11142022 NEWS AND SPORT

...while FNM wants to know if government was left exposed

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

POLICE are working with the Securities Com mission to investigate if any “criminal misconduct occurred” in view of the collapse of FTX, the Royal Bahamas Police Force announced yesterday.

“In light of the collapse of FTX globally and the provi sional liquidation of FTX Digital Markets Ltd, a team of financial investigators from the Financial Crimes Investigation branch are working closely with the Bahamas Securities

Commission to investigate if any criminal misconduct occurred,” a brief state ment from police said.

Meanwhile, the Free National Movement has called on the government to provide the investing public with a clear and cogent statement on the matter regarding FTX.

Party leader Michael Pintard said the public needs to know what if any exposure exists for the government in view developments, and if there are any implications for the national budget.

FUNDS WITHDRAWN AFTER FTX ASSETS WERE FROZEN

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

FEARS were raised yes terday that the Supreme Court order freezing all assets of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary was violated when some of the collapsed crypto currency exchange’s

clients withdrew their monies late last week.

Those involved could be prosecuted for contempt of court and be forced to repay the funds.

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PM REVEALS CARBON CREDIT PLAN

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

Mr

The

Mr

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis along with environmental enthusi asts revealed the Bahamas Blue Carbon Credit Man agement Initiative at the CARICOM Pavilion at COP27.

Davis expressed the importance of inno vation and collaboration with the private sector and

non-profit partners in an effort to bring about cli mate action within the Caribbean.

Prime Minister, along with Dr Austin Gal lagher, CEO of Beneath the Waves and Anthony Fer guson, director of Carbon Management Ltd for the government, explained the details surrounding carbon credits to the forum.

Davis referred to the conclusion of the Caribbean Regional Heads of Gov ernment’s two-day summit hosted by The Bahamas in

FYRE Festival organ iser Billy McFarland has planned a new venture, returning to The Baha mas to host a “treasure hunt” which will be the focus of an upcoming documentary, according to international reports.

US media outlet

Deadline first reported Mr McFarland’s idea of returning to the country for a “treasure hunt”.

This comes despite Bahamians still being owed money from his previous venture - whose disastrous collapse in 2017 was detailed in doc umentaries on Netflix and Hulu.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

BILLY McFarland showing off one of the bottles in his Exu ma “treasure hunt” in a video posted to TikTok.

HONOURING OUR VETERANS

POLICE confiscated over 150 pounds of drugs with an estimated street value of $1.3m in two sepa rate incidents.

A joint operation between OPBAT, Drug Enforcement Officers and officers of the Mayaguana Division resulted in 60 kilos of suspected cocaine being confiscated.

Shortly after 8pm on Thursday, Mayaguana police officers, acting on intelligence that an aircraft had landed undetected, went to the airport.

It is reported that as offic ers approached the airport they saw a number of men at the aircraft. On seeing the police, the men fled and evaded officers.

Acting

The second incident occurred shortly after 7.30pm on Friday in the Redland Acres area.

Preliminary reports indi cate that officers of the Southeastern Division searched an abandoned building on Red Sea Road in New Providence where they confiscated two pounds of suspected mari juana worth an estimated $2,000.

No arrest was made in this incident.

Officers conducted a search of the aircraft and discovered the drugs.

on intelligence, officers arrested three Bahamian men who are assisting police with their investigation.

A REMEMBRANCE Day church service was held at Christ Church Cathedral, in George Street, attended by war veterans and families, Governor General CA Smith, Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper and others. Baha mian World War II veteran Vernon Pinder is pictured below with his family.

Photos: Kemuel Stubbs/BIS

Criminal probe of FTX launched

from page one

The Tribune reached out to the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday to see if a statement would be forth coming on the controversy, however no comment was issued.

This comes after local regulators moved last week to protect clients of The Bahamas’ flagship crypto currency investor by “freez ing” its assets, and seizing control of the company, amid reports it acquired $74m in local real estate this year alone.

On Thursday, the Secu rities Commission said the Supreme Court had approved Brian Simms, KC, as joint provisional liquidator with powers to take control of the crypto exchange’s Bahamian com pany and affiliate entities.

In a press statement yes terday, Mr Pintard said the opposition is dismayed at the turn of events regard ing the apparent collapse of FTX that held so much promise for the future of digital asset management in The Bahamas.

AP reported the crypto exchange giant, its hedge fund Alameda Research, and “dozens of other affili ated companies filed a bankruptcy petition in Delaware”.

“We are all shocked by the daily revelations that are now becoming known nationally and interna tionally and call upon the government to provide the investing public a clear and cogent statement on the matter and the steps being taken to guard against the jurisdictional fall out and to shore up investor confi dence,” Mr Pintard said.

“We also call upon the government to outline to the public what financial exposures exist for the gov ernment, if any, and indicate if there are any implications for the national budget. We call upon the govern ment to confirm whether the land intended for the FTX commercial complex was private leased land. In

the event that it was public land, what steps have been taken to secure the land and have it returned to its original state?”

In July, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said his administration is explor ing the idea of establishing a carbon exchange in The Bahamas with FTX, “where we will trade our carbon credits”.

Mr Pintard raised con cerns about the carbon credits in view of what has transpired with the com pany as well as the impact of FTX’s loss.

“The government’s much touted proposed carbon credit trading platform was announced to be facilitated through FTX’s exchange platform. Given current events, what impact will this development have on the potential for carbon trading, what alternative arrangements are being made and when will we see the first trade and benefit from this activity, if any?” he asked.

“Has the government begun to estimate the loss exposure of the private sector as a result of FTX’s apparent collapse and the personal losses of Mr Bankman-Fried and his col leagues? “What measures are being taken to protect Bahamians from any antici pated loss?

“The opposition contin ues to have complete faith in the Securities Exchange Commission and other rel evant regulators to conduct a full and transparent inves tigation into what has gone wrong at FTX and to ensure that the public and investor interest is protected to the extent possible.

“In light of the fact that there are likely other com panies operating in the digital assets space in this jurisdiction, what steps, if any, has the government taken to allay any concerns which may have arisen. Given the enormity of this situation and turn of events, there is an urgent need for the government to speak to this issue clearly and trans parently,” Mr Pintard said.

FYRE FESTIVAL FRAUDSTER BACK WITH BAHAMAS EVENT

from page one

As for this new event, Deadline reported: “This time, it’s all being cap tured up front for a feature documentary from The Invisible Pilot producer Ample Entertainment and distributor Fremantle.”

“After the Fyre follows convicted felon McFarland as he was released from prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud and serving four years of his six year sentence.”

According to another outlet, MixMag, Mr McFar land is heading back to Exuma, the original site for the failed 2017 Fyre Fes tival, to launch “PYRT” which will “see participants take part in a treasure hunt where they track down bot tles containing messages”.

However, Deputy Prime Minister and Exuma MP Chester Cooper told The Tribune yesterday he was not aware of any applica tion before the government by Mr McFarland for any venture.

The 2017 festival’s col lapse on Exuma was chronicled in Netflix and Hulu documentaries.

Mr McFarland was dubbed a “serial fraud ster” and sentenced to six years in prison. He admit ted to defrauding investors of $26m in the festival, and over $100,000 in a fraudu lent ticket-selling scheme while he was out on bail pending trial for the Fyre scam.

Elvis Rolle is all too familiar with the debacle as his business, Exuma Point Beach Bar and Grill, did catering for the failed fes tival. He said he has not

been paid as yet.

“From the time they left the country, I haven’t heard nothing from them. Almost five, six years, whatever time it is, I never heard any thing from them,” Mr Rolle told The Tribune yesterday.

As for Mr Mcfarland’s reported plans to return to Exuma, he said that people to whom he owed money just want to be paid.

“Once they get their money in their hands, they’ll be happy and if he wants to do the event, any thing he wants to do in the country they have to go through the right chan nels with the government. Make sure everybody’s paid and pay this money down before he touches down in this country.”

He did not convey any malice about the most recent news of Mr McFar land’s possible return.

“I wouldn’t be against it but what I would like (for him) to do before he touch down in The Bahamas is make sure to pay everybody off he owes and before he starts another event. Put money down before he does anything.”

Asked if he thinks the government should deny Mr McFarland due to fail ure to repay, the business owner replied: “Yes most definitely. If ain’t nobody get paid, what we need him for?”

Ivan Ferguson, a retired island administrator, pushed back against Mr McFarland coming back with his new plans.

“I am totally against Billy McFarland engaging in any more business in my coun try after the Fyre Festival fiasco, further his convic tion in the United States disqualifies him from doing

business here. We’re not a nation for sale, there fore we should not jettison the values upon which our nation was built,” he said.

Julian Marshall held a more sympathetic view of the situation and noted the effort Mr McFarland had made while acknowledging his errors.

“Me personally, I don’t have a problem with him trying to come back to do an event because I don’t really look at him as a fraudster or something like that, or somebody is trying to swing the people, right? Because number one, I think he had bad advice from the begin ning,” Mr Marshall said.

“He just had the wrong people on the ground because he tried to do that show in Exuma during regatta which is a no-no, to start with. You got limited housing, you got limited

you know car access, trans portation, whatever.

“I think it was a good idea because that guy, he invested a lot of money. He lost a lot of money, because I know, people would have gotten money upfront, for probably housing. He invested a lot of money in food, because he left trail ers of food, you know, generators.”

Mr Marshall said the venue chosen probably wasn’t the right fit.

“I don’t think he did enough groundwork to start, but you know, because I know a lot of those kids who came down, you know, they were kids from wealthy families and because a lot of them came to my business and they still enjoy Exuma, you know, and they weren’t accustomed to being bussed around and in those school buses.”

PM REVEALS CARBON CREDIT PLAN

from page one

August in preparation for COP27.

At the event, Mr Davis said world leaders expressed what they wanted to see from the market

“While there are oppor tunities, there are also challenges so by working together, hopefully we can take best advantage of one and overcome the other,” he said.

“We must also engage strongly with the private sector and other local stake holders. Regional leaders also highlighted the need for simplicity and flexibility in the instruments used in the carbon market, espe cially in relation to carbon pricing.

“We believe that our approach in The Baha mas is a gold standard for which others can also ben efit. We also believe that our approach reflects the

realities for what is needed in effecting real action to meet the challenge of cli mate change.”

Mr Davis explained that effective climate solutions require science, finances and input and input and commit ment from all sectors.

At the forum, Dr Austin Gallagher explained the concept behind carbon credits, and referred to them as a “tradable permit”.

