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Volume: 123 No. 232, Wednesday, October 28, 2026
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‘I REACH, AMEN’ King Charles greets Bahamians in their own dialect and says “only right” to acknowledge “injustices of the past” By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net KING Charles III greeted Bahamians in their own dialect yesterday, then told a Clifford Park youth rally it was “only right” to acknowledge “the great suffering and injustices of the past” on the same ground where he first watched the Bahamian flag raised in 1973. Before he could begin his nine-minute speech, a spectator shouted: “We love you, King!” The 77-year-old monarch then opened with: “I reach. Amen.” The greeting, Bahamian for “I’ve arrived”, tickled the crowd of mostly schoolchildren and Bahamians watching from home. Moments later, he turned serious, telling the crowd that some of the best of Bahamian culture “was born out of darkness”. “I say transforming because we know that some of what is best in Bahamian culture today, the most joyful, the most hopeful, the most bright, was born out of
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KING - SEE PAGE TWO
KING Charles III talks with Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis during the Youth Rally held in the king’s honour at Clifford Park last night.
Photo: Shawn Hanna
Uncle finds missing Eleuthera BATTLE OVER BILLIONS boy’s lifeless body on beach IN ABACO TREASURE By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE uncle who promised he would not stop searching for 15-year-old Jayden Ferguson found the boy’s body on a Harbour Island beach yesterday, days after the teenager disappeared in rough seas at Pink Sands Beach. “I promise myself I would find him. I wasn’t giving up,” Henry Solomon, Jayden’s uncle and
godfather, said. “I keep trying to look, keep looking every day.” Jayden, a tenth grader at Harbour Island All Age School, disappeared on Sunday after he and another teenage boy got into difficulties while swimming. The other boy made it back to shore, but Jayden was not seen again. Mr Solomon said Jayden’s mother was traumatised. Jayden was her oldest child and leaves JAYDEN - SEE PAGE FIVE
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN exploration company owned by the billionaire proprietor of Walker’s Cay wrongly withheld a contractor’s 25-30 percent share of sunken treasure in Bahamian waters valued at billions of dollars, a US court has ruled. A judge in North Texas found that Carl Allen and his Allen Exploration outfit had breached their agreement with a Florida-based Maritime Research & Recovery company by SEE BUSINESS FOR STORY
PAGE 2, Wednesday, October 28, 2026
THE TRIBUNE
March on Bahamaland, says Charles
PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis greets King Charles III at the airport yesterday, along with Governor General Dame Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt and the Prime Minister’s wife Ann Marie Davis . Photos: Tim Aylen/BIS KING from page one darkness,” he said. “It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present and build new opportunities for the future. I know that leaders of the governments of affected
Commonwealth countries will be discussing these matters in Antigua and Barbuda next week.” He stopped short of an apology for slavery, which Buckingham Palace had said before the tour he would not offer. Much of the speech, however, was nostalgic. “I am delighted to be back here at Clifford Park, in which I have such happy memories of representing
my mother, Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, at the Independence celebrations in 1973,” he said. “I can hardly believe that it has been 53 years since I stood here and watched the Bahamian flag raised for the very first time.” He recalled “attending no less than three, three independence balls in one night, and dancing with Dame Marguerite”, the wife of then Prime Minister Sir
Lynden Pindling. He drew more delight from the crowd when, praising Junkanoo, he name-checked three of its biggest rival groups, the Valley Boys, the Saxons Superstars and One Family. “Now I have a feeling it is at this point that the prime minister will want me to declare an CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF KING CHARLES III’S VISIT SEE PAGE 11 AND 12
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, October 28, 2026, PAGE 3
KING from page two
yesterday’s welcome. “I feel so good because he took the time to come and check on our little nation, and not only for a couple of hours. He came here for days,” she said. “The most important thing I think about it is he is concerned about our youths. He looks like he wanted to be with the youth, which is so important.” Robert Sadowski, an American who has lived in The Bahamas since 2013 and whose mother-in-law is of British descent, came to watch his daughter perform for the King. “She was nervous, but they practised really well and put in the hard work, and it was an amazing performance I thought so far,” he said. Not everyone shared the enthusiasm. Shavanda Rolle said The Bahamas should move away from the Crown. “I feel as though we don’t need to be under the king anymore. We need to just be under The Bahamas and not under the Commonwealth of Nations,” she said. “Because what purpose is it serving The Bahamas here? Like I look around our country today. We still have people struggling.” She said the system “trickles down to the governor general, the prime minister”, and that the country should be investing more in itself.
‘It truly is better in The Bahamas’ allegiance for the Valley, maybe the Saxons, or perhaps even One Family,” he said, as the prime minister and others watching laughed. The King had landed at Lynden Pindling International Airport shortly after 4pm aboard an aircraft bearing the name “United Kingdom”. Dressed in a light grey suit and lavender tie, he slipped on sunglasses against the afternoon sun and stepped onto a red carpet, where Governor General Cynthia “Mother” Pratt, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, in a purple tie, and other officials waited to greet him. After the national anthem, he inspected the guard of honour, then waved to onlookers as his convoy pulled away, past spectators who lined the route to Clifford Park. It was a very different arrival from his first visit in 1973, when, as a 24-year-old Prince of Wales serving in the Royal Navy, he sailed into Nassau Harbour aboard the frigate HMS Minerva to represent his mother at the Independence celebrations. Yesterday’s arrival began a nine-day Caribbean tour. After The Bahamas, the
KING Charles III speaks during the Youth Rally in his honour yesterday evening at Clifford Park. King will make a state visit to Guyana before travelling to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which runs from November 1 to 4. At the rally, which also featured spoken-word performances by young people, the King said he wished it had not taken so long to return, but said
the Commonwealth was a “very big and extensive association”. He warned that low-lying island nations were particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and other climate threats, and urged young Bahamians to take responsibility for building a sustainable future, pointing to more than 50 years of his own work with young people across the Commonwealth,
including in The Bahamas. Closing with a nod to both the national anthem, March On, Bahamaland, and the country’s longtime tourism slogan, he said: “So today, I can only invite you to take up the sacred task to play your part in the way that you build for yourselves and your own descendants truly sustainable futures. In the way you hold steady
Photo: Tim Aylen/BIS sunward, you have the chance to show the world how it truly is better in The Bahamas.” He ended his speech with: “March on Bahamaland.” Among the crowd was Sherial Mortimer, who was at Clifford Park for the Independence celebrations in 1973 as a 12-year-old junior high school student. Her great-grandchild took part in
RBDF OFFICERS RECALL MEMORABLE MEETING WITH KING CHARLES By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net A ROYAL Bahamas Defence Force marine who joined the force only eight months ago was told by King Charles III that her bearing was impeccable when he greeted officers on his arrival in The Bahamas yesterday. Woman Marine Judy Forbes, 25, was among four RBDF officers who shared brief exchanges with the king after he landed at Lynden Pindling International Airport for his first visit to The Bahamas as monarch. “He said that my
bearings were impeccable and keep up the good work,” Ms Forbes told The Tribune. She said he asked about the parade training the officers had done, and that she hoped someone had photographed the moment. Wearing a grey suit and pink tie, the king put on sunglasses as he stepped onto Bahamian soil in bright evening sunshine. Selected members of the RBDF and the Royal Bahamas Police Force took part in the reception, standing at attention in crisp uniforms and medals. Leading Woman Marine Ebony Bain, who has served for 14 years, called
her exchange with the king a beautiful experience. She said he asked how long she had been serving and whether the RBDF was training new recruits. “He is very polite, very soft-spoken,” Ms Bain said. “For me, it was an honour and also a privilege. It’s the first time I ever met a king, so it was a great pleasure.” Marine Seaman Ackeem Adderley, who served in Haiti, said the king noticed his medal. “My experience with him was excellent,” Mr Adderley said. “He talked to me about my medal and asked me what it was KING Charles III stops to speak with RBDF Marine Judy Forbes’ 25, during the event marking his first arrival in The Bahamas as king. Photo: Eric Rose/BIS
KING Charles III inspects Royal Bahamas Defence Force marines at Lynden Pindling International Airport after arriving in The Bahamas yesterday. Photo: Tim Aylen/BIS
about. I told him it was our overseas campaign medal for Haiti. He asked how long we’ve been there. I told him it was two months and a half.” He said officers had trained consistently for the visit, sometimes practising standing at attention in the rain and under the hot sun. Mr Adderley took part in the Regional Intelligence and Deployment Exercise in Port-au-Prince. Able Seaman Matthew Bethell, meeting the king for the first time, said the monarch asked about his experience in the force. He said he was proud to represent his country. “I didn’t necessarily
know what to expect, but he was a very energetic individual,” Mr Bethell said. Chief Petty Officer Ian Hall, who has served for 22 years, was not part of the parade but watched from the sidelines as his colleagues represented the force. He said the occasion put The Bahamas on the international stage. “This is something that goes down in history for all of us,” he said. During his stay, the king is due to visit the RBDF base at Coral Harbour, view a disaster-response vessel and pay tribute at the HMBS Flamingo memorial, where the
entire force is expected to attend. The memorial honours four marines, Able Seaman Fenrick Sturrup and Marine Seamen Austin Smith, David Tucker and Edward Williams, who were killed on May 10, 1980, when Cuban MiG fighter jets attacked and sank the patrol vessel HMBS Flamingo near Ragged Island. The Flamingo had just arrested two Cuban fishing boats for poaching in Bahamian waters. The attack came less than six weeks after the RBDF was formed, and the bodies of the four marines were never recovered.
