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Tuesday, OcTOber 27, 2026
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Housing not ‘super volatile’ despite Q3 sales softening BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE ABSENCE of “super volatile” signals bodes well for Bahamian real estate’s 2027 outlook, it was argued yesterday, even though homes sales “slowed in most areas” during the three months to end-September. Laura Morley, a residential sales and leasing agent with Morley Realty, and the
Market data shows buyer activity ‘slowing in some areas’
But sector, especially Nassau, ‘pretty stable’ during 2026
Sellers still getting over 90% of list price in most islands
firm’s marketing head, told Tribune Business that data provided by the Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) Multiple Listing System (MLS) showed that the sector had “remained pretty stable” through 2026 to-date even though there were signs buyer activity
“softened” during the third quarter. Both contracted and completed home sales on New Providence dropped by 6.3 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively during the three months to end-September when compared to the second quarter. But,
while the number of contracts for pipeline home sales as also down 11 percent year-over-year, deals that closed during the third quarter rose by 16.7 percent in the Bahamian capital. Ms Morley told this newspaper the data showed that the volume of new listings,
‘Smash us to pieces’: Probe demanded into unfair pricing claims OLD BAHAMA BAY RESORT
Old Bahama Bay’s battle reignites on condo rentals BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE WARRING parties at the Old Bahama Bay resort yesterday renewed battle over its ousted management company’s demand that the hotel’s proprietor stop trying to entice condo owners to join its unit rental offering. Mark Flowers, attorney for Island Ventures Resort & Club (IVRC), in an October 23, 2026 letter, called on the Grand Bahama resort’s corporate owner, LRA-OBB Ltd, to “cease and desist” soliciting condo owners to join its programme following a Supreme Court verdict that found his client has “a contractual relationship” with some to manage the rental bookings for their units. This sparked a swift counter from Michael Scott KC, attorney for LRAOBB, who said the demand that the West End resort’s owner halt its “lettings, bookings and revenue collection” activities over the condo unit rentals was “unsupported” by Justice Constance Delancy’s October 22, 2026, verdict. She, as Tribune Business previously reported, rejected IVRC’s bid to regain immediate control of Old Bahama Bay amid the furious ongoing legal battle with LRA-OBB, which stands for Lubert-Adler/Old Bahama Bay. Lubert Adler was the financing partner for the failed Ginn project, and the judge was “not persuaded” that ousting the corporate owner in favour of IVRC was the best action to take. However, both sides now appear to be interpreting her judgment very differently. Mr Flowers, in his letter to Mr Scott, signalled he had already complained on October 19, 2026, about a letter issued by OBB Hospitality, the entity appointed by LRA-OBB to take over Old Bahama Bay’s management from IVRC, “soliciting the unit
HOTEL - See Page B5
BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahama concrete suppliers yesterday demanded an “urgent” probe into their claims of unfair market competition and predatory pricing by a US-owned rival that threatens to “smash us to pieces”. Glennett Fowler, founder and group president of the Heroic Group, which includes Heroic Concrete & Concrete Products, told Tribune Business she and others fear the pricing practices of Del Zotto Products of The Bahamas, the former Gold Rock Corporation, will “disenfranchise” Bahamian-owned businesses if allowed to continue. Challenging how Del Zotto Products is selling concrete blocks at prices up to one-third lower than Heroic and other competitors, even though they source their raw materials from the same providers and supply chain, she voiced concern that it may be exploiting its US ties and other unknown advantages to “undercut” Bahamian rivals and drive them out of the market. Ms Fowler told this newspaper that, if this is the goal, Grand Bahama contractors, developers and other industries reliant on concrete-related products could
Concrete suppliers seek ‘urgent’ investigation into US rival’s practices Heroic chief asserts not anti-competition but seeking ‘level playing field’ Renews calls for Gov’t to pass Fair Competion law to protect markets ultimately face major price hikes in the medium to long-term if just “one major supplier” is left serving the entire island. GLENNETT And she FOWLER renewed calls for the Davis administration, to do as it pledged in its 2026 election campaign manifesto, and enact a competition or antitrust law that would prevent the unfair practices that Heroic and other Bahamian-owned concrete suppliers on
TRADE - See Page B4
Glass Window Bridge close hits BPL restoration efforts BY FAY SIMMONS TRIBUNE Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net A NORTH Eleuthera short-term rental owner yesterday criticised Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) handling of an extended power outage, warning that unreliable electricity is disrupting residents' daily lives and threatening the visitor experience. The owner, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the latest interruption, which began on Sunday evening, highlights a long-standing problem with the utility's ability to respond to outages when the Glass Window Bridge is closed.
In a notice yesterday, BPL said bad weather had delayed restoration efforts overnight, while the bridge's closure further prevented technicians from accessing affected areas to begin repairs. The utility said that, following the bridge's reopening, technicians began inspecting and patrolling the transmission and distribution system. Power has since been restored as far as Upper Bogue, with crews gradually restoring supply to downstream settlements. However, the rental owner questioned why BPL had not established a crew north of the bridge to
REPAIR - See Page B4
$ 7.50 and real estate properties coming on to the market, were “a bit lower” than previously with the knock-on effect that contracted land and home sales “naturally slowed” in a number of the major islands - New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma. However, with home sellers on average still achieving more than 90 percent of their listing or asking sum, she added that a key takeaway is properties that are correctly priced will still find a deal relatively quickly. The time New Providence homes stayed on the market before being snapped up fell by 45.6 percent quarter-over-quarter during the period to end-September to hit 87 days. “The general consensus is buyer activity slowed between the second quarter and third quarter on all five islands, but the closing sales on New Providence and Grand Bahama were stronger than last year,”
$ 7.56 Ms Morley said of the MLS data. “It’s not to say the market slowed, but inventories were a bit lower so getting properties into contract naturally slowed a bit compared to last year. Going into the fourth quarter, it’s important to look at sources of new inventory we’re getting, what new properties are going under contract, and pricing. “The list-to-sell ratio, of what sellers are receiving from buyers, is largely within 10 percent. It’s kind of exciting to see we’ve come down from the influx after COVID. Price are starting to settle, and buyers and sellers are negotiating close to list price, while bearing in mind sellers need to price their properties accordingly.” New home listings on New Providence fell by 10.9 percent during the three months to end-September 2026, although they were flat year-over-year. New
PURCHASE - See Page B4
Gov’t brands Freeport treaty as ‘convoluted’ BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE GOVERNMENT has branded Freeport’s founding treaty, and the division of regulatory and governance responsibilities between itself and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), as a “convoluted framework” that needs to be overhauled. The Davis administration, setting out its rationale for reforming, replacing and repealing parts of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement subject to feedback in the upcoming six-month public consultation, and replacing them with a Grand Bahama Development Act, implied that Freeport’s management and administration is governed by an oversight web that is too complex. “The existing arrangements involve the GBPA, central government and local government, exercising functions under different legal and administrative provisions,” its ‘Green Paper’ asserts. “Inside the Port Area, the GBPA issues business licences and building permits and manages zoning and land use under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement. Elsewhere [on Grand Bahama] these functions rest with central government and local government. “The Port Area framework rests on the 1955 Agreement, at least six later Acts of Parliament, supplemental agreements and Port Area orders. The Government considers this a convoluted framework.” As a result, it is seeking to reclaim Freeport’s governance and management powers from the GBPA and fold these into a new structure covering the entirety of Grand Bahama and its cays.
ASSESS - See Page B5
PAGE 2, Tuesday, October 27, 2026
THE TRIBUNE
Fowlco unveils ShipX partnership in Freeport By GLENNETT FOWLER FOWLCO Maritime & Project Services (FMPS) yesterday announced it will serve as the Freeport operations partner for ShipX, the shipping and freight forwarding company. FowlCo, a member of the Heroic Group, said in a statement that the agreement combines ShipX’s
shipping services with its own local maritime and logistics capabilities to support cargo moving into Grand Bahama. It added that the tie-up creates shipping options for individuals and businesses importing vehicles, palletised goods, oversized cargo and machinery. The duo’s agreement aims to
simplify the shipping experience, strengthen local co-ordination and support the needs of retailers, contractors, entrepreneurs and residents. “This agreement reflects our commitment to building practical partnerships that create opportunities for Grand Bahama,” said Glennett Fowler, president
and founder of Heroic Group. “Local businesses have the experience, infrastructure and knowledge to play a meaningful role in this island’s growth. By combining our capabilities with ShipX, we are expanding our service offering and helping customers access the shipping and
operational support they need.” The service offering includes shipping for compact cars, SUVs (sports utility vehicles) and trucks,
alongside palletised freight and larger equipment. Customers can request price quotations based on their cargo specifications and shipping requirements. Fowlco said the agreement represents a further step in developing its maritime and logistics business through partnerships, local expertise and responsive customer service. “Our focus is on turning opportunity into reliable service,” Ms Fowler added. “We want to help businesses move their goods, support projects on the ground and make shipping more accessible for the people who live and invest here.”
team-based challenges on a live platform. Working in teams of four, students solved puzzles
to uncover hidden codes, known as ‘flags’, and earned points for each successful discovery. Mark Burrows, Cloud Carib’s systems administrator, joined the event’s careers panel to share his journey in the field. The panel introduced students to cyber security professionals in The Bahamas, helping them connect their interests and skills with potential career paths. “Some of the most rewarding moments are when students start connecting the lessons to their own lives, questioning a message, thinking twice about what they share, or asking how they can work in cyber security themselves,” said Ms Dorsett. “As we take this programe into more schools, workplaces and Caribbean communities, we want people to leave with practical steps they feel confident using.” Osmany Goderich, Cloud Carib’s solutions architect, and Wendell Seymour, its account director, also delivered a cyber security presentation to the Bahamas Insurance Commission. Cloud Carib said its expanded campaign reflects its commitment to strengthening cyber security awareness across the Caribbean, helping communities build safer digital habits while introducing young people to opportunities in the region’s technology sector.
GLENNETT FOWLER
Bahamian cloud provider grows cyber security push A BAHAMIAN cloud and cyber security provider says it is expanding its Cybersecurity Awareness Month initiatives beyond Bahamian classrooms. Cloud Carib, in a statement, said it is extending its Cyber Edu-Tour to Trinidad, sharing its educational curriculum with regional partner Brava Solutions and also engaging private sector associations on cyber security. Now in its third year, the programme combines practical online safety education with opportunities for students to explore careers in technology. This year’s Bahamian school visits included St Francis and St Joseph’s Catholic primary schools, St Cecilia’s Catholic School and Queen’s College. Cloud Carib said sessions addressed the digital decisions young people make every day, and included topics such as protecting personal information and recognising suspicious messages to navigating social media, cyber bullying and the risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content. Cloud Carib staff, including Anya Beneby,
its sales operations manager, M’khel Ferguson, its marketing operations manager, and Olivia Dorsett, director of marketing and communications, delivered the sessions using age-appropriate discussions, games and relatable scenarios to help students put cyber security advice into practice. At St Francis and St Joseph’s, students invented their own ‘Block! Report! Delete!’ chant, turning the lesson into a memorable call to action. Interactive activities such as ‘Phish or Treat’ challenged students to question daily situations and decide what is safe to share online. Cloud Carib said the emphasis is on building judgement and confidence, helping young people recognise when to pause, question a suspicious request and seek help. It added that it is broadening the programme’s Caribbean reach through its team in Trinidad, and by sharing its curriculum with their partner, telecommunications provider Brava Solutions, whose markets include Bermuda, Guyana,
the Cayman Islands and the US Virgin Islands. Cloud Carib said its support also includes sponsoring CIRT’s (computer
incident response team) Cyber Sharks event, which introduced secondary school students to cyber security through
Griffin appointed ambassador for trade and global markets
Downtown Nassau was full with cruise tourists on Wednesday, October 14, with five vessels docked at Nassau Cruise Port.