“Very quick summary

of what a carbon credit is - a tradable permit or certificate which provides validation of an offset. One ton of carbon is a carbon credit,” he said.

Mr Gallagher also added that carbon credits can be purchased by corporations or individuals to achieve their ESG goals all while providing protection to the sovereign nation through those same revenues.

According to Anthony Ferguson, the Bahamas

Blue Carbon Credit Man agement Initiative will allow the Bahamian econ omy to diversify.

Mr Ferguson said the “natural assets” of The Bahamas would be man aged through governance principles such as the reduc tion of greenhouse gas, restoration and improve ment of the economy, conservation and protection of natural assets, enhance ment of biodiversity through implementation

and enforcement, and lastly, community co-benefit.

The director of the Carbon Management Lim ited for the government explained that everything the government does will be “transparent”, as he said transparency brings “value plus liquidity”.

He also explained that the government is aiming to have the first natural asset company on the New York Stock Exchange by the end of 2024.

FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is said to be weathering the storm in The Bahamas, report edly holed up at the luxury western New Providence community of Albany.

In addition to the SEC probe, the US Justice Department is also investi gating FTX.

According to Trib une Business, the probes are said to be

focusing on whether Mr Bankman-Fried and FTX used customers’ deposits to fund bets and trading activities at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. Client funds are supposed to be

kept separate from com pany assets, and there were suggestions the FTX founder has committed the “ultimate sin” by tapping into FTX’s custodial assets to fund Alameda Research.

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis at the official opening of FTX Digital Markets headquarters alongside the company’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.

SANDS: ‘ABSENTEE’ DAVIS NEEDS TO GET PRIORITIES STRAIGHT

By JADE RUSSELL

FREE National Move ment chairman Dr Duane Sands has called on Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis to get his priorities straight in governing the country, while claiming the electorate views him as an “absentee” leader.

“The people of the Baha mas see you as an absentee Prime Minister who tries to manage the country’s affairs via WhatsApp,” Dr Sands said in a statement issued Thursday.

Dr Sands criticized the prime minister for attend ing COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, while the country faced issues with crime, the economy, and the aftermath of Hur ricane Nicole. The storm,

which mainly impacted the Abacos and Grand Bahama left minimal damage in its wake.

“It’s time to come home Prime Minister Davis,” Dr Sands said further. “A few days ago, you decided to travel to Egypt to attend COP27. Now, let’s for the sake of argument, accept that as a reasonable deci sion and not make too much fuss about the cost.

“But since that fate ful day, so much has happened. We have heard of the unraveling of the Our Lucaya deal placing a critical part of the economic future of Grand Bahama in limbo.

“We reached the dreadful toll of 116 murders just last night (Wednesday), three shy of 2021 with almost eight weeks left to go in this

year.” Another murder of a man occurred in Exuma on Thursday night, placing the country’s murder toll at 117, and another murder in New Providence on Saturday took the tally to 118.

“Yep, time to come home,” Dr Sands con tinued. “A hurricane has impacted Abaco, Grand Bahama and our major trading community in Flor ida. And we don’t know what affect this will have on our supply chains.”

Dr Sands pointed out that the Bahamian people have noticed the absence of the prime minister, as he suggested Mr Davis was trying to manage the coun try’s business via social media instead of actu ally being present in the country.

“Perhaps you believe that voice notes and photos and even the occasional videos are enough. But the people of The Baha mas see you as an absentee Prime Minister who tries to manage the country’s affairs via WhatsApp.”

He continued: “In times like this, the people feel that you really should be here on the ground, sleeves rolled up, engaged with our domestic affairs for a change.”

Additionally, Dr Sands highlighted the implod ing of FTX, The Bahamas’ flagship crypto currency investor.

The Securities Com mission of The Bahamas on Thursday said it took action to freeze assets of FTX Digital Markets as it is now facing a collapse into

MINISTER SADDENED BY JUNKANOO FIRE

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

YOUTH, Sports, and Culture Minister Mario Bowleg said on Friday it was unfortunate that the Prodigal Sons Junkanoo group lost their shack to fire just weeks ahead of the

holiday Junkanoo season. While calling it an “unfortunate situation”, he expressed the misfortune of the blaze as it happened during preparations.

He also conveyed disap pointment that the group may not make the parade in a competitive nature.

Eric Knowles, the group’s

leader, revealed the group had lost everything in the fire at their Yellow Elder shack location. He was uncertain what the future holds regarding participating in the upcoming parades.

Mr Knowles said he believed the welding of the Junkanoo costumes played a significant role in the fire

as the costumes are highly flammable.

Speaking on the side lines of an event on Friday, Mr Bowleg said: “I was told that the accident came about them preparing, you know, with some welding going on. I haven’t proven that fact as yet, but I under stand it was doing some welding at the shack and you know it’s just an unfor tunate situation that’s a part of them making prepara tions for the parade.

“But again you know I’m disappointed that they may not make the (parade) in (a) competitive nature, but I will encourage them. You know sometimes you just have to put on your shirt and whatever equipment you got and music equip ment get on Bay Street and have fun. It’s been too long and I’m sure they probably made their minds up just to go out there and have fun.”

With the parades just weeks away, the minister noted there was a lack of time for the group to make a comeback. “Well, that’s an unfortunate situation, but he is correct,” the minister said. “The time period’s too short for the parade for them to bounce back and get any of those instru ments. I understand they lost a lot of their drums. They lost all their costumes and so that’s not sufficient time for them to prepare

provisional liquidation.

“A major player in the global cryptocurrency market FTX has imploded. At this time, we don’t know what financial repercus sions will ensue.

“But already, the finan cial speculation is swirling.

At the very least, the repu tation of The Bahamas as a regulator is under the microscope. And the poten tial fallout is unknown but ought not be left to chance.

“Recall that the very climate credits being nego tiated in Egypt are by your admission tied to block chain and the role of the Bahamas as a, and “I quote, credible, repu table, dependable, safe and well-regulated digital asset and crypto currency jurisdiction’.”

He questioned how Mr

Davis is managing these issues.

“Are you managing this issue by WhatsApp? Yep, Prime Minister, it’s time to come home. Speeches are important, but not as important as running a country because it’s impos sible to do that by remote control.”

The prime minister is expected to return from COP27 on Sunday.

The delegation included Mr Davis, Attorney General Ryan Pinder, Agriculture and Family Island Affairs Minis ter Clay Sweeting and a number of other people, including a strong youth presence, officials from the Department of Meteorol ogy, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Foreign Affairs.

THE DAMAGE at the shack.

for this upcoming Boxing or New Year’s Day Parade.”

Asked what assis tance could be given, Mr Bowleg replied: “We can’t give them any help at this time. Again what we can do is assist them the best way we can with a little bit of financial assistance in the next fiscal year that will help them get their shack up and running.

“But also, me person ally, I’ll try to talk to some of the corporate sponsors and you know some of the lumber yards and all that just to give a little donation to allow them to get back up. That’s why it’s important that myself and the Member of Parliament of that area, Mount Moriah, go and meet with them and then see how best we can assist them.”

The fire comes as holiday Junkanoo is returning to Bay Street after a two-year

hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The minister said it was going to be “exciting”, but did not want to mention too much because there is going to be a launch in the next couple of days with some pertinent details.

“It’s going to be a part nership with ALIV, of course, who is now in part nership with JCNP,” he said. “The ministry, ALIV, JCNP and ZNS all have been having meetings on how the parade will be introduced to the Bahamian people by way of television.

“So, there’s some excit ing things coming and I just want the Bahamian people to stand by and in another few days we’re gonna have an official launch.”

He indicated there will be some changes that will be announced at the coming press conference.

14 COLLEGES AT SCHOLARSHIP EVENT

A PUBLIC school schol ars college night is to be held tonight to connect public senior high school parents and students with the Ministry of Education’s Public School Scholarship Programme partners.

Through this programme, the average cost of the stu dents’ college education is reduced between 70-100%.

Over the last seven years, the government has leveraged over $15m of its scholarship funds in collab oration with its scholarship partnerships from colleges

and universities in the US and Canada to offer a combined investment total of over $40m in scholar ships for public high school graduates. In August, 119 public school graduates were the recipients of the Public School Scholarship awards.

At the upcoming event, 14 partners will be in attendance, including: Central State University, Ohio; College of St Ben edict/St John’s University; Minnesota Fox Valley Tech nical College, Wisconsin;

Monroe College, New York; Georgia State Uni versity, Georgia; Hollins University, Virginia; Hol land College, CAN; Illinois College, Illinois; St Leo University, Florida; St Mary’s University, CAN; Spring Hill College, Ala bama; Tennessee State University, Tennessee; Uni versity of Prince Edward Island, CAN; Voorhees University, South Carolina.

The event runs from 6-8.30pm at CV Bethel Senior High School East Street South.

Man murdered in Exuma ‘had moved for better life for his unborn child’

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

THE sister of a 22-yearold man who was killed at Exuma on Thursday night said her brother relocated to the island to work and provide a better life for his unborn child.

Alexis Taylor told The Tribune on Friday that even though Malik Fernander had made past mistakes through his involvement in crime, he tried to make a positive change by moving to the Family Island.

Police said shortly after 11pm Thursday gunshots were heard emanating in the Rolleville, Exuma area.

A check of the area was conducted, which revealed a man, with multiple gun shot injuries to the upper body, lying on a track road.

At present, police are uncertain of the circum stances surrounding this incident.

While investigations continue, they appealed to anyone with information to come forward.

Ms Taylor described the victim as someone who was family-oriented and loved them dearly.

The grieving sister said: “He honestly went to Exuma to try to do better for him and his family. He had a baby on the way.”

Mr Stubbs originally lived in New Providence, but moved to Exuma in hopes of a more fruitful future, Ms Taylor said.

She said her brother had been in prison at one point in his life, but he came to the realization that a life of crime was not right for him.

“Everybody makes mis takes, yes, he was locked up for a while and then he came out realising that he didn’t want to go on that path anymore. And he tried to take a different route,” Ms Taylor said.

Back in 2018, Mr Fer nander was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, according to a pre vious 2018 Tribune article.

Meanwhile, residents of Exuma said the killing was alarming for the close-knit and peaceful community.

Julian Marshall, a busi nessman, said that as the island has started to develop, there has been changes, some worse than others.

“Exuma is moving, we are becoming so com mercialised and a lot of

different factions are coming in now,” Mr Mar shall said.

“We never had this kind of stuff, it’s sad. I guess it comes with the territory when you start to see this economic growth going on in Exuma it’s going to attract lot of people from different walks of life.