PAGE 4, Wednesday, October 28, 2026
THE TRIBUNE
Del Zotto rejects claims of predatory pricing By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A DEL Zotto manager has denied undercutting two Grand Bahama concrete operators to force them out of business, saying rivals who want suppliers to charge the same price are asking for socialism, not a competitive market. Jamal Gomez, a manager at Del Zotto, formerly Gold Rock, rejected allegations by Glennett Fowler, of Heroic Concrete and Concrete Products, and Washington Smith, of Smith Construction, that the company was deliberately lowering its prices to drive competitors out. Ms Fowler and Mr Smith said on Monday that since Del Zotto returned to the market, it had been undercutting their prices and approaching customers after they had secured or pursued jobs, offering to do the work for less. They also alleged that company representatives had threatened to keep up those practices until their businesses were forced out of the market. Asked about the alleged threats, Mr Gomez questioned why the company
would make them. “For what? Why would we do that?” he said. “It makes absolutely no sense to us.” He said the company supported fair competition but opposed what he described as calls for suppliers to charge uniform prices, arguing that this would undermine competition and deprive Bahamian consumers of lower prices. “We are engaged in fair competition. I don’t know what their problem is,” Mr Gomez said. “They want one uniform price, and that’s a socialism, not a competitive market.” Mr Gomez denied that Del Zotto was undercutting its rivals and said: “The quality of products that we produce and the service that we render is superior”. He said customers weigh quality and service, not just price, when choosing a supplier. “People don’t just leave because of prices; people leave because of quality. And so, if their service and their quality are on par, then we can have a conversation,” he said. “I cannot see me and them being in the same boat,” he said.
THE GOLD Rock yard located near the airport in Grand Bahama. Mr Gomez argued that consumers should not have to pay more to protect competitors’ profit margins, comparing the situation to shoppers buying goods online rather than from local stores because of price. “These owners want their profit margin to be so sky high, out of the roof,” he said. However, he acknowledged that he did not know
the profit margins of either Ms Fowler or Mr Smith, could not say what level of profit they sought, and therefore could not determine whether Del Zotto was undercutting them on that basis. Del Zotto sells ready-mix concrete for $192 per yard and concrete blocks for $2.10 each. Mr Gomez said ready-mix prices depend on the delivery location. Ms Fowler and Mr Smith
said the impact on their businesses had been severe. Heroic said it had laid off 20 of its 32 employees over 18 months, while Mr Smith said work had become so scarce that he was using personal funds to meet payroll. They have called on the government to investigate and to consider measures to ensure fair competition in the ready-mix concrete and concrete block industry.
Latrae Rahming, communications director in the Office of the Prime Minister, could not be reached for comment. Del Zotto shut down its Grand Bahama operations in 2022 after a bitter dispute with the Grand Bahama Port Authority and its Grand Bahama Development Company affiliate over access to aggregate. At the time, up to 130 jobs were said to be at risk, and Prime Minister Philip Davis urged the Florida-based Del Zotto family to reconsider. The company returned to the market in 2025. Heroic, which invested $8.2m in its Grand Bahama plant, began producing ready-mix concrete in 2023 and launched concrete block production in December 2024, when Ms Fowler said the island had been without locally made blocks for some time. The Bahamas has no competition law to deal with complaints such as predatory pricing. A draft Bahamas Fair Competition Bill, which proposed creating a Fair Trading Commission to investigate anti-competitive conduct, was drawn up in 2018 but has not been enacted.
Rastafarians accuse police of hiding protest from King By KEILE CAMPBELL Tribune Staff Reporter kcampbell@tribunemedia.net RASTAFARIANS protesting King Charles III’s visit accused police of trying to keep them out of sight yesterday after officers repeatedly ordered them to move while the monarch attended a youth rally at Clifford Park. Rastafarian priests and supporters beat drums, waved flags and held placards as they chanted for reparations, a formal apology for transatlantic slavery and repatriation to Africa. One placard read: “REGRET IS NOT ENOUGH WE NEED A FULL APOLOGY.” Priest Phillip Gibson, 61, a member of the elders’ council who has followed Rastafari since he was 13, said police were directing demonstrators to an area where their banners would be less visible. The group first gathered near the old cannons across Marcus Bethel Way, then moved farther down Western Esplanade after High Priest Richmond McKinney, leader of the Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress (EABIC) Bahamas branch, discussed with officers where they were allowed to demonstrate. Uniformed officers
stood among the protesters throughout and approached organisers several times with further instructions to move as the chanting and drumming continued. EABIC Bahamas vice-chairman Priest Ethelbert Diamond Harrison, 57, questioned why the Rastafarians were being moved while members of the public gathered for the rally. “Are we not allowed to partake in the ceremony? The public was invited. We are the public,” he said. He said officers were acting on orders. “We know it’s a command coming from the higher heads coming down,” he said. Priest McKinney said organisers had secured a protest permit after meeting Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles, who he said handled their discussions respectfully. He blamed the first relocation on a misunderstanding over where the group was permitted to demonstrate, but said further police instructions eventually led them to end the protest about an hour after the King’s motorcade drove past them on the way to Clifford Park. He said the repeated interventions reflected wider concerns about the treatment of Rastafarians, who he said had “faced oppression for a very long time”.