Five cruise ships keep downtown Nassau busy
Barry Griffin was appointed as The Bahamas’ ambassador-at-large for trade and global markets on October 19, 2026, in ceremonies conducted by Dame Cynthia Pratt, the Governor General, at Government House
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, PAGE 3
Stop handing over the keys without securing Bahamians BY GLENNETT FOWLER EVERY island has its own economy. Grand Bahama’s recovery must give Grand Bahamians a fair opportunity to work, build, own and prosper. I am calling on the relevant authorities to urgently review pricing and market conditions in the concrete and concrete block manufacturing sector, including matters involving Del Zotto Products of The Bahamas,
THE LETTER TO
EDITOR
formerly Gold Rock Corporation. I am asking for an impartial examination of pricing, raw material access, supply arrangements and concessions to determine whether
competition is fair. These concerns require verified evidence and a timely response. Grand Bahama remembers the disruption associated with Gold Rock’s previous withdrawal. That history demonstrates why reliable supply and competing manufacturers matter. If local businesses disappear, our construction industry becomes more vulnerable to price increases and supply interruptions.
Bahamian manufacturers face real costs: Materials, freight, applicable government fees, electricity, equipment and wages. Lower prices benefit customers, but authorities should examine whether current conditions support sustainable competition or risk leaving the market with fewer suppliers. Where is the business case for Bahamians to invest their savings and employ people if credible
Trained teacher wage increases to $54,000 BY FAY SIMMONS TRIBUNE Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net TRAINED teachers will have a maximum annual salary of $54,000 under a new five-year industrial agreement signed by the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) and the Davis administration yesterday, bringing 12 months of negotiations to an end. The 2025–2030 agreement covers thousands of teachers from Grand Bahama to Inagua, and includes salary increases, annual increments, lump sum payments, allowances and a retention bonus. It also addresses professional development and training opportunities, mentorship, career paths, safer
learning environments, health and safety protocols, and maternity and paternity leave. Belinda Wilson, the BUT president, described the signing as a “bittersweet moment”, adding that it will be the last industrial agreement she signs as the union’s president and lead negotiator. “Our team skilfully, strongly and meticulously negotiated this agreement over a 12-month period,” she said. “The terms and conditions of this agreement show forward thinking, and we are hopeful that the impact will be felt and that there will be improvements in the education system through curriculum development, teachers and guidance counsellors,
BELINDA WILSON career paths, professional development and training opportunities, mentorship, safe learning environments, health and safety protocols, paternity leave and maternity leave, and a commitment from the Ministry of Education for a breastfeeding pilot programme.”
Mrs Wilson said the agreement also included salary increases, increments and lump sum payments, adding: “Today shows that delayed is not denied.” She said teachers can be assured their union had secured an agreement that was “second to none”.
Abdullah said achievements. He also UAE rewards Bahamas for theSheikh strategy will help the emphasised the importance anticipate global of innovation, teamwork its partnership co-operation ministry changes, strengthen institu- and effective performance THE Bahamas has been recognised by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs as one of 16 countries whose diplomatic and consular missions were honoured for their co-operation. The recognition was presented during a ceremony in Abu Dhabi, at which UAE deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, witnessed the launch of the ministry’s new 2027–2029 strategy and honoured recipients of the sixth Minister of Foreign Affairs Excellence Award. The Bahamas was among 17 diplomatic and consular missions recognised
for their co-operation with the UAE ministry across various areas. The award highlights the importance of diplomatic engagement and collaboration between the UAE and its international partners. The newly-launched Ministry of Foreign Affairs Strategy 2027–2029 sets out the UAE’s priorities for the next three years. Its five main pillars include expanding economic and political partnerships, harnessing scientific and technological advances, improving the efficiency of services, strengthening public diplomacy and promoting the UAE’s values and international presence.
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tional capabilities and build on the UAE’s foreign policy
in meeting the ministry’s future objectives.
concerns about fair competition go unanswered? Local ownership creates opportunities for earnings to circulate through Bahamian households, suppliers and further investment. Foreign investment should also create lasting opportunities for Bahamians through fair competition and meaningful local participation. Grand Bahamians deserve the opportunity to build substantial businesses, create wealth and leave something for our children. When qualified local companies meet the required standards, capacity and fair commercial terms, they should receive meaningful consideration for projects here. We must stop handing over the keys without securing a place for our own people.
Several letters have been submitted to the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA). I am calling on the relevant authorities to provide clear answers, establish a reasonable timetable and act on any substantiated breaches, while respecting the rights of everyone involved. Although I am speaking publicly, these concerns extend across our industry. Speaking out carries risk, but if using my voice helps protect businesses and livelihoods that Bahamians have worked hard to build, I am prepared to stand. We say The Bahamas should be for Bahamians. Let that commitment be reflected in fair access, equal treatment and real opportunities.
“So be assured that your union, the Bahamas Union of Teachers, got the best agreement that’s second to none, as this is my last industrial agreement that I will be signing as the president and lead negotiator of the Bahamas Union of Teachers,” Mrs Wilson said. “It was truly my honour. This is our fifth industrial agreement.” The agreement follows months of increasingly tense negotiations, with the union and the Government repeatedly failing to reach consensus on the financial provisions. Ms Wilson previously said teachers were seeking a 20 percent salary increase over three years, arguing that the Government had repeatedly presented a financial counter-proposal the union had already rejected. At the time, she said the non-financial provisions had largely been agreed, with salary increases and other financial matters remaining outstanding. The dispute intensified in early September 2026 when the union placed more than 1,400 members
on industrial action alert after teachers rejected the Government’s financial counter-proposal for a sixth time. The union had warned for months that industrial action remained an option if the outstanding matters were not resolved. The parties ultimately agreed to a five-year arrangement, with Mrs Wilson previously indicating that the union had revised its proposal to reflect the longer agreement period. She said the five-year industrial agreement, which runs from 2025 to 2030, is retroactive to July 1. It includes a maximum teacher salary of $54,000, while entry-level pay has increased to $30,100. Lump-sum payments were also agreed, with teachers expected to receive $700 in the third year and $750 in the fifth year of the agreement. Hardship allowances were also secured for teachers who relocate to schools in the Family Islands.
PAGE 4, Tuesday, October 27, 2026
THE TRIBUNE
New inventory sources one key in 2027 property market outlook PURCHASE - from page B1 listings of available land were down by 24.2 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively, compared to the 2025 third quarter and this year’s second quarter. A drop-off in new listings often signals a reduction in the supply of available properties, and thus a tightening of or increase in real estate prices, and New Providence sellers achieved an average of 93.6 percent of their asking price during the 2026 third quarter. Sellers on Eleuthera, Exuma and Grand Bahama also beat the 90 percent list-to-sale ratio; only Abaco was below at 87.6 percent. “Our market remained pretty stable,” Ms Morley added of 2026’s first nine months. “Prices have not increased or decreased significantly, home closings remained pretty stable. We have a pretty stable market in Nassau, which is in a good spot. Our land sales have increased; they haven’t decreased.” As for Bahamian real estate’s outlook heading into 2027, she said: “I think it’s important to look at the early quarters of this
year. The second quarter was definitely our strongest quarter in 2026, and things have kind of slowed down. As we head into 2027, naturally with the holidays things tend to slow down but it doesn’t mean people will stop looking. “I think the market will head in a similar direction where it will start to slow down, but that is not any any indication it is trending down. But the last two months of the year, beginning of 2027, will naturally be a bit slower as families recover from the holiday season. “We’re kind of hoping to see a little more inventory. The buyer activity is still there, but the fact we have not seen so many contracted sales shows the inventory is a little lower. The land market has been bit a bit more volatile. We have seen increases in the price of land, and an increase in contracts and sales on this island. I would say land is doing relatively well,” Ms Morley added. “The way I see it, the fact we are not seeing anything super volatile in the first three quarters, is reassuring for next year. I think, at
‘They want to mash us up, have all the business for themselves’ TRADE - from page B1 Grand Bahama are now alleging and complaining about. Ms Fowler, who denied she is opposed to competition, asserted that “we’re all for that” and instead argued that her priority is for all Bahamian companies to have “a level playing field” so they can battle US and other foreign rivals fairly. She was backed by Washington Smith, president of Smith Construction Company, who signalled to Tribune Business that he “can’t make any money” at the prices Del Zotto Products are offering and only sold “one load” last week. He added that this was squeezing the company to the point where it has no choice but to close. Tribune Business was unable to obtain comment and response from Del Zotto Products of The Bahamas prior to press time last night, as phone messages left for senior executives and e-mails were not responded to. However, Ms Fowler said Del Zotto Products: “It’s the pricing. Since they reopened we believe their intention has been to make us unstable… to destabilise the market by these lower prices.” While companies decreasing prices to obtain greater market share, surprise rivals or for some other corporate goal is a well-established tactic, the Heroic president argued that - in this case - it was impossible for competitors to match the Del Zotto Products prices and remain commercially
and financially viable themselves even though all use the same raw materials suppliers. Besides cement from Cemex, Ms Fowler argued that Grand Bahama-based concrete producers also obtained aggregate from the same source - formerly Bahama Rock, and now another Freeport supplier. “We can’t figure out how to do it ourselves as we buy from the same cement provider and aggregate,” she explained. “The same components make up everyone’s product. “What we’re trying to understand, if all of us have the same supply chain, is that if concessions are being made to a foreign entity we want the same concessions as well…. I believe that if we’re going to have foreign-backed companied here competing in the same retail and wholesale space we should have the same advantages.” Del Zotto Products, which is owned by a Florida-based family of the same name, has a colourful recent history on Grand Bahama. Operating under the name Gold Rock Corporation, they abruptly shut down the concrete manufacturing business, as well as their hardware store and furniture and home centre in 2022, amid a furious public row with the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA). The two sides traded accusations of “spite” and “harassment” in an extraordinary spat, which saw Gold Rock and the Del Zottos brand the GBPA as “the leaders of the most grossly under-performing island in
least in the New Providence market, things have stayed relatively the same between 2025 and 2026, so I can only imagine that in 2027 things will remain the same in New Providence. Given the world we live in, it’s really important things are stable here.” Morley Realty, describing the Bahamian real estate market’s performance as “mixed” in its analysis of MLS third quarter data, said some of the five major islands showed “stronger activity” while others were weaker compared to the three months to end-June 2026. “The home market stayed fairly active, but buyer activity softened in several areas. The land market continued to be more unpredictable, with larger swings in sales activity and pricing,” it said. “Overall, the 2026 third quarter shows a market that remains active but varies significantly from island to island. “Home sales slowed from the second quarter in most areas, while pricing moved in different directions depending on what was selling. Land remained more volatile, and going into the fourth quarter, realistic
pricing and the right level of inventory will remain important as buyers stay selective.” Turning to specific details, Morley Realty added: “New home listings were higher than last year in Abaco, Eleuthera, Exuma and Grand Bahama, while New Providence was unchanged. Compared to the second quartr, however, listings fell in Abaco, Exuma and New Providence. “Land listings were generally weaker, with most islands recording fewer new listings than last year. Exuma was the main exception, where land listings remained higher year-overyear despite falling from the previous quarter. “Buyer activity in the home market slowed during the third quarter. Contracted sales fell from the second quarter across all five islands, with some of the largest declines in Abaco and Eleuthera. Compared to last year, Abaco was the main market to show stronger contracted sales, while Exuma was unchanged,” the real estate firm said. “Completed sales were more mixed, with
Grand Bahama and New Providence recording yearover-year increases, while Abaco and Eleuthera saw declines. Exuma completed sales were unchanged from last year but increased sharply from the second quarter.” As for prices and sales pace, Morley Realty said: “Home prices varied widely between the islands. Abaco prices remained above last year but fell from the second quarter. Exuma saw a sharp increase in average and median home prices, although this may have been influenced by a smaller number of high-value sales. “Eleuthera’s average price remained above last year but dropped significantly from the secomd quarter, while its median also declined. Grand Bahama saw lower average and median prices, while New Providence was more stable, with the average increasing but the median falling slightly. “Land prices were also mixed. New Providence showed the strongest price growth, while Eleuthera also recorded higher prices. Abaco, Exuma, and Grand Bahama all saw lower land
prices compared to last year, showing how much pricing can move when fewer sales take place. “Homes generally sold faster than in the second quarter in Eleuthera, Exuma, Grand Bahama and New Providence, while Abaco was mostly unchanged. Most home sales still closed above 90 percent of list price, with Abaco lower at 87.8 percent. Land results varied more, with New Providence reaching 100 percent and Grand Bahama at 81.4 percent.” And, when it came to land sales, Morley Realty said: “Land sales showed stronger results in a few markets. Eleuthera saw increases in both contracted and completed sales compared to last year and the second quarter, while Grand Bahama recorded a strong increase in contracted sales. “Exuma also saw better contracted activity, although completed sales remained below last year. New Providence land sales were still higher than a year ago but slowed from the second quarter. Abaco was weaker across the board, with fewer new listings, contracted sales and completed sales.”