When asked if he believed the island was still safe in view of the murder, Mr Marshall responded: “Here is still relatively safe, I still know basically every body on the island. But then you have these guys coming in from Nassau. And you don’t even know who they are, they maybe undercover or probably only their rela tives know them and what they were into.”

Another resident, who did not want to be

named, said they were shocked about the murder and found the news devastating.

“This is something that is unusual to the residents of the island because very seldom do murders occur on the island. These are very tight knit communi ties and when something of this nature happens, it raises great concern to Exuma res idents,” the resident said.

The resident added that people may have disputes with each other, but it does not get to the point where someone is violently killed, adding there is a need for more police presence on the island.

Kenneth Bowe, owner of owner of Chat ‘N’ Chill Adventures, said businesses are concerned about the recent murder, noting it was

not normal to have some thing so gruesome happen in Exuma.

“We as businesspeople are concerned now that with the strong economy in Exuma and the need for people we have a problem that not only are the good showing up, but the bad as well,” Mr Bowe said.

“If you own a business now, you’ve got to be wor ried about when you close up going home. We have quite a few homes being built by foreigners as well as local Bahamians, but now we have to do things differently. We have to lock our doors, this never used to happen. I think in these communities we’re going to need to have more police presence.”

Three Exuma men are in custody.

MAN RELEASED FROM PRISON SHOT DEAD

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who was recently released from prison was shot dead at the intersec tion of Eden Street and Foster Road on Saturday.

According to police, the incident occurred shortly before 9pm on Saturday.

Preliminary reports reveal that two men on a moped pulled up at a business at the intersection of Eden Street and Foster Road and simultaneously a light-col oured van pulled alongside.

SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH POLICE ON CRIME BEAT

POLICE of the south western division in New Providence took members of the media on a ride-along to visit various sectors of the community on Friday.

Chief Superintendent Eugene Strachan, officer in charge of the southwest division, told reporters outside the Carmichael Road Police Station on Friday that this initiative was to assure residents of their presence within the community.

He said: “This operation is just to take us through the various sectors of the communities.

“We are going to stop to several business estab lishments and residences and let them know that we are still going to be up and about, especially during this yuletide season.”

With responsibility for the largest district in New Providence, CSP Strachan said the police force is com mitted to mitigating all negative activities within the community.

When asked by report ers the challenges faced within the southwestern district, CSP Strachan said the nation is “plagued” with negativity as it relates to murder, armed robbery and housebreaking.

The ride-along con sisted of a walkabout in the Southwest Shopping Plaza, Coral Heights East, the Coral Vista community,

and lastly, a shanty town off Cowpen Road.

With shopbreaking on the rise within the community, Davano Hall, general man ager of BENC Snack World in the Southwest Shopping Plaza, said he is grateful for the police presence.

“Tonight, we had the police come in and tell us different safety tips on what we can do and things we can avoid,” he told report ers on Friday.

“It’s so many things hap pening today in the country and just getting some tips on what we can do and how to avoid situations is really (great),” he continued.

Vanessa Wilson, general manager of Marco’s Pizza in Southwest Shopping Plaza, said it is “good” to know that police are active in the community with the Christmas season fast approaching.

“It’s good to know that they are in the community

and assisting us the best way possible,” she said.

“We feel safe and comfort able knowing that we have a shoulder to lean on.”

According to Le-Var Miller, president of the Coral Heights East and Coral Vista Community Association, the com munity was previously “challenged” with issues.

“We are continuing to build a stronger relation ship with the police force of the southwestern district.

“We believe that when residents come together, along with the work of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, we can only have safer communities.”

He also said due to the partnership of police in this district, there has been an increase in patrols.

Later that same night, police conducted a walka bout in a shanty town off Cowpen Road, known as the “Montgomery Haitian

Community,” according to CSP Strachan.

During the walkabout, police inspected vehicles and were on alert for suspi cious activity.

Friday’s operation came as the country is experienc ing a surge in crime.

A man got out of the van, opened fire on the duo which resulted in one of the men being shot multi ple times, said police. The male shot multiple times died on scene. The second man was able to escape unharmed and is presently assisting police with their investigation.

However, the culprits reportedly fled the scene heading east along Foster Road.

Asked by a reporter at the scene if the victim was targeted in the inci dent, Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said: “Well it appears as if the suspect knew who his target was.”

This newspaper under stands the victim had been charged with armed robbery offences.

Activist Khandi Gibson, of Families Of All Murder Victims, told this newspa per on Thursday the real victims of the killings are the family members who now have to mourn the loss of a loved one.

“It’s sad for me because the real victims are not the person on the ground, the real victims are the family members who are griev ing, are hurting, and feel betrayed. Because the majority of times it’s not strangers killing our loved ones, but it’s their friends or their family members.

“It’s us who are left to bargain with God, ‘God why you ain’t take me? if you had just given me one more chance with them.”

Ms Gibson added that although a number of people who have been mur dered recently were out on bail for serious offences, that person is still some one’s loved one and family.

“Someone still loves that person, regardless of what he or she was accused of, that is still someone’s loved one,” Ms Gibson said.

The latest killing has pushed the country’s murder count to 118, according to The Tribune’s records.

It follows a series of recent violent incidents in the country: on November 10, a 22-year-old man was killed in Exuma; a day ear lier a 53-year-old man was shot dead outside his Kool Acres home.

On November 4, a man believed to be in his mid20s or early 30s was shot in his car at Palm Breeze Drive and on November 2, a German man, identi fied as 57-year-old Torsten Hendrick, was killed and another man, his relative, was seriously injured in a double shooting in Kemp’s Bay, Andros.

DAVANO HALL

LE-VAR MILLER

VANESSA WILSON

CHIEF Superintendent Eugene Strachan on Friday.

Photos: Moise Amisial

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Fyre Festival fraudster returns to scene of his crime

WHEN Billy McFarland left The Bahamas after the debacle that was the Fyre Festival, the country was collec tively glad to see the back of him.

Having claimed, along with rapper Ja Rule, that he would deliver the most luxurious festival experience in the world, instead he delivered a laughing stock that would be depicted in two doc umentaries on Netflix and Hulu. In one of those documentaries, the Netflix film “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened”, there was a claim by event producer Andy King that: “I had the head of the Bahamian Tourist Board, the Minister of Finance, and the head of the University of Bahamas waiting for a million dollars that they wanted to be paid.”

The Minister of Finance at the time was the Prime Minister, Perry Christie, who completely rejected such a claim, calling it “foolish”, while the Minister of State for Finance, Michael Halkitis, said: “Never met (McFarland), never had correspondence or email. I have no idea (about a $1m fee). I never met the guy… I couldn’t say what he’s talking about.”

Meanwhile, McFarland failed to deliver on security, on accommodation, on food, on the acts due to perform, on the supermodels he said people could hang out with – he couldn’t even organ ise the toilets properly.

Fyre Festival became a synonym for absolute failure, and McFarland became a symbol of the kind of person who talked big and delivered nothing. Worse than nothing.

In fact, McFarland’s actions weren’t just failures – they were crimes.

Dubbed a “serial fraudster”, he was sentenced to six years in prison.

He was guilty of defrauding inves tors of $26m in the festival. More than that, while he was out on bail pending trial for the Fyre Festival scam, he ran a fraudulent ticket-selling scheme –that he also admitted being guilty of fraud over to the tune of more than $100,000.

And now, after being released early from prison, he is returning to the scene of his crime.

After touring the media in the US,

including an appearance on Good Morn ing America, McFarland has launched a new venture.

It is reportedly a “treasure hunt” that will see people hunting down bottles containing messages in Exuma.

How is he allowed to do this?

Well, the Exuma MP is the Deputy Prime Minister, Chester Cooper, and he says he is not aware of any application by McFarland to do this.

And what about the people who were left with unpaid bills after McFarland’s disaster?

Well, Elvis Rolle of the Exuma Point Beach Bar and Grill told The Tribune yesterday: “Form the time they left the country, I haven’t heard nothing from them.”

Retired island administrator Ivan Ferguson said: “I am totally against Billy McFarland engaging in any more business in my country after the Fyre Festival fiasco, further his conviction in the United States disqualifies him from doing business here. We’re not a nation for sale, therefore we should not jettison the values upon which our nation was built.”

So here we have a man who still owes Bahamians money, whose team has maligned our nation without providing evidence, and who apparently has made no application to do business here, and has a criminal conviction for fraud loud on his record even if he does make such an application.

His money should be no good here. His reputation should proceed him, and he should be judged accordingly.

So if he shows up, we hope the authorities carry out the appropriate action. If he is operating a business without a licence here, he should be charged accordingly. He should be taken to a Bahamian court, and be dealt with.

And before he can expect any for giveness, he should not simply go on American television with a mea culpa – he should look the Bahamians who he left on the hook for money in the eye and make a proper apology. And pay them what he owes them.

The Bahamas doesn’t need a Billy McFarland.

Open letter over water problems

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THIS is an open letter to Alfred Sears – Water & Sewerage Corporation

Dear Mr Sears,

Just last evening I passed a letter around Man grove Cay, Andros, shortly before reading the arti cle “Eleuthera water“ a “serious problem” in this morning in The Tribune

With respect, it is as follows:

“Open Letter to: Water & Sewerage Corporation

On behalf of the people of Mangrove Cay I request that Water & Sewer age Corporation provide answers to the following questions.

Is fresh water now a luxury, or does it remain an essential element for life and the economic develop ment of Mangrove Cay?

Is it proper to say “sorry for the inconvenience”?

What investor, or busi ness person would consider coming to Mangrove Cay, knowing that we have unre liable water service?

Why are we shutting down the water to Man grove Cay so often now? What is the cost of each patch made to our crumpling water deliv ery infrastructure here on

Mangrove Cay? How many have been done this year?

How much overtime is paid each month to W&S employees, and why?

How much does the backhoe cost each time W&S calls them? Are they paid by the hour or day?

Clearly, Water & Sew erage Corporation here would be bankrupt, if it was run like a business, as it is almost certain that expenses far exceed monthly revenues. Please correct me if I am wrong.

How much backup water storage do we have on Mangrove Cay? In days.

In the event of a hurri cane, what is our plan for no BPL service for possibly months?

What are the plans, or are there plans, for the replace ment of water delivery pipes, with the knowledge that the current location of pipes will be underwater within a matter of years?

Is there an acknowledg ment of the recent science with regard to sea level rise acceleration?