“We know they have to do their job, but at the same time they have to be mindful that we all are one,” he said. “So we hope that we have a better dialogue going forward, and we hope that even they learn more from this.” Priest Gibson said the red, black and green of the Rastafarian banners represented the blood of the people, Black people and vegetation, and contrasted them with the red, white and blue of Britain. “That is not our king,” he said. “We want freedom, redemption, international repatriation. That’s our only objective. We don’t want nothing to do with the British monarchy.” In a six-page petition addressed to the King, the EABIC called for a formal apology for slavery, reparatory compensation and help for people of African descent who wish to return to Africa voluntarily. It also called for formal talks involving the Rastafarian community, Caribbean and African governments and British institutions and requested a written response outlining how further engagement could take place. The call for reparations also drew support from outside the Rastafarian community. Sharon Purser-Cooper, 68, a Christian who said she has
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A POLICE officer speaks with a member of the Rastafarian group protesting during King Charles III’s visit yesterday. Photos: Chappel l Whyms Jr taught in The Bahamas for 41 years, joined the protest but said she does not want to go to Africa. “I respect my Rastafarian brethren, but I do not wish to repatriate to Africa. I want to visit my homeland, I plan to stay right here, and I want to fix right here,” she said. Mrs Purser-Cooper said reparations should help meet the country’s needs, including healthcare, education, agriculture and infrastructure, rather than being limited to a set sum of money. “We are not begging for anything. We are making
a demand from them,” she said. University of The Bahamas journalism student Jashai Burrows said frustration over preparations for the visit, including roadworks and the involvement of schoolchildren in the celebrations, led her to join the demonstration. She was particularly critical of public and private schoolchildren being encouraged to attend the youth rally “to celebrate someone who represents a system that has oppressed us for centuries”. “I think there’s something
deeply disturbing about that,” Ms Burrows said. She said the heavy police presence around the demonstrators was unsettling. “It kind of has me feeling as though they’re in fear of what we might do, in fear of our voices,” she said. Asked whether the protest was getting its message across, she said: “I’d hope that we at least get acknowledged, and that our anger is heard.” Priest McKinney said the demonstration was aimed not only at the King but also at raising awareness among Bahamians of the Rastafarian community’s long campaign for justice. The group plans to keep protesting. According to a flyer, the EABIC has called another demonstration for 3.30pm at the Registrar General’s Office on Shirley Street. “When he leaves, he’s going to continue to be protested until we get our demands,” Priest Harrison said. Before the tour, Buckingham Palace said the King would not shy away from what he has called the darkest days of Britain’s past, but would not apologise for slavery, and the British government has ruled out paying reparations. As Prince of Wales, King Charles spoke of his “personal sorrow” over slavery’s enduring impact at the Commonwealth summit in Rwanda in June 2022. At the 2024 Commonwealth summit in Samoa, he said “the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate”, but stopped short of an apology or any commitment to reparations.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, October 28, 2026, PAGE 5
Diamond’s 18th birthday brings fresh heartbreak for father of crash victim .By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net DIAMOND Stubbs should have been turning 18 next week and getting her first car. Instead, her father will mark the day at her grave on a Cat Island beach, beside the best friend who died with her in the Shirley Street crash. Diamond’s father, Damian Stubbs, told The Tribune that as her November 5 birthday approaches, the pain of losing her has become harder to bear. “I can’t tell you the last time I felt like celebrating anything from she died,” Mr Stubbs said yesterday. “I came to Nassau about three weeks ago. I haven’t went back to Cat Island as yet because I was actually trying to stay away from the graveyard.” Mr Stubbs had been visiting the girls’ graves every day to talk to them about his day. He travelled to New Providence for a mental break, but plans to return to Cat Island for his daughter’s birthday, when the family will gather at the graveyard to celebrate her life and the bright future she had ahead of her. “I think a few of her friends would probably stop by as well,” he said.
“But most likely, it’s going to turn into a little beach party because the graveyard is right on the beach. So we’re going to do whatever we think she’d like and she loves the beach.” Diamond and her best friend, Stania Webb, were buried next to each other in separate mausoleums in July. Their families said it was important for the girls to remain together in death as they had been in life. Mr Stubbs fondly recalled how, every birthday, Diamond would send him a list of gifts she wanted and ask him to choose one. He said not a day goes by that he does not think about her. “Sometimes when I’m feeling down, I would just go and listen to some of her voice notes,” he said. He also often watches videos of her singing and dancing. “That’s how I find joy,” he said, “because if I didn’t have those things, I really would’ve gone crazy.” Mr Stubbs said if his daughter was alive, he would tell her how proud he was of the amazing person she had become. Diamond graduated as valedictorian and head girl of Old Bight High School just two weeks before the
crash. She had been due to begin her first year at Langston University in Oklahoma, where she planned to major in criminal justice. She was one of five teenagers killed on June 28 in what has been described as the deadliest traffic accident in The Bahamas in at least 20 years. The others were Stania Webb, 19; Keno Gordon Jr, 19; Bertrica Brown, 18; and Evalena Johnson, 19. Bianca Mathurin and Shawn Thurston, 21, survived the crash but remain in hospital recovering from their injuries. The group was travelling in a Mazda sedan carrying eight people when it crashed into a tree near the intersection of Shirley Street and Church Street in the early hours of the morning. Most of the teenagers grew up together in Cat Island, and Diamond, Stania and Bertrica shared a particularly close bond. Their deaths left the island’s community heartbroken. The driver, Marcus Thacker Jr, 19, faces five counts of vehicular manslaughter. He was granted $30,000 bail in July, and his case is being sent to the Supreme Court by voluntary bill of indictment.
DAMIEN Stubbs with his daughter Diamond.
‘I WASN’T GIVING UP’, SAYS UNCLE WHO FOUND JAYDEN JAYDEN from page one behind two younger siblings. Jayden had told his mother around 4pm that day that he was going to study with a friend, Mr Solomon said, and the family did not expect him to be at the beach. “He tell his mom he went to study, but I don’t know what’s going on that got them to go on the beach,” he said. “To get to that stage of 15-years-old and for it to just get taken away, It was rough.” When Jayden had not returned by around 6pm, his family became worried and began calling him. A resident later told them something had gone wrong. They rushed to the beach, where they found his clothes but could not find him. Mr Solomon, who is self-employed and helped organise the search, said he had not slept since Sunday. As a senior member of the family, he said, he felt responsible for leading the effort, and each night after other searchers had left the site
he got up and went looking again. He walked the entire length of the beach until midnight on Monday before returning to keep searching, and asked friends to help comb the shoreline, giving them money to buy drinks as they looked. Police also deployed teams and vessels, but the operation was suspended twice because of severe weather. After 4.30am yesterday, a bystander called Mr Solomon to say something that looked like a human body was floating in the water. He said he got up around 5.30am, woke his workers and neighbours, and went to the beach, where he found Jayden. Police said concerned residents alerted them to the discovery shortly after 7am. Mr Solomon described his nephew, an aspiring entrepreneur, as a good kid. The two had worked together every summer for the past two years. Jayden’s routine was usually to go from school to home, Mr Solomon said, although he sometimes
FAMILY members embrace as the body of missing teen Jayden Ferguson is discovered on the beach in Harbour Island yesterday.
went to the basketball court and liked to help around the community. “He don’t like to be home. If he ain’t doing the school work, he’s one who like go around me work,” Mr Solomon said. “If I don’t have no work for him, he asks the neighbours ‘Can I come work with you? Clean up the yard with you?’ He’s just a talented boy.” He said Jayden’s death was another blow for a family still grieving the loss of Jayden’s aunt two years ago. Additionaly, his own eldest daughter was shot on Harbour Island last year but is recovering, he said. Harbour Island All Age School reportedly closed early after news of Jayden’s death spread. Cordesha Cartwright, 17, the school’s head girl, who had known Jayden for three years, said he was creative and athletic and often spoke about wanting to become a barber. “He was such a sweet, humble person. Very funny,” she said. “Everybody was close to him in his class. He was like a big brother to everybody.”