The Bahamas. They asserted at the time they would “not be cornered, pushed or strong-armed” in negotiations with its affiliates for a new aggregate supply contract. The spark for the dispute appeared to be talks with the Grand Bahama Development Company (DevCO) for a new agreement over Gold Rock’s access to aggregate/fill in the former’s Devonshire subdivision that was critical for its ready mix, block and pre-cast concrete products. DevCO, though, has argued that Gold Rock’s continued monopoly over this source cannot be justified because it had under-performed the previous contract by not taking the stipulated tonnage. However, less than two years later, the Del Zottos were back in business at their 273,204 square foot property at Freeport Light Industrial Park, with the concrete plant returned to operation, One Freeport source, speaking on condition of anonymity, signalled to Tribune Business their sympathy for Heroic was somewhat tempered by the fact it had entered the Grand Bahama market at least partly in the hope of exploiting and filling the vacuum seemingly left by Gold Rock Corporation’s abrupt exit. Its departure, though, was short-lived, albeit Gold Rock’s name was changed to Del Zotto Products of The Bahamas upon the 2024 re-opening. “They came back in and undercut everyone on their price. Everyone went back to them the moment they dropped their price,” the source said of the Del Zottos’ return. But Ms Fowler, pledging that “we will not be bullied
any longer”, challenged: “Why do we sit here in Freeport if something’s wrong and say nothing?” She challenged the discrepancy between the “almost under $2” per concrete block price that Del Zotto Products has been unable to achieve with the “almost $3” cost that the rest of the market produces. “Now they are selling at the same price you purchase blocks for in the Dominican Republic,” the Heroic chief added. “People have called me asking: How is that possible? I can’t speak to how it’s possible. But pre-2024, it was fine. All companies were competing, had a fair price in the market and were able to sell.” Now, to avoid “handing in the keys”, Ms Fowler said Heroic is exploring entry into other market segments to “sustain the company”, including partnering with contractors to create a construction “ecosystem to support projects in a direct way” such as building homes. “Freeport is under enough strain, and we are allowing this to transpire right there in our faces,” she continued, adding that she has written several letters to the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), as Freeport’s licensing authority, urging that the situation be addressed but no action appears to have been taken. It is also unclear whether the GBPA has any power to address the matter. “It’s not about competition,” Ms Fowler told Tribune Business. “We’re all for that. It’s about a level playing field with Bahamian companies having the ability to compete with US-backed companies…. It can’t be that Bahamian companies are disenfranchised because a US-backed company smashes us to pieces. “We are looking for a level playing field and to compete equally. There are ways to compete through quality, service and innovation. Maybe there is a legitimate reason they [Del Zotto Products] can charge that price. The powers that be need to give the locals the same ability to do that. It will benefit our citizens, everyone involved, as it will
not be a single entity doing that.” Ms Fowler said a market where all rivals are driven out to leave just one major supplier dominating will have negative consequences for employment numbers and raw materials providers - not just those pushed out of business. She added that it could also impact developer and investor confidence, plus result in higher concrete prices. The Heroic president said the impact of Del Zotto Products’ pricing on the wider market started to emerge in 2025 as completion of Carnival’s $600m Celebration Key project drew near. “After that we swiftly decreased the margins to almost break even, but then it was not enough to do that,” Ms Fowler added, saying those enjoying the lower costs could ultimately pay the price later. She renewed calls for the Government, through Parliament, to pass a Fair Competition Act to deal with unfair practices such as predatory pricing and companies engaging in anti-consumer behaviour by abusing their dominant market position. “I definitely think we should be working on that this fiscal year,” Ms Fowler said. ‘The same way we regulate bread basket items, maybe they need to regulate in other industries.” The Davis administration’s election manifesto pledged to “enact modern competition legislation that bans price-fixing and penalises abuse of market dominance”, and ministers said such a law was being worked on prior to May 2026. The Bahamas committed to enacting competition and antitrust legislation as part of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) that was sighed more than 15 years ago under the last Ingraham administration, meaning this nation is non-compliant with one of its international obligations. The legislation was revived briefly under the Minnis administration when it was considering possible accession to full
membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), only for this to be dropped and competition regulation placed on the shelf again. Meanwhile, Mr Smith of Smith’s Construction Company, pledging his full support for, and agreement with, Ms Fowler, said: “I haven’t been doing any work for a long time because they [Del Zotto Products] are undercutting their prices to way less than mine. I can’t match them. “They are way less than mine. I can’t make any money at their price levels but the people are going for the cheaper rates. The whole of last week, I only sent out one load. I am not closing down, but it’s going to force me to close. I have staff working who I have to pay. Where do I get the money from? “It’s just that they want all the business,” Mr Smith added. “I don’t know if they need all the business because they have other things to survive off. I don’t have anything else. I am only depending on the concrete. They just want all the business for themselves. I think they just want to mash us up. I was thinking about it the other night and said we should all have the same price just about. “The way it is now, and the price of materials, I don’t think they can make any money with the prices they are charging, but they have other things. I’m not prejudiced but I’m a Bahamian and have nowhere else to go. These guys come in here and do this, but the Bahamian people are trying to save money in their pocket so they are not going to come to me. “I don’t know how to fix the problem. I don’t know how they [Del Zotto] are doing it except where they may be buying raw materials at a discount or making a profit on other things… The couple of dollars I have on the side in savings I have had to use to pay my staff and we have a lot of overheads in Freeport. People think it’s easy to do business in Freeport but it’s not that easy.”
Repeat Eleuthera outages ‘stain on tourism product’ REPAIR - from page B1 respond to outages, arguing that the problem had persisted for years. “This has been years this has been going on, and they have yet to have a crew set up north of the bridge for this time,” the owner said, describing the situation as “very upsetting and overwhelming”. They added that the lack of electricity was affecting more than tourism businesses, pointing to the difficulties households face when trying to prepare children for school, cook meals and get ready for work. “People have to go through this day after day.
They are getting stressed about finding water to bathe, they cannot cook a meal for their children before they go to school,” the owner said. The latest BPL outage also raises concerns for short-term rental operators dealing with visitors who expect basic utilities to be available during their stays. The owner said tourists are also having to contend with the disruptions, describing the situation as “a stain on our tourism product”. “These people, they spent their money, a lot of it. They expect basic things like electricity. When they talk about their trip now they say ‘the lights was off most
of the time’. It’s a stain on our tourism product, that’s what this is,” the owner said. Damaged appliances and food spoilage is another concern, with the owner questioning how BPL could continue billing consumers while failing to ensure that workers and equipment were positioned where they might be needed. “This is completely unacceptable and a disgrace,” the owner said. BPL apologised for the inconvenience and thanked consumers for their patience, noting technicians were continuing to work through rainy weather conditions to restore electricity to all remaining customers as quickly as possible. The utility said further updates would be provided as restoration efforts progressed.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, PAGE 5
Resort owner: Access demand is ‘materially beyond the ruling’ HOTEL - from page B1 owners to place their units in its rental programme”. IVRC has asserted it has contractual agreements with 58 of Old Bahama Bay’s 73 condo owners to manage rental bookings for their units and collect the associated revenues. Mr Flowers, in his letter, implied that OBB Hospitality’s rival condo rental programme will violate his client’s contract relationships. “Given the ruling, your client and OBB Hospitaltiy must cease and desist, with immediate effect, from renting or purporting to rent any unit whose owner is contractually bound by his agreement with the first claimant [IVRC], and from taking bookings for, or collecting, any revenue in respect of any such unit, whether on behalf of the unit owner or otherwise,” Mr Flowers demanded. “The management of the bookings of those units is the subject of the very contractual relationship the court recognised. Neither your client nor OBB
Hospitality holds any estate in the units or any authority from those owners to let them.” Mr Flowers added that unit owners planned to “take and receive bookings for their own units” directly, or via IVRC and other agents. He demanded that LRAOBB and OBB Hospitality confirm in writing by today that they have “ceased, and will not resume, the renting of, and the taking of bookings for and collecting of revenue” for the unit owners with which IVRC has management contracts. Mr Scott, though, dismissed the call to halt OBB Hospitality’s rental initiative, arguing this was never ordered by Justice Delancy in her ruling. “Your demand that our client and OBB Hospitality cease all lettings, bookings and revenue collection for the units you describe is likewise unsupported by the ruling,” he blasted. “[The ruling] recognises contractual relationships between IVRC and some unit owners. Those private booking arrangements do not revive IVRC’s licence or create rights over
LRA-OBB’s property. The court did not determine that every such agreement remains subsisting and exclusive, restrain lettings authorised by an owner, or adjudicate any alleged interference with a particular agreement. “If you maintain a specific claim concerning a particular unit, identify the unit, the subsisting contractual provision relied upon, the conduct complained of and the basis on which it is said to bind or give rise to liability on the part of our client. Nothing in this letter asserts any entitlement to let a unit without the necessary authority. Equally, no admission is made as to the alleged absence of authority asserted in your letter.” Mr Flowers, meanwhile, also argued that the Supreme Court verdict meant unit owners have free access to their properties. He added: “Free access means there is to be no obstruction whatsoever. This means no barricade, gate, checkpoint, chain or lock. No turning away, stopping or questioning of unit owners, their tenants, guests,
Proposed GB Council only ‘co-ordinator’ and monitor ASSESS - from page B1 “In the Government’s assessment, the geographically differentiated settlement established under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement has created an economic imbalance between Freeport and the remainder of the island,” the ‘Green Paper’ added. “Investment incentives under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement framework and the Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Act 2016 apply only within the Port area to qualifying licensees, and subject to conditions, and residents of the same island deal with different authorities for comparable services. “The objective of reform is transparent and equal governance and regulation throughout Grand Bahama and surrounding cays, with development opportunities extending to all Bahamians. That objective recognises Freeport’s contribution to national development while requiring institutions appropriate to a sovereign country and the needs of the whole island,” the report continued. “The Government considers that the long-term governance of Grand Bahama and surrounding cays should be established under a modern legislative framework applicable to the area as a whole, rather than continue to depend principally upon the institutional arrangements created by the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
“The Government is therefore consulting on the development of the comprehensive successor framework. The precise legislative measures, treatment of existing rights, allocation of public functions and transitional arrangements will be determined following consultation and detailed legal analysis. “Public governance must serve the whole island. Decisions affecting regulation, public services and development must have a demonstrable public purpose, an identifiable legal basis and effective accountability.” Many Freeport residents will likely question why the Government has not legislated through Parliament to grant equal tax breaks, investment incentives and concessions that are comparable to Freeport’s throughout the rest of Grand Bahama given that the idea has been discussed for years if not decades. The Government is proposing that the reforms be overseen by a Grand Bahama Development Council, a newly-created body that will largely function as a co-ordinating and monitoring entity. It will be far short of what the GBPA currently is, and the powers that it has, and will not be a municipal authority with revenue-raising powers. “It would not replace the constitutional responsibilities of ministers and Parliament, the statutory functions of
invitees, servants or agents by security personnel. “And no charge, condition, permission imposed as the price of passing over the roadways, walkways or common property.” Mr Flowers argued that the same access rights also applied to IVRC and its personnel when it came to Old Bahama Bay marina dock slips that it owned, and said access confirmation was key for the hosting of the Wahoo Charity Cup on November 19, 2026. Mr Scott, however, hit back by warning that IVRC’s injunction bid, through which it sought to regain control at Old Bahama Bay, was dismissed by Justice Delancy. “Your account of the effect of Justice Delancy’s ruling dated October 22, 2026, is materially incomplete, and the demands you seek to derive from it are unsustainable,” he charged. “They cannot properly be presented as granting the mandatory and prohibitory relief which the court declined to grant. The court expressly left issues concerning title and the management of the resort,
public authorities, or the lawful powers and obligations of other institutions,” the Government’s ‘Green Paper’ said of the Council. “Its recommendations could identify where those arrangements require change, but would not themselves bring that change into effect. Membership or participation would confer neither an entitlement to a favourable determination nor authority to bind Government… “A co-ordinating and monitoring mandate would not permit the Council to grant licences or planning permissions, determine concessions, direct a regulator, commit public expenditure or adjudicate private rights. Individual applications would continue through the competent authority, with the applicable procedures and opportunities for review.” This means that the Council would instead have to try and get movement from the relevant ministries, departments and agencies in Nassau whenever elements of the Grand Bahama governance reforms are not being fully implemented. “Once the Development Act is in force, the Council’s continuing role would be to monitor delivery of the islandwide development strategy and to report publicly on progress,” the ‘Green Paper’ added. “The Government proposes that the Council prepare the annual State of Grand Bahama Report. Any power beyond co-ordination, monitoring and reporting would require express legal basis.”
