should be five percent maximum or zero downpayment. These would enable many Bahamians to qualify for a home mortgage. In the USA, federal mortgage agencies provide mortgages with zero downpayment. This can work in The Bahamas if our desire to help is strong enough. Madam Editor, the question is, do we really want to help the single mothers? The less fortunate? I believe government has a duty too. And if they really care about putting a dent in the crisis it will happen! But it will take effort and focusness! And a commitment!
PATRICK STRACHAN New Providence November 17, 2024.
• Editor’s note: See story in Tribune Business.
Govt should tighten its economic belt
EDITOR, The Tribune.
THE time has long passed for Bahamians to sit back and take what is being shoved at us without voicing displeasure and frustration. Over the past week the daily headlines have been sending powerful messages as it relates to the ease of living a relatively comfortable lifestyle in The Bahamas.
It is becoming more and more difficult for the middle-class, with two incomes, to live, educate their children, have medical coverage and a house. We are being taxed more and more everyday while salaries seem to be at a standstill. This has not slowed the Prime Minister and his Government officials from traveling and spending. It is as if the Prime Minister set a goal of seeing the seven continents and the moon before his tenure is up and is completely oblivious, or just doesn’t care, what is happening around him.
The Blame Game seems to be the easiest to play in politics and so he blames the citizenry for the cost of living by saying it is based on personal choices. We have to really look like conchs.That statement was a slap in the face for every hardworking, sensible thinking Bahamian. Banks have made it difficult to do business with no regulation on fees by Central Bank and no intervention from the Ministry of Finance. VAT on breadbasket and
other essential items have taken a toll on the pocket, while the salary remains at a standstill. Electricity may soon become a luxury for some. There was a time when employers gave “Cost of living Increases” to their employees but due to increased taxes that they have to pay, that incentive has been abandoned.
Developers are making it difficult for the ordinary man to own a piece of land in Nassau with lots starting at $80K and $90K in new subdivisions. There is no such thing as “low Cost” Housing as these homes range from $165K to $195K. living is becoming more and more of a struggle and this administration seems to be clueless.
Crime is out of hand and there seems to be no effective plan to combat this monster. Domestic Violence is on the rise because of frustration and the lack of the ability to resolve conflict. Suicide and attempted suicide are becoming more frequent as persons see this as their way out. Come on Bahamians. We elected a Government that made so many promises to make our lives better and it seems as if we are not moving ahead, at least not all of us. It has nothing to do with our choice of eating pork chop rather than corned beef but rather on the failure of a Government to ease the burden and to implement initiatives for its lower and middle classed population.
Stop blaming us for your failures and lack of forward positive vision. Implementation of taxes is a lazy way to solve the country’s debts. Rather, effective ways to tighten the budget around travel and entertainment should be given priority. It is not necessary to make all of these trips and we are not seeing any benefits from them. The Foreign Affairs Envoys that are stationed in the various global zones should be more than capable of representing us at some levels and Cabinet and Junior Ministers are capable at some levels. This would greatly reduce the cost of travel for the Prime Minister and an entourage. As we approach the end of 2024 and the halfway mark of the fiscal budget, let us demand that our Government tighten its belt and channel funds from travel to other ministries such as health, national security and sustainable energy.
I am looking forward to hearing more voices on issues that matter. We are stronger when we stand together as Aquamarine, Gold and Black. We are Bahamians and we have a voice. let us be heard.
May God Bless our Bahamaland.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” Martin luther King, Jr. VANESSA A SCOTT, JP Nassau, November 14, 2024.
Picture of the day
WNBA basketball star Jonquel Jones greeted by proud Bahamians at an event in her honour of Saturday in Nassau.
Photo: Shequille Johnson
Bahamasair chairman optimistic amicable agreement will be reached with union
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMASAIR chair-
man Tanya Pratt said negotiations are continuing and expressed optimism about reaching an amicable agreement with the airline’s union regarding outsourcing ground handling services to Nassau Flight Services.
“We are still in negotiations, and at the end of the day, we are not doing anything unless everyone is pleased,” she said after
Bahamasair made an inaugural visit to Jamaica. “No one is going to be disenfranchised.”
The Airport Airline and Allied Workers Union (AAAWU) has threatened to file for a strike vote over Bahamasair’s decision to outsource ramp service agents to Nassau Flight Services. The union claims the move violates its industrial agreement and alleges that the airline owes significant salary increments to its members.
Ms Pratt noted Nassau Flight Services is the country’s primary groundhandling service provider. While Bahamasair also offers ground handling services, she said the government has mandated a merger of the two operations.
“Both entities,” she said, “are on government subventions, so why not merge? And so, we are still in negotiations and discussions. At the end of the day, we will come to some sort of amicable agreement, and then the
transfers will take place.”
AAAWU president Jewel Fountain voiced concerns that outsourcing ramp service agents could negatively impact their pension benefits.
Bahamasair’s pension fund is over $60 million, while Nassau Flight Services’ fund is only $6 million. The union does not want members disadvantaged by the move.
A meeting was held on July 15 between Bahamasair management and the union to discuss payouts owed to workers being
transferred. However, some ramp service agents have since received letters detailing the amounts they would be paid and were required to either sign a form agreeing to the transfer or face redundancy. Ms Fountain also claimed that Bahamasair had failed to process salary increments for years. She accused management of ignoring the union’s letters requesting the increments and copies of appraisal forms, alleging that hundreds of thousands of dollars are
owed to staff. The AAAWU’s last industrial agreement with Bahamasair was submitted to the Ministry of Labour on August 28, 2023. Currently, 48 Bahamasair ramp service agents stationed in Nassau, Exuma, and San Salvador could be affected by the outsourcing. Nassau Flight Services, a government-owned company, provides aircraft servicing and ramp handling for charter flights and airlines, including British Airways and JetBlue.
Bahamasair makes inaugural non-stop flight to Jamaica
By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net
PASSENGERS cheered as Bahamasair’s inaugural direct flight from New Providence to Montego Bay, Jamaica, landed, marking a new chapter in regional travel.
Upon arrival at Sangster International Airport, guests were welcomed with lively drum performances and dancers swaying to the beat. Jamaican officials greeted passengers with gift bags containing Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, dry rub seasoning, and bracelets in the country’s national colours.
A press conference followed at the airport to commemorate the launch of the direct flight, now available every Sunday and Thursday.
Tanya Pratt, chairman of Bahamasair, described the new route as a significant step in the airline’s efforts to transform its services.
Ms Pratt acknowledged challenges Bahamasair has experienced in the past, but said the Montego Bay route demonstrates the airline’s commitment to improving the air transport sector for its customers.
Ms Pratt told reporters the direct flight was only the beginning of the growing partnership with Jamaica. She said Montego Bay was chosen over Kingston as the starting location based on data that showed the location was more feasible.
The Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism, will actively
promote the new route.
Immigration and National Insurance Minister Alfred Sears, representing Minister of Tourism and Aviation Chester Cooper, highlighted the cultural and historical ties between The Bahamas and Jamaica. “As a destination and airline, we are both committed to increasing airlift from our key source markets while ensuring that visitor satisfaction is at its peak,” Mr Sears said. “We both aim to make it easier and more affordable for our visitors to get to us while seeking to offer the most memorable and authentic vacation experiences in our islands, we both aim to encourage to multi-jurisdictional tourism within the region.”
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, also praised the partnership, noting that the direct flights create greater connectivity for Caribbean countries with international airlines.
Officials emphasised that the collaboration between The Bahamas and Jamaica also marked a significant milestone for CARICOM, fostering economic integration among member states. Passengers were enthusiastic about the new route, with one Bahamian traveller describing the flight as “smooth sailing” and expressing a desire to visit Jamaica again. The flight between New Providence and Montego Bay takes one hour and 25 minutes. Tickets are currently priced at $526, with holiday promotions expected soon.
Transparency begins at home, or at least it should
By MALCOLM STRACHAN
IN 1938, a British play gave us a new word. The play was set in the 1880s and was about a man trying to drive his wife insane so he could steal from her. He would subtly dim the gas lights in their home when she was alone, but pretending everything was fine so she could not trust herself.
The word it has left us with is gaslighting – a form of manipulation, and frankly something that we see all too often these days in the global political landscape. That wall was built, honest, even though you couldn’t see it. You know the kind of thing.
What brings me to this?
Well, I read with some incredulity one of the speeches given by Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis during his visit to the COP29 meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Climate policy is front and centre at COP29 –and the previous meetings have been very positive for both Mr Davis and The Bahamas.
His previous speeches have drawn international attention to the potential future that we face – one where rising waters will make large sections of our nation uninhabitable and where we risk everincreasing damage from hurricanes. Mr Davis has been forthright, and his words have been listened to globally.
Now what the future of those talks will lead to with a climate change denying president headed for the White House is another matter – but
The Bahamas has been consistent in calling for action to deal with climate change, not just Mr Davis, but his predecessors too. It is a platform on which The Bahamas has been a leader. It is important to say that – because there
should be recognition of the good. When Mr Davis spoke this year, there was one particular thing he called for – transparency.
The context of that I’ll get to in a moment, but it is rich coming from Mr Davis to call
for transparency abroad while we see so little of it at home.
Mr Davis was speaking at the “Together Transparency opening event at Baku, and his speech was Celebrating the Transparency Journey”.
He said: “We stand at a crossroads where the price of inaction would fall on our children and grandchildren, and on communities that have contributed least to the problem, yet suffer its harshest impacts.”
He continued: “This is why transparency matters — why it is more than just a framework, but a fundamental tool in keeping us accountable and steadfast. Transparency builds trust and lays the groundwork for meaningful climate action. It helps track our successes, pinpoint areas for improvement, and keeps us on course to limit global warming. Without transparency, we risk losing both accountability and momentum.”
Mr Davis saluted those nations who have already submitted what are called Biennial Transparency Reports – countries such as Andorra, Guyana and Panama. Not us, as yet. He says that is in progress and “for us, transparency is a pledge to secure our future”.
He said: “Transparency is not merely a reporting requirement. It’s the backbone of real, lasting climate action. For countries, transparency means acknowledging where we stand and what we need.”
He added: “When we share openly and without hesitation, we create a legacy of trust and accountability that no political shift can undo.
“For countries, transparency means having the systems in place to set clear development goals, track progress, and make strategic adjustments when needed.