JAYDEN FERGUSON
PAGE 6, Wednesday, October 28, 2026
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The monarchy cannot inherit the glory and disown the shame
THE monarchy cannot ask us to respect its inheritance while refusing to confront what helped build it. As King Charles visits The Bahamas, the question is whether an institution sustained by inherited privilege still deserves a place at the centre of our national life when demands for justice are met with expressions of sorrow and limits on what it is prepared to do. Britain’s involvement in slavery is an established historical fact. Acknowledging it is no concession. Personal sorrow, however sincerely expressed, is no substitute for accountability. The Palace’s reported position that the King will not formally apologise during this visit makes that distinction painfully clear. Our ancestors endured generations of indignity and brutality. They were bought, sold, separated from their families and forced to labour for the enrichment of others. Their humanity was denied by a system that assigned a price to their bodies and claimed ownership of their children. We owe their memory more than polite acceptance of another carefully worded statement. Royal involvement was direct. Charles II and his brother, the future James II, invested in companies engaged in the trade in enslaved Africans. James also served as their governor. This was participation in an enterprise that converted human suffering into wealth. The precise contribution of slavery to today’s royal fortune requires transparent investigation. But uncertainty about the accounting cannot erase the documented profits or excuse the institution from answering for them. An inherited institution still enjoying wealth, status and privilege cannot insist that responsibility expired with its predecessors. If inheritance carries benefits across generations, the demand to confront how those benefits were acquired cannot simply be dismissed. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley deserves credit for refusing to allow this issue to be softened into diplomatic pleasantries. She has pressed for reparatory justice and rejected the offensive suggestion that former colonies should compensate Britain for its supposed generosity. Her leadership recognises that Caribbean people have
standing to demand repair for what was done to them. The Bahamas should speak with equal conviction. Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell has made his preference for a republic clear, describing that objective as his life’s work. His position deserves a serious national discussion followed by a credible process through which Bahamians can decide. Our constitutional future belongs to us. We should exercise that ownership confidently, including the right to replace hereditary monarchy with a Bahamian head of state. We also have the right to demand justice for our ancestors. Becoming a republic would not settle that claim, and retaining the monarchy should never require silence about it. The Government should advance public education on constitutional reform while working with Caribbean partners towards a formal apology, transparent examination of historical benefits and negotiated reparatory commitments. Those commitments should include financial remedies and investment in education, health and cultural restoration. They must be treated as questions of justice, not charitable favours. Our children must understand why this matters. They should learn what colonialism did to The Bahamas, how racial hierarchy restricted opportunity and how Bahamians fought for political power and dignity. They should know their ancestors as people who resisted, built families and preserved their humanity under conditions designed to destroy it. That knowledge should also teach us to scrutinise any arrangement that places our resources, decisions or future beyond meaningful Bahamian control. Independence requires vigilance as well as celebration. A modern Bahamas should have the confidence to determine its own institutions and insist upon accountability from those seeking its respect. The monarchy’s relevance is not guaranteed by its age, its ceremonies or the familiarity of its titles. An institution unwilling to match its inherited privilege with meaningful responsibility gives us every reason to leave it behind.
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Conclave disagreements are no sign of failure EDITOR, The Tribune. I READ with interest your editorial of Tuesday, October 27, 2026, entitled “The irony of the recordings.” While I appreciate the observations made, I believe an important distinction must be drawn between the purpose of a political conclave and the public perception of what such a gathering ought to represent. A conclave is not simply an occasion for demonstrating unity. Nor is it intended to be a carefully choreographed exercise in which everyone agrees, difficult subjects are avoided, and uncomfortable truths are left unspoken. Quite the contrary. Conclaves are traditionally closed because they provide an environment in which members can conduct the private business of their organization, speak frankly, challenge prevailing views, question leadership, and engage in difficult, sometimes painful, conversations. Anyone familiar with the history of FNM conclaves would appreciate that vigorous disagreements, passionate exchanges, and even the occasional major row are hardly unprecedented. These gatherings were never intended to be kumbaya festivals. The existence of disagreement, therefore, should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of failure or disunity. What matters is whether an organization possesses the maturity to confront its differences, examine the underlying issues, and emerge better informed and better prepared to address them. What I believe deserves greater recognition is the unprecedented exercise the Free National Movement undertook ahead of this Conclave. Rather than allowing leadership to determine what members should think, what conclusions ought to be reached, or which issues deserved attention, the Party embarked upon an ambitious process of listening. We listened to our foot soldiers, constituency associations, party members, former candidates, campaign personnel, and voices within the wider Bahamian electorate. We sought to understand not merely what people were saying, but why they were saying it. Importantly, the exercise was not designed to manufacture a predetermined outcome. The intention was to allow the information collected to speak for itself, however uncomfortable its findings might prove to be. Leadership that is prepared to listen without attempting to control the answers should be encouraged, not discouraged.
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net For any political organization to undertake such an extensive examination of itself, to invite criticism, and to provide a platform for those who may have felt unheard is both necessary and commendable. That does not mean everyone will immediately trust the process. Like any family, team, community, or organization, the FNM comprises individuals with differing experiences, perspectives, expectations, and opinions. Some express themselves quietly and deliberately; others speak passionately, forcefully, and sometimes loudly. There will also be those who harbour genuine distrust, particularly when an exercise represents a departure from how things have traditionally been done. When something is attempted for the first time, especially on this scale, skepticism should neither surprise nor offend us. Indeed, some of the very sentiments captured in the recordings reinforce why the listening exercise was necessary in the first place. We cannot invite people to speak frankly and then appear surprised when they do precisely that. Nor should we confuse the expression of dissatisfaction with an unwillingness to move forward together. Unity does not require the absence of disagreement. It requires the willingness to respect one another despite those differences and to pursue a common purpose. Of course, confidentiality should be respected, and passionate disagreement should never become an excuse for personal disrespect. But neither should the prospect of public criticism discourage honest internal dialogue. The FNM must continue having difficult conversations. We must continue listening, particularly to those whose perspectives challenge our assumptions. And we must build upon this engagement process rather than treating it as a one-time undertaking. The real test of this Conclave will not be whether every participant agreed or whether every discussion was harmonious. The real test will be what we do with what we heard. Will we translate the findings into meaningful institutional improvements? Will we strengthen our relationship with constituency associations and reconnect with communities? Will we establish more consistent channels for
engagement, accountability, and participation? Will we demonstrate through our conduct that the voices entrusted to this process genuinely matter? These are the questions upon which our progress should be measured. Ultimately, however, this exercise must serve a purpose greater than the internal affairs of a political party. Our responsibility is to contribute to building a better Bahamas. A Bahamas in which government is more transparent, more accountable, more innovative, and more responsive to the people it is entrusted to serve. A Bahamas where public confidence is earned through performance, promises are matched by delivery, and leadership understands that trust is not an entitlement but a responsibility that must continually be honoured. We have much work to do. We must learn to deliver, and deliver better, because the Bahamian people deserve nothing less. We must strive to make it truly the People’s Time — not merely as an expression, but as a measurable commitment to improving the quality of life of Bahamians. That means creating opportunities for our people, removing barriers to their advancement, and ensuring that we maximize the extraordinary gifts, talents, and treasures with which our islands and our people have been blessed. There is no shortage of potential in The Bahamas. Our challenge is to ensure that potential translates into meaningful opportunities and better outcomes for our citizens. If we are serious about that mission, we must first be prepared to examine ourselves with the same honesty, transparency, and accountability that we expect of those entrusted with governing our country. The recordings should not distract us from that responsibility. Nor should they define the entirety of an unprecedented exercise in engagement and self-examination. The FNM has taken an important step by listening. The responsibility now is to demonstrate that we have learned and, more importantly, that we are prepared to build. That is the work before us. Listen! Learn! Build! Together! C. C. INGRAHAM Deputy Chairman, Post-Mortem & Conclave Steering Committee Chairman, Engagement Subcommittee Free National Movement October 27, 2026.