its resources and amenities undetermined at this interlocutory stage.” Mr Scott said the Supreme Court verdict established that LRA-OBB is “entitled to deal with and exercise control over its own property within the resort”, and it also “declined at this stage to infer that the unit owners’ property rights automatically established IVRC’s entitlement to occupy or exercise operational control over LRA-OBB’s property”. “Those passages cannot be disregarded when construing the ruling,” Mr Scott added. “As you are well aware, IVRC’s licence to occupy and operate upon LRA-OBB’s property has been cancelled. IVRC consequently has no subsisting rights under that licence which it can exercise itself or confer upon others. The ruling neither revived the licence nor restored any such entitlement. “The unit owners’ rights of access and use, as against LRA-OBB, are confined to those conferred by their respective declarations of condominium, construed according to their terms
and consistently with the existing court orders. They enjoy no additional contractual or derivative rights over LRA-OBB’s property through IVRC “An agreement with IVRC cannot confer rights which IVRC itself no longer possesses or enlarge the rights granted by a declaration. Equally, an owner cannot authorise IVRC, as agent, to exercise any wider right than that owner possesses.” Mr Scott said Mr Flowers’ demands for access on behalf of his clients go “materially beyond the ruling. The court made no order abolishing gates, checkpoints or security arrangements, prohibiting every inquiry by security personnel, or adopting the unrestricted access regime you describe. “Any security arrangements must remain consistent with lawful rights of access. Whether a particular measure unlawfully interferes with an established right depends on the relevant instruments and facts. Your letter cannot supply the injunction which was refused,” he wrote.
Delegations meet in Iran with Mideast region on edge over potential for renewed fighting By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press HIGH-LEVEL delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting in the Iran war. Many in Iran are anxious about a possible return to all-out war. Israeli and American leaders have been sharpening their threats before elections in both countries, while Iranian leaders have remained defiant. The war in Yemen and strikes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were also discussed, according to two regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak with reporters. The four countries agreed Monday to continue talks on expanding cooperation among them, particularly about regional peace and security, a statement said. No details were given about a date or place for a future meeting. Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey’s intelligence service, attended the talks, hosted by Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that Iran supports any agreement that would deepen regional cooperation, resolve differences and make greater use of the shared resources and capabilities of Islamic countries.
Delegations from the other Middle Eastern countries sought to avoid further turmoil in the region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned in a televised address on Monday that renewed attacks on Iran would destabilize the region and hurt countries that aren’t party to the conflict. “It is our hope that all parties will refrain from any actions that could drag our region into a new spiral of violence,” Erdogan said. Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the delegations hoped to find “ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability.” Qatari mediators also traveled to Tehran on Sunday, working in coordination with the United States, as part of efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, according to a regional official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Pakistan and Qatar helped broker an agreement in June aimed at having Iran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, ending a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and opening negotiations on a broader settlement addressing Iran’s nuclear program. The deal unraveled quickly, however, as both sides renewed attacks. With worries about renewed fighting before Israel’s election on Tuesday and the U.S. midterm election on Nov. 3, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said over the weekend that Iran hadn’t closed the window of diplomacy and that messages were being passed to the U.S. through intermediaries.
NOTICE
NOTICE
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that I ROLAND JOSEPH of #54 Third Street, Coconut Grove, Robinson Road, New Providence, Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration /naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 27thday of October, 2026 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE is hereby given that I JOEL ELIENIST of Hanna Hill, Eight Mile Rock Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 20th day of October, 2026 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE is hereby given that ERICA ENGEL ARISMA of 3900 NW, 33rd Avenue, Lauderdale Lakes, 33309, United States of America is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 20th day of October, 2026 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE
NOTICE G.B. ECO DEVELOPMENTS LTD.
Pursuant to the provisions of The International Business Companies Act 2000, as amended, notice is hereby given that Pentsatu Investments, Ltd. has been placed in voluntary liquidation and the date of commencement of the liquidation is the 20 October 2026.
Pursuant to the provisions of The International Business Companies Act 2000, as amended, notice is hereby given that Waincote Corporation Ltd. has been placed in voluntary liquidation and the date of commencement of the liquidation is the 20 October 2026.
In Voluntary Liquidation Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business G.B. ECO Companies Act, 2000, DEVELOPMENTS LTD. is in dissolution. The date of commencement of dissolution was October 21, 2026.
Magdaline Carey and Lorna Kemp LIQUIDATORS c/o Corvalier Trust Company Limited Pineapple House #4 Lyford Cay P.O. Box SP-64284 Nassau, Bahamas
Lorna Kemp and Wantinese Smith LIQUIDATORS c/o Corvalier Trust Company Limited Pineapple House #4 Lyford Cay P.O. Box SP-64284 Nassau, Bahamas
Dale Morgan, Poinciana House, West Mall Drive, P.O. Box F-42614, Freeport, Bahamas is the Liquidator.
LIQUIDATOR ________________________
PAGE 6, Tuesday, October 27, 2026
THE TRIBUNE
Wall Street rises as AI stocks keep swinging By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer U.S. stocks rose Monday amid shaky trading for financial markets worldwide, as AI stocks kept swinging and Brazilian stocks tumbled. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and more than recovered its losses from last week, pulling within 1.8% of its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 146 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8%. The strongest lift for the market came from Nvidia, which rose 2.4%. That helped the chip company recover some of its drop from three straight losing weeks, its longest such streak since June. But stocks elsewhere in the artificial-intelligence industry remained unsettled. They’ve been swerving on worries about whether their industry’s boom is under threat because of how expensive it’s become for companies to borrow money to build data centers and buy more AI chips. Meta helps lead the swings
Meta Platforms bounced up and down after outlining plans to raise $35 billion by selling stock to help pay for its AI investments. It also said it could raise another $60 billion by selling shares of a new class of its stock once it begins trading. Meta’s stock initially dropped more than 2%, but it quickly flipped to a gain and then pulled back to a loss of 1.9%. Meta said Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom have already indicated they may buy a total of $5 billion of stock in its offering. Those are strong signals of interest from chip companies that stand to benefit from additional AI investments. But they also give fuel to critics of “circular financing” who say it raises the risk if AI isn’t as successful as expected. One big company at the center of the AI boom, Anthropic, gave details Monday about how much money it’s losing as it prepares to sell its stock on the publicly traded U.S. market for the first time. Worries remain about borrowing for AI
began, only to flip to a gain of 6.6% before moderating to a rise of 1.8%. Such minute-to-minute swings have become commonplace for it in recent days. All told, the S&P 500 rose 53.09 points to 7,676.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 146.42 to 52,361.58, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 214.04 to 26,169.38. It’s a big week for profit reports
TRADER Joel Lucchese works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. Photo:Richard Drew/AP SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company that also runs the xAI business, had similar swings after it announced a roughly $40 billion deal with an entity managed by Apollo Global Management to lease AI computing power. Its stock initially fell nearly 2% before flipping to a gain of 1.9% and then finishing with a dip of 0.4%. Musk warned over the weekend that hundreds of companies that rent out AI
computing power are under threat because of the difficulty in borrowing money, saying on his social-media platform, X, that they could face “guppy-level death and consolidation.” CoreWeave, a company that’s borrowed money to buy AI computing power that it rents to customers over the cloud, has been at the center of investors’ worries in recent weeks. On Monday, it dropped 5.5% quickly after trading
Profit reports from huge tech companies this week could offer more details about how spending on AI is going, and whether it’s producing the profits and productivity that proponents promised. Alphabet and Microsoft will report their latest quarterly results on Wednesday, with Amazon to follow on Thursday. Companies across all industries are under pressure to report strong growth in their profits. Expectations for big growth are what allowed stock prices to run to records recently despite worries about high inflation, high interest rates and other concerns.
Verizon Communications fell 3.5% even though it reported a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected, as its revenue fell short of forecasts. Roughly one out of every three stocks in the S&P 500 is scheduled to report its latest quarterly results this week. Brazilian stocks tumble following mixed moves in other markets In stock markets abroad, Brazilian stocks fell sharply after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won reelection in a result that surprised investors. The worry among investors is that he could increase the government’s spending and put more pressure on its debt. The Bovespa stock index in Brazil dropped roughly 14%. Other governments around the world are also feeling pressure because of high debt loads and strained budgets, including the United States. France has been at the center of the worries recently following violent protests in the country.
state unequivocally to “dare to place your own attacks in southern Israel on Netanyahu, faces a new test Opponents accuse Netanyahu that“I there has been no political interests above the Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked next week in the U.S. midintention by Israel of initiat- security of the state.” He the Israel-Hamas war in term election. of stoking tensions with ing an attack on Iran before posted on X, “Netanyahu, Gaza and conflicts across Although Israelis are the Middle East. the elections in Israel,” Katz my eyes are on you.” breathlessly approaching Iran before Israel’s election Israelis are deeply the election as one of the wrote on X on Monday, callAvigdor Lieberman, head By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press ISRAELIS entered the final 24 hours of an intense election season on Monday, as reports circulated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have clashed with the Israeli military over initiating a possible escalation with Iran immediately before the vote.
Tensions flared over reports that Netanyahu and his military chief of staff disagreed over an instruction by the prime minister to carry out an “action” that the army worried could reignite the conflict with Iran. Netanyahu’s office denied the report, first published by Israel’s Channel 12, as “fake news.” Defense Minister Israel Katz also quickly denied the report.
ing reports of rifts between political and military leaders “completely baseless and false.” However, he said that Israel would respond forcefully if Iran attacks first. Israel’s opposition candidates accused Netanyahu of endangering regional stability for his political preservation. Netanyahu’s main rival, former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, warned Netanyahu not
of the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu party which is part of the opposition bloc, sent a letter to Israel’s attorney general demanding a criminal investigation into possible treason by Netanyahu’s “attempts to drag Israel into a war on the eve of elections, including a willingness to sacrifice (Israeli) soldiers out of fear of losing the election.” The election on Tuesday is the first since the Hamas-led
divided heading into what is expected to be a close race, and the veteran Israeli leader’s legacy is on the line. Netanyahu’s opponents say he should be held accountable for the failures surrounding the Oct. 7 attack. His supporters say that he has led the country back from its toughest moment. The vote also marks another important test for the populist right. Brazil’s voters dealt a stunning setback to the movement on Sunday, lifting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to a surprising victory over Flávio Bolsonaro. The Republican Party of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has endorsed
most crucial in years, people across the Middle East aren’t expecting dramatic changes regardless of the victor. Both Netanyahu and his main rivals have similar approaches to Israel’s regional security in both Gaza and Iran. In southern Gaza, Jamal Abu Deeb, who was displaced from Khan Younis, said that no matter who is elected, it won’t be good news for the Palestinians. “It is all war and destruction,” he said, adding that there are still strikes every day that kill people and children across Gaza. “Do you think whoever gets elected will give us a better life? Quite the opposite.”