It empowers nations to monitor their own achievements, allocate resources wisely, and ensure that every action contributes directly to national priorities. Ultimately, transparency helps countries stay on course, providing the insights needed to make informed decisions and achieve meaningful results.
“For our young people, transparency is a beacon of hope. They look to us for certainty about their future. Transparency gives them something solid to believe in — a clear view of the progress and shortcomings in the fight for a livable planet.” He also noted how businesses benefit from transparency, saying “they need access to reliable data”.
Mr Davis also cited the need for non-governmental organisations to hold government to account as the “stewards of accountability”. He said: “Transparency provides them with the data to hold leaders, institutions, and companies accountable. It is their shield and their sword, allowing them to challenge us, push us, and keep us true to our word.”
This is all great. Fantastic. So why don’t we do it at home?
I have been banging this drum many times in this column – so it is particularly frustrating to hear talk of transparency on one hand and a lack of action on the other.
Back in August 2022, Mr Davis was pretty clear when he followed in the footsteps of the Perry Christie administration, of which Mr Davis was Deputy Prime Minister, in saying that campaign finance legislation was not one of his government’s priorities. It’s in their blueprint published on the campaign trail, just don’t
expect them to hold to their promise. How about the public disclosures required by law to be made by officials? Well, the US State Department noted the routine issuing of applications for extension to the deadline for those who were late to comply, and that there was no summary published of who did and did not declare or the amounts, and no sign of independent verification. For this year’s declarations, we still do not know if any parliamentarians broke the law – a law which has a punishment that can include jail time. It is treated with contempt.
Contract awards by the government are still not fully disclosed, it seems, leaving holes in which public money cannot be confidently said to be receiving value.
The recent Baha Mar court case revealed allegations of money being paid to a relative of a senior official for what a US judge said was to “curry favour”.
A review of the ruling was reportedly ordered by Mr Davis by the Attorney General. No sign of that yet. The whole ruling is online. Everyone can review it, the PM included. But apparently we have to wait.
How about Freedom of Information? The laws have been passed, the commission sits spinning its wheels with not enough funds to do a thing. It has been parked on purpose, with no sign of getting in motion any time soon.
So when our government talks about transparency, I say wonderful. Great. Fantastic. Let’s have some. You can start right here at home.
But don’t gaslight us by talking about how important transparency is when you don’t follow through even on your own pledges on the issue.
Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, on Wednesday, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP
Can parties break Global Stocktake stalemate?
As we inch closer to the end of COP29, a pressing question overshadows a critical component of the negotiations: Will parties overcome their divergent views on the UAE Dialogue, a crucial mechanism born out of the first Global stocktake cycle? The stalemate threatens to undermine the very essence of the Paris Agreement, particularly for the most vulnerable members, such as small Island Developing states (sIDs).
In the Caribbean, we have been constantly battered by successive super storms, like Hurricane Beryl, the latest attacker to dole devastating blows throughout the region, while the world looks on, seemingly indifferent to the special circumstances of sIDs worldwide.
The stalled progress on the UAE Dialogue has earned it the unfortunate descriptor as a mechanism in limbo. some parties have more skills and support for flexing the necessary muscles to continue holding out with their positions. Others are struggling with negotiator’s fatigue having achieved no progress on the matter at the subsidiary Body intersessional meetings (sBs) in Bonn months earlier.
The subsidiary bodies assist the UNFCCC governing bodies - the COP for the Convention, the CMP for the Kyoto Protocol and the CMA for the Paris Agreement - with organisational support and technical advice, areas crucially relevant for defining the modalities of the UAE dialogue and refining those of the Global stocktake in general.
There are two sBs. The subsidiary Body for Implementation (sBI) focuses on doing, that is implementing agreements and tracking parties’ progress. It is solely responsible for guiding the discussion around the UAE dialogue at this COP.
The subsidiary Body for scientific and Technological Advice (sBsTA) focuses on knowing, which is how it has the capacity to offer critical advice to parties in their various negotiations of text at annual meetings of the governing bodies. Both sBs are involved in the guidance for parties with regard
to refining the general Global stocktake process by addressing procedural and logistical elements.
The sBs host meetings with parties twice a year - at each COP and between the COPs, known as “intersessionals”. It was at this year’s intersessionals in June that parties were forced to accept that the UAE dialogue and other matters related to the Global stocktake would be further discussed at COP29 in Baku due to their inability to produce any draft texts. However, at this point parties seem to have found themselves in a worse situation than before.
I have been following the negotiations for the Global stocktake closely on behalf of the Bahamas delegation and in my understanding, at the heart of the impasse lies the UAE Dialogue’s scope, with parties unable to agree on its mandate.
Before we even got into the details of the divergence of ideas around scope the discussion started to drift off course. There was a moment early on where parties began to diverge on the meaning of scope and whether or not it is a modality which is what the informal consultation with the subsidiary Body for Implementation (sBI) was meant to focus on. The cofacilitators reminded parties that scope is a modality and therefore must be discussed.
Moving beyond that and listening to the various interventions being made by parties on behalf of their group alignments, the conflicting ideas are fated to continue butting heads. The divide is stark.
A finance-focused approach that aligns with the placement of the text in the agenda as a subitem under the item matters relating to finance is being supported by some members of the G77 + China group, particularly
the Like-minded Developing Countries (LMDC).
This placement alone was an area of contention that went unresolved well into the evening on the opening day of the conference, which hindered the adoption of the agenda costing technical delegations an entire day of critical negotiations.
The eventual resolution was a compromise which hinges precariously on a fatigue-induced footnote that seeks to clarify that the contested placement “does not prejudge the scope, outcomes, future placement, and any other matters related to this dialogue”. Although the agreement to adopt the agenda under these conditions finally got the informal consultations with the subsidiary bodies under way, little progress has been made since then.
The issue that developing countries who disagree with the finance-focused approach have is that such an approach limits the UAE Dialogue to tracking progress on the new collective quantified goal for climate finance, risking oversight of critical mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage efforts important for groups like AOsIs, the Alliance of small Island states.
Not to mention a weak goal, or no goal would then mean a weak dialogue or no dialogue which is unacceptable for the most vulnerable parties in the room.
This divergence strangely places the most vulnerable groups under G77 + China at odds with others in their negotiating group yet can be seen as aligning them with developed countries who support a broad implementation approach. However, the position of the developed countries is just as problematic for sIDs and other groups because
it could potentially dilute the financial responsibilities developed countries should have in the second GsT cycle.
Considering this, a hybrid approach that aims to balance finance with clear directives on means of implementation for the three thematic areas of adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage was proposed by those developing countries that felt misrepresented in either position and has been echoed by groups like AOsIs, AILAC, and LDCs in an effort to inspire compromise that leads to consensus on the issue. However, the parties that need to be ‘wined and dined’ to achieve this crucial compromise are notorious for sticking to a strict negotiator’s diet - especially when “matters relating to finance” are on the table.
This conundrum brings us back to the original question: can parties break the Global stocktake stalemate?
The short answer, according to the AOsIs representative Ann Rasmussen from samoa: they better! At the closing session of week 1 Rasmussen criticizsed the limited progress made on the dialogue:
“For [small Island Developing states], we cannot consider this COP a success if there is no opportunity to advance on what we have agreed last year in the [global stocktake]. Efforts [on] this have been blocked across agenda items. We are being invited to engage in a collective amnesia when what we need at this time is to strengthen individual and collective action,”
The bottom line is that small islanders can’t afford to waste any more time, energy, or money engaging with fruitless negotiations
that always seem to boil down to unfulfilled promises. Our islands are being swallowed up by the seas that once sustained us. This crisis does not only induce physical & economic damage within our countries. It is also emotionally and psychologically detrimental to our people and to our cultures.
Vulnerable parties are forced to hold out until our positions are met with serious consideration and significant compromise from other parties on both sides of the divide. Climate change has compromised us enough. We should be the ones guiding the negotiations rather than being strong armed or stalled into submission on text that don’t reflect the vulnerabilities we struggle with on a daily basis.
Despite the divergence in the negotiation rooms there remains hope thanks to the many youth negotiators present at COP29 this year who are engaging not only with their party delegations but with other young negotiators from other delegations as well.
This is especially true of the young negotiators from the European Union who welcomed other young negotiators from all regions, negotiating groups and tracks to an event that allowed for collaborative discussions within specific track huddles and as a wider group.
Here are some of their thoughts on the modalities of the UAE dialogue coming out of that event where they benefited from those diverse perspectives in the room.
“We believe that:
• We need a space to follow up on the implementation of the GsT outcomes that are not covered by
other agenda items or work programmes, especially the energy-related paragraphs.
• It should provide a space to enhance collaboration and opportunities in implementing the GsT outcomes.
• By providing a platform for exchange on best practices, barriers and including means of implementation, the GsT [Dialogue] can allow for bottom-up approaches to complement the top-down approach in implementing the GsT” The efforts of youth negotiators in this COP as they attempt to best contribute to progress on the texts that best fulfill the needs of all parties involved in these discussions are truly inspiring and a testament to the value of having the youth voice present in these spaces.
In this second week of COP29 various draft texts will be moved up to the ministerial level in hopes of a final decision. By the close of week 1 no text had been drafted for “sBI 61 agenda item 5b Modalities of the United Arab Emirates dialogue on implementing the global stocktake outcomes, referred to in paragraph 97 of decision 1/CMA.5”. Which probably means parties won’t see this stalemate resolved for at least another seven months until they convene again in June at the Bonn intersessional climate meetings.
• Please stay tuned for upcoming articles from COP29 where I will be exploring the significance of decisions at COP29 for Caribbean sIDs as a Climate Tracker Caribbean COP29 Journalism Fellow. You can also get further updates from Baku by following @bccya.242 and @ climatetrackercaribbean on Instagram or by visiting the UNFCCC official website.
Jervon SandS
anne Rasmussen of Samoa said some countries are trying to erase the achievements of the Dubai COP.
Photo: Kiara Worth/UNFCCC
an activiSt holds a megaphone that says silenced during a demonstration at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, on Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo: rafiq Maqbool/AP
UB North: Inspiring change and a new wave of environmental stewardship
In Grand Bahama, an island repeatedly battered by devastating hurricanes, a new wave of environmental stewardship is gaining momentum, led by the University of The Bahamas north (UB north). With a growing emphasis on sustainability, UB north is equipping students to confront climate change head-on and help shape a resilient future for The Bahamas.