As King Charles visits, are we a nation in decline? EDITOR, The Tribune. AS King Charles returns to The Bahamas, marking 53 years since his last visit and our independence, is it fair to ask whether we are a nation in decline, or at least a nation treading water under a form of “kakistocracy”, government by the least qualified or most self-serving. The early decades brought real gains! Schools built, infrastructure expanded, and a sense that we were building something of our own after unshackling from colonial rule. Those achievements remain visible. Yet too much of the governing machinery still feels inherited rather than reformed, and the habits of power have not kept pace with the expectations of a mature democracy. Power appears to continue attracting many of those who treat public office as an opportunity for private enrichment.
Crony contracts, padded procurement, and routine disregard for procurement rules have become familiar features of the landscape. When such conduct is rarely met with serious consequences, the message is clear. The rules protect the connected more reliably than the public. Prosecutors appear toothless, and the absence of basic safeguards, such as no effective Freedom of Information Act, no meaningful rules on election finance, and no electoral reform that includes a power of recall, leaves citizens with limited tools to demand accountability. The result is a system that rewards collaboration between political operators and private interests while ordinary people absorb the costs through poorer services, higher prices, and eroded trust. None of these are inevitable. Kakistocracies persist only as long as
institutions fail to constrain them and citizens accept the status quo. The royal visit offers a moment of reflection rather than celebration alone. It is an opportunity to insist that independence means more than a change of flag! It means transparent government, enforceable procurement, real electoral accountability, and a judiciary and prosecution service that serve the public rather than the status quo. Systems that systematically reward the worst impulses cannot endure indefinitely. Let us hope the occasion of this visit marks not another round of business as usual, but the beginning of a new era, a deliberate effort to build institutions worthy of the independence we claimed more than half a century ago. A CONCERNED CITIZEN Nassau, October 26, 2026.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, October 28, 2026, PAGE 7
Child sex offender’s sentence reduced by two years By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A MAN who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl he helped raise on the day of her primary school graduation has had his 15-year sentence cut to 13 years after the Court of Appeal found the sentencing judge wrongly held his lack of remorse against him and relied on allegations of earlier abuse that were never proven at trial. Carlton Mott, 40, was convicted by an 8-1 jury verdict on May 2, 2025, of unlawful sexual intercourse with the 12-year-old daughter of his on-and-off girlfriend in an abandoned bushy area near the Port Lucaya Marketplace on June 25, 2021. He was acquitted of a second count of unlawful sexual intercourse. Justice Petra Hanna-Adderley sentenced him on August 12, 2025. Justices of Appeal Sir
Ian Winder, Gregory Smith and Milton Evans refused Mott’s application for an extension of time to appeal his conviction, finding that none of his grounds challenging it were reasonable. However, they agreed that the trial judge erred by treating his absence of remorse as an aggravating factor. They also found she had relied on claims about his past conduct that were not established at trial. In her sentencing remarks, Justice Hanna-Adderley said: “The evidence from the victim suggest that the Convict was touching the victim inappropriately from she was ten years old, but she only reported the matter when in 2023 when according to her she could not take any more of the (sic) sexual abuse.” The defence argued that in this comment the court drew conclusions about Mott’s previous conduct that were not supported by the record. The appellate
judges found there was no corroborating evidence that Mott had been touching the girl inappropriately since she was ten, and the prosecution ultimately conceded the error. Having found that the trial judge wrongly treated certain matters as aggravating, the court said the sentence had to be reviewed to determine whether the same term would have been imposed without those errors. It ruled that a 13-year sentence was appropriate. During the trial, the court heard that on the day of the offence, Mott had taken the girl and her siblings to the Play Room at the Marketplace to celebrate her drive-by primary school graduation. The girl said Mott had made her uncomfortable earlier that day when he placed his hands on her vagina during a car ride alone with her. Mott had been in a relationship with the girl’s
mother since the girl was ten months old, helped raise her and fathered children with her mother. The girl said he had molested her and touched her inappropriately many times since she was ten. She came forward in 2023, after which her mother was charged with failing to report child abuse. The girl said she suffers nightmares and sleepless nights as a result of the abuse, dreaming that Mott corners her and continues abusing her. She said she wanted to see him in handcuffs and in jail. Her mother told the probation officer she felt she had failed her daughter when the abuse came to light. She said she had also been abused as a child. She reportedly attempted suicide as a result, but has since begun to mend her relationship with her daughter. Probation officer Laish Boyd Jr said Mott showed no remorse while
incarcerated and was not receptive to rehabilitation because he maintained his innocence. Mott said he treated his partner’s other children as his own and was angered at the thought of being unable to provide for his children. He has 10 children, whom he worked to support until his incarceration. At sentencing, Justice Hanna-Adderley found that Mott had violated the trust of a young child whom, in his own words, he treated as one of his own. She noted it was his first offence, but found it aggravating that he forced the girl to relive her trauma through a trial, and that her relationship with her siblings, his children, had become strained because of his imprisonment. In his appeal, Mott had also argued that the trial judge wrongly told jurors the dates in the indictment were immaterial; conflated two separate incidents into a single count without
telling jurors they had to be unanimous on which act constituted the offence; failed to tell jurors that a letter and evidence of the girl’s changed behaviour could not corroborate her account; gave no direction on an ambiguous answer the girl gave under cross-examination that was capable of amounting to a retraction; and gave no alibi or Lucas direction. He also claimed his lawyer was ineffective and that material inconsistencies were not adequately addressed. On sentence, he argued that his good character had been turned into an aggravating factor, that there was no structured sentencing and that his acquittal on the first count was not taken into account. Mott will be enrolled in counselling while in prison and placed on the sex offender registry upon his release. Janessa Murray prosecuted, while Stanley Rolle represented Mott.
Man denies indecent assault of 21-year-old acquitted of unlawful 13-year-old relative at family home sexual intercourse with teen girl By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A 60-YEAR-OLD man was granted bail yesterday after being accused of indecently assaulting his 13-year-old relative at their home over the weekend. Prosecutors allege the
man, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the girl, inappropriately touched her private parts at their home on Gray’s Terrace on October 24. He pleaded not guilty to indecent assault before Magistrate Abigail Farrington. His bail was set at $7,000
with one or two sureties. Under the terms of his bail, he must sign in at the Fox Hill Police Station every Thursday by 7pm. His trial is set for March 25, 2027. Linda Virgil represented the man, while Assistant Superintendent of Police Kendrick Bauld prosecuted.
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A MAN accused of having sex with a 14-yearold girl he allegedly met on Facebook was acquitted of unlawful sexual intercourse. Nathaniel Pedro Moss, 21, was found not guilty by an 8-1 jury verdict before Justice Jeannine Weech-Gomez. Moss appeared visibly relieved when he was told he was free to go as long as he had no other matters before the court. Prosecutors alleged he had sex with the girl, then 14, in New Providence on September 9, 2023. In his opening statement,
prosecutor Gary Rolle III told jurors Moss met the girl on Facebook and manipulated her into letting him pick her up and take her to his house on the pretence that they would watch Netflix together. He alleged Moss had sex with her against her will and refused to take her home that night, and urged jurors to review the evidence dispassionately. Detective Sergeant 278 Rolle previously testified that the girl told him Moss persuaded her to sneak out that night and stay over at his home. She said that while they were watching a movie in a back room of the house, Moss tried to kiss her and, when she
refused, he began choking her and then forced himself on her, the officer said. Det Sgt Rolle said he conducted a confrontation between Moss and the girl on September 2, 2024, in the presence of her aunt. Moss told the officer he had exchanged photos with the girl online, but that she had never been to his house before that night. A video of the confrontation was played in court, but its audio was barely audible. Moss maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings. Sonia Timothy Knowles and Crystal Stuart represented Moss. Davina Pinder also prosecuted.