Why is the road to the well field in such poor condition? Why do our

“leaders” ignore this? Would they ignore it if they had to drive their own per sonal vehicles up there?

In my experience, we will likely be critical of the mes senger, and refuse to deal with realities in front of us. Can this ever change? Until it changes, we should expect the same failures as we are now experiencing. Successful and honest leaders would simply ask… “Are these legitimate questions?”

So, Mr Sears, would it be possible to make a statement regarding the crumbling water deliv ery infrastructure here on Mangrove Cay, Andros. This has been going on for years now, and getting much worse by the day. Our local officials do not seem motivated to correct this situation. The response to my letter last night was 100% in support of it.

Please, Mr Sears, water is not a luxury. We need reli able fresh water. We are failing to provide this essen tial service for those of us in Mangrove Cay, both jeopardising our health and slowing our economic development.

NORMAN TRABULSY Jr Mangrove Cay, Andros, November 10, 2022.

Unsolicited BTC ads

EDITOR, The Tribune.

GRATEFUL I am for allowing me this small space to make an inquiry into the unsolicited BTC ads, for certainly other customers/ clients experiencing some of the same deluge of this company’s ads, and unsolic ited at that.

I am very patriotic when it comes to supporting what’s local, belonging to the Bahamian people, even if only the 49%-51% split of our telephone company...and I admit that has had a major problem with the politicians sell ing off the BATELCO (Telecommunications), because I am persuaded that some things in one’s country should not ever be for sale, especially to foreigners...it is an inte gral part of what makes you, us, Bahamians). And while this took place many years ago, the way that the Bahamas Telecommunica tions Corporation (BTC), has been behaving with what belonged to private citizens, has left much to be desired. What am I talking about? Glad you ask.

I have been a customer of the local Telecommu nications company since 1995, at a time when we had phone cards, and many telephone booths not only in the City of Nassau, but in outlying areas of New Providence, which were very convenient, not just in emergency situations...but they were just conveniently placed, sadly not the case nowadays.

But what I am griping about has to do with how the Bahamas Telecommu nications Corporation, or company has been posting their Ads and in droves to handsets, specifically to my cellular telephone’s mes sages-window...my decision to purchase the telephone was one of personal needs, not to be a conduit for the deluge-of-BTC’s Ads that I see.

Months ago, I tried to convey to the agents at Mall-At-Marathon my disgust, abhorrence, dis approval and all of such adjectives, further stressed that they cease and desist from sending to my telephone all of those com pany’s advertisements...but have not done so.

Earlier this morn ing after checking my messages I counted 48 advertisements advertising their various products and this amounts to abuse and is very unfair to me, the customer.

Even though I asked them to cease and desist from this practice, I just keep getting them.

Finally, to the man agement of Bahamas Telecommunication Com pany (BTC), please remove your Ads from Cellular No. 242-426-2431 imme diately and as a matter of urgency your failure to do so, legal considerations will be forthcoming.

I am just so fed up with the way companies in the Commonwealth of Baha mas were taking advantage of its customers, and they’re doing so without fear of legal ramification, must be addressed...for these are indeed challenging times and the only people feeling it were the underprivileged, the disenfranchised of the land.

FRANK GILBERT

Nassau, November 10, 2022.

IN this photograph circulating on social media, tourists are seen picking up litter on Bahamian beaches. As one commenter said: “We honestly must take more pride in keeping our surroundings clean.”

Business destroyed by Dorian is ruined again by Nicole

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

MEDIOUS Edgecombe, the owner of Coopers Town Marine, is in good spirits despite his business being destroyed by Hurricane Nicole after barely recover ing from the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

“It’s kind of rough. I have lost a lot of money, but I know the Lord will make a way,” Mr Edgecombe said.

The 88-year-old busi nessman told The Tribune yesterday that his business has endured major damage from recent storms.

“The main building was destroyed in the last major hurricane, Dorian three years ago.

“We started over with a marine shop this time only. Everything was completed and stocked up in it but now that has been destroyed also in this last hurricane.”

Mr Edgecombe has been

in the marina business since 1956. In that time he has been able to serve locals at his gas station and fuel boats that would dock in his marina.

However, his livelihood is at a standstill since his marine shop has been com pletely destroyed by Nicole.

Mr Edgecombe said his shop is now rubble from the storm with pieces of shingles scattered on the ground.

“I would say the damage was caused by the heavy wind and flooding brought on from the storm,” Mr Edgecombe said.

Many residents in Abaco said they experienced flood ing from Nicole as some people chose to evacuate areas considered vulnerable and low lying.

Some videos on social media showed residents on the island had endured water flooding into their homes with gusty winds

howling in the background.

When asked if he had plans of rebuilding his business, Mr Edgecombe responded: “Yes, to be honest with you some of the fault was mine. I expe rienced that before with the damage from the last storm. But I had a different struc ture and the building was too low.”

Mr Edgecombe said moving forward he plans to try a different approach in rebuilding his marina busi ness, in hopes it would be able to weather storms in the future.

“This time I’m going to put it about six feet above the land level and that would make a difference.”

Although he has experi enced misfortunes with his business over the years he said he does not desire to relocate. “I don’t want it to relocate because the area it is in, the business is needed in a higher demand.”

Mr Edgecombe said he has thought about relo cating to safer ground, however he said he still chooses the spot he’s been in for over 60 years. He added: “The new area is more protected, but it wouldn’t be in demand like

the current spot. How I see it the area would be pro tected but there wouldn’t be a real demand.”

Mr Edgecombe did not say when he would start to rebuild his business, saying he was still in the recovery phase from Dorian three

years ago. But his love for the marine business has kept him going as he said: “God will make a way.” Nicole made landfall in Abaco as a tropical storm and Grand Bahama as a hurricane on November 9.

FNM DELEGATION INSPECTS ABACO AFTER HURRICANE

A DELEGATION from the Free National Move ment travelled to Abaco on Saturday in the aftermath of Hurricane Nicole.

Nicole hit Abaco as a tropical storm last Wednes day before intensifying into a category one hurricane as it made landfall on Grand

Bahama. While there was no major damage, the storm brought flooding, storm surge and power loss to some parts of both islands.

After consulting with members of the community during their tour, the FNM made several recommenda tions for the government

to review and address. These include urgent repair of all public roads; the extension of the SERZ order in Abaco and Grand Bahama; and the accelera tion of home repairs by the Disaster Reconstruction Authority, among other suggestions.

Acting

Photos: Kemuel Stubbs/BIS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A 23-YEAR-OLD man was charged in a Free port Magistrate’s Court on Friday with possession of ammunition.

Seandre Todd, of Free port, appeared before Senior Magistrate Charlton Smith in Court Two, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of ammunition possession.

He was granted $2,000 bail with one surety. The case was adjourned to Janu ary 31, 2023.

held

the late Pastor Neville Scav ella, JP, former president of the Seventh Day Advent ist Church and chaplain of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, on Friday, at Hillview Seventh Day Adventist Church, Tonique Williams Darling Highway.

Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper led the list of government officials in attendance.

THE WRECKED building in Coopers Town.

Fyre, FTX and the harm to our nation

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

A YOUNG entrepre neur, out of his depth, losing a ton of money and injuring the reputation of The Baha mas along the way.

I could be talking about Sam Bankman-Fried, whose company FTX has combusted so spectacularly in the past week or so – and I will – but let’s take a trip to the past first.

Remember the Fyre Fes tival? It was the most talked about festival of 2017 – but not in a good way.

Created by Billy McFar land, a young, white businessman, and rapper Ja Rule, it was to be one of the most luxurious festivals ever created – where you could hang out with supermod els in Exuma while enjoying some of the top musical talent in the world.

The event was promoted by social media influencers such as Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Rata jkowski – who were paid to promote it.

But the event itself was a disaster. Without proper organisation of security, food, accommodation or even ensuring the art ists and models who were promised would actually appear, the whole thing failed so spectacularly that both Netflix and Hulu vied with one another to tell the story with separate documentaries.

At the time, then Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said that the government “did all the right things” and claimed: “Up to the very last minute no one really knew the level to which the matter had

fallen apart. I don’t think we should lose sight of the fact that at all times, The Bahamas did what it was supposed to do.”

It was never clear what the Ministry of Tourism had actually done to deter mine whether or not the island could host an event the size of Fyre Festival –even down to such things as toilet facilities for such a venue.

In fact, misgivings about the event had been raised online for some time – but it didn’t matter. Visitors arrived in Exuma to find themselves with nowhere to stay and little to eat. A much-circulated picture of a meagre sandwich was an enduring image of a festi val that promised so much and failed so badly. Fyre Fes tival became a byword for fail ure the world over.

As for those documentaries, Mr Wilch combe said he had no inter est in watching them, saying: “I don’t waste time.”

He added that the event “didn’t cost The Bahamas anything” even though there was a swathe of unpaid local vendors after the festival collapsed.

Mr McFarland pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in court in Manhat tan, and admitted using fake documents to attract investors to put more than $26m into his company. He was jailed for six years, but released early to house arrest, which ended in Sep tember this year.

The scale of the funds lost in the Fyre Festival venture pales into insignifi cance when compared to what happened with FTX in the past week.

FTX rolled into The

Bahamas to set up its headquarters, and in a flurry of donations, ingratiated itself with the business and nonprofit community.

The company talked big, its founder Sam Bankman-Fried was a star in the cryptocur rency community, and the government talked about getting FTX to help with its plans for carbon credits trading.

All that came burning down last week.

It started on Wednes day of the previous week, when a story on the news service CoinDesk raised concerns about the risk to FTX’s cryptocur rency’s value because a sister company to FTX held billions of dollars of that currency, FTT, on its balance sheet and was using it to secure loans.

That company, Alameda, is run by Sam Bank man-Fried’s girlfriend, Car oline Ellison.

First, rival com pany Binance said it would be pulling its investments in FTT, and then a run of investors withdrawing their funds showed a major problem with FTX’s available funds. It stopped withdrawals, and promptly started to collapse.

In a few days, Mr Bank man-Fried lost $17bn from his fortune. The whole affair has been called the biggest one-day collapse of personal wealth ever, by Bloomberg.

Mr Bankman-Fried apol ogised to employees and on Twitter, saying “I f***ed up, and should have done better”.

He blamed “poor internal labelling” but the amount being talked about was a sum of $10bn. I don’t know about you but I’m careful when sending a couple of

hun dred dollars to family online –moving $10bn ought to be beyond poor labelling being a risk.

On Thursday, The Baha mas announced FTX assets were being frozen.