While global leaders deliberated last week at COP29 in Azerbaijan, calling for urgent climate action, UB north students and faculty were already putting that resolve into practice. Among them is Marine Science major Alejandro Moncur, who sees the challenge of sustainability not as a burden but as a thrilling opportunity.
“It feels rather interesting and exciting,” said Moncur. “Some may find it terrifying when thinking that it’s up to our generation to influence a change in sustainability for the future, but my perspective is that I view the matter as an intriguing challenge.
“I know our generation is filled with capable people, environmental advocates, conservationists and much more. I am an environmental advocate and I will continue to fight for a sustainable future, so I find the matter
GAIN AN EDGE
A NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
as an exciting opportunity to make a difference.”
Alejandro is one of many young Bahamians driven by a shared purpose: ensuring the nation adopts global best practices for sustainable
development as outlined in the United nations’ 2030 Agenda. Hurricane Dorian, the catastrophic Category 5 storm that devastated Grand Bahama and Abaco in 2019, was
a stark reminder of the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like The Bahamas. The storm, which left entire communities in ruins and claimed scores of lives, underscored
the urgent need for expertise and action in disaster management, climate resilience, and sustainable development.
Dr Ancellino Davis, assistant professor, environmental science and faculty programmes coordinator at the UB north Field Station, is helping to cultivate a new cadre of environmental stewards.
Through the “Sustainability and Environmental Science” course that he teaches, Dr Davis is nurturing a generation of students who see themselves as part of the solution.
“They are passionate about their country and their island and they take ownership. Most of them want to be a part of the solution,” Dr Davis said.
“My personal desire is to see that no Bahamian student has to leave The Bahamas to study our native environment and that UB n orth students do not have to move from Grand Bahama to complete their environmental science or SIS degrees. I feel they are achievable goals and I already have had the opportunity to support some students on their path to individual success.”
UB north’s leadership is equally focused on creating world-class facilities for students. The planned restoration of the facility
in East Grand Bahama that was damaged in Hurricane Dorian is a crucial step that Dr Davis welcomes.
“This will give researchers a location to work on the problems we face while surrounded by the impacts. Climate change is palpable there, and I feel it will strengthen the work.
“The Small Island Studies team at the university is working to create more intimate relationships with the Bahamas national Trust, Coral Vita, Waterkeepers Bahamas and other partners to showcase our natural history and connect students directly with the content they see in class.”
As hurricanes grow more intense and climate change accelerates, the stakes for The Bahamas are higher than ever. UB north is leading the charge to develop the knowledge, expertise, and solutions needed to address these challenges.
• “ Gain An Edge” is a collaboration of Lyford Cay Foundations, the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute and the University of The Bahamas aimed at promoting a national dialogue on issues surrounding education. To share your thoughts, email gainanedge@tribunemedia. net.
Lyford Cay Foundations announce 32 new scholarships for Bahamians
LyFOrD Cay Founda-
tions has announced the awarding of 32 new scholarships to Bahamians, all studying at universities around the world.
reflecting global trends, the Foundations noted an increase in the number of students seeking to pursue degrees and certifications in STEM fields including artificial intelligence, computer information systems, data sciences, engineering and related fields.
Chairman of Lyford Cay Foundation Inc Basil Goulandris said: “Lyford Cay Foundations’ vision is that every Bahamian is empowered to reach his or her full potential. Awarding scholarship is one way that that Lyford Cay Foundations supports Bahamians as they work toward their academic dreams. We believe that higher education is as an important pathway to national development.”
Through an independent screening process, the Foundations selected students from a strong group of candidates who applied through Lyford Cay Foundations’ Scholarship Portal.
Executive director Dr nicola Virgill-rolle said: “We are pleased to see students pursuing areas of study that will help to address the national skills gap. Because of a commitment to post-secondary education, we will have more trained professionals returning to The Bahamas to contribute in areas where their skills are in high demand.”
Mary Filippelli-Hall, chairman of the Canadian Lyford Cay Foundation, said: “Many of the scholarship recipients are the first in their families to attend college. Students receiving Lyford Cay Foundations scholarships are among the best and the brightest. We are pleased to open doors to assist talented Bahamians in pursuing their dreams and impacting the country.”
In total, Lyford Cay Foundations is investing nearly $1m in scholarships for 74 new and returning scholars.
The 2024 Lyford Cay Foundation Scholars are: Graduate Awards:
• Quinn Brown, Master of Arts in Qualitative Management in Business Administration
- Specialiszation in Artificial Intelligence, University of Fredericton, Canada, nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board Award
• Nina Bullard, Master of Arts in Information Technology: Digital Media, Carleton University, Canada, Thomson Leadership and Innovation Award
• Giovanni Clarke, Doctorate in Musical Arts
– Wind Band Conducting, University of Maryland School of Music, USA, Harry C Moore Memorial Scholarship in the Arts
• Cydne Coleby, Master of Fine Arts in Painting, Bard College, USA, Harry C Moore Memorial Scholarship in the Arts
• Ka’Lon Duncanson, Master of Arts in Managerial Economics/ Economic Development, The University of Southern Mississippi, USA, The Sir Godfrey Kenneth Kelly Graduate Scholarship
• Anfernee Duncombe, Master of Science in Business Analytics, Midwestern State University, USA, Bahamas resilience and Excellence Graduate Award
• Abigail Knowles, Master of Economics, Lisbon University, Portugal, Contigo Foundation Scholarship
• Kriston Clarke, Master of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA, Sir John Templeton Memorial Award
• Leandra Moonsammy, Doctorate in Mathematics, University of Georgia, USA, Sir John Templeton Memorial Award
• John Henderson, Master of Science, national resources Management, University of the West Indies, Jamaica, Contigo Foundation Scholarship
• Vania Russell, Master of Arts in Public Health (Climate Change & Human Health), University of Alberta, Canada, Thomson Leadership & Innovation Award
• Fredricka Saunders, Doctorate in Education: Institutional Effectiveness, north Dakota State University, USA, Sir John Templeton Memorial Award
• Miah Sears, Master of Arts in Education & Society (Thesis), McGill University, Bahamas resilience and Excellence Graduate Award
• Krishon Walker, Master of Arts in Business Administration in Managerial Consulting, University of Ottawa, Canada, Thomson Leadership and Innovation Award
Undergraduate Awards
• Megan Deal, Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, University of Toronto, Canada, Loretta Anne rogers Award
• Azariah Delancy, Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, Kettering University, USA, LCF Undergraduate Award
• D’Alo Farrington, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (Hons), networking & IT Security, Ontario Technical
University, Canada, Bahamas resilience and Excellence Undergraduate Award
• Shannon Fawkes, Bachelor of Science in Biology, Howard University, USA, LCF Undergraduate Award
• Judah Knowles, Bachelor of Science in Computer & Information Science, University of Central Arkansas, USA, Loretta rogers Memorial Scholarship
• Donnico Miller, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Mississippi State University, USA, Estelle Siebens Excellence Scholarship
• Mia Moss, Bachelor of Science in Baking and Pastry Arts, Johnson & Wales University’s Providence Campus, USA, nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board Award
• Akeem Palmer, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Lakehead University, Canada, Loretta rogers Memorial Scholarship
• Elliott Rahming, Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering, University of Guelph, Canada, Edward S. rogers Award
• Kevano Seymour, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, University of Prince Edward Island, Bahamas resilience and Excellence Undergraduate Award
• Antoinae Smith, Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering, University of Delaware, USA, LCF Undergraduate Award
• Tashae Brown, Bachelor of Science in Marketing,
Hollins University, USA, nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board Award, Marketing Technical Awards
• Stanley Bain, Bachelor of Science in Sound Engineering, University of West London, United Kingdom, TK Foundation Technical Scholarships Award
• Dwanikah Bartlett, Associate of Science in Medical Laboratory Technician, Keiser University, USA, TK Foundation Technical Scholarships Award
• Ophir Neymour, Diploma (Advanced) in Film and TV Production, Humber College, Canada, TK Foundation Technical Scholarship Award
• Keishawn Roye, Postgraduate Certificate in Cardiac Sonography, Duke University, USA, LCF Technical Training and Vocational Award
• Geordinell Thurston, Diploma in Medical Support Services, Holland College, Canada, Bahamas resilience and Excellence Technical Award
• Jayda Bowe, Associates of Science in Software Engineering and Web Development, new England Institute of Technology, USA, TK Foundation Technical Scholarships Award
Dr Ancellino Davis (far left) poses for a photograph with some of his ecology students before exploring various sandy shore, urban, and coppice forest environments.
Dr Ancellino Davis (in foreground wearing the hat) pauses for a selfie with some of his ecology students while studying practice field methods for environmental monitoring earlier this year.
Diovante Bain (left) (Lyford Cay Foundations Scholar ‘22) and Samia Thompson (Lyford Cay Scholar ‘23) are two of 74 students who are currently pursuing their college dreams with the support of Lyford Cay Foundations.
PACE Foundation awards twelve ‘Hidden Heroes’
TWELVE people have been named as Hidden Heroes for their contributions to their communities.
The award comes from the PACE Foundation as part of Character Day. Four educators, four community leaders, two students, and two corporate champions have been recognised.
Newly appointed PACE Foundation president Claudette Rolle, who has worked on the board for the past eight years, said: “We chose Peace Begins Me as this year’s theme so that we’re in synergy with others who wish a more peaceful world, and our website offers tools and educational information to support those goals.”
The PACE Foundation hosts Character Day to underscore the importance of forming young people and communities with positive self-worth.
PACE (Providing Access to Continued Education), an alternative school for teen mothers, began Character Day as a vehicle to assist in equipping young people with the tools needed to make better decisions, especially as they relate to the prevention of teen pregnancy. In its ninth year, the programme, which has impacted students, educators, guidance counsellors and human resource professionals, continues to focus on traits that foster respect of self, community building, love of country, peace and the celebration of Hidden Heroes within our midst.
Programme coordinator Charlene Carey said: “Peace truly begins with each of us, and this year’s theme is a strong call to action. The public nominated 113 peacemakers with character strengths like kindness, empathy, respect, courage, and resilience.”
The youngest heroes are students - Kendia Brown is 13 and attends grade nine at LN Coakley High School in Exuma.