Car theft accused granted $9,000 bail after denying theft of $8,000 Nissan By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A 26-YEAR-OLD man was granted $9,000 bail after being accused of stealing an $8,000 car from Eastwood Estates last month. Prosecutors allege Tyrese Boodle, together
with another person, stole a grey 2018 Nissan Dayz belonging to Judith Maycock on September 14. Boodle pleaded not guilty to stealing and receiving before Magistrate Abigail Farrington. His bail was set with one or two sureties. Under its terms, he must
sign in at the Grove Police Station every Friday by 7pm and be fitted with an electronic monitoring device. His trial is set for January 22, 2027. Ryszard Humes represented Boodle, while Assistant Superintendent of Police Kendrick Bauld prosecuted.
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PAGE 8, Wednesday, October 28, 2026
THE TRIBUNE
Alicia Wallace
Resolution 80/250 and reparations IN March 2026, the United Nations General Assembly determined, in a vote, that the trafficking of enslaved Africans, chattel slavery of Africans, was the gravest crime against humanity. In the assembly of 193 countries, 123 voted yes, 3 voted no, 52 abstained, and 15 were non-voting.Predictably, Argentina, Israel, and the United States voted against the resolution. Key points from Resolution 80/250 The resolution says, “Reaffirming that under international law, including the principles of the articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, States bear responsibility for internationally wrongful acts and have an obligation to cease the act if it is continuing and to offer appropriate assurances and guarantees of non-repetition if the circumstances so require, and to make full reparation for the injury caused, which may take the form of restitution, compensation and satisfaction, either singly or in combination.” It acknowledges that the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement was “world-breaking and world-redefining” and “ushered in the racial capitalist system, transforming the fates of all peoples across the world through new racialized regimes of labour and property.” Importantly, the resolution notes the exceptional gendered nature of the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement. It specifically names sexual violence, forced reproduction, domestic servitude, and gender-specific forms of exploitation. The resolution clearly acknowledges the lasting impact of slavery and colonization, and continued racial discrimination and neocolonialism, and the resulting suffering inflicted upon people of African descent. It “affirms the importance of addressing historical wrongs affecting Africans and people of African descent in a manner that promotes justice, human rights, dignity and healing, and emphasizes that claims for reparations represent a concrete step towards remedying historical wrongs
against Africans and people of African descent.” It calls for a full apology, restitution, compensation, and international cooper-
reparatory justice within the context of development priorities.” This version has a more intentional focus on gender dimen-
on the International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the obligation of States regarding climate change. Davis said, “This ruling
built on the stolen lives of our ancestors, including enslaved children. It is important that the former colonisers have recognised this atrocity, as recognition was a vital step. But recognition without repair is only a sentence on a page. We call on the nations that profited to engage seriously with reparatory justice: truth, apology, restoration, and development.” Why has he not uttered a word about reparations in the days leading up to the royal visit? What’s the point of raising the issue among peers, playing at solidarity, and actively choosing to ignore the people raising it at a most opportune time, in country, in the context of the visit of the offender who must pay? Which version of the Prime Minister is the real one? Is it the one who is chasing the global spotlight that follows Motley or the one who hides from the national
Photo: Aaron Chown/PA via AP,
ation on reparations. The adoption of Resolution 80/250 is acknowledgment of the historic and ongoing harm of the trafficking and enslavement of African people, and it extends an invitation to United Nations Member States and relevant entities to “[develop] frameworks for dialogue, cooperation and action on reparatory justice and reconciliation.” The Bahamas, along with all CARICOM Member States, voted yes on the resolution. This would suggest that the government has an understanding of the gravest crime against humanity, that it was enacted against our ancestors, that it continues to affect us today, and that reparations are owed and must be paid by the offenders. Further, The Bahamas National Reparations Committee sits within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, underlining the supposed position of the government on reparations. How, then, does the same government administration that voted yes on Resolution 80/250 and set the mandate for The Bahamas National Reparations Committee welcome and fully fund—with our money—a royal visit? CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for reparations This year, The CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice: A Manifesto for the Coming Englightenment was published. It’s the second update to the earlier CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparations. It’s “a framework for promoting and demanding reparations and sets out the call for
sions, engagement with the African diaspora, and climate justice. It’s expected to evolve as more evidence and knowledge is built on the crime against humanity it has been developed to address. The CARICOM Reparations Commission was established at the Thirty-Fourth Regular Meeting of CARICOM held in Trinidad and Tobago in July 2013. The Bahamas was one of the 13 countries (and UWI) to appoint a chairperson for its National Reparations Committee at that meeting. It was a deliberate decision to join the regional movement for reparatory justice. The Bahamas National Reparations Committee works to inform the public about the call for reparations and invite engagement on the topic while strengthening the movement through numbers and commitment. Why is the Prime Minister silent on reparations this week? Since 2021, the Prime Minister Philip Davis has been echoing Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley regarding climate justice, his sudden interest in climate issues conveniently timed with calls for climate finance and the shift in conversation from aid to reparations. In July 2025, he addressed Parliament
Photo: Nicola Barts/Pexels
changes the conversation. No longer can support for climate adaptation be seen as aid. It is responsibility. No longer can compensation for loss and damage be described as a moral gesture. It is a legal consequence. And no longer can the right of nations like ours to exist be treated as negotiable. It is fundamental.” This was a clear indication that the Prime Minister understands the concept of reparations, and is willing to call for reparations in certain places and situations. Just last month, at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Davis said, “The wealth of empires was
discussion? The answer, of course, is obvious. Protests discouraged Last week, in reference to protests, Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles said “anything that distracts negatively from this visit” will be handled by 300 police officers. She added that she believes Bahamians will “show the world how we mark the manner of our bearing.” She said she believes it will be “free of controversy of any kind,” and encouraged people to “show that we know how to behave.” Why was the national anthem quoted at the people, as if it’s a weapon?
Why are the people being told to “behave” at a time fit for, not just any protest, but one that is aligned with a mandate taken up by the government and with the speeches made by the Prime Minister in multilateral spaces? Insult added to injury We still don’t know the cost of the visit to which we did not consent. The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the amount is “appropriate” though it is unknown. How is it possible to know that it is appropriate when there is no available number? Why was the decision made to host the colonizer without a known cost? Children are, once again, being used to entertain the colonizer. Why should children, the descendants of people who were trafficked and enslaved, be put out on a park, whatever the weather, for the amusement of a person who refused to give a full and formal apology for the gravest crime against humanity? Who decided that it’s appropriate for children to miss hours of school for this? How can we talk about reparations while entertaining the main beneficiary of slavery and colonization? Grave disrespect Perhaps the most disgusting, insulting, ignorant element in this royal visit is the use of Junkanoo for the colonizer’s entertainment. Junkanoo, historically, is a form of protest. It is resistance. It is spirit. Junkanoo is made by the people— hours and hours of cutting, pasting, and tricking, hours and hours of arranging music and choreographing, all before it comes together for hours and hours of practice. There is no reason for us to share our dance, our music, our creativity, or our energy with the colonizer. In fact, it’s egregious to do so. It’s disrespect. It’s counter to the rebellious nature of Junkanoo and the protest that we ought to mount together against the misuse of our tax dollars, the presence of the colonizer, the failure of the government to discuss reparations, the commodification of the people, especially children, and the effort to discourage appropriate responses from the people opposed to this disgrace. The hope we can hold today is that the people in the parade truly make it a show by turning it into a protest aligned with the call for reparatory justice. We need not be a people who play music or dance for the benefit of the gravest crime against humanity, which continues to harm us today. He is already too comfortable here. It’s our duty to disturb that inner peace.