PUBLIC NOTICE INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, MICHAELA FERGUSON MACKEY of Saffron Road, The Bahamas, intend to change my name to MICHAELA MACKEY. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.
PUBLIC NOTICE
INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that we, MICHAELA MACKEY (mother) and JIMMY (father) of Saffron Road, New Providence, The Bahamas, parents of CHASE MAX MACKEY intend to change our child’s name to MAX CHASE MACKEY of Saffron Road. If there are any objections to this change of name by deed poll, you may write such objection to the Chief Passport Officer, P. O. Box N-374 , Nassau, The Bahamas or at deedpoll@bahamas.gov.bs no later than thirty (30) days after the date of the publication of this notice.
PUBLIC NOTICE INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, MASCIN MICHELLE of Winton Heights, Eastern Area, Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas intend to change my name to MASCIN LESSAGE. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, PAGE 7
Anthropic files for potentially the biggest IPO ever as CEO warns of risk to humanity from AI By BARBARA ORTUTAY and BERNARD CONDON Associated Press ARTIFICIAL intelligence giant Anthropic filed paperwork Monday for what could be the biggest initial public offering of stock ever, even as its top executive warns that advanced AI could pose an existential threat to humanity. The filing sets up the San Francisco company for a Wall Street debut next month, potentially eclipsing the record $86 billion raised by SpaceX in its initial public offering in June. An Anthropic IPO would also put the company ahead of OpenAI in going public, setting the stage for a pair of blockbuster stock debuts by rival AI developers. An IPO could give Anthropic enormous resources to accelerate its expansion. The amount the company ultimately raises remains uncertain, as do its final valuation and offering price. But even at lower estimates, it would turn the five-year-old startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies, potentially adding billions of dollars to the fortunes of CEO Dario Amodei and his sister and co-founder, Daniela. The 335-page filing showed Anthropic’s revenue is growing rapidly, reaching more than $16 billion in the first half of the year — 14 times its revenue from the same period last year. But like many other tech companies going public, the company behind the Claude chatbot has yet to turn a profit. Despite the losses, Anthropic, valued earlier this year at $965 billion by private investors, is reportedly set to see that value rise to $1.5 trillion or possibly $2 trillion, although its final valuation has not been established. At $1.5 trillion, Anthropic would rank among the world’s most valuable public companies, alongside Tesla. As for money raised, the offering could bring in as much as $100 billion, according to reports,
DARIO AMODEI, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic, attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 23, 2025. Photo:Markus Schreiber/AP surpassing the record set by SpaceX. In a regulatory filing, Anthropic said it will list its stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “ANT.” A Wall Street debut is planned in a jittery market In the filing, the company said it could use some of that money on acquiring other businesses and technology as well as investing in infrastructure to grow its business to take on rivals. Formed in 2021 by former OpenAI leaders, Anthropic is locked in a fight for dominance with that company. But they have plenty of other competitors, including Google, newer startups in the U.S. and China and SpaceX, which has an AI business. Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX’s AI division have all been losing more money than they make because of the huge costs of resources in building AI, fueling concerns of a bubble. The need for cash may explain why Anthropic is rushing to tap public markets this year, and not waiting until next year, as is OpenAI’s plan. Adding to the pressure is the possibility demand for AI shares could drop, or even collapse. Investors have become jittery about the massive financing needs of the sector, and several tech companies have pulled IPO plans recently.
Carney says Trump moving closer to Canada's trade demands as midterms loom By ROB GILLIES Associated Press CANADIAN Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday that trade talks with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration have picked up slightly, but any progress is because Washington is moving closer to Canada's demands. The comments come eight days before U.S. midterm elections, with White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett suggesting the countries are close to a deal. "To the extent any
progress has been made, it's because the U.S. is coming closer to our position," Carney said. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc's office said Canada remains in "constructive dialogue" with Washington. Carney described a "slight, slight intensification" of discussions but said Canada's negotiating position remained unchanged. Carney acknowledged he cannot be sure Trump would honor a new trade agreement. Asked whether the president would "sign in pen" after Carney
David Hsu, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said he sees the filing more as a move to diversify the company’s financial base. “Obviously, they feel great, or at least good enough, on the safety aspects relative to OpenAI, and so that puts them in a position to really stay on track now to go public (first),” Hsu said. In addition to helping plug any cash shortfall, the IPO will shower extraordinary wealth on Anthropic’s seven founders, including Amodei and his sister. The filing didn’t directly state their ownership stakes, but other figures disclosed suggest each will end up with 1.4% of the company, a windfall of as much as $28 billion a person should the company go public at the top expected value.
ANTHROPIC expanded its support for the nonprofit sector Monday, even as the artificial intelligence company filed to sell shares to the public for the first time. The maker of the AI assistant Claude said the moves are all part of its broader strategy for “compounding good.” Anthropic launched a new Claude for Nonprofits plugin created with 30 nonprofits to be more responsive to their specific needs. It will also broaden its Claude Corps program that embeds fellows with nonprofits to help them
better utilize AI by also making consultants available to help organizations with smaller, shorter-term projects. “This work is so core to who we are as a public benefit corporation,” Elizabeth Kelly, Anthropic’s head of beneficial deployments, told The Associated Press. “We were founded to ensure that we’re both developing AI safely and responsibly and that we’re deploying it in a way that really benefits everyone, including those who are too often left behind.” Earlier this month, Anthropic announced plans to commit 5% of its
Calls for an AI slowdown
Dario, 43, and 39-yearold Daniela, who is Anthropic’s president, are already worth $15.5 billion each, according to Forbes, which ranks them as the 176th and 177th richest in the world. Anthropic reported a net loss of $80.7 billion in the first half of 2026, although that included a one-time, $72.4 billion charge for an accounting adjustment related to financing agreements, according to the filing. In the same period a year ago, Anthropic lost $13 billion.
Anthropic and other leading companies have touted the technology’s potential to cure diseases and speed economic growth. But it also threatens major disruptions to jobs by reducing the need for human labor. A string of hacking incidents by rogue AI agents also has raised fears the technology will slip free of human control to carry out harmful, life-threatening tasks. In September, Amodei said the AI industry should slow its fast-moving development to give safety measures time to catch up. Without such a slowdown, Amodei warned AI could be capable of letting loose a swarm of agents that could take over the entire internet within six to 12 months.
previously warned that Washington's signature was sometimes "written in pencil," he replied: "I don't know that." Canada rejected Washington's terms in August after the countries appeared close to a deal. Carney said the offer crossed Canadian "red lines." Trump subsequently imposed 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods, prompting retaliation and further trade restrictions. Trump said Friday he would lift some 50% tariffs on Canadian goods while imposing new tariffs on dozens of other products. Two days later, he told a Michigan campaign rally that Canada was "willing to give us anything at this moment" and that a deal would be settled "pretty soon." He told a Detroit television station an agreement could come before
the midterms, although it might take months. Trump's tariffs have become an issue in closely watched Senate races. Republican candidate Mike Rogers says in a Michigan campaign ad that Canada is "not our enemy" and "we need to end this tariff war now." In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins pressed the Trump administration to ease tariffs on Canadian goods used by farmers and other businesses, with Washington announcing exemptions Friday. Trump has repeatedly complained about the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, but energy more than accounts for the gap. The United States buys millions of barrels of Canadian oil daily, typically at a discount, and runs a trade surplus with Canada when energy is excluded.
Risks aplenty, but a big payoff to the founders
Anthropic expands AI support for nonprofits as it files to sell shares to the public By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer
The document includes some unusual provisions, including granting those two and their five other co-founders 50.1% of shareholder votes through a special class of shares. Anthropic also has appointed independent, financially disinterested members of a so-called Long-Term Benefit Trust, holding power to appoint directors, that is designed to ensure the company doesn’t put financial interests ahead of public safety. Another unusual feature of the filing is its long list of “risk factors,” a required disclosure for every public company but in this case one that runs nearly 100 pages — and makes for riveting reading. Among the risks are the quotidian — the possibility it won’t be able to retain key staff or navigate regulatory roadblocks — and the horrific. The latter includes the prospect of “malicious actors” using AI models to build chemical weapons, authoritarian rulers turning to the technology to crack down on their citizens and the possibility that its AI models could go rogue and “pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.”
shares to a new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund that could be used for large scale donations to nonprofits or directly distributed to groups of people adversely impacted by AI. The fund still needs to be approved by shareholders once Anthropic completes its IPO, which could come as early as November. Critics say AI companies are using donations and nonprofit pledges as an attempt to generate goodwill with the public at a time when so many are worried about the potential dangers of the technology and its impact on jobs.
However, Anthropic says that as a public benefit corporation, it balances its commercial interests with the interests of the public good. Anthropic President Daniela Amodei told The Associated Press in a May interview that the company works to make that balance clear. “I think there’s something really valuable about that as a construct just to help investors and employees and outside people understand what our intentions are and hold us accountable to them,” she said. Other public benefit corporations include eyeglass maker Warby Parker, insurance company Lemonade, and Amalgamated Bank. Questioning whether public benefit corporations
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron addresses the media in Marseille, France, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. Photo:Aurelien Morissard, Pool/AP
France promises to replace its university admissions after riots and thousands of arrests By THOMAS ADAMSON and SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press FRANCE’S government pledged Monday to replace its national online university admissions platform, seeking to quell student anger after weeks of often violent mass protests over education and living costs. Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste announced “substantial change” to the platform next year, before its replacement in 2028. Ministers also pledged up to 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion) in loans for school renovations, alongside smaller classes, more teaching and higher education posts and increased student grants. The concessions target the school grievances that helped ignite the unrest. But the movement has widened to include workers demanding relief from rising living costs, making the government’s task tougher than simply resolving a dispute over university admissions. The promises came after a turbulent few weeks The announcements followed France’s worst unrest in years on Oct. 17, when demonstrations over school funding and rising living costs descended into rioting and looting across the country. Groups of protesters set fires, looted shops, clashed with police and attacked public buildings, briefly storming Marseille’s City Hall and setting Limoges’ 19th-century town hall ablaze. The fire brought down the Limoges building’s roof and clock tower. About 2,400 people were arrested in connection with the demonstrations, in which hundreds of thousands marched peacefully. Two high school student groups welcomed some concessions, but called for protests to continue. Their representatives spoke after meeting with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu earlier Monday. “We have managed to address some of the students’ demands,” said Nathanaël Combary of the high school group Renouveau Lycéen. “I emphasize the term ‘some.’” Other representatives were more critical. “We have received crumbs compared to what we are asking for,” said Clément Vieillot of the Mouvement Cachan 94 student group. He pointed to students’ demand for 250,000 more university places, compared with the government’s
work for the public Bella DeVaan, director of the Charity Reform Initiative at the Institute for Policy Studies, said that public benefit corporations can be meaningful, but the federal government doesn’t currently properly regulate corporations. Without tax reform and a change in what she calls “the public permissiveness toward billionaire power in America,” DeVaan said there is no guarantee that even public benefit corporations will act in the public interest. “Their wealth belongs to the public in the first place -- it’s created by the country and there’s a sort of social wage owed to people who use their products,” she said. “I hope that when people use the ethos of Silicon Valley that gave
pledge of 15,000 additional places in higher education. Further demonstrations are planned. Admissions changes will fall to the next president The 2028 deadline puts a central concession to protesters beyond President Emmanuel Macron’s time in office, leaving his successor’s government to deliver it. Macron can’t seek a third consecutive term in 2027, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen leads polling before the first round of presidential voting on April 18. A winner-takes-all runoff is scheduled for May 2. Le Pen’s National Rally party has sought to capitalize on the unrest, presenting itself as a force for law and order and urging voters to channel their anger into support for her presidential bid. The university admissions replacement system still has to be designed, and legal changes may be needed — leaving crucial decisions unresolved even as the government seeks to persuade students to end their protests. The platform, called Parcoursup, allows students to apply to universities and other higher education courses and receive admissions decisions. A record 1.05 million people applied through it this year, according to the Higher Education Ministry. It has been a focus of the protests, with students criticizing unclear selection criteria and unequal access to their preferred courses. French government commits to education reforms For the 2027 admissions round, institutions would publish more detailed selection criteria. The platform would provide explanatory information with each rejection, and institutions would have to give applicants the reasons for their decisions if requested. A committee involving students and teachers would produce initial recommendations for the replacement system by the end of November. The government said that it would introduce legislation if the proposed changes require it. The government also promised 15,000 additional places in higher education across 2027 and 2028, mostly in vocational and technical programs, and increases in student grants linked to inflation from the start of the 2027 academic year.