Pauljamah Smith is nine and attends grade six at Clara E Evans Primary School in North Andros. Kendia is recognised as a peace ambassador and is involved with service. She was described as someone who assists and uplifts others, embodies exceptional leadership and selflessness, and is also a Spelling Bee champ. Pauljamah is said to exemplify kindness, humility, and courage. He founded the “I Am Royal Foundation” two years ago to promote safety, love, and inclusion. He serves lunch to peers and raises awareness about the dangers of drugs. His nominator was impressed with his kindness, humility, and role as a “champion of peace”.
Educators Latara Archer, a special education teacher at the Ministry of Education, Lakiesha Cox of Eva Hilton Primary School, Sharleen Hanson of Boost Academy and Lisa Hutchinson of SC McPherson Jr High have been recognised.
Latara Archer is a community champion and dedicated advocate for differently abled students. She creates individualised educational programmes that address their unique needs.
Lakiesha Cox, an educator for more than 14 years, is a published author of “Dear Parents and
Guardians: A Teacher Vent Book for Teachers by a Teacher.”
Sharleen Hanson is a literacy advocate and director of the school she established. Her advocacy includes supporting underserved communities, maternal
mistress at Lewis Yard Primary School in Grand Bahama.
Eleanor Archer-Dean was described as a pillar of compassion. After 35 years at the national airline, she is now retired. Her nominee said Eleanor embodies generosity and kindness - she goes above and beyond to support those in need with meals, clothing and shelter, often taking in individuals with financial hardships. She is known in her community for her unwavering kindness and humility.
Rhashanna Curry has transformed lives through community service projects and initiatives. She raised funds for a nineyear-old sickle cell patient, taught students how to protect their brains through Brain Health advocacy, and supported healthcare professionals at Rand Memorial Hospital. She also collaborated with organisations to raise funds for cancer patients, gave lectures at a local college, and operated a tutoring programme. Her empathetic nature fosters meaningful connections and collaboration, exemplifying the qualities of a Hidden Hero through her selfless dedication to education and community service.
Louby Georges is a passionate human rights activist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur focused on social justice and peacebuilding. He advocates for equality, justice and empowerment, working tirelessly to create positive change.
Sharon McKenzie is a “Hidden Hero” known for her tireless advocacy and empowerment of youth through her organisation Dynamic Youth in Action. Her work at her alma mater, Columbus Primary, has inspired countless students. Her innovative programme, “Open Box Session,” offers a safe space for youth to express themselves and develop life skills.
Lisa Gardiner embodies resilience and compassion. Despite recently undergoing an amputation, she returned to teaching with unwavering passion. Described as a “phenomenal teacher with a great spirit,” Lisa promoted the “Peace Begins with Me” campaign and also raised awareness about the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities.
Rosheeda Rolle is a team player who goes above and beyond her duties. With strong problem-solving skills, she finds innovative solutions to challenges and fosters a positive, supportive environment for everyone.
Four community leaders and two corporate Hidden Heroes with those ideals are Eleanor Archer-Dean, a retired Bahamasair veteran; Rhashanna Curry, a project coordinator of the
health and breastfeeding, inclusion, and human rights. Lisa Hutchinson is an exceptional educator described as innovative, tech-savvy, motivational, and caring. Some of her accomplishments include establishing student clubs that promote school pride, cleanliness and entrepreneurial skills.
Sunset Pilot Club of Grand Bahama; Louby Georges, a human rights defender, and Sharon McKenzie, a youth leader at the Ministry of Education: including corporate hidden heroes Lisa Gardiner, an educator at DW Davis High School, and Rosheeda Rolle, senior
The foundation said: “Peace is a fundamental precondition for social and economic development. Without peace, societies are often plagued by conflict, violence, and instability, which can hinder progress and result in the loss of lives and resources. (UN Sustainable Development Goals). The PACE Foundation encourages you to consider how you can contribute to developing a peaceful society.” Supported by the Templeton World Charity Foundation Inc, Character Day Bahamas is part of the PACE Foundation’s work. For more information on Character Day Bahamas, please visit www.characterdaybahamas.org.
Kendia Brown Student Grade 9 - CoaKley hiGh SCool
Pauljamah Smith Student Grade 6 - Clara evanS Primary
Man charged for huyler Street fatal S tabbing
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was remanded in custody on Friday accused of the fatal stabbing of a 57-year-old man on Huyler Street last week.
Senior Magistrate Kendra Kelly arraigned Jonathon Bowleg, 41, on murder.
The defendant allegedly stabbed Jeffrey Burrows in the upper body at his home on November 10.
Just hours before the murder, neighbours of the deceased reportedly heard an argument followed by a fight between the victim and a man who was known to him.
Bowleg appeared before the magistrate with his arm in a sling.
The defendant was informed that his matter would proceed to the Supreme Court through a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).
Bowleg will be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until his VBI is served on January 24, 2025.
t wo teenS accuSed of near-fatal S tabbing
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
TWO 18-year-old boys were remanded in custody on Friday after being accused of a near-fatal stabbing on Huyler Street last week. The victim in this case was also arraigned for a separate murder.
Senior Magistrate Algernon Allen, Jr, arraigned Labron Burrows and Troy Rolle on charges of attempted murder.
The defendants allegedly stabbed 41-year-old Jonathon Bowleg multiple times in the head and upper body at his residence around 8.30am on November 10.
Bowleg was successfully treated for his injuries at the hospital.
In a separate case, Bowleg, 41, was arraigned before Senior Magistrate Kendra Kelly on a murder charge. He is accused of fatally stabbing 57-year-old Jeffrey Burrows in the upper body at a Huyler Street residence on November 10.
The teens were informed that their case would be transferred to the Supreme Court through a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).
Labron Burrows and Troy Rolle will be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until their VBIs are served, potentially on February 28, 2025.
Wilver Deleveaux represented Burrows, while Mark Penn represented Rolle.
guilty plea get S M an one year jail tiMe
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was sentenced to one year in prison after admitting to breaking into a residence in New Providence earlier this year.
Senior Magistrate Kara Turnquest Deveaux arraigned Giovanni Sweeting, 32, on a housebreaking charge on Friday.
The defendant was accused of breaking into a residence on May 11.
After pleading guilty to the charge and expressing remorse for his actions, he was sentenced to one year at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
Sweeting was informed of his right to appeal the sentence within seven days.
Munroe cautions graduates against corruption at RBPF passing out event
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
ONE hundred recruits graduated from the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s training programme in a ceremony on Friday. Family and friends cheered at the Police Training College for the 72 men and 28 women of the A, B, and C squad. The cohort received six months of training in
general police duties, criminal law, traffic investigation, and defensive tactics. The ceremony had a rocky start as one recruit collapsed and received medical attention. Eventually, the recruit appeared to rejoin his fellow officers. While they made a small portion of the cohort, the female recruits received five of the six recruit awards. National Security
Minister Wayne Munroe encouraged the recruits to steer clear of the vices that have tarnished many law enforcement agencies worldwide.
“Corruption, whether in small or large forms, erodes public trust, and trust is the foundation of effective policing,” he said. “Every decision you make in uniform reflects not just on you but on the entire Royal Bahamas Police Force. It reflects on
the government and the people of The Bahamas.
Upholding your integrity will earn you the respect of your community and set a standard for those who follow.
Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander repeated the advice to use other officers’ mistakes to avoid negative pitfalls.
“This is not just a job,” he said. “It is a calling, a commitment to service. You have taken an oath
to serve, to place the safety and security of your community above your needs and to uphold the principles that guide this noble profession you’re training has prepared you for many of the challenges that lie ahead.” Friday’s graduation ceremony came after the passing out ceremony of 66 men and 30 women of squads D, E, and F at the Grand Bahama Sport Complex last week.
NatioNal Security Minister Wayne Munroe inspects graduates of the Royl Bahamas Police Force’s training programme during the passing out ceremony held on Friday.
Photos: Nikia Charlton
Biden: Nobody can reverse US progress on clean energy
MANAUS Associated Press
Joe Biden witnessed the devastation of drought up close as the first sitting American president to visit the Amazon rainforest Sunday, declaring that nobody can reverse “the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America” even as the incoming Trump administration is poised to scale back efforts to combat climate change.
The massive Amazon region, which is about the size of Australia, stores huge amounts of the world’s carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas driving climate change. But development is rapidly depleting the world’s largest tropical rainforest, and rivers are drying up.
Biden said the fight against climate change has been a defining cause of his presidency — he’s pushed for cleaner air, water and energy, including legislation that marked the most substantial federal investment in history to fight global warming.
But he’s about to hand the nation over to Republican President-elect
Donald Trump, who is highly unlikely to prioritise the Amazon or anything related to climate change, which he’s cast as a “hoax.”
Trump has pledged to again pull out of the Paris agreement, a global pact forged to avert the threat of catastrophic climate change, and he says he’ll rescind unspent funds in energy efficiency
legislation.
“It’s true, some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America,”
Biden said from a podium set up on a sandy forest bed, flanked by huge tropical ferns. “But nobody, nobody can reverse it, nobody — not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits.”
The question now, he said, is “which government will stand in the way and which will seize the enormous opportunity.”
His trip comes as the UN climate conference is underway in Azerbaijan. Brazil will hold the talks next year.
During a helicopter tour, Biden saw severe erosion, ships grounded in one of the Amazon River’s main tributaries and fire damage. He also passed over a wildlife refuge for endangered species of monkeys and birds and the expansive waters where the Negro River tributary flows into the Amazon. He was joined by Carlos Nobre, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and expert on how climate change is harming the Amazon.
Biden met indigenous leaders — introducing his daughter and granddaughter — and visited a museum at the gateway to the Amazon where indigenous women shook maracas as apart of a welcoming ceremony. He then signed a US proclamation designating Nov. 17 as International Conservation Day.
As talks in Baku cross the
DISTRACTIoNS were bigger than deals in the first week of United Nations climate talks, leaving a lot to be done, especially on the main issue of money.
In week one, not a lot of progress was made on the issue of how much money rich countries should pay to developed ones to move away from dirty fuels and how to cope with rising seas and temperatures and pay for damage already caused by climate-driven extreme weather. But more is expected when government ministers fly in for week two to handle the hard political dealmaking at the negotiations — known as CoP29 — in Baku, Azerbaijan. Countries remain about a trillion dollars a year apart in the big number to be settled.