Australian judge rejects prisoner's human rights challenge to Vegemite ban By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A prisoner on Monday lost his challenge to an Australian state's ban on inmates eating Vegemite after he argued in court that withholding the polarizing yeast-based spread breached his human right to "enjoy his culture as an Australian." Andre McKechnie, 55, who is serving a life sentence for murder, took his battle for the salty, sticky, black-brown byproduct of brewing beer to the Supreme Court of the state of Victoria last year. He had argued being refused Vegemite denied him his right under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act to "enjoy his culture as an Australian in the community with other persons of Australian background," court documents showed. Justice Claire Harris accepted prison authorities' refusal to allow McKechnie Vegemite
"limited his cultural rights" under the charter. But she found the ban was justified in meeting authorities' goals of removing illicit drugs and alcohol from the prison system. "The limitation on Mr. McKechnie's ability to enjoy Vegemite in community with other persons of Australian background is primarily that he is a prisoner," Harris wrote in her 47-page judgment. Prison officials testify Vegemite could impair drug sniffer dogs and be used to make alcohol Prison officials testified at a trial in July that Vegemite had been banned throughout the state's 12 prisons for the past 20 years because it could potentially impair sniffer dogs' ability to detect narcotics and could be used to brew alcohol because of its yeast content. McKechnie, who represented himself in court by video link from maximum security Barwon Prison west of Melbourne, argued that the fact that neighboring New
South Wales state did not ban Vegemite from its prisons was evidence that there were "less restrictive means reasonably available" to achieve such drug and alcohol outcomes. Most Australians revere Vegemite as an unfairly maligned culinary icon, and more than 80% of Australian households are estimated to have a jar in their pantries. Vegemite is typically considered an acquired taste at best by those who weren't raised on it. The last U.S. president to visit Australia, Barack Obama, once said: "It's horrible."
A PIECE of toast is prepared with Vegemite in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, file
Prisoner argues Vegemite ban contributed to vitamin deficiency McKechnie had initially testified that the lack of Vegemite had contributed to his thiamine deficiency.
He said both Vegemite and pork were sources of thiamine, also known as vitamin B1. As a Jew who observed kosher law, he told the court he couldn't eat pork either and took daily doses of the vitamin.
Vegemite has long been marketed as a source of B vitamins thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3) and folate (B9) which are promoted as healthy additions to the diets of growing children.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, October 28, 2026, PAGE 9
Anthropic files for potentially biggest IPO ever, CEO warns of risk to humanity from AI By BARBARA ORTUTAY and BERNARD CONDON Associated Press
AN ELECTRONIC price tag is displayed at a Kroger grocery store Nov. 13, 2024, in Monroe, Ohio. AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File
Consumer apprehension grows as US retailers adopt AI-assisted pricing tools By DEE-ANN DURBIN and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO AP Business Writers US CONSUMERS aren't just frustrated with high prices. They're angry and confused about the increasingly high-tech ways that restaurant chains and major retailers are setting those prices. Digital price tags are rapidly replacing paper ones in grocery aisles. Artificial intelligence tools help businesses decide what to charge by predicting how customers might respond. Terms like "dynamic pricing" and "surveillance pricing" are stirring anxiety on social media, where users wonder if different people are getting different prices for the same product. Americans have grown accustomed to changing prices when booking flights, hotel rooms and rides, but the prospect of everyday spending shaped by algorithms they don't understand and personal data they may not realize they're sharing has touched a nerve. "There are major tensions happening right now between who's really going to have the power with some of these algorithms and usage of bots and AI: the companies or the shopper," said Katie Thomas, who leads an internal consumer behavior think tank at the management consulting firm Kearney. Companies using the technology say some concerns stem from misconceptions about how their pricing tools work. Walmart CEO John Furner said in a blog post last month that digital price tags save workers' time and keep prices up to date. He said the labels aren't used to raise prices based on the
weather, time of day or individual shopper. "We price the product, not the person," Furner wrote. But companies aren't always transparent about the customer data they collect and how it's used, which has made consumers suspicious and led to speculation. For example, social media posts falsely imply that electronic shelf labels Walmart plans to put in all its U.S. stores scan shoppers' faces or cellphones to set individualized prices, Thomas said. Lawmakers and regulators are taking action. Legislators in at least 30 states have considered pricing bills this year, including measures addressing algorithmic and personalized pricing, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The Federal Trade Commission has proposed an enforcement policy warning businesses that failing to disclose their use of personal data to set individualized prices could violate consumer protection law. Here are some of the pricing practices and technologies drawing scrutiny. Dynamic pricing can raise and lower prices What it is: Dynamic pricing means adjusting prices in response to changing market conditions, including supply and demand. An airline that adjusts ticket prices as departures approach is using dynamic pricing. Uber's practice of lifting fares when demand outstrips the supply of available drivers, such as during rush hour, is a type of dynamic pricing known as surge pricing. Why it matters: Frequent price changes extend well beyond food. Decodo, a web data company, tracked price changes in 2025 across products ranging from
electronics to clothing and home improvement supplies. About half the U.S. changes it recorded were decreases, contrary to consumers' assumptions that dynamic pricing only raises prices, said Gabriele Vitke, a senior product marketing manager. Digital price labels are coming to more US stores What they are: Digital displays that let stores update shelf prices electronically instead of replacing paper tags. Why it matters: Digital price labels, long used in Europe and Asia, are drawing more attention as they spread to major U.S. retailers like Walmart and Whole Foods. Consumer advocates have argued that digital labels could eventually be used for surge pricing or personalized pricing. Labor unions also have opposed the technology. The electronic shelf labels make frequent changes easier but don't necessarily lead to higher prices during periods of strong demand. Retailers typically update electronic shelf prices on a regular schedule, often weekly, because shoppers value consistency, said Asa Farquhar of Relex Solutions, a retail technology company. Researchers who tracked prices at an unnamed grocery chain found "virtually no surge pricing" after the labels were introduced. "Changing prices throughout the day, the way airlines or rideshare apps do, is exceedingly rare in grocery and general merchandise today," Farquhar said. Personalized pricing, also called surveillance pricing, draws on customer data What it is: Personalized pricing means offering customers different prices and discounts based on their locations, incomes, web-browsing habits and other information about individuals or groups of shoppers. Some advocacy groups and regulators use
the term "surveillance pricing" for the same practice. Why it matters: It's unclear how widely businesses use personal information to customize prices. An FTC staff report released in January 2025 found that intermediaries offering tools that can tailor prices and promotions worked with at least 250 clients, including grocery and clothing retailers. Lawmakers in Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut recently enacted restrictions on using shoppers' personal data to determine what they pay. The Maryland and New Jersey laws focus on groceries, with exceptions for certain loyalty discounts and other promotional offers. Connecticut's legislation covers a broader range of retail purchases. California prosecutors sued Target in 2022, alleging that the retailer's app displayed lower prices before shoppers entered stores and raised them once they were inside. Target agreed to a $5 million settlement and a ban on using so-called geofencing technology to increase prices. Target said the app functionality at issue was used to "provide guests with accurate pricing, which can vary across stores and channels." The retailer said it didn't personalize prices based on a guest's data or behavior and remains "committed to clear, transparent pricing." Different prices do not necessarily mean personal data was used. Last year, an investigation by Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union found that shoppers on Instacart were shown different prices for identical products at the same stores. Instacart subsequently ended what it described as tests that randomly assigned shoppers to groups rather than setting prices based on their personal information.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — 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.
As the US and China form AI blocs, countries are increasingly torn between them By CHAN HO-HIM and DIDI TANG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — With the two leading AI powers, the United States and China, forming their own AI blocs, other countries are maneuvering to harness the strengths of both groupings and avoid losing out. As the rivalry intensifies, experts say the window for countries to be able to choose freely between the two AI superpowers may be narrowing, forcing them to at one point pick between the U.S.-led Pax Silica and the China-inspired World AI Cooperation Organization. That could put many countries in a dilemma: Do they go with the U.S.’s most advanced chips and AI technologies, or join China’s more affordable, open-source AI systems? Kazakhstan, a Central Asian nation of about 21 million people, is a rare example of a country that has sought to bridge that gap. Just three weeks after its AI minister Zhaslan Madiyev visited Washington in June to join the U.S. group working to strengthen AI supply chains, he headed to Shanghai for a signing ceremony making the Central Asian country a founding member of China's initiative to shape the global AI agenda.