birth to these companies that have grand designs of changing the world that they’ll also think about how philanthropy could actually achieve charitable aims.” Kelly said Anthropic’s work with the nonprofit sector is part of the company’s mission. The bulk of the 25,000 nonprofits currently using Claude for Nonprofits have less than 10 people on staff, so its impact on the organizations is often great. She points to Allies Against Slavery, the Texas-based nonprofit fighting human trafficking, as an example of what is possible, after its only government affairs staffer used Claude to analyze more than 750 state-level anti-trafficking policies and turned them into recommendations for advocates.
V T A S K O I U W G O E X H A A Y A D F I G Z B H I S A A M O I A A B U R O Y T F I J W A C M N M O X I F N E G W X S M E L O A L X N E A R A B I C H C Y L R L R Y E K O L X V E A L L B G O U A B J V R D T O R N J X F J L F R E B R E B T I P O R T U G U E S E F G P Z C
JUDGE PARKER
BLONDIE
tool
ing unit
PAGE 8, Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Chewed and swallowed
Sitting room Individual savings account (abbr.)
Pulled tight
CARPE DIEM
Surgical pincers
Responded
Ill will Title
_ Wilson, pictured
Atlantic, e.g. Eagerly expectant
Anneka _, pictured
MARVIN
Lyric poems
Den
City Technology College (abbr.)
Stringed instrument
Fasten with string _ Wide Shut, Tom Cruise film
Prosecute
Lubricates
Wicked or criminal
Couple
LANGUAGES OF AFRICA Find all the terms listed below in the grid. Solution tomorrow AFRIKAANS ● AMHARIC ● ARABIC ● BERBER ENGLISH ● FRENCH ● FULANI ● GIKUYU HAUSA ● IGBO ● MALAGASY ● OROMO PORTUGUESE ● SHONA ● SOMALI ● SWAHILI TIGRINYA ● XHOSA ● YORUBA ● ZULU
Cake decoration
Disposal of waste by burial
Wool thickness
Merriment
Tied score
THE TRIBUNE
Hearing organ
Help or support
Film, _ In Wonderland
Baked dish
Resolution (abbr.)
Racket
FRIDAY’S SOLUTIONS TIGER
THE ALPHABEATER
ARROW-WORD
DITLOIDS
Black squares: 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 37, 39. Across: Small, Quantity, Jobs, Bulletin, Drops, Knew, Origami, Axon, Agile, Violence, Pews, Slightly, Joked. Down: Data, Vast, Major, Lob, Phonology, Divan, Zulu, Calf, Loyal, Streaking, Ego, Lisle, Cyan, Wife.
Across: Ocular, Levi, Cola, Inch, Dig out, Ant, Hear, Ban, Eta, Broaden, Au fait, Dig, Mutt, Urn, Stat, Abel, Hello, Atlas, Net gain, For, Albs, Tour, Eat up, Snap, Dens, Kelp, Lard, Carey. Down (left to right): Arum, Beef, Ada, Mulligan, Fuse, Totter, Lean on, Battleground, Lav, Cut, Rita, Ups, Right, Jot, Thai, Etna, Ska, Seed drill, Loner, Ate in, Lamb, Ale, Prang, Kos, Soppy. Shaded letters: The Seagull
1 Take 5 by Dave Brubeck, 2 8 Incisors in the Human Mouth, HAGAR THE II,HORRIBLE 3 4 Children of Queen Elizabeth 4 10 Downing Street, 5 4 Players in a Game of Doubles in Tennis, 6 9 Times Out of 10
THE ALPHAPUZZLE Across: Termite, From, Brass, Infidel, Quack, Easy, Damage, Entomb, Thud, Carry, Avarice (clue), Orate, Heel, Wrestle. CALVIN & HOBBESDown: Abound, Teach, Exam, Amputate, Misjudge, Twitch, Career, Enormous, Radiator, Sail, Milky, Buzzer.
TV CROSSWORD
WORDS MEDIA
MUDDLESOME Billy Eckstine Anne Shelton Eartha Kitt
Across: 5 Cook, 7 Savell, 8 Davro, 11 Alice, 12 Unchosen, 13 Stan, CLOCK-WISE 15 Tane, 16 Bateman, 17 Hugh, Dali, Lino, Nope, Peso, Soco, Coda 18 Havers, 21 Menu, 22 Dirk. Down: 1 Karl, 2 Albert, 3 Marc, 4 Robson, 5 Cynthia, 6 Owen, QUIZ OF THE WEEK 9 Murnaghan, 10 Anita, 14 Steve, 17 Hamm, 19 And, 20 Rik. 1 Cricket, 2 N, 3 Cake-like biscuit, DENNIS THE MENACE CRYPTOQUOTE 4 1920s, 5 Moscow, 6 Halloween, TV show: The Testaments 7 Marshall, 9 Auf A X Y8DMumps, LBAA XR Wiedersehen, Pet,F 10 is L O N G E LIndian. LOW
SUDOKU EASY
TRIVIA WORDSEARCH 1 Aurora, 2 Countryfile, 3 Arthur Haynes, 4 Heavyweight, 5 Enya, 6 Delaware, 7 Janice, 8 Fatboy Slim, 9 Gonzo, 10 Cabot Cove
BATTLESHIPS
6x3=18, 2x5=10, 3x8=24
Across: SPLIT
Down: LIGHT PUZZLES@REACHPLC.COM One letter stands for another. In this example, A is
KAKURO
KEIJO
1 5 3 1 3 2 1 7 1 8 1 6 3 8 4 1 5 2
SMALL CROSSWORD
CROSS DOUBT
4 2 6 3 1 5 8 9 7 9 1 5 6 8 7 3 4 2 7 3 8 2 9 4 6 5 1 5 7 2 1 3 9 4 8 6 6 9 4 7 5 8 2 1 3 3 8 1 4 6 2 5 7 9 1 6 7 8 4 3 9 2 5 2 4 9 5 7 6 1 3 8 8 5 3 9 2 1 7 6 4
3 1 2 1 2 7 3 4 1 5 6 1 4 1 3 4 1 2 1 2 9 7
SUMTHING
Across: 1 Spot check, 7 Crew, 8 Balti, 10 Eel, 11 Amoeba, 13 Mausoleum, 14 Ronnie, 16 Lid, 18 Evens, 19 Aver, 20 Structure. Down: 1 Scrambles, 2 Primal, 3 Twee, 4 Hat, 5 Element, 6 Kilometre, 8 Baboons, 9 Boulder, 12 Quiver, 15 Neat, 17 Gnu.
SUDOKU MEDIUM SUDOKU DIFFICULT
1 9
3 7
4 3 2 1 1 2 4
3
2 1 3 4 3 4 1 2
QUICK CROSSWORD
TARGET
Across: 1 Nest, 3 Strength, 8 Bout, 9 Selfsame, 11 Enfeeblement, 13 Acetic, 14 Entire, 17 Recalcitrant, 20 Clerical, 21 Mine, 22 Extended, 23 Bent. Down: 1 Nobleman, 2 Scuffle, 4 Treble, 5 Effeminate, 6 Grain, 7 Heed, 10 Dedication, 12 Sentient, 15 Imagine, 16 Scrape, 18 Event, 19 Ache.
INFLATION alit aloft alto anoint anti faint fiat flat flint flit float font fontal infant INFLATION into iota lift lint loft nation tail talon tinfoil toil tonal
used for the three L’s, X for the 2 O’s, etc. Single letters, apostrophes, the length and formation of words are all hints. Each day the code letters are different.
Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so the each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday
Yesterday’s Sudoku Answer
MICRO CROSSWORD
CHALLENGER
Yesterday’s Answers
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, PAGE 9
SECTION D
TuESDay, OCTObEr 27, 2026
To the survivor, the warrior and the grieving By Pastor Patricia Johnson Pratt
Behind every diagnosis is a family. Behind every loss is a heart left to grieve. IN 2019, the monster called cancer invaded my family and cruelly claimed the life of my beloved sister. It was one of the most painful and devastating experiences my family and I have ever endured. Even to this day, the grief remains, and the wounds of losing her still feel painfully fresh. Though time has passed, the pain has not fully subsided, and some days, the healing we long for still feels far away. As if the pain of 2019 wasn’t enough, in 2025, cancer struck our family once again, claiming the life of yet another beloved sister. It was at that moment when the grief seemed to come in waves and the losses felt unbearable, I honestly wondered if God had somehow turned against us. But deep down, I knew that was far from the truth. Still, the questions came, and the pain was overwhelming. The wounds that had never fully healed from our first loss were torn open even wider, leaving my entire family grappling with heartbreak, confusion, and one haunting question: WHY? Why our family? Why another sister? Why did we have to endure this pain all over again? We were left struggling to make sense of a loss that words could hardly explain and a grief that seemed too heavy to bear. Time did not heal our wounds, and in those moments of deep grief, even the scriptures we knew seemed to fly right over our heads. Nevertheless, we held on to God, leaning on Him and drawing strength from one another. When one of us felt too weak to stand, we leaned on the strength of whoever had enough to help
“
carry us through that moment. Somehow, we kept going, even when our hearts were broken and we struggled to understand. Now, here we are in October, recognised as Cancer Awareness Month, and I have found myself wrestling with a flood of emotions surrounding the whole issue of cancer. I cannot ignore the reality that there are so many who have survived this monster and are living testimonies of victory. I can’t ignore the reality that there are others who are still fighting, holding on to hope as they navigate the uncertainty of their journey and I most certainly cannot ignore the reality that there are those, like my family, who have experienced the devastating pain of losing loved ones to this disease. But the fact of the matter is, behind every statistic is a story, behind every diagnosis is a family, and behind every loss is a heart left to grieve. He who feels it, understands. But as I reflect on all of this, I am led to share these
WHY? Why our family? Why another sister?”
“
up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. And so I declare the
declarations in faith to “The Survivor, The Warrior and The Grieving” and pray that you would be strengthened, that your hope will be renewed and that you will remember that no matter what, God is still God and loves you with an everlasting love and that He still has the final word concerning you. Romans 8:37 says “Nay, in
for you, and that His strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Behind every statistic is a story, behind every diagnosis is a family.”
all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” I declare that
your diagnosis does not define you, your scars do not disqualify you, and your battle does not diminish your worth but that you will rise in faith, walk in courage, and live with hope in the name of Jesus. Jeremiah 30:17 says “I will give
strength of The Lord over every weak body in the name of Jesus. I declare that weariness will not have the final say and that when your strength is depleted, you will lean on the everlasting arms of God, and you will rise again, taking one day at a time, as the Lord sustains you by His grace. I lift up those still battling and declare that you will face this battle with courage, with faith, and with determination in the name of Jesus. I declare according to 2 Corinthians 12:9 that “God’s grace is sufficient And I declare that fear will not silence your prayers, and uncertainty will not steal today's hope but that you will fight with faith, receive the help that you need, trusting God through every step in the name of Jesus. I declare over every survivor according to Psalm 118:17 that
you will not die but live, and
“
Cancer may have taken you back your health and your wounds,” says the When one of us heal someone Lord. And therefore, I make this declaration of healing, that as you continue precious, felt too weak believing to trust in God for restoration, God would finish what He to stand, we but it cannot started in the name of Jesus. I speak wholeness over every body, peace over every leaned on the broken erase the love, troubled mind, and I declare hope over every difficult report strength of in the name of Jesus. God is still memories, or able. that “But whoever had theyIsaiahthat40:31waitsaysupon legacy they the LORD shall renew their enough.” left behind.” strength; they shall mount
“
that you will proclaim what the Lord has done. Hallelujah.