“All the developing countries look very united behind $1.3 trillion. That’s not a ceiling. That’s what they want. That’s what they think they need,” said Debbie Hillier, policy lead at Mercy Corps. “The US and Canada are constantly talking about a floor of $100 billion.... So you’ve got $100 billion at one end and $1.3 trillion” on the other end.
While poor countries have come up with a number for the total final package, the rich donor nations have assiduously avoided giving a total, choosing to pick a figure late in the bargaining game, Hillier said.
“The intention of developed countries to really come clean and show commitment is missing,” said Harjeet Singh, global engagement director for
The US president leaned into the symbolism of his trip, saying the Amazon might be the “lungs of the world,” but “in my view, our forest and national wonders are the heart and soul of the world. They unite us. They inspire us to make us proud of our countries and our heritage.”
The Amazon is home to Indigenous communities and 10% of earth’s biodiversity. About twothirds of the Amazon lies within Brazil. Scientists say its devastation poses a catastrophic threat to the planet.
During brief remarks from the forest, Biden sought to highlight his commitment to the preservation of the region. He said the US was on track to reach $11 billion in spending on international climate financing in 2024, a sixfold increase from when he started his term. Poorer nations struggling with rising seas and other effects of climate change say the US and other wealthier nations have yet to fulfil their pledges to help.
“The fight to protect our planet is literally a fight for humanity,” he said.
Biden’s administration announced plans last year for a $500 million contribution to the Amazon Fund, the most significant international cooperation effort to preserve the rainforest, primarily financed by Norway.
The US has said it has provided $50 million, and the White House
announced Sunday an additional $50 million contribution.
Biden’s trip was significant, but “we can’t expect concrete results from this visit,” said Suely Araújo, former head of the Brazilian environmental protection agency and public policy coordinator with the nonprofit Climate observatory.
She doubts that a “single penny” will go to the Amazon Fund once Trump is in the White House.
The Biden administration touted a series of new efforts aimed at bolstering the Amazon and stemming the impact of climate change.
That includes the launch of a finance coalition looking to spur at least $10 billion in public and private investment for land restoration and ecofriendly economic projects by 2030 as well as a $37.5 million loan to support the large-scale planting of native tree species on degraded grasslands in Brazil.
The Amazon has been suffering under two years of historic drought that have dried up waterways, isolated thousands of river communities and hindered riverine dwellers’ ability to fish. It’s also made way for
wildfires that have burned an area larger than Switzerland and choked cities near and far with smoke.
When Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office last year, he signalled a shift in environmental policy from his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro prioritised agribusiness expansion over forest protection and weakened environmental agencies, prompting deforestation to surge to a 15-year high.
Lula has pledged “zero deforestation” by 2030, though his term runs through 2026. Forest loss in Brazil’s Amazon dropped by 30.6% in the 12 months through July from a year earlier, bringing deforestation to its lowest level in nine years, official data released last week said.
In that 12-month span, the Amazon lost 6,288 square kilometres (2,428 square miles), roughly the size of the US state of Delaware. But that data fails to capture the surge of destruction this year, which will only be included in next year’s reading.
Despite the success in curbing Amazon deforestation, Lula’s government has been criticized by environmentalists for backing
projects that could harm the region, such as paving a highway that cuts from an old-growth area and could encourage logging, oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River and building a railway to transport soy to Amazonian ports.
While Biden is the first sitting president in the Amazon, former President Theodore Roosevelt travelled to the region with the help of the American Museum of Natural History following his 1912 loss to Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt, joined by his son and naturalists, traversed roughly 15,000 miles, and the former president fell ill with malaria and suffered a serious leg infection after a boat accident.
Biden is making the Amazon visit as part of a six-day trip to South America, the first to the continent of his presidency. He travelled from Lima, Peru, where he took part in the annual Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation summit and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
After his stop in Manaus, he was heading to Rio de Janeiro for this year’s Group of 20 leaders summit.
halfway point, nations are no closer to a goal on cash for
the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.
“They have not uttered a single word on what the (final total) is going to be which is very disturbing.” especially when it comes to this total, United Nations Climate Secretary Simon Stiell said, “negotiations on key issues need to be moving much faster.”
“What’s at stake here in Baku,” Stiell said, is “nothing less than the capacity to halve emissions this decade and protect lives and livelihoods from spiralling climate impacts.”
Climate talks run on ‘brinkmanship’ At the moment, the sides are far away, which is sort of normal for this stage.
The technical details that are worked out by negotiators now have to give way to the bigger, harder number decisions made by climate and finance ministers to make more political
decisions, said Ani Dasgupta, president of World Resources Institute.
“Member states have not moved and parties have not moved as expeditiously as they need to do,” said United Nations environment Programme executive Director Inger Andersen. “This is causing frustration. I understand that. So the answer is to push and push more and ensure that we land where we need to land.” Andersen said it’s not smart to judge where countries will end up after just one week. Things change. It’s the nature of how negotiations are designed, experts said.
That’s how it usually goes.
“CoP works on brinkmanship,” said Avinash Persaud, a special climate adviser at the Inter-American Development Bank. “CoP works on the fear of
us not reaching agreement in the end, which makes the process appear chaotic from the outside.”
Ministers will also be consulting with their bosses half a world away and seven hours behind at the Group of 20 countries — the G20 — in Brazil from Monday. The G20 is comprised of the world’s richest nations, who are also responsible for 77% of planet-heating gases being spewed.
eyes are on the CoP president Usually, the second week is when the CoP president takes over and pushes sides together for a deal. Different negotiations’ presidents have different styles. Last year’s president used sharp elbows to get things done, upsetting some people. That’s not the style of this year’s CoP29 President Mukhtar Babayev.
“What I see with Mukhtar is that he uses a gentle presence, a degree of humility in his very presence,” Andersen said.
But Mohamed Adow, of the think tank Power
Shift Africa said “the presidency is not giving any hope for how he will help the world strike the right compromises.”
Babayev struck an optimistic tone in a statement to The Associated Press on how things are looking at the halfway point.
“We have made good progress in the first week. We’re feeling positive but there is still much work to do,” Babayev said. “Success does not depend on one country or party alone – it requires all of us.”
At the talks’ first week, there were many distractions
Much of the news from the talks’ first weeks came from outside the negotiation rooms.
Host country president Ilham Aliyev triggered a few distractions himself. His combative welcome speech not only blasted neighbour Armenia and western mainstream media, but he called oil and gas — chief causes of climate change a “gift from the Gods.”
And then he got into a verbal spat with France, prompting the environment minister to pull out from the talks.
Argentina called its delegation home in what may be a preview for the rightwing ruled country pulling out of the Paris climate agreement.
At the same time, a letter signed by a former United Nations secretary-general and ex-top climate negotiators called for dramatic reform of the
climate action
talks. But several authors said the letter was being misinterpreted.
Activists blasted the talks as being too wedded to fossil fuels, citing Aliyev’s comments, the fact that Azerbaijan is a big oil producer and that more than 1,700 people connected to the fossil fuel industry were part of the negotiations.
A sense of optimism, but not urgency
Some top leaders already at the climate talks expressed “cautious optimism” but added that the larger goal of climate talks should be front and center next week.
“We need to keep 1.5 alive,” said Alliance of Small Island States Chair Cedric Schuster referring to the climate goal set nine years ago at the Paris climate talks to keep global heating to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial times.
Schuster, who is also the environment minister of Samoa, a Pacific island impacted by rising seas, added that “discussions are progressing, and we hope to get there.”
Sehr Raheja from New Delhi-based Centre for Science and environment said countries have gone for the “lowest hanging fruit so far” and said developed nations “will have to engage in good faith on the issues of total money needed” if there’s a chance of getting a strong outcome.
Climate Analytics Ceo Bill Hare called for more urgency from the talks.
“Despite the recent devastation the world has experienced and the soaring rise in temperatures, the urgency really hasn’t yet been felt here in Baku,” he said.
President Joe Biden speaks following a tour of the Museu da Amazonia, yesterday in Manaus, Brazil.
Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
ACtivists participate in a demonstration for climate finance during the COP29 UN Climate Summit, on Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Photo: rafiq Maqbool/AP
Magic, Knights GSSSA volleyball champions
By TENAJH SWEETING
The Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) Volleyball Championships is now in the history books with the Government High School Magic and CR Walker Knights closing out the season as the senior school champions.
The senior girls of Government High School (GHS) came up short in their bid to win the crown last season but one season later they defeated the pennant winning CI Gibson Rattlers 2-1 in the best-of-three championship series.
Over in the senior boys’ division, the fourth seeded CR Walker Knights fought tooth and nail to down the defending champions CI Gibson Rattlers 2-1 in their series on Friday at the DW Davis Gymnasium.
Senior Girls
The final game of the do-or-die championship series lived up to its name in both divisions on Friday evening. The Government High School Magic gave it all they had against the CI Gibson Rattlers in the final two games of the series after coming up short in game one.
The Rattlers took charge of the first set 25-21 but the Magic recovered 25-15 in the following set. In the
‘Courtyard Brawl’ set for this Friday
By TENAJH SWEETING
Reporter
LOCAL boxing fans can expect an exciting night of action at the “Courtyard Brawl”, dubbed the boxing showcase of the year, at the Fusion Superplex Courtyard this Friday starting at 7pm. The night will feature a stacked card that includes two teams, six competitive matches and 12 fighters vying for bragging rights and hardware.
Tommy Stubbs, event organiser of Bahamas Events & Sports (BES), talked about the partnership with Fusion Superplex and outlined his expectations for the boxing showdown.
“On behalf of Bahamas Events & Sports, we appreciate Fusion Superplex for believing in this sporting event and for hosting Courtyard Brawl at its beautiful facilities. In preparation for Friday’s fight night, I witnessed the fighters in training and can
truly say they’re focused and ready to battle.
Trainers Ronn Rodgers, of Strikers Boxing Club, Johnny Hernandez, of Beachfront Boxing & MMA and Valentino Knowles, of Yellow Elder Boxing Club, are commended for their work and expertise in getting their fighters prepared.