On Friday, FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, also including the US version of FTX and Alameda. Mr Bankman-Fried was out as CEO.

Some questions were raised about a brief window when trading reopened on FTX but for The Bahamas only – but the collapse has prompted a number of investigations. It’s hard to see how this ends anywhere except in a courtroom.

So there we have two young investors – both aged 30 – presiding over finan cial disasters. In the second case, it’s hard to see exactly

what The Bahamas could have done to stop the collapse – that was driven by a combina tion of unsound practices and outside pressure – but in both cases, our nation’s name is featured in news reports around the world associated with these actions.

Most immediately, there will be Bahamian workers who will now be without a job as FTX collapses. There will be contractors who had been commissioned to work on the headquarters who will now be without an expected income. There will be questions about the land owned by FTX and what will happen to it now.

And as ever there will be questions about how we are choosing who we do busi ness with. Sometimes that’s unknowable – but here’s the thing, sometimes it is knowable.

For example, just as FTX was collapsing last week, Mr Fyre Festival him self, Billy McFarland, was starting to promote a new venture to take place right back here in The Bahamas again.

He released a

TikTok video last month saying “the moment is right to start making this up to everybody”. He said: “I’m working on something new. This time, it’s a little cra zier, but a whole lot bigger than anything I’ve ever tried before.”

It turns out, that’s a treas ure hunt called PYRT, in Exuma. He has been on a redemption tour of the media in the US – where his customers are – but not here in The Bahamas – where those unpaid ven dors are.

It does make me think back to during the pan demic, when a boy selling coconut water by the side of the road was arrested and ended up in court. How does someone break the law on the scale of rich white entrepreneur Billy McFarland – and still get to come back and set up shop in our nation again? Who gives him permits? How is allowed to operate here again? The compari son with how people like him are treated compared to how the poorest of our own nation are treated tells its own story.

SAM Bankman-Fried leading Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis on a tour of FTX facilities previously.

BILLY MCFARLAND, top, who was convicted of fraud after the Fyre Festival, and Sam Bankman-Fried, whose company FTX combusted spectacularly last week.

THE FAMOUS image of the sand wiches being served at the Fyre Festival.

‘The scale of the funds lost in the Fyre Festival venture pales into insignificance when compared to what happened with FTX in the past week.’

THE imploding cryptocurrency trading firm FTX is now short bil lions of dollars after experiencing the crypto equivalent of a bank run.

The exchange, formerly one of the world’s largest, sought bank ruptcy protection last week, and its CEO and founder resigned. Hours later, the trading firm said there had been “unauthorized access” and that funds had disap peared. Analysts say hundreds of millions of dollars may have vanished.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT BANKRUPT CRYPTO EXCHANGE FTX?

The unraveling of the oncegiant exchange is sending shockwaves through the industry. Here’s a look at the company’s collapse so far:

WHY DID FTX GO BANKRUPT?

over fears about whether FTX had sufficient capital, and it agreed to sell itself to rival crypto exchange Binance. But the deal fell through pending Binance’s due diligence on FTX’s balance sheet.

FTX had valued its assets between $10 billion to $50 billion, and listed more than 130 affili ated companies around the world, according to its bankruptcy filing.

FTX and dozens of affiliated companies — including CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research — filed the bankruptcy petition in Delaware on Friday.

The week’s developments marked a shocking turn of events for Bankman-Fried, who was hailed as somewhat of a savior earlier this year when he helped shore up a number of cryptocur rency companies that ran into financial trouble. He was recently estimated to be worth $23 billion and has been a prominent politi cal donor to Democrats.

WAS IT HACKED, TOO?

FTX confirmed on Saturday there had been unauthorized access to its accounts, hours after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A debate formed on social media about whether the exchange was hacked or a com pany insider had stolen funds

— a possibility that cryptocur rency analysts couldn’t rule out.

Exactly how much money is involved is unclear, but analytics firm Elliptic estimated Saturday that $477m was missing from the exchange. FTX’s new CEO John Ray III said it was switching off the ability to trade or withdraw funds and taking steps to secure customers’ assets.

IS FTX UNDER INVESTIGATION?

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said yesterday it is inves tigating FTX, adding to the company’s woes. The police force said in a statement yesterday it was working with Bahamas securities regulators to “investi gate if any criminal misconduct occurred” involving the exchange, which had moved its headquarters to the Caribbean country last year.

IS ANYONE ELSE INVESTIGATING?

Even before the bankruptcy filing and missing funds, the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Com mission began examining FTX to determine whether any crimi nal activity or securities offenses were committed, according to a person familiar with matter who spoke to The Associated Press last week on condition of ano nymity because they could not discuss details of the investiga tions publicly.

WHAT ARE THE REPERCUSSIONS?

Companies that backed FTX are writing down investments, and the prices of bitcoin and other digital currencies have been falling. Politicians and regulators are calling for stricter oversight of the unwieldy indus try. FTX said on Saturday that it was moving as many digital assets as can be identified to a new “cold wallet custodian”, which is essentially a way of storing assets offline without allowing remote control.

Customers fled the exchange

SIGNAGE for the FTX Arena, where the Miami Heat basketball team plays, in Miami, pictured earlier this month.

America’s Democracy not trumped in mid-term vote

IN my commentary last week entitled, US Midterm elections: a defining moment for the World, I pointed out that no less a person than Joseph R Biden Jr, the President of the United States of America, proclaimed that democracy is at stake in his country.

President Biden was not alone in this judgement. Many others, including former President Barack Obama, former and cur rent members of the U.S. Congress, media commentators and aca demics voiced the same opinion. They all cited many occurrences and public statements by lead ing far right figures in the

World View

By SIR RONALD SANDERS

Republican party, includ ing candidates for election to the House of Represent atives and the Senate at the mid-term elections for which voting culminated on November 8.

Amongst the matters for deep concern were voter intimidation, death threats and physical assaults on high profile politicians, most particularly on the husband of Nancy Pelosi,

the then Speaker of the House.

On election day, there were many instances of voters abandoning their right to vote because they were terrified at the men acing presence of armed persons gathered around the polling stations.

All these factors played a part in the mid-term elections, whose final result is still unknown as

this commentary is being written two days after all the votes were cast. Control of the House of Representatives and the Senate is not yet decided. With a run-off to be held in Georgia for its Senate seat, it will be December before control is settled.

As for the House of Rep resentatives, it appears fairly certain that the Republicans will win the 218 seats required for a slender majority. The leaders of the Democratic Party, includ ing President Biden, are taking comfort that an enormous swing to the Republican Party did not happen, despite the toxic atmosphere in which the

mid-term elections were held. The Republicans will have only a slender major ity in the House and may yet not gain control of the Senate that could revert to the 50-50 spilt that obtained over the last two years.

Indeed, even with all the results not yet certain, Pres ident Biden is being praised for success in containing an increase of the Republican’s numbers in the Congress. Biden has fared far better in his first midterms than the two most recent Demo cratic presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, did in theirs. In this case, it would be fanciful to write his political obituary.

The Biden Administra tion will face opposition in the House if the mem bers of the Republican Party vote in concert to block legislation. Similarly, unless the Senate passes to Democratic control, or remains equally divided between the parties as it is now, giving Vice President Kamala Harris a casting vote, it can also frustrate President Biden’s legis lative programme. But none of this is a foregone conclusion.

In these mid-term elec tions, the expected large victory by the Republicans did not occur for many reasons. One of them is clearly an objection, by a large number of voters, to the tactics of intimida tion by the far-right that was encouraged by Donald Trump. This includes the January 6, 2021 mob attack on a joint session of Con gress that sought to prevent the formalisation of Biden’s victory in the 2020 Presi dential elections.

The failure of the Repub licans to win a wide sweep of victories is also a rejec tion by many voters of the persistent claims of Mr. Trump and his principal advocates that the 2020 election was fraudulent – a claim he repeated about the November 8 mid-term elections where some of his sponsored candidates lost, including, famously, the TV personality, Dr Oz. At the end of the day, the body politic of the United States placed great value on the democratic principles that they believe are important to them.

Two other factors would have influenced votes against the Republicans. One is the strong objec tion by women against the official Republican stance against abortions - not only the considerable feminist movement but also the sen timent of a large number of women who insist that they should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. These

groups of women turned toward the Democratic Party.

The second issue is the mindless support of the Republican Party for the gun lobby, which insists on retaining permissive policies on buying and car rying guns. The recent spate of attacks on schools and murdering of children influenced votes for the candidates of the Demo cratic Party who advocate stricter gun control.

Exit polls, conducted by the Pew Foundation, sug gest that the rapid increase in consumer prices was the top issue for only 32% of voters. Many voters would have voted against the gov ernment for this reason, but others would have cal culated that the high prices of oil and foodstuffs, the increase in interest rates and the cost of borrow ing and mortgages is a world-wide phenomenon, resulting from the COVID19 pandemic and Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Republicans failed to make this issue a dominant reason for voting against the Dem ocratic administration of Joe Biden.

Preliminary figures indi cate that around 115 million votes were cast in the mid term elections. The number will rise when all the votes are counted, but even if it is marginally more than the preliminary estimate, it is a high voter turnout even in the face of intimidation and threats.

In the end, despite the continuing efforts to dis rupt the rule of law and democratic practices and institutions, the voters in the US chose balance and rights, but it is doubtful that this will stop the autocratic rhetoric that continues to be the bully pulpit of those who want a different America.

Mr Trump is expected to announce his run again for the Presidency if he has not done so by the time this commentary is published. But the midterm results are already not what he expected. He failed to gain the wide sup port he wanted to underpin his declaration to “save America”. The opposite happened.

• Responses and previ ous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com

The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassa dor to the United States of America and the Organiza tion of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Common wealth Studies, University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto.

THE CAPITOL seen in Washington.

Photo: J Scott Applewhite/AP

How the global energy crisis is pressuring countries at the UN climate summit

By ROBERT BRECHA University of Dayton

RUSSIA’S war on Ukraine has cast a shadow over this year’s United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where officials from around the world are discussing the costs of climate change and how to cut emissions that remain near record highs.

The war has dramatically disrupted energy markets the world over, leaving many countries vulnerable to price spikes amid supply shortages.

Europe, worried about keeping the heat on through winter, is outbid ding poor countries for natural gas, even paying premiums to reroute tanker ships after Russia cut off most of its usual natural gas supply. Some countries are restarting coal-fired power plants. Others are looking for ways to expand fossil fuel production, including new projects in Africa.