I declare that you will embrace the gift of today and the possibilities of tomorrow and that you will know that your lives have value, your voice still matters and that your story is still being written in the name of Jesus. The end of a thing is better than the beginning. I declare according to Psalm 34:18 that “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.” And so I declare that the loss of your loved one will not erase the love you shared, the memories you created, or the impact their life made in yours. The Lord gives us the permission to grieve without guilt, to remember without fear, and to heal without feeling that we are forgetting them. I declare that we will not rush our healing or be bound by grief and that even though cancer may have taken someone precious, it cannot erase the love, memories, or legacy they left behind. And I declare that by the grace of God, we will honour their life, embrace our healing, and find the strength to live again in the name of Jesus. Now, Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I declare Your peace over every troubled mind, every anxious heart, and every soul overwhelmed by the weight of a cancer diagnosis, the uncertainty of treatment, or the pain of losing a loved one. I declare that anxiety will not consume you, fear will not control you, and despair will not have the final say over your life. And I pray that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, become your anchor in the waiting room, your strength during treatment, your comfort in the midnight hour, and your refuge in the silence of grief. And I pray that when you just can’t find the words to say, the Holy Spirit will minister to you in ways that words cannot express in Jesus mighty name, Amen.
PAGE 10, Tuesday, October 27, 2026
THE TRIBUNE
Hannah Foster-Middleton
A pain in the neck – Could the back of your head be making you dizzy?
Have you ever woken up with a stiff neck, a heavy head, or that horrible sensation that the world isn't quite as steady as it should be? Perhaps you feel slightly dizzy when turning your head, experience pressure at the base of your skull, or find yourself suffering from headaches that seem to start in your neck and creep over the top of your head. You might be surprised to learn that some of these symptoms can be connected to a small group of muscles tucked away beneath the back of your skull. And while these little muscles don't look particularly impressive, they can certainly cause a surprising amount of trouble!
Meet Your Suboccipital Muscles
Right at the base of your skull sit four pairs of small, deep muscles known as the suboccipital muscles. Their job is to help control the fine movements of your head and provide your brain with information about where your head is positioned. Think about how often you use them. Looking down at your phone, working at a computer, driving, reading, or simply holding your head upright all day. These muscles are constantly working. When they become tense, fatigued or irritated, they can contribute to headaches, neck stiffness, pressure behind the eyes and sometimes even a sensation of dizziness or imbalance. And here's where things get particularly interesting.
Your Neck and Your Balance System
Most people associate balance with the inner ear, and rightly so.
Our vestibular system, located in the inner ear, plays a major role in helping us stay upright and orientated. But it doesn't work alone. Your brain constantly combines information from three important sources: your eyes, your inner ears and the sensory receptors in your muscles and joints. Your upper neck is particularly rich in proprioceptors, the tiny sensory receptors that tell your brain where your head is in space. When your neck becomes stiff or painful, that information can become less reliable. Imagine your eyes telling your brain that you're looking straight ahead, your inner ears reporting that you're stationary, but your neck sending slightly conflicting information. Your brain isn't terribly fond of mixed messages! In some people, this mismatch may contribute to a condition known as *cervicogenic dizziness*. Rather than the room spinning dramatically, people often describe feeling lightheaded, unsteady, slightly disorientated or as though they're walking on a moving boat. However, dizziness has many possible causes, so we should never automatically blame the neck. And What About the Vagus Nerve? You've probably heard more about the vagus nerve recently. It's become something of a celebrity in the wellness world. The vagus nerve is a major part of our parasympathetic nervous system, which helps regulate functions such as heart rate,
Cleveland Clinic-led study establishes major genetic contributor to
Heart Failure in people of African ancestry A new Cleveland Clinic-led study shows that a common variant in the gene CD36 may be the leading genetic contributor to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in people with African ancestry. The CD36 variant is present in approximately 17 per cent of people with African ancestry
digestion and the body's relaxation response. It travels from the brainstem through the neck and onwards into the chest and abdomen. Because of its location, people sometimes assume that tight muscles at the base of the skull can physically trap or compress the vagus nerve. But that's not something we have good scientific evidence to support. What we do know is that persistent neck pain, stress and muscle guarding can influence our autonomic nervous system, the system responsible for regulating many automatic bodily functions. Pain can increase sympathetic nervous system activity, leaving us feeling tense, unsettled and sometimes more sensitive to bodily sensations. The relationship between neck tension, autonomic regulation and the vagus nerve is an interesting area of research, but it's important not to suggest that releasing tight neck muscles directly frees the vagus nerve. Our bodies are a little more complicated than that/
When Dizziness Is Actually Vertigo
There's an important distinction between feeling dizzy and experiencing true vertigo. Vertigo usually involves a sensation of spinning or movement when you're actually stationary. One of the most common causes is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV, which occurs when tiny calcium crystals become displaced within the inner ear. This typically produces brief spinning episodes when rolling
over in bed, looking upwards or changing head position. Neck tension doesn't cause those crystals to move, and massaging the base of your skull won't put them back where they belong. That's why a proper assessment matters. What Can Physiotherapy Do? When dizziness has a cervical component, physiotherapy can be extremely helpful. Treatment may include gentle manual therapy, improving upper cervical mobility, strengthening the deep neck stabilisers and retraining the coordination between the eyes, head and balance system. Sometimes we incorporate gaze-stabilisation exercises, proprioceptive retraining and balance activities to help the brain process sensory information more effectively. And yes, addressing those tight suboccipital muscles can make a real difference to headaches, discomfort and neck movement. But treatment should focus on restoring normal function, not simply chasing tight muscles.
Slow, relaxed breathing may also help reduce general tension and encourage a calmer nervous system. And remember, dizziness accompanied by sudden severe headache, double vision, difficulty speaking, fainting or new weakness needs urgent medical attention. The Bottom Line Your neck and your balance system are much more closely connected than most people realise. Those little muscles beneath your skull can influence how comfortably and accurately your brain senses head movement. So, if you're experiencing persistent neck tension, headaches or unexplained dizziness, don't just put up with it. A Physiotherapist will look beyond the symptoms to understand what may be contributing to the problem. Because sometimes getting your head straight really does start with your neck!
A Few Things You Can Try
Start by becoming aware of your posture, particularly when using your phone or computer. Take regular movement breaks, gently rotate your head within a comfortable range, and avoid spending hours with your chin poking forwards.
and substantially increases the risk of dilated cardiomyopathy, an important cause of heart failure and heart transplantation. “These findings suggest that we are missing an important opportunity by not routinely testing for this variant as part of the genetic evaluation of dilated cardiomyopathy in individuals with African ancestry,” said Krishna Aragam, MD, director of Cardiovascular Genomics and Precision Medicine at Cleveland Clinic and senior author of the study. “We believe these results make a strong case for incorporating this CD36 variant into routine clinical cardiomyopathy genetic testing.” The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, builds upon prior research that first linked the CD36 variant to dilated cardiomyopathy and now establishes its importance relative to other known genetic causes of the disease. The new findings suggest that, in individuals of African ancestry, the CD36 variant may have a greater population impact than established genetic causes of dilated cardiomyopathy routinely evaluated in clinical practice. Cleveland Clinic led the study in collaboration with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and The Ohio State University. In the multi-cohort US genetic association study, researchers analyzed 82,623 individuals of African ancestry across four US datasets. Participants had an average age
of 53 years and 1,625 had dilated cardiomyopathy. Approximately 1per cent of individuals of African ancestry carried two copies of the CD36 risk variant; these individuals had approximately fivefold higher the odds of developing the condition compared with non-carriers. The CD36 variant was estimated to account for approximately 9 per cent of dilated cardiomyopathy cases among individuals of African ancestry. By comparison, variants in the TTN gene – long considered the most common genetic cause of dilated cardiomyopathy – accounted for approximately 4 awe cent of cases. The findings suggest that the CD36 variant is the leading known genetic cause of DCM among people of African ancestry. The CD36 gene variant is common among people of African ancestry but is virtually absent in those of European ancestry. Despite its population impact, the CD36 variant is not currently included in standard cardiomyopathy genetic testing panels. Cleveland Clinic plans to incorporate testing for the gene variant into clinical practice in the future. “The genetic contributor that matters most to this condition in this population is one that hospitals across the country are not testing for,” added Dr Aragam. “This isn’t just a future implication – it represents a current and major gap in clinical genetic testing, and one we can begin to address. That’s why we plan to incorporate the CD36 variant into our genetic cardiomyopathy testing here at Cleveland Clinic.”
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, PAGE 11
Breast cancer also affects men and the risk increases with age Although breast cancer is less common in men, the risk increases with age. Recognising warning signs and seeking medical attention for unusual changes can help support early diagnosis. Male breast cancer is far less common than breast cancer in women, but it is usually discovered later: Men with breast cancer often receive the diagnosis after finding a breast lump on their own. Kathryn Ruddy, MD, an oncologist at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, explains key things to know about male breast cancer. A lump is the most common symptom of male breast cancer, but there also can be discharge from the nipple or pain in the breast area. A breast lump is usually firmer than the surrounding tissue and may have irregular edges; because men have less breast tissue, the lump is often close to the nipple, Dr Ruddy
explains. As in females, the most common breast cancer in males is ductal carcinoma. "Since breast cancer screenings, such as mammograms and breast exams, aren't typically recommended for men, they usually find a lump on their own," Dr Ruddy says. "If men notice an unusual lump, experience nipple discharge, or chest or breast discomfort, they should seek medical attention promptly to determine the cause." "The risk for breast cancer in males increases with age and is more common in those who have a family history of breast cancer, especially male breast cancer," Dr Ruddy adds. Some genetic mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 also are known risk factors. Those with Klinefelter syndrome, a rare condition that occurs when men have an extra X chromosome, also are at higher risk. Some medical treatments also can put men at greater
risk, such as chest wall radiation, sometimes given to treat lymphoma. Some testicular and liver abnormalities that affect hormone levels also increase the risk for male breast cancer. For men experiencing symptoms, the first step is breast imaging, usually a mammogram and an ultrasound, sometimes a breast MRI. If the findings of the exam and imaging are concerning, a biopsy – removing a sample of breast cells for testing – will be ordered. “Breast cancer in men is staged the same as in women — from 0 to 4. If detected at stage 0 before the cancer becomes invasive, nearly all patients will be cured," Dr Ruddy explains. "However, if cancer is detected at stage 4, that means it has spread to other parts of the body, and it
usually can be treated but not completely eliminated." Female breast cancers are more often detected at stage 0 and 1, while a higher proportion of male breast cancers are found at stages 2, 3 and 4, she says. If men are diagnosed with stage 0 to 3 cancer, surgery will be part of the treatment plan, while at stage 4, treatments will primarily use medications to fight the cancer throughout the body. For men requiring surgery, a mastectomy, or the entire removal of the breast tissue, is a common choice. But some men choose lumpectomy — removal of only part of the breast — instead.