“These young and upcoming fighters deserve our support and encouragement, especially those fighters who are in pursuit of professional boxing
NATIONAL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY THE Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture has officially launched National Sports Month. November will feature various sporting activities and events to celebrate Sports Month. The National Hall of Fame Induction ceremony is set for 6:30pm on November 22 at the Baha Mar resort. The festivities began with a church service at St Barnabas Church on November 3. And the prestigious National Sports Awards was held at the Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium on November 9. TEE-OFF FOR HUNGER THE Bahamas Feeding Network is scheduled to host its 3rd annual Tee-off For Hunger on December 9 with Fidelity as its title sponsor. The tournament is scheduled to begin at 12:30pm at the Ocean Club Golf Course, Paradise Island. All interested players must register at: https://app.eventcaddy.com/ events/tee-off-for-hunger-2024/
careers. Boxing fans and supporters throughout the country will enjoy a true Courtyard Brawl at Fusion this Friday,” he said.
The blue and red teams were selected at random and includes six boxers on each side.
Matchups will be separated into three twominute rounds.
Additionally, there will be a pizza-eating competition and ring girls selection with prizes up for grabs.
The red team, managed by Meacher “Pain” Major,
By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Writer
features Aimee Newchurch, Allie Kemp, Lloyd Green, Leslie Armbrister, Justin Symonette and Jwan Forbes.
On the blue team, managed by Jermaine “Chu Chu” Mackey, competitors are Franissa Russell, Kendrick Stuart, Carlos Brown, Jerrio Munroe, Teron Pennerman and Jermaine Allen.
Carlos Foulkes, CEO of Fusion Superplex, was thrilled to partner with
SEE PAGE 18
FITNESS instructor
Jimmy Norius came away from the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB) Atlantic Coast Pro competition with a second place finish over the weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He secured the second spot in the men’s masters physique.
Norius, who admitted his training was a bit behind schedule, said it felt awesome to pick up the second place award in his category.
“It was awesome. My training was a lot behind schedule but I managed to make up ground because of experience. I only went into this show at about 60 per cent. When training for shows you need at least 12 weeks and I had a little under a month which was about 3.5 weeks.
“I was going through a lot mentally so it was the reason why my training was a little behind schedule. I am okay now and I managed to get second place in the men’s master physique,” he said.
The 50-year-old physical fitness trainer completed a certification to be a judge in the sport a few years ago and said that knowledge helped him to know what the judges were looking for despite not getting enough training.
“I feel as if a lot of the guys who I beat had a lot more muscles than me but I guess the judges were going with more symmetry, proportion and harmony. You can have the muscle but if the muscle is in the wrong place the judges won’t score
in boxing history didn’t do much for the estimated 72,000 fans who filled the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys on Friday night. Paul won an eight-round unanimous decision over Tyson as the hits didn’t match the hype in a fight between the 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer and the former heavyweight champion in his first sanctioned pro bout in almost
MIKE Tyson lands a left to Jake Paul during their heavyweight boxing match, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY: The Government High School Magic (top picture) won the volleyball senior girls crown against the CI Gibson Rattlers at the DW Davis Gymnasium on Friday. And the CR Walker Knights senior boys defeated the defending champions Rattlers 2-1 in their series.
Photo: Chappell Whyms Jr
Jake Paul beats Mike Tyson, 58,
as the hits don’t match the hype
FROM PAGE 15
judge’s cards, with one giving Paul an 80-72 edge and the other two calling it 79-73.
“Let’s give it up for Mike,” Paul said in the ring, not getting much response from a crowd that started filing out before the decision was announced. “He’s the greatest to ever do it. I look up to him. I’m inspired by him.”
Tyson came after Paul immediately after the opening bell and landed a couple of quick punches but didn’t try much else the rest of the way. Even fewer rounds than the normal 10 or 12 and two-minute rounds instead of three, along with heavier gloves designed to lessen the power of punches, couldn’t do much to generate action.
Paul was more aggressive after the quick burst from Tyson in the opening seconds, but the punching wasn’t very efficient. There were quite a few wild swings and misses.
“I was trying to hurt him a little bit,” said Paul, who is 11-1 with seven knockouts. “I was scared he was going to hurt me. I was trying to hurt him. I did my best. I did my best.”
Tyson mostly sat back and waited for Paul to come to him, with a few exceptions. It was quite the contrast to the co-main event, another slugfest between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in which Taylor kept her undisputed super lightweight championship with another disputed decision.
Paul, who said an ankle injury limited his sparring sessions in the final weeks of training camp, said he eased up starting in about the third round because he thought Tyson was tired and vulnerable.
“I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt somebody that didn’t need to be hurt,” Paul said. It was the first sanctioned fight since 2005 for Tyson, who fought Roy Jones Jr. in a much more entertaining exhibition in 2020. Paul started fighting a little more than four years ago.
“I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself,” Tyson said when asked what it meant to complete the fight. “I’m not one of those guys that looks to please the world. I’m just happy with what I can do.”
The fight was originally scheduled for July 20 but had to be postponed when Tyson was treated for a stomach ulcer after falling ill on a flight. His record is now 50-7 with 44 knockouts.
Tyson slapped Paul on the face during the weighin a night before the fight, and they traded insults in several of the hype events, before and after the postponement.
The hate was long gone by the end of the anticlimactic fight. “I have so much respect for him,” Paul said. “That violence, war thing between us, like after he slapped me, I wanted to be aggressive and take him down and knock him out and all that stuff. That kind of went away as the rounds went on.”
The fight set a Texas record for combat sports with a gate of nearly $18 million, according to organisers, and Netflix had problems with the feed in the streaming platform’s first live combat sports event. Netflix has more than 280 million subscribers globally. “This is the biggest event,” Paul said. “Over 120 million people on Netflix. We crashed the site.”
Among the celebrities on hand were basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and former NFL star Rob
Gronkowski, along with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, two foes from Tyson’s heyday, greeted him in his locker room before the fight.
Tyson infamously bit Holyfield on the ear in a 1997 bout, and he appeared to have one of his gloves in his mouth several times during the Paul bout. He was asked if he had problem with his mouthpiece. “I have a habit of biting my gloves,” Tyson said. “I have a biting fixation.”
“I’ve heard about that,” the interview responded. According to reports, Paul’s payday was $40 million, compared with $20 million for Tyson. Paul mentioned his number during a promotional event over the summer.
Tyson has a history of legal and financial troubles but had said he didn’t take the fight for money.
Mario Barrios retained the WBC welterweight title in a draw with Abel Ramos on the undercard. Barrios was in control early before
Ramos dominated the middle rounds. Each had a knockdown in the 12-round bout. It was the first fight for the 29-year-old Barrios since he was appointed the WBC welterweight champ when Terence Crawford started the process of moving up from the 147pound class. Barrios, who is 29-2-1, won the interim WBC title with a unanimous decision over Yordenis Ugás last year. The 33-year-old Ramos is 28-6-3.
Sinner opens up about his doping case after beating Fritz for ATP Finals trophy before his home fans
By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer
TURIN, Italy (AP) — Sleepless nights. Constant thoughts of what went wrong — and how it could have been prevented.
Jannik Sinner opened up about his ongoing doping case after beating U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 yesterday for the ATP Finals trophy before his home fans.
Sinner tested positive in two separate drug tests in March and a decision to clear him of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in September. A final ruling is expected from the Court of Arbitration for Sport early next year.
Sinner’s explanation was that the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
“I’ve kept on thinking about where we went wrong and what we could have done better,” Sinner said in Italian. “I had days where I wasn’t feeling great; nights when I didn’t sleep well.
“But when I put my hat on, I don’t think about what’s going on beyond the court,” Sinner added.
“I’m fortunate to have people around me who keep me stable. Thanks to them we’ve continued to work hard every day like
there’s no tomorrow and we’ve even improved in this period.”
Sinner’s performance has approached domination lately
Sinner’s victory in Turin was the latest big achievement in a year full of them following his first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and U.S. Open and clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking.
Sinner has won 26 of his last 27 matches and ends the ATP season with eight titles and an overall record of 70-6.
“The work will never stop. We know we still have room for improvement,” Sinner said. “But it’s been an incredible season and there’s no better place to finish the season than here.”
Sinner also beat Fritz in the US Open final and the group stage Sinner maintained his recent mastery over Fritz, having also beaten the American in the U.S. Open final in September and in the group stage this week at the elite event for the year’s top eight players.
By sweeping all five of his matches en route to the trophy, Sinner earned $4.8 million — the largest winner’s prize on the men’s tour.
Sinner became the first Italian to win the finals and he went one step further than last year, when he lost the championship match to Novak Djokovic, who withdrew this time.
And he did so without dropping a set – which was last accomplished by Ivan Lendl in 1986.
“I just tried to understand whatever works best for each opponent,” Sinner said. “It was a very high-level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn’t play better.”
The crowd was decked out in orange — Sinner’s theme colour The crowd inside Inalpi Arena included multiple clusters of fans wearing orange — a tribute to Sinner’s red- and orangecoloured hair, and how he once ate carrots during a match. There were orange carrot costumes, orange wigs, orange hats, jackets and plenty of other orange items, too.
Some fans even had carrots in their mouths.
The crowd broke into its customary chant of “Ole, Ole, Ole; Sin-ner, Sin-ner” when Sinner produced a drop-shot winner to break for a 4-3 lead in the first set.
Sinner faced a break point while serving for the first set but saved it with a big serve out wide that Fritz couldn’t return. Then he served an ace — his 10th of the set — to close it out.
Another break by Sinner early in the second and the match was virtually over.
Sinner led 14-8 in aces and gave Fritz hardly any chances
Sinner served better than he had all week, leading 14-8 in aces without any double-faults.
“He served absolutely lights out. So many lines,” Fritz said. “He placed the serve great. He took a lot of risk on the second serve as well. I think that was probably one of his main game plans, to not let me attack his second serve.”
Fritz will still rise to a career-high No. 4
Fritz was attempting to become the event’s first American champion since Pete Sampras beat Andre Agassi in the title match 25 years ago. Still, Fritz will rise to a career-high No. 4 in the rankings on Monday (today) after beating No. 2 Alexander Zverev in a third-set tiebreaker in the semifinals on Saturday. That will make him the highest-ranked American
man since Andy Roddick was No. 4 in August 2007. It’s the latest in a series of achievements for Fritz, whose run in New York made him the first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009. “I feel like I’ve gone up a level and I’m much more confident in my game,” Fritz said. At the start of the week, Fritz told The Associated Press that his “career has always been a very steady progression and just improving a little bit each year.”
Davis Cup and Nadal’s retirement are next
Both Sinner and Fritz will conclude their seasons representing defending champion Italy and the United States, respectively, in the Davis Cup finals, which start Tuesday in Malaga, Spain, and which will also mark Rafael Nadal’s retirement.