These actions are a long way from the coun tries’ pledges just a year ago to rein in fossil fuels, and they’re likely to fur ther increase greenhouse gas emissions, at least temporarily.

But will the war and the economic turmoil prevent the world from meeting the Paris climate agreement’s long-term goals?

There are reasons to believe that this may not be the case.

The answer depends in part on how wealthy coun tries respond to a focus of this year’s climate confer ence: fulfilling their pledges in the Paris Agreement to provide support for low- and middle-income countries to build clean energy systems.

Europe speeds up clean energy plans

A key lesson many coun tries are taking away from the ongoing energy crisis is that, if anything, the tran sition to renewable energy must be pushed forward faster.

I work with countries as they update national climate pledges and have been involved in evaluat ing the compatibility of global emissions reduc tion scenarios with the Paris Agreement. I see the energy crisis affecting countries’ plans in different ways.

About 80% of the world’s energy is still from fossil sources. Global trade in coal, oil and natural gas has meant that even countries with their own energy sup plies have felt some of the pain of exorbitant prices. In the U.S., for example, natu ral gas and electricity prices

are higher than normal because they are increas ingly tied to international markets, and the U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

The shortage has led to a scramble to find fossil fuel suppliers in the short term. European coun tries have offered to help African countries pro duce more natural gas and have courted authoritar ian regimes. The Biden administration is urging companies to extract more oil and gas, has tried to pressure Saudi Arabia to produce more oil, and con sidered lifting sanctions against Venezuela.

However, Europe also has a growing renewable energy supply that has helped cushion some of the impact. A quarter of the European Union’s electric ity comes from solar and wind, avoiding billions of euros in fossil fuel costs.

Globally, investments in the clean energy transition increased by about 16% in 2022, the International Energy Agency estimates.

Developing countries face complex challenges

If Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a wake-up call to accelerate the clean energy transition in wealth ier countries, the situation is much more complex in developing countries.

Low-income countries are being hit hard by the impact of Russia’s war, not only by high energy costs, but also by decreases in grain and cooking oil exports. The more these countries are dependent on foreign oil and gas imports for their energy supply, the more they will be exposed to global market gyrations.

Renewable energy can reduce some of that exposure.

The costs of solar and wind energy have dropped dramatically in the last decade and now repre sent the cheapest sources of energy in most regions. But advances in expanding access to clean electricity have been set back by the war. Borrowing costs can also be a barrier for lowincome countries, and those costs will increase as coun tries raise interest rates to fight inflation.

As part of the Paris Agreement, wealthy coun tries were supposed to make good on promises to make US$100 billion per year available for climate finance, but the actual amounts provided have fallen short.

To achieve the Paris Agreement targets, coal, oil and natural gas con sumption must decrease dramatically in the next

decade or two. Interna tional cooperation will be necessary to help poorer countries expand energy access and transition to low-emissions development pathways.

Africa’s fossil fuels and stranded asset risks

A number of develop ing countries have their own fossil fuel resources, and some in Africa have been calling for increasing production, although not without pushback.

Without a strong alterna tive within local contexts for sustainable energy resources, and with wealthy countries scrambling for fossil fuels, developing countries will exploit fossil

resources – just as the wealthiest countries have done for over a century. For example, Tanzania’s energy minister, January Makamba, told Bloomberg during the U.N. climate conference that his country expects to sign agreements with Shell and other oil majors for a $40 billion liq uefied natural gas export project.

While this intersection of interests could boost some developing countries, it can also set up future challenges.

Encouraging the con struction of new fossil-fuel infrastructure in Africa – presumably to be ear marked for Europe in the short to medium term

– may help ameliorate some near-term supply shortages, but how long will those cus tomers need the fuel? And how much of that income will benefit the people of those countries?

The IEA sees natural gas demand plateauing by 2030 and oil and coal demand falling, even with out more ambitious climate policies. Any infrastructure built today for short-term supplies risks becoming a stranded asset, worthless in a low-emissions world.

Encouraging develop ing countries to take on debt risk to invest in fossil fuel extraction for which the world will have no use would potentially do these countries a great disservice,

taking advantage of them for short-term gain.

The world has made progress on emissions in recent years, and the worst warming projections from a decade ago seem to be highly unlikely now. But every tenth of a degree has an impact, and the current “business-as-usual” path still leads the planet toward warming levels with climate change costs that are hard to contemplate, especially for the most vulnerable countries. The outcomes from the climate conference will give an indication of whether the global commu nity is willing to accelerate the transition.

• Originally published on www.theconversation..com.

DEMONSTRATORS

Climate Summit on Saturday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Photo: Peter Dejong

SIX DEAD IN ISTANBUL BOMB BLAST

A BOMB rocked a bus tling pedestrian avenue in the heart of Istanbul yester day, killing six people, and wounding several dozen.

Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene on Istiklal Avenue, a popular thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants that leads to the iconic Taksim Square. In one video, a loud bang could be heard and a flash seen as pedestrians turned and ran away.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the blast a “treacherous attack” and said its perpe trators would be punished.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said investigators were focusing on a woman who sat on a bench by the scene of the blast for about 40 minutes. The explosion took place just minutes after she left.

Democrats retain Senate majority with Nevada win

WASHINGTON Associated Press

DEMOCRATS kept control of the Senate on Saturday, repelling Repub lican efforts to retake the chamber and making it harder for them to thwart President Joe Biden’s agenda. The fate of the House was still uncertain as the GOP struggled to pull together a slim majority there.

Sen Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory in Nevada gave Democrats the 50 seats they needed to keep the Senate. Her win reflects the surprising strength of Democrats across the US this election year. Seeking reelection in an economi cally challenged state that has some of the highest gas prices in the nation, Cortez Masto was considered the Senate’s most vulnerable member, adding to the frus tration of Republicans who were confident she could be

defeated.

“We got a lot done and we’ll do a lot more for the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said Saturday night. “The American people rejected — soundly rejected — the anti-democratic, authori tarian, nasty and divisive direction the MAGA Republicans wanted to take our country.”

With the results in Nevada now decided, Geor gia is the only state where both parties are still com peting for a Senate seat. Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock faces GOP challenger Herschel Walker in a Dec 6 runoff.

Alaska’s Senate race has advanced to ranked choice voting, though the seat will stay in Republican hands.

Democratic control of the Senate ensures a smoother process for Biden’s Cabinet appointments and judicial picks, including those for

potential Supreme Court openings. The party will also keep control over committees and have the power to conduct investi gations or oversight of the Biden administration, and will be able to reject leg islation sent over by the House if the GOP wins that chamber.

In Phnom Penh, Cambo dia, for the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Biden said of the election results: “I feel good. I’m looking for ward to the next couple of years.”

He said winning a 51st seat from the Geor gia runoff would be important and allow Demo crats to boost their standing on Senate committees.

“It’s just simply better,” Biden said. “The bigger the number, the better.”

If Democrats manage to pull off a win in the House, it would mean full control of Congress for Democrats

— and another chance to advance Biden priorities, which he has said include codifying abortion rights. The party still lacks the 60 votes in the Senate needed to move many kinds of major legislative changes.

Biden, who called to con gratulate Cortez Masto, said he was still hopeful that Democrats could hold the House.

“It’s a stretch,” he acknowledged. “Everything has to fall our way.”

The Senate fight had hinged on a handful of deeply contested seats. Both parties spent tens of millions of dollars in Penn sylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, the top battle grounds where Democrats had hoped that Republi cans’ decision to nominate untested candidates — many backed by former President Donald Trump — would help them defy national headwinds.

Democrats scored a big win in Pennsylvania, where Lt Gov John Fet terman defeated celebrity heart surgeon Dr Mehmet Oz, who was endorsed by Trump, to pick up a seat currently held by a

Republican. Arizona Sen Mark Kelly won reelection by about five percentage points.

A closely divided swing state, Nevada is one of the most racially diverse in the nation, a working-class state whose residents have been especially hard-hit by inflation and other eco nomic turmoil. Roughly three-fourths of Nevada voters said the country is headed in the wrong direc tion, and about half called the economy the most important issue facing the country, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of 2,100 of the state’s voters.

Heading into the mid term election, Republicans focused relentlessly on the economy, a top con cern for many voters amid stubborn inflation and high gas and food prices.

The GOP also hit Demo crats on crime, a message that sometimes overstated the threat but nonethe less tapped into anxiety, particularly among the suburban voters who turned away from the party in 2018 and 2020.

And they highlighted illegal border crossings,

accusing Biden and other Democrats of failing to protect the country.

But Democrats were buoyed by voters angry about the Supreme Court’s June decision overturn ing the constitutional right to an abortion. They also portrayed Republicans as too extreme and a threat to democracy, following the Jan 6, 2021, insurrec tion at the US Capitol and Trump’s false claims — repeated by many GOP candidates — that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Schumer said Demo cratic candidates’ promises to defend abortion rights resonated with voters. He said the election results made him feel good about the country and its commit ment to democracy.

“We knew that the negativity, the nastiness, the condoning of Donald Trump’s big lie — and saying that the elections were rigged when there’s no proof of that at all — would hurt Republicans, not help them,” Schumer said. “But too many of them, and their candidates, fell into those traps.”

FORENSIC experts collect a dead body after an explosion on Istanbul’s popular pedestrian Istiklal Avenue yesterday. An explosion on one of Istanbul’s most popular pedestrian thoroughfares killed a handful of people and injured dozens, authorities said.

Photo: Ismail Coskun/IHA via AP

Team Bahamas eliminated

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Team Bahamas was eliminated from FIBA World Cup ‘23 contention, but a pair of resilient efforts at home led to a two-game split in the latest window of Americas Qualifiers.

The team opened the window with an 83-79 come from behind win over Panama on Friday, November 11, but a fourth quarter rally against Argentina came up just short last night at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

The Bahamas is fifth in Group E at 3-7, with the sixth and final window left to play in February 2023. Canada leads the group at 10-0 and has already

THOMAS, SURPRISE SAGUAROS WIN AFL TITLE

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

TAHNAJ Thomas’ Ari zona Fall League season concluded with a champion ship title after his Surprise Saguaros rallied to win the longest postseason game in AFL history.

A walkoff single from Houston Astros prospect Scott Schreiber gave the club a 7-6 win over the Glandale Desert Dogs. It was the first AFL win for Surprise since the 2013 season.

The Saguaros’ roster includes prospects from the Pirates, Philadelphia Phil lies, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros.