Microsoft offers a quarter of its global workforce voluntary buyouts as AI spending accelerates By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Microsoft has offered 60,000 employees, or about 27% of its global workforce, voluntary buyouts as the software giant spends heavily on artificial intelligence. The company's voluntary exit offer was available to eligible employees in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States, the company's Chief People Officer Amy Coleman wrote in a blog post Monday. “The Voluntary Exit Offer is new for us,” Coleman wrote. “We’ll learn from it. At the same time, we’ll keep helping people focus on the work that matters most, build new skills and, where it makes sense, find new opportunities across Microsoft.” The company, which releases its quarterly financial results Wednesday, had approximately 223,000 full-time employees at the end of June.
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World News
Russian satellites help Iran's allies strike Saudi Arabia, data and officials say By SARAH EL DEEB and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Iranian-backed militias carried out a precision strike last month, hitting the pumping stations of Saudi Arabia's most important oil pipeline. Days later, another attack hit a Saudi military air base, damaging an Italian fighter jet inside a hangar. Crucial to the strikes' success was what was happening in the skies overhead: For days beforehand, a constellation of Russian spy satellites converged over the pipeline and the air base to gather intelligence. A private geospatial intelligence firm said it examined 40 missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and militias in Iraq between July 1 and Oct. 19. In every case, the firm found the same pattern of Russian government and military satellites orbiting above the areas for days before and after. "What we found is a 100% match" between the satellite activities and strikes, said Nawaf Obaid, founder of Geneva-based AURORAH Geosignal Intelligence. The findings illustrate how Russia is believed to be helping Iran and its allies in the region target Saudi Arabia's oil and military infrastructure in attacks that have helped raise global energy prices. Three officials, including one from Saudi Arabia and another in the top ranks of the Houthis, as well as a private intelligence analyst, told The Associated Press that the Houthis and other Iranian allies have benefited from Russian intelligence, as
well as Chinese capabilities. Iranian advisers in the field analyzed and transferred the intelligence to their allies, according to AP reporting. The Saudi Foreign Ministry's deputy minister for public diplomacy, Rayed Krimly, told reporters last week that Iran and the Houthis receive intelligence from "elements in Russia and China, even commercial elements sometimes." "We do discuss these matters regularly with China and Russia, and we will continue to do so," he said. Russian officials had no immediate comment when asked about the allegations, including AURORAH's findings. Russia and Iran have a longstanding military cooperation arrangement, including transferring drone technology. While Russia has not been directly involved in the wars in the region, U.S. and European officials have said Russia has shared intelligence with Iran. Iranian-backed groups were able to carry out pinpoint strikes On the morning of Sept. 10, multiple drone strikes from Iraq hit three critical pumping stations along Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, immediately interrupting the flow of oil. The 1,200-kilometer (746-mile) pipeline across the kingdom has been a vital alternative route for getting its crude to market amid Iran's attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The pumping stations are vital to moving oil through the pipeline, which rises more than 1,100 meters (3,608 feet) in altitude as it goes from eastern Saudi
Arabia across the Najd Plateau then back down to the kingdom's western coast on the Red Sea, said Obaid, a fellow at King's College Department of War Studies who also served as an adviser to various Saudi officials from 2004 to 2016. "This is where the militias out of Iraq decided to strike," he said. Beginning in July, his firm observed 11 of Russia's Cosmos 2600 series satellites concentrating on those three sections of the pipeline. Flybys increased in the weeks leading up to the attacks and in the hours around the strikes, showing reconnaissance before and after, he said. A week later, King Fahd Air Base in Taif, Saudi Arabia, was hit with multiple projectiles fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis. Along with hangars at the base, an Italian air force Eurofighter Typhoon jet was damaged, according to the Italian Defense Ministry. The Italian military has had assets deployed in Saudi Arabia for years as part of the U.S.-led coalition's campaigns in Iraq and Syria. In both those cases, Obaid's firm monitored a 50% increase in the number of Russian satellites orbiting above the targets during a 72-hour period before and after the strikes, compared with July. Notably, the Taif attack precisely hit the Italian warplane rather than Saudi ones stationed at the same base, suggesting "highly specialized intelligence support that the Houthis and Iranians simply don't have," Obaid said.
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THIS satellite image provided by Vantor on Sept. 13, 2026 shows the aftermath of the recent drone attack on the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia. Satellite image 2026 Vantor via AP, File The Houthis have warned foreign powers not to help Saudi Arabia. A clear pattern of satellites is visible AURORAH used opensource information as well as other intelligence sources to identify 72 Russian reconnaissance satellites out of more than 11,000 spacecraft orbiting the Earth, Obaid said. It then tracked their trajectories and maneuvers while comparing them to military activity on the ground. The firm has not intercepted actual transmission of intelligence to Iran or its allies, Obaid said. Instead, the firm has established a definitive pattern of Russian satellite positions and reconnaissance activity around strategic targets ahead of strikes, indicating that intelligence is being collected and transferred for Houthi and Iraqi militia targeting, he said. Obaid said the same satellite patterns also occurred in connection with Iranian strikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East during the U.S.-Iran war that began in February. "That is the fundamental transformation in the regional military balance: The intelligence system behind the weapon is becoming as important as the weapon itself," he said. Adam Marsh, vice president of technological solutions at California-based Leolabs, an orbital intelligence firm, said the massing of satellites is what
one would expect to see for purposes of collecting intelligence. The Russians can deny they are doing it, he said, but he noted there is only a general policy and no regulatory body: "How would you stop anybody?" Satellite intelligence has also helped Houthis in their fight inside Yemen An official briefed on investigations in Saudi Arabia into recent attacks said intelligence showed that Russian satellites had helped Houthis and Iraqi militias strike sensitive targets, including the pumping stations on the East-West Pipeline. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists. The satellites also helped strikes by Iran in March on Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base, where a U.S. surveillance aircraft was severely damaged, and on a CIA unit inside the U.S. Embassy complex in Riyadh, the official said. The investigations found that missiles and drones used by the Houthis in their strikes had Russian- and Chinese-made components, the official said. Russian satellite intelligence has also helped the Houthis in the dramatic advances they made against Saudi-backed opponents in Yemen's civil war, according to Obaid and a Houthi leader. AURORAH identified satellite configurations over
targets in connection to an Oct. 15 Houthi strike on the presidential palace in Yemen's southern port city of Aden and a nearby command center used by the Saudi-led coalition, as well as a strike on a government recruitment center in the province of Shabwa that killed 75 new recruits, Obaid said. Iranian advisers on the ground in Yemen have been providing the rebels with data based on Russian satellite intelligence to help in targeting, a senior Houthi leader told the AP. The leader spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential role of the advisers. Mzahem Alsaloum, a security analyst who has followed Iranian-backed groups for nearly a decade and now runs a private intelligence firm, said the advisers use Russian spy satellite information to provide Iranians with target lists and operational information. The Houthi leader also said the Iranians provided the rebels with more advanced equipment, including systems for piloting drones and for helping missiles evade air defenses. The equipment was developed by the Iranians, bought commercially or provided by Russia and China, he said, though he did not know whether those countries were aware the equipment was being used in the Yemen war.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2026, PAGE 11
King Charles III’s arrival PHOTOS: TIM AYLEN/BIS
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King Charles III at Youth Rally Photos: Shawn Hanna