JAKE Paul lands a left to Mike Tyson during their heavyweight boxing match on Friday, November 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
ITALY’s Jannik Sinner holds the trophy after winning the final match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Taylor Fritz of the United States at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, yesterday. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Tagovailoa throws 3 TDs to lead Dolphins past Raiders
34-19 for 2nd straight win
By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Florida (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa threw three touchdown passes, De’Von Achane ran for a score, and the Miami Dolphins beat the Las Vegas Raiders 34-19 yesterday to win their second straight game.
It was another strong victory for the Dolphins (4-6), who have not matched their offensive fireworks from last season but are coming off a gritty Monday night win over the Rams.
The Raiders (2-8) lost their sixth straight game.
Tagovailoa led the Dolphins down the field with long, methodical drives — three of them more than seven minutes — that all ended in scores, as Miami scored 30 points for the first time this season.
Tagovailoa completed 28 of 36 passes for 288 yards with touchdowns of 1 and 57 yards to tight end Jonnu Smith, and an 8-yard TD to receiver Tyreek Hill. Hill caught seven passes for 61 yards and has scored in consecutive games for the first time this season. Smith had a season-high 101 yards receiving.
The Raiders trailed 24-14 in the fourth quarter after Achane ran for a 2-yard score that added to his 17 carries for 73 yards.
Quarterback Gardner Minshew then moved the Raiders 80 yards down the field and found Ameer Abdullah, who capitalised on a missed open-field tackle by Dolphins cornerback Kader Kohou, for a 10-yard TD catch.
Las Vegas blew a coverage on Miami’s next drive, leaving Smith wide open for the long touchdown that ended the Raiders’ hopes of snapping their losing streak.
Minshew completed 30 of 43 passes with 282 yards and one interception after being benched for Desmond Ridder in his previous outing against Cincinnati. Tight end Brock Bowers caught 13 passes for 126 yards.
Bowers caught a 23-yard TD late in the third quarter from Minshew, who hit running back Alexander Mattison for a 31-yard pickup earlier in the drive. The score made it 17-12 entering the fourth after a failed 2-point attempt, and it was the first touchdown that Miami’s defence had allowed in its previous six quarters.
Las Vegas made significant changes to its coaching staff during its bye week in hopes of sparking its stagnant offense. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was fired along with the offensive line and quarterbacks coaches.
Sunday was a noticeable improvement under interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner. The Raiders scored on four of seven drives and converted eight of 14 third downs.
The Raiders punted on their opening drive, but Dolphins defensive tackle Calais Campbell ran into punter AJ Cole and gave the Raiders a first down. Minshew led them down the field, and Daniel Carlson made a 27-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter.
One of the Raiders’ biggest downfalls was that they could not stop the Dolphins’ long drives, even when Miami started its first possession of the second half on its 3.
Tagovailoa led another lengthy drive — this one 14 plays and 97 yards — that ended in Hill’s 8-yard TD catch. Achane had a 30-yard rush to set up a score that stretched Miami’s lead late in the third.
The Dolphins converted eight of 12 third downs and scored on three of four trips inside the red zone.
Jalen Ramsey intercepted Minshew late in the fourth, which is the quarterback’s 13th turnover of the season.
PACKERS 20, BEARS 19
CHICAGO (AP) — Jordan Love ran for a go-ahead touchdown in the closing minutes, and Green Bay hung on to beat Chicago when Karl Brooks blocked Cairo Santos’ 46-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
The Packers (7-3) made just enough plays to avoid falling farther behind Detroit and Minnesota in the NFC North and beat the last-place Bears (4-6) for the 11th straight time, the longest streak by either team in the storied rivalry.
Love put Green Bay on top 20-19 when he scored from the 1 with 2:59 left. That touchdown was set up by a 60-yard pass to Christian Watson, who got up after making a lunging catch and ran all the way to the 14. The 2-point conversion failed.
Green Bay then sacked Caleb Williams on the first two plays of the next possession. The Bears regrouped and drove all the way to the 28, only to end a chaotic week with their fourth straight loss when Brooks got through the centre of the line and blocked Santos’ kick.
The Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on Tuesday and replaced him with passing game coordinator Thomas Brown, hoping to spark a unit that ranks among the worst in the NFL.
LIONS 52, JAGUARS 6
DETROIT (AP) — Jared Goff threw two of his four touchdown passes to Amon-Ra St. Brown, David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for three rushing touchdowns, as Detroit routes Jacksonville.
The NFC-leading Lions (9-1) have won eight straight and nine of their first 10 games in a season for the first time since 1934. Detroit’s winning margin of 46 points was the largest in franchise history, and it handed Jacksonville its biggest-ever defeat. The Lions also set a franchise record in total yards with 644.
The Jaguars (2-9) have lost four consecutive games for the second time this season and 14 of 17 since last year, a series of slumps that may cost coach Doug Pederson his job.
SAINTS 35, BROWNS 14
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Taysom Hill capped a 138-yard, three-touchdown performance on the ground with a 75-yard scoring run, and New Orleans improved to 2-0 under interim coach Darren Rizzi with a victory over Cleveland.
Hill’s two other touchdowns went for 10 and 33 yards — the second on fourth and short — to more than balance out his two turnovers on an interception and fumble. The 34-year-old Hill also moved into ninth place in franchise history with 44 total TDs, four behind receiver Eric Martin.
Hill also completed an 18-yard pass and returned a kickoff 42 yards.
Derek Carr passed for 248 yards and two touchdowns for New Orleans (4-7), highlighted by Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s 71-yard catch and run on a short crossing route.
Jameis Winston passed for 395 yards and two TDs for the Browns (2-8) in his return to the city he called home for the previous four NFL seasons.
RAMS 28, PATRIOTS 22
FOXBOROUGH, Mass
(AP) — Matthew Stafford threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns, including a 69-yard score to Cooper Kupp on the second play of
the second half to help Los Angeles pull away and beat New England.
New England trailed 14-10 after Rams kicker Joshua Karty’s 26-yard field-goal attempt at the end of the first half clanged off the right upright. Los Angeles received the kick to start the second half, and on second down Stafford found Kupp near midfield; Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones dove for the pass and missed, leaving no one between Kupp and the end zone.
The Patriots drove into Los Angeles territory, with a first-and-goal from the Rams 5, but settled for a field goal. On the Rams’ next possession, Stafford found Colby Parkinson in the corner of the end zone to make it 28-13.
A missed extra point and a false start on fourth-and-1 doomed two Patriots’ attempts to come back. New England got the ball back at its own 10 with 2:14 left and one timeout for one last try, but Kamren Kinchens intercepted Drake Maye to ice it.
COLTS 28, JETS 27
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Anthony Richardson ran for a 4-yard touchdown, his second of the game, with 46 seconds left in his return to the starting role to lift Indianapolis to a victory over Aaron Rodgers and New York.
With the Jets leading 27-22 after Anders Carlson’s 35-yard field goal with 2:41 remaining, Richardson — benched for two games in favour of Joe Flacco — marched the Colts down the field.
He connected with Alec Pierce for 39 yards and then Josh Downs for 17 yards to put the ball at the 10. Three plays later, Richardson took off to the right and ran into the end zone for the go-ahead score. Jonathan Taylor was stuffed on the 2-point try — giving Rodgers and the Jets one last chance, but with no timeouts left.
Rodgers was sacked by Kwity Paye and fumbled on the first play, but the Jets recovered. After Hall had an 11-yard catch and a delay-of-game penalty was called on the Colts’ E.J. Speed, Rodgers was sacked again by Paye — sealing the win for the Colts (5-6), who snapped a three-game skid.
VIKINGS 23, TITANS 13 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Sam Darnold overcame an early fumble by throwing for 246 yards and two touchdowns and running for a score and Minnesota beats Tennessee.
Darnold had been picked off five times over the previous two games, matching
his total over the first seven games of the season. Then his toss to Aaron Jones on the Vikings’ third offensive play was fumbled and recovered by Jeffery Simmons for the Titans.
The quarterback answered right back to help the Vikings (8-2) win their third straight and improve to 5-0 against AFC teams this season. He found Jordan Addison for a 47-yard catch-and-run touchdown as the Vikings didn’t trail again as they scored 16 straight for a 16-3 halftime lead.
Andrew Van Ginkel had his two sacks on back-toback plays as Minnesota finished with five. Pat Jones II also had two. Harrison Smith clinched the win with an interception with 1:50 left, giving the Vikings’ fans that turned this into a near home game another reason to celebrate chanting “SKOL.”
BRONCOS 38, FALCONS
DENVER (AP) — Bo Nix threw for 307 yards and a season-best four touchdowns, Javonte Williams got a push across the goal line from a half-dozen of his teammates, and Denver rolled past Atlanta.
Nix, who was 28 for 33, joined Hall of Famer
Peyton Manning as the only rookie QBs in NFL history to throw for 200plus yards with two or more touchdowns in four consecutive home games.
The Broncos (6-5) snapped a two-game skid and made it an unhappy homecoming for safety
Justin Simmons, who spent his first eight seasons in Denver before the Broncos unloaded his $18.5 million salary last winter. Simmons signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal with the Falcons (6-5), who have lost two in a row.
Simmons had five tackles and tried to stop Williams at the 5-yard line, holding his ground for a second or two as reinforcements arrived from both teams for a shoving match that resembled a rugby scrum.
The Broncos won it when they shoved Williams into the end zone to complete his 14-yard scoring run that gave Denver an early 14-3 lead.
SEAHAWKS 20, 49ERS 17
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Geno Smith scored on a 13-yard scramble with 12 seconds remaining and Seattle snapped a six-game losing streak against San Francisco with a victory.
Smith completed seven of eight passes for 65 yards to get the Seahawks (5-5) in position to score after taking over at their 20 with 2:38 remaining.
He then ran it in against a depleted defence for the 49ers (5-5) that sorely missed injured edge rusher Nick Bosa on the final drive.
The win moved Seattle into a three-way tie for second place in the NFC West with San Francisco and the Rams, a game behind Arizona.
The Niners have lost three division games, blowing fourth-quarter leads in all of them after dropping games earlier this season to the Rams and Cardinals.