Thomas did not appear in the league finale, but in 8.1 AFL innings pitched, he fin ished with 10 strikeouts.

qualified for the World Cup. Venezuela, The Dominican Republic and Argentina are all tied at 7-3 while Panama is sixth at 2-8.

At the end of the second round, the top three teams in each group plus the best fourth place finisher among the groups will qualify for the World Cup.

Moses Johnson returned as the head coach for this window, assisted by JohnMarc Nutt.

“I’m so happy with the effort these guys put forth. We came out a bit slug gish and flat in the second and third quarters against Argentina, but what we showed in the fourth quar ter was that if we play for 40 minutes consistently, we can match up with anybody. We went down 16 going into the fourth quarter and

these guys did not give up. They were resolute, they locked in and we made a run and we were right there. A few missed free throws, a few shots fall, a few less turnovers down the stretch, and who knows the result could have been different,” Johnson said.

“I’m so happy with the effort of these guys in such a short time to turn around and have an effort like this,

it just shows these guys can do anything once they put their minds do it.”

National team veteran Kadeem Coleby said this particular group came together on short notice and proved their resilience.

“This team is different from other teams we’ve been on,” he said. “This team has less talent but more heart in my opinion. These guys fought and it’s

been a blessing to see us play big games, win big games and come close in big games so it’s been a real turnaround for us and I’m really proud of it.”

Bahamas - 83 Panama - 79

When Team Bahamas needed it most, Kino Bur rows’ veteran leadership took command of the game

Triathlon medal haul

SAC BIG RED MACHINE DOMINATE CROSS COUNTRY

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the return of the Bahamas Association of Independent Second ary Schools’ cross country championships on Saturday at St Augustine’s College, the Big Red Machine rode around their campus with another dominating performance.

The championships returned for the first time since 2018 because of COVID-19, but SAC’s head coach Jason Edwards said it was a total team effort that made the difference in their sweep of all of the divisions.

“I was most impressed by the turnout and the commit ment of the entire team,” Edwards said. “Cross coun try is an ultimate team

SEE PAGE 16

WOODSIDEJOHNSON INDUCTED INTO MURRAY STATE’S HALL OF FAME

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

DIANNE WoodsideJohnson returned to her alma mater at Murray State University where she was one of eight ath letes inducted into the 2022 Hall of Fame Class over the weekend in Murray, Kentucky.

Accompanied by a group of family and friends, led by her twin sister Dawn Wood side-Johnson, who also competed with her during their tenure from 1987 to 1990, Woodside-Johnson got inducted during the cer emony on Friday night.

On Saturday, the induct ees were honoured during Murray State’s football and basketball games.

Calling it the greatest individual achievement of

Ben Stokes leads England past Pakistan to win T20 World Cup

By COURTNEY WALSH Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Aus tralia (AP) — England confirmed its reputation as the masters of short-form cricket by claiming the Twenty20 World Cup with a stirring five-wicket triumph over Pakistan at the MCG yesterday.

A combination of miserly bowling and poised batting proved the difference as England claimed its second T20 World Cup following its win in the West Indies in 2010.

After restricting Pakistan to 137-8, England struggled for a period in the middle of their pursuit before Ben Stokes lifted the tempo with five overs remaining in Melbourne.

The all-rounder steadied England through a testing

time and burnished his rep utation for delivering in big matches by top-scoring with an unbeaten 52 runs off 49 balls. England had one over to spare when Stokes struck the winning runs through mid-wicket, with the lefthanded batter jumping into the air in celebration after a superb innings.

Largely dominant throughout the tournament, a shock loss to Ireland in a rain-affected match aside, England is the first nation to hold the T20 and 50-over World Cup titles in tandem.

In his first year as Eng lish captain, Jos Buttler led his country superbly throughout the month-long tournament in Australia and was delighted by his nation’s performance in the decider.

Sam Curran, who bowled superbly when taking 3-12

from four overs, was named both the player of the match and also of a tourna ment in which he finished with 13 wickets.

“I don’t think I should be getting this, the way Stokesy played there (but)

we’re going to enjoy this occasion. (It’s) very spe cial,” he said.

“The way I bowl, I go into the wicket with my slower balls and keep the

SWITZERLAND BEATS AUSTRALIA TO WIN BILLIE JEAN KING CUP

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Belinda Bencic keeps delivering big titles for Switzerland.

The Olympic singles champion made sure Switzerland won the big gest prize in women’s team tennis for the first time on Sunday, com pleting a near-perfect tournament by beat ing Australia’s Alja Tomljanovic in straight sets in the Billie Jean King Cup final.

The win gave Switzer land an unassailable 2-0 lead after Jil Teichmann outlasted Australia’s Storm Sanders 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the opening singles match. Bencic had not dropped a set all week

and extended that streak by beating Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-1 to clinch the title. The 25-year-old Bencic has only made it past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament once — reaching the semifinals of the 2019 U.S. Open — but seems to always raise her level when playing for Switzerland.

She won the singles gold at the Tokyo Olym pics and also added a silver medal in the doubles.

On Sunday, she pro duced a near-flawless performance even after spending more than two hours cheering on

ENGLAND’S BEN STOKES, right, celebrates hitting the winning runs against Pakistan during the final of the T20 World Cup Crick et tournament at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon

THE Bahamas national team will return home from the CARIFTA Triathlon & Aquathlon Championships with four medals. Above, Ayden Bain, Enea Gervasini and Lenin Hamilton can be seen in transit out of the water. SEE THE FULL STORY AND MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 17

TEAM Bahamas opened the latest window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers ‘23 with an 83-79 come from behind win over Panama on Friday, November 11. Last night, a fourth-quarter rally against Argentina came up just short at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

Photo: Austin Fernander/Tribune Staff

It’s official: Ministry launches Bahamas Golden Jubilee Games

AFTER hosting a twoday conclave at SuperClubs Breezes, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Cul ture officially launched the Bahamas Golden Jubilee Games at Baha Mar on Saturday night.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg gave the keynote speech during the event that was attended by vari ous delegates from the 10 participating islands and grouping of islands as well as representatives from the national sporting bodies, who will be staging the competitive sports and exhibitions.

While entertainment was provided by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Band, athletes from the various sporting disciplines modelled some of the uni forms and equipment that will be used during their respective competitions at the games. The sixth edi tion of the games is set for

FIBA

FROM PAGE 13

down the stretch and led The Bahamas to a home win. Burrows scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as The Bahamas overcame a fourth quarter deficit. The veteran forward shot 6-9 from the field and added five rebounds before he fouled out late in the fourth with The Bahamas leading by four.

David Nesbitt led three Bahamians in double figures with 14 points, God frey Rolle scored 10, JR Cadot scored nine while Livingston Munnings had nine points and game high 11 rebounds. Carlos Rod riguez and Josimar Ayarza both scored 18 to lead Panama.

Ernesto Oglivie scored 15, Trevor Gaskins scored 12 and Eric Romero added 10.

Nesbit scored six of The Bahamas’ first nine points and The Bahamas led by as much as 10 in the first quar ter before Panama rallied.

A Gaskins three before the buzzer sounded trimmed the deficit to 24-23 at the end of one.

The second quarter fea tured four ties and five lead changes before The Baha mas pulled away with a final run before the half.

A Rodriguez three for Panana was answered by a Cornish runner to tie the game at 28.

Munnings’ three-point play was answered by another Rodriguez three to tie it at 31, then Nesbitt and Rodriguez traded threes

for another tie at 34. The Bahamas moved ahead for the rest of the half when Cadot’s three from the wing sparked an 11-0 run.

Spain tied the game at 55 on a Rodriguez three and eventually took their first lead of the game since the first period on a Romero layup.

Panama opened a fivepoint advantage early in the fourth and seemed poised to pull away early, 70-65.

Burrows ignited a stag nant Bahamian offence with an alley-oop to Munnigs.

It was the first field goal on a 10-0 run capped by Rolle’s steal in the back court and layup for a 75-70 Bahamas lead.

Panama was able to pull within a single point on two occasions in the

final minutes, but Burrows scored on both posses sions to give The Bahamas breathing room.

Argentina - 80 Bahamas - 76

Playing the role of spoiler, The Bahamas cut an 18-point fourth quar ter deficit to just two, but the rally fell just short as Argentina avoided its third consecutive loss.

David Nesbitt led The Bahamas with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. He also shot 3-6 from threepoint range.

Nesbitt’s dominant performance led four Baha mian players in double figures - Godfrey Rolle finished with 15 points and a team high six assists, Kadeem Coleby scored 12

points and Kino Burrows added 11 points.

Jaron Cornish and JR Cadot each scored seven.

Juan Valet led Argen tina with 19 points, Lucio Redivo scored 15, Jose Vildoza scored 11 and Nich olas Romano added 10.

The Bahamas came out shooting efficiently from beyond the arc and made four three pointers in the first quarter. They trailed 19-18 after the first 10 minutes.

Argentina surged ahead with a 23-12 second quarter, took a 42-30 lead into the half and maintained a 63-47 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The lead reached as much as 18 early in the fourth when Romano made a driving layup for a 65-47 lead with 9:51 left to play.

49ERS EARN WIN OVER CHARGERS 22-16

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Christian McCaf frey ran for the go-ahead touchdown with 7:54 to play, and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Chargers 22-16 last night in their first game back from a bye week.

The Niners (5-4) returned from the midseason break as healthy as they’ve been all season on offence and with hopes of making a secondhalf run. Their performance against the short-handed Chargers (5-4) was a slog at times but proved to be just enough to come out on top.

San Francisco fell behind by 10 points in the second quarter before rallying. Jimmy Garoppolo scored on a 1-yard sneak in the second quarter and then made the biggest play when he hit Brandon Aiyuk on a 24-yard pass on thirdand-10 from the Chargers 26 midway through the fourth quarter.

McCaffrey ran it in on the next play and has now accounted for four touch downs in three games since arriving from Carolina in a midseason trade.

Garoppolo went 19 for 28 for 240 yards while San Francisco relied heavily on the ground game, rushing 40 times for 158 yards.

Justin Herbert went 21 for 35 for 196 yards with a touchdown pass for the Chargers, who were playing without both starting tack les and receivers.

San Francisco held the opposition scoreless in the second half for the second straight game.

UP NEXT Chargers: Host Kansas City next Sunday night.

49ers: Play Arizona in Mexico City on Monday, November 21.

Argentina maintained a 12 point lead, 73-61 with 4:08 left to play, but The Bahamas rallied with eight unanswered points and an 11-1 run.