question: How many Bahamian families could find their financial stability threatened by an unexpected health crisis? And perhaps more importantly, what can we do to protect them? The Bahamas has taken important steps to strengthen healthcare access, prevention, and chronic disease management. Building upon these efforts, we have an opportunity to further integrate health and financial protection into our broader national poverty reduction strategy What if we viewed affordable healthcare, preventive services, appropriate early detection, chronic disease management, and financial protection as investments in economic stability? What if protecting a family’s health became as central to our poverty reduction strategy as creating employment opportunities? Technology and health innovation offer opportunities to
support earlier health awareness and better chronic disease management. Innovations such as Rm2.ai™, an AI-powered health intelligence platform, can contribute to this effort by supporting continuous health monitoring, earlier awareness of changes in health, and more proactive care, helping individuals and families become better informed and engaged in protecting their health and financial well-being. However, innovation must work alongside accessible healthcare, affordable treatment, appropriate insurance coverage, and meaningful support for family caregivers. We must also recognise that not every illness can be prevented. Even individuals who make healthy lifestyle choices can develop serious medical conditions. That is precisely why accessible care and financial protection matter. Having spent decades working in healthcare
Kathryn Ruddy, MD, an oncologist at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center
Chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and radiation decisions for men are largely based on evidence from women with breast cancer. However, the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium is enrolling men in the ETHAN trial, designed specifically for men. In the ETHAN trial, men who were recently diagnosed with stage 1-3 breast cancer are assigned to take different types of anti-estrogen and targeted therapy medications to find out how best to shrink male breast cancer before surgery. The results of this trial will advance treatment for male breast cancer patients in the future. To diagnose more men before their cancers grow large and spread, it's important that they seek medical attention for changes in their chest wall, nipple, underarms or neck, Dr Ruddy says. "In addition, men who are diagnosed with breast cancer are encouraged to participate in clinical trials, when available, to help improve male breast cancer treatment," she adds. "Detecting cancer early and optimising evidence-based treatments will lead to more cures."
Healthier Bahamas not simply a healthcare aspiration: it is an economic necessity By CORLETTE DEVEAUX, MBA Imagine working for 30 years, building a career, raising a family, saving for retirement, and finally achieving some measure of financial security. Then, one unexpected diagnosis changes everything. Suddenly, savings begin disappearing. Medical expenses increase. Your ability to work may be interrupted. Family members step away from their jobs to become caregivers. The financial independence you worked so hard to achieve slowly becomes financial uncertainty. This is a side of poverty we do not talk about enough. As The Bahamas continues its important national conversation about reducing and ultimately eradicating poverty, we must ask ourselves a critical question: Are we giving enough attention to the relationship between health and financial security? We often associate poverty with unemployment, inadequate housing, limited education, and low wages. These are important challenges. But serious illness can also push individuals and families
into financial hardship, including those who have spent their lives working, saving, and contributing to society. Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other serious conditions can affect anyone, regardless of income, education, or professional success. Medical expenses can accumulate, income can disappear, and retirement savings can be depleted. The financial consequences may extend across generations. The numbers tell a sobering story. According to the World Health Organisation and World Bank’s 2025 Universal Health Coverage Global Monitoring Report, approximately 2.1 billion people worldwide experienced financial hardship associated with out-of-pocket healthcare expenses in 2022. Closer to home, World Bank data indicate that approximately 27.5 per cent of total healthcare expenditure in The Bahamas was paid directly out of pocket in 2023. This represents more than one-quarter of national healthcare spending. While this figure does not tell us how many Bahamian families have fallen into poverty because of illness, it raises an important
and advocating for older adults, I believe health should be viewed not simply as a healthcare priority, but as an essential pillar of economic resilience. Reducing poverty requires a comprehensive approach that creates opportunities for those already experiencing financial hardship while strengthening protections for families vulnerable to economic setbacks. This is a shared conversation for government, healthcare professionals, insurers, employers, community organisations, and families. Because behind every health statistic is a person. Behind every person is a family. And behind every family is a future worth protecting. If we are serious about reducing poverty, we must recognise that protecting health is also protecting wealth. A healthier Bahamas is not simply a healthcare aspiration. It is an economic necessity
PAGE 12, Tuesday, October 27, 2026
THE TRIBUNE
DOCTORS WARN OF ENERGY DRINK DANGERS TO CHILDREN
Why the long face? How we grow and shrink with age... It may not be immediately obvious but over the years, some parts of our bodies get shorter, while other bits stretch and lengthen. Here, we investigate the long and the short of it. By TANITH CAREY WHAT GETS LONGER FEET: Did you start off having size seven feet but now find that your shoes feel tight? There are a few reasons for that. As the years pass our feet get longer because they flatten out under the weight of the body. Bearing this load every day means the connective tendons and ligaments lose their stretchiness. Over time, they don’t hold the 26 bones of the foot together as well, making your feet splay more – but there are other reasons you might have gone up a shoe size. As we age, leaky veins also allow fluid to ooze into our feet and ankles, making them more swollen.
When we are younger, our front teeth measure on average around 10-12mm. But as we age, they start to look lengthier because our gums start to recede. This exposes more of the tooth, going up to the root. This means that, in later old age, teeth can end up looking as long as 15-17 mm. Dentist Dr Parveen Dehal – of londonsmiling.com – says: “Over time, our gums recede due to factors like gum disease due to bacteria build-up causing inflammation or over-brushing or natural thinning of tissues. “Our lips get thinner too, exposing more of the tooth. This makes them look longer even though they have stayed the same length.” EYEBROWS: While the growth rate that our head hair slows by as much as a third as we get older – probably due to less efficient blood circulation to our scalps – the hairs on other parts of our bodies grow longer than ever before. These include the hairs on the inside of our ears, our eyebrows and nostrils, where hairs can grow as long as 2-3cm in later life. One possible reason is their stimulation by the androgen hormones. As levels of counter-balancing female hormones drop in both men and women as we age, this allows the male hormones to stimulate the hair follicles in these areas. Another reason, says trichologist Iain Sallis of hairmedic.co.uk, is the cells that govern the growth cycle of the hairs don’t work as efficiently as we age. This means the hair follicles in these areas may not be getting the message to stop growing, he says. BREASTS: Breasts are held in place by a network of connective tissue called Cooper’s ligaments. These threads connect the
Bunions – bony lumps at the base of your big toe – can also make feet bigger over time. According to a study in the journal Foot & Ankle International last year, they can add up to 8mm to the length and 4mm to the width of your foot. This helps explain why studies have found that people over the age of 40 can find their foot length increases by as much as 3-4mm every decade. NOSES: Over time, your nose gets bigger too. This is because it is made of soft flexible tissue which loses elasticity with age, making it look droopier. One 2002 study in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, which measured the noses of 500 people, found that on average our nose length increases by 5mm between middle age and late old age. Another reason our noses tend to look larger over the years, is because the fat pads in our cheeks start to shrink. This makes our faces look thinner and shallower, making our nose appear to stick out more. And there’s one more part of our face that lengthens. This is the philtrum – the groove from the base of the nose to the upper lip. Research has found it lengthens from 1.8cm to just under 2cm as our faces lengthen due to gravity. TEETH: Although we do not literally get “longer in the tooth”, it looks as though we do.
Doctors are urging sports organisations to reconsider energy drink sponsorships amid concerns that caffeine-heavy products could pose serious health risks to children and teenagers. A newly formed coalition of medical professionals has asked the Big 12 Conference to pause its sponsorship deal with Monster Energy and called on the NCAA to review energy drink marketing aimed at young people. The campaign follows the death of 16-year-old Davis Cripe of South Carolina in 2017. His father, Sean Cripe, said the teenager’s heart fell out of rhythm after he consumed an energy drink. Davis had also drunk a Mountain Dew and a McDonald’s latte earlier that day. Although he had no known heart condition, he died after suffering an abnormal heartbeat. “We didn’t understand they could be deadly,” Sean Cripe said. Doctors warn that energy drinks can cause increased heart rates, abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, dehydration, sleep disturbances and seizures. Caffeine content varies by product, ranging from 80 to 300 milligrams per serving. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children and teenagers avoid energy drinks altogether. It advises those aged 12 to 18 to limit caffeine consumption to 100 milligrams daily. According to the Monitoring the Future survey, 23 per cent of US 12th graders, 20 per cent of 10th graders and 18 per cent of eighth graders reported consuming energy drinks daily. The Big 12 agreement includes Monster branding on football and basketball jerseys, playing surfaces and digital platforms, raising concerns that young fans could mistake energy drinks for sports drinks. Idaho cardiologist Dr Matthew Nelson warned that children might be encouraged to emulate athletes they admire. Monster said more than 100 billion energy drinks had been sold and safely consumed worldwide, while noting that caffeine was present in many other food and beverage products. Doctors say parents, teachers and coaches should educate children about the risks and explain that energy drinks are not designed to replace fluids lost during exercise. Cripe urged parents to learn from his family’s tragedy, saying he hoped their grief could help protect other children.
‘Shoes can start to feel tighter after the age of 40 as the foot lengthens by as much as 3-4mm each decade’ breast tissue and milk ducts to the inside of the skin and outer fat layer, acting like a kind of internal bra. As our breasts develop in puberty, these ligaments start off being only 2 to 3cm long. However, over time, the pull of gravity can stretch them as much as 11 cm. This is a process known as ptosis, which is graded on a scale of one to four. In young breasts, the nipple is usually above the line where the base of the breast meets the ribcage. By stage two, the nipple is around one to three inches below that point. At stage three, the breast hangs more than 3cm below, with the nipple often pointing down to the floor. As well as the effects of gravity, dropping oestrogen levels also play their part. This is because after levels of this hormone drop off during menopause, our milk ducts and glands shrivel. The connective tissue which makes breasts firm also gets replaced by fat. This is heavier and less able to withstand the pull of gravity.
EAR LOBES: Earlobes are made of skin and fatty connective tissue. This makes them soft, flexible, but also more prone to stretching. A review in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Global Open earlier this year found that earlobe length increases by about 30 to 35% between 20 and 60. This is because the skin and connective tissues gradually lose elasticity and stretch under the pull of gravity.
WHAT GETS SHORTER SPINE: Not as tall as you once were? It’s not your imagination. Your spine starts shrinking after your mid-thirties. Tim Allardyce, osteopath and physiotherapist at surreyphysio.co.uk, says: “As we age, we tend to lose height, but the change is very small at first. By around the age of 50 and above, you may
notice a very small reduction in height. “By the age of 70, that height reduction can be more pronounced and occasionally as much as 2 to 3 cm.” One reason is that the discs between our vertebrae, which act as shock absorbers for the spine, lose fluid and flatten out. Tim adds: “As we age, the discs dehydrate and lose height. There are 23 discs in the spine, and if they each lose 1mm of height, that could add up to a loss of around 2cm.”
PENIS: Men may prefer not to face up to the fact, but over time the penis becomes shorter. As the years go on, the arteries in the organ clog up with fatty deposits called plaque, in the same way as it builds up in the heart’s blood vessels, making circulation more difficult. This means that it’s not as long as it once was during an erection. Secondly, the collagen in the erectile tissue that helps make erections loses elasticity, making it less able to stretch as far. A 2007 study in the journal BJU International measured 1,661 men aged 17 to 91. It found that on average the length of a stretched penis went down by 0.12 cm per decade. The erect length went down by 0.7cm every year. Getting a beer belly won’t help either as this can make the penis look smaller – called “hidden penis”. NAILS: Have you noticed your fingernails don’t grow as fast as they used to? As we age, our nails get shorter because they grow at about a third of the rate they did when we were younger. They grow fastest in our teens when they reach a peak of about 3-4mm a month. After the age of 20, this drops off by about 0.5% a year, probably as blood supply to the tips of the fingers becomes less efficient, a study published in the Indian Journal of Dermatology says. Trichologist Iain Sallis adds: “Issues like mineral deficiencies, medical problems like hormonal imbalances, and some medications can all get in the way of cell production and slow down their growth.” •Tanith Carey is an awardwinning journalist, mental health professional and parenting and psychology author