WIN ENDS THE CHIEFS’ BID AT A PERFECT SEASON
By The Associated Press
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen ran for a 26-yard touchdown on fourth down with 2:17 left, sealing the Buffalo Bills’ 30-21 win over the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday and handing the two-time defending Super Bowl champions their first loss of the season.
James Cook rushed for two touchdowns and Allen threw a 12-yard TD pass to Curtis Samuel for Buffalo (9-2), which closed the gap on Kansas City (9-1) in the race for the AFC’s top seed.
Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs were the NFL’s last undefeated team and finally ran out ways to eke out one-score victories and overcome second-half deficits. The Chiefs had won 15 straight, including playoffs, since they fell 20-14 to the Las Vegas Raiders on December 17, 2023. The Bills have won six straight and moved closer to their sixth straight AFC East title.
STEELERS 18, RAVENS 16 PITTSBURGH (AP)
— Chris Boswell tied a franchise record with six field goals and Pittsburgh limited Lamar Jackson and the NFL’s top-ranked offence in a victory over Baltimore.
The Steelers (8-2) won their fifth straight behind Boswell and a defence that never let Jackson, Derrick Henry or the rest of the offence get into a rhythm, opening up a little breathing room atop the AFC North.
Baltimore (7-4) was held to season lows in points and yards (329) while committing 12 penalties and turning the ball over three times — each miscue leading to a Boswell field goal — as Pittsburgh won for the seventh time in its last eight meetings in a rivalry that remains as chippy as ever.
BILLS quarterback Josh Allen (17) is congratulated by teammate Dawson Knox after scoring on a 26-yard run during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chiefs last night. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Magic, Knights emerge as senior champions of GSSSA volleyball
FROM PAGE 15
final set, both teams fought until the end but the Magic managed to edge out the Rattlers 16-14.
Gabrielle Kemp and Jasmine Key were awarded as co-MVPs.
Charma Smith, head coach of the Magic, said it felt good to get the win with a new group of girls.
“It was a long one year. I have a very fresh new team with 10th graders but I just put in the work. We made adjustments after losing game one and I went to the drawing board and changed up the lineup and it worked,” she said.
Smith talked about the resilience of the group after falling behind 1-7 in the matchups.
“When I saw they were defeated when we were down 1-7, I said listen it isn’t over, just play and time to tap in. I said tap in and let’s play because I know what they could do and they pulled through,” she said.
The head coach said the plan is to celebrate in grand style with this group after a strong season.
Senior Boys
The Rattlers stepped onto the floor at the DW Davis Gymnasium as the
defending champions, but it would be the Knights that would take the crown this time around.
CI Gibson got the advantage 25-19 in the initial set. The Knights brought their A-game in a tightly contested second set and won 26-24. CR Walker took back-to-back wins and stole the final set 15-12. Kevin Vilme took home the MVP trophy. Head coach Trevor Grant talked
about how it felt to knock off the defending champions as the fourth seed.
“I have been down this road before being fourth and coming out with the trophy. I always knew we were the top team coming into this playoffs and going into this championship. You saw action and coaching to the fullest. The players came out from both schools and they worked hard,” he said.
Grant said he is expecting another big celebration especially after the Knights recently won the GSSSA Cross Country championship in the senior division.
“We always celebrate after a victory. We just did something for cross country, now here comes volleyball.
“One thing I can say is our school supports their athletes to the fullest,” he said.
Coach Grant added that it was also an honour to win the championship in uniforms that had pink instead of their usual red school colour to raise awareness for breast cancer for the second consecutive year. Earlier in the week, the HO Nash Lions junior girls and boys swept their junior volleyball championship series against the SC McPherson Sharks to take the crown.
‘Courtyard Brawl’ this Friday, November 22
FROM PAGE 15
BES for the Friday fight night. “I am excited about this event. When Tommy brought this to my attention we went back in history and looked at what we did in the past and how we are gonna make it more exciting.
“This is our local environment and we want to grow this industry, encourage the young participants to come out and improve their skill sets and we want to be able to make this a source of reasonable income for members who are attempting to move from a novice to amateur in the professional boxing arena,” he said.
“I thank Tommy Stubbs and the organisation for being willing to partner with Fusion Superplex and using our facilities and to teach us what this industry is about.”
Blue team manager Mackey is expecting some quality matchups. “It is
gonna be a great night. We are expecting to win all six fights. We are gonna be in the blue corner and we are excited to be here,” he said. He is confident in the blue team’s ability to get the job done after months of preparation. “Everybody is in shape, they trained hard and they are quite confident and that is what will take you to the next step. They are ready to go to the next step, they have trained and now they are ready to execute. All the weaknesses they did have, we have worked on that already. We have worked on their confidence, jabs, endurance along with combination and foot movement. Everything is together now and we are ready to go ahead,” he said.
Aimee Newchurch, who has a background in mixed martial arts, is ready to put on a show for the crowd. “I am super excited. I unfortunately didn’t get to meet
FRIDAY FIGHTS: Local boxing enthusiasts can expect an exciting night of action in the “Courtyard Brawl” at the Fusion Superplex Courtyard this Friday starting at 7pm.
my opponent tonight but I do not often come across women that choose to fight in this class. I weigh about 210 pounds so I am super excited to see her and I just can’t wait to show everybody what I can do,” she said.
She is not only confident in her ability to pull off a win against 19-year-old Franissa Russell, but also in her team winning the title. “I am super confident in my team. One of the guys has trained with me
for the past four weeks. I have seen him and myself improve and I just feel good about it honestly,” she said. The event starts at 7pm on Friday. Tickets can be purchased at Fusion Superplex.
JIMMY NORIUS PLACES SECOND AT ATLANTIC COAST PRO
you the correct way. Because of the type of mindset that I have and paying close attention to details, I said let me see if I could get my waistline smaller and more detail in my back and it was actually successful,” he said.
He received a second call out in the open class men’s physique category that had 34 competitors.
“Getting a second call out from 34 guys is very impressive which means I was looking at top 10 in the open.
“In the masters, I was able to secure a second place and now it is back to the drawing board. I am gonna take a few months off to allow my body to rest, enjoy thanksgiving and Christmas, spend time with my family and friends but still be cognisant of what I put into my body,” he said.
Prior to the competition, Norius was second once again at the Florida Pro League in Sarasota, Florida back in September. He
is looking forward to trying to qualify for the 2025 Masters Olympia next, which is slated for August 22-23 in Tokyo, Japan.
By The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)
— Julius Randle hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cap his 35-point night and lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 120-117 win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon. Randle and the Wolves got the ball back with just 2.1 seconds remaining and called a timeout to advance the ball. The ball found Randle, who hit a 24-footer as time expired.
Minnesota overcame a season-high 44 points from Devin Booker, who needed to carry the offensive load for a Suns team still missing Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal with injuries.
Anthony Edwards added 24 points for Minnesota, most of that coming in the second half.
PACERS 119, HEAT 110
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)
— Myles Turner scored a season-high 34 points, and Bennedict Mathurin added 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead Indiana to a victory over Miami.
Pascal Siakam added 23 points for the Pacers, who shot 52% from the field, and Tyrese Haliburton finished with 16 points and 13 assists.
Tyler Herro scored 28 points, and Bam Adebayo had 24 for the Heat, who were without six-time AllStar Jimmy Butler because of a sprained ankle. Miami was outscored 62-28 in the paint.
CAVALIERS 128, HORNETS 114
CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland scored 25 points, Ty Jerome matched his career-high with 24 in place of Donovan Mitchell and Cleveland stayed unbeaten with a win over Charlotte. The Cavs are the fourth team to start 15-0, joining the Golden State Warriors (2016), Houston Rockets (1994) and Washington Capitols (1949). The Warriors set the league record by winning their first 24 games on the way to a 73-9 season.
Evan Mobley had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Jarrett Allen had 21 and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, which will play at defending champion Boston on Tuesday.
LaMelo Ball had 31 points and 12 assists, and Miles Bridges scored 19 for the Hornets.
PISTONS 124, WIZARDS 104 WASHINGTON (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 21 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Detroit over Washingto.
Jaden Ivey scored 28 points and Malik Beasley added 26 for Detroit. Cunningham has four triple-doubles this season, two behind league leader Nikola Jokic. It was the eighth straight loss for Washington, which was home after a five-game trip. Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points apiece for the Wizards.
GRIZZLIES 105, NUGGETS 90 MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Jaren Jackson scored 20 points, and Memphis built a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter in a victory over short-handed Denver in the opener of a two-game set. The teams will meet again Tuesday night in Memphis in an NBA Cup game.
Nuggets star centre Nikola Jokic missed the game for personal reasons, while forward Aaron Gordon is recovering from a strained right calf.
FITNESS instructor Jimmy Norius came away from the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Atlantic Coast Pro competition with a second place finish over the weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He secured the second spot in the men’s masters physique.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: CR Walker Knights’ Kevin Vilme took home the MVP trophy.
Photos: Chappell Whyms Jr
‘Buddy’ scores 18, leads balanced Warriors past Grizzlies
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)
— Chavano “Buddy” Hield scored 18 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists and the Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 123118 in a physical NBA Cup game.
Stephen Curry overcame a slow start to finish with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Moses Moody scored 14 on Friday night.
Draymond Green contributed 13 points, eight
rebounds and seven assists before a late ejection after two technical fouls in a 33-second span.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 32 points for Memphis in a matchup of teams with deep rotations who rely heavily on their reserves. Curry, who had scored 36 and 37 points the past two games, respectively, shot 4 for 9 with three 3-pointers.
Takeaways
Grizzlies: Star guard Ja Morant has begun doing some on-court shooting work and will undergo imaging on his injured hip and pelvis area early next week once the team is
home. “He’s got that itch to get back on the court, so that was under-control shooting,” coach Taylor Jenkins said.
Warriors: G Lindy Waters III made his second start of the season, then fell to the floor after blocking a shot with 1:58 left in the second quarter. Waters didn’t return because ofa a hyperextended left knee.
Key moments A foul initially whistled against Green with 1:40 remaining before halftime
when Jake LaRavia hit him in the face was challenged by the Warriors and the call was overturned. The foul was issued instead to LaRavia. Golden State won another challenge midway through the fourth.
Key stats
Curry didn’t make a field goal until a 3-pointer 2:40 before halftime, shooting just once in 11 minutes of first-quarter action and scoring his two points on free throws. He missed his initial three shots.
WARRIORS guard Buddy Hield reacts during an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game against the Grizzlies in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A Vásquez)