Cornish made a pair of driving layups to start the rally, Coleby made a dunk and a layup, and after Argentina ended the drought with a free throw, Rolle converted a threepoint play to make the score 76-74 with 13 seconds left to play.

Redivo made four free throws down the stretch for Argentina to put the game away.

Argentina converted 20-26 at the free throw, while The Bahamas was just 7-8 from the line. Argentina also got out in transition and had a 25-5 advantage in fast break points.

her life although she consid ers her teaching and coaching chores that enabled her to partici pate in the Olympic Games as a team honour, Woodside-Johnson said she’s grateful to her former coach Margaret Simmons and the faculty, staff and committee for selecting her for such a prestig ious accolade.

“It’s very surreal, an amaz ing experience to be back here,” Woodside-Johnson said.

“It’s an honour and a privilege, very humbling experience to be able to accept the award and to be able to accept the award from my alma mater for my contribution to the track and field programme here.”

One of the rewards of return ing to Murray State University, Woodside-Johnson said she got to reconnect with a lot of the athletic department and even some of her professors, so she enjoyed every moment of it.

Among the credentials that Woodside-Johnson accumulated while at Murray State University were All-time best indoors in the women’s 55m hurdles in a time of 7.98 seconds and both long jump with a leap of 20-feet, 5-inches, both in 1990 and the triple jump with 41-1 ½ in 1988.

Additionally, during her outdoor campaign, WoodsideJohnson produced the trifecta

in the three disciplines with per formances of 13.81 in the 100m hurdles in 1989, 20-4 ¼ in the long jump in 1989 as well and 40-2 in the triple jump in 1988.

In 1990, she was also crowned the Ohio Valley Conference Most Outstanding female athlete.

While she hasn’t reached that Hall of Fame status as yet, Dawn Woodside-Johnson said she’s just as thrilled to be a part of the honour and recognition of her twin sister.

“It was a good experience. I didn’t feel anything because I never went to the NCAA Cham pionships. I almost made it, but I didn’t,” said Dawn WoodsideJohnson, who competed as a thrower in the shot put and

discus. “I was happy for her. We enjoyed the experience with her. I was very, very happy for her.”

Also included in the del egation that accompanied Woodside-Johnson were her husband Terrance Johnson and daughter Rayanne WoodsideHepburn, one of their older sisters Carol Woodside-Philips, her niece Cailyn Johnson, nephew Colin Johnson II, family friend William Byrd and their former principal at St Augustine’s College, Sonja Knowles.

“Everybody came out on Wednesday ahead of the storm (Hurricane Nicole) and so it wasn’t any interruption here,” Woodside-Johnson said. “It was a good night, very well planned

event. It was a very special night that I will cherish. “Whenever you are recognised for your contribu tion, especially when you do it yourself, it’s special. I’ve coached many teams from CARIFTA to the World Championships and the Olympics. They were good achievements for me for my skills. This one was really for my indi vidual accomplishment.”

As twin sisters, WoodsideJohnson said they both achieved the goal intended when their deceased mother Monica Wood side allowed them to follow in the footsteps of their older brother Joe Woodside, to attend Murray State. On their return home as they both ventured into teach ing at their alma mater at SAC,

“I took a break. I needed a break,” she said. “Maybe. Maybe. I have not closed the door on that yet (coaching). It was consuming a lot of time in my life and I had to focus on some other areas. So I’m not closing the door on it. I’m still assisting SAC whenever and I didn’t leave the club name out there because I could still come back and use it again, even if it’s on a smaller scale.”

For now, she’s just basking in her glory as an inductee into Murray State University’s Hall of Fame Class of 2022.

July 7-11 in New Provi dence and will be back after the last one was held 22 years ago in 2001. The

other mini-Olympic-style games was first held in

1989, then 1991, 1995 and 1998.

Woodside-Johnson formed the Club Monica Track Club in honour of their mother that lasted for 15 years before she took a break from coaching in 2018.

DIANNE WOODSIDE-JOHNSON,

third from left, with her fellow Murray State University inductees.

THE MINISTRY of Youth, Sports and Culture has officially launched the Bahamas Golden Jubilee Games.

Photos by Eric Rose/BIS

FOOTBALL LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS

Allen’s miscues, Jefferson’s big day help Vikings beat Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Patrick Peter son intercepted Josh Allen with 1:12 left in overtime to finally end a sloppy, yet thrilling back-and-forth game between two of the NFL’s best teams, and the Minnesota Vikings com pleted their rally from a 17-point second-half defi cit to beat the Buffalo Bills 33-30 yesterday.

The Vikings took advan tage of three turnovers by Allen in the fourth quar ter and overtime, pulling ahead late in regulation when he mishandled a snap and fumbled in the end zone.

Greg Joseph put the Vikings ahead to stay by hitting a 33-yard field goal with 3:42 left in overtime. The game didn’t end until Allen, facing second and 10 at Minnesota’s 20, forced a pass over the middle intended for Gabe Davis, only to have Peterson intercept it a few yards into the end zone, his second pick of the day. Peterson ran out and slid to the turf.

Kirk Cousins threw for 357 yards, and Justin Jef ferson had a monster game with 10 catches for 193 yards, including an incred ible one-handed grab to convert a fourth-and-18 for the NFC North-leading Vikings (8-1).

PACKERS 31, COWBOYS 28, OT GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes to rookie Christian Watson and led a 55-yard drive in overtime to set up Mason Crosby’s game-winning field goal, and Green Bay stopped a five-game skid, beating former coach Mike McCarthy and Dallas.

Green Bay (4-6) trailed 28-14 in the fourth quarter before Rodgers led two long drives that ended with scoring passes to Watson.

McCarthy coached the Packers to their most recent Super Bowl title after the 2010 season and went 125-77-2 with Green Bay before getting fired in 2018.

The Cowboys (6-3) blew a 14-point lead heading into the fourth quarter for the first time in fran chise history. They entered Sunday with a 195-0 record in such games, including playoffs.

Green Bay’s Aaron Jones rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown.

BUCCANEERS 21, SEAHAWKS 16

MUNICH (AP) — Tom Brady stayed undefeated abroad by throwing two touchdown passes as Tampa Bay beat Seattle in the first regular-season game played in Germany.

Brady connected with Julio Jones and Chris Godwin on scoring passes and Leonard Fournette ran one in as the Bucs (5-5) improved to .500 and snapped Seattle’s fourgame winning streak.

German fans packed Allianz Arena for the his toric game and the Bucs delivered with a balanced offensive performance on three long scoring drives. Rachaad White ran for 105 yards on 22 carries.

Brady completed 22 of 29 passes for 258 yards to add Germany to his list of international wins after victories in London (twice) and Mexico City with the New England Patriots.

COLTS 25, RAIDERS 20

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Matt Ryan got his starting job back under TV analystturned-interim coach Jeff Saturday, and the veteran quarterback delivered a 35-yard touchdown pass to Parris Campbell to lead Indianapolis past Las Vegas.

The touchdown with 5:07 left came shortly after the 37-year-old quarterback converted a third-and-3 with a 39-yard run to the Raiders 36-yard line.

His play helped give Saturday, who just a week ago was an ESPN analyst before being hired despite no NFL coaching experi ence, his first victory. It also handed the Raiders (2-7) their third loss in a row and will increase the scrutiny on first-year coach Josh McDaniels, who took over a playoff team from a year ago. The Raiders were booed off the field.

Ryan completed 21 of 28 passes for 222 yards, and Jonathan Taylor rushed for 147 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown for the Colts (4-5-1). It was Tay lor’s first 100-yard game since the season opener against the Houston Texans, when he rushed for 161 yards.

CARDINALS 27, RAMS 17

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Colt McCoy passed for 238 yards in his first start of the season, James Conner rushed for two touchdowns and Ari zona hung on to beat Los Angeles, which lost Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp to a possibly serious ankle injury.

Both teams played their backup quarterbacks with starters Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray side lined by injury. McCoy threw a TD pass to A.J. Green and hit DeAndre Hopkins for 98 yards on 10 catches, while Los Angeles’ John Wolford passed for

212 yards in a much more inconsistent performance.

The defending cham pion Rams (3-6) lost for the fifth time in six games, and they also lost Kupp in the fourth quarter when he went down awkwardly while being hit by Marco Wilson after failing to catch a poorly thrown pass from Wolford.

In the 34th start of his 13-year career, McCoy went 26 of 37 while patiently running a disci plined offensive game plan for the Cardinals (4-6).

Murray sat out with a ham string injury, but Arizona grinded out a much-needed victory for coach Kliff Kingsbury after losing four of its past five.

GIANTS 24, TEXANS 16

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Daniel Jones threw two touchdown passes, Saquon Barkley ran for 152 yards and a TD and New York beat Houston.

Jones, who was 13 of 17 for 197 yards, hit tight end Lawrence Cager on a 9-yard TD pass and Darius Slayton on a 54-yard catch and run as the Giants (7-2) scored on their opening possession of each half to build a 14-3 lead.

Barkley, who had a career-high 35 carries, scored from 2 yards out in the third quarter after the Texans (1-7-1) closed within 14-10.

The Giants’ defence pre served the win, forcing two red-zone turnovers in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Jaylon Smith recovered Dameon Pierce’s fumble at the 11-yard line and Dane Belton intercepted Davis Mills’ pass in the end zone.

Mills (22 of 37 for 319 yards) threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins and Ka’imi Fair bairn kicked field goals of 38, 34 and 46 yards for Houston, which has lost four straight.

New York is off to its best start since 2008.

TITANS 17, BRONCOS 10 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes to Nick WestbrookIkhine as Tennessee rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Denver.

The Titans (6-3) won for the sixth time in seven games. Tannehill returned after missing the last two games with a sprained right ankle, and he appeared rusty early as the Titans fell behind 10-0 in the second quarter and were trail ing 208-53 in total yards shortly before halftime. Denver (3-6) has lost lost five of six. The Bron cos had plenty of chances but couldn’t score after halftime. Russell Wilson had a final chance to tie the game, but his pass on fourth-and-8 from the Titans 25 was tipped and picked off by Terrance Mitchell with 11 seconds left.

LIONS 31, BEARS 30

CHICAGO (AP) — Jamaal Williams scored on a 1-yard run in the clos ing minutes, Jared Goff threw for 236 yards and a touchdown, and Detroit overcame another spec tacular effort by Chicago’s Justin Fields.

The Lions (3-6) scored 21 points in the fourth quarter on the way to their second straight win after losing five in a row. They stopped a 13-game road losing streak.

Detroit wiped out a 14-point deficit with two quick TDs, tying it on a 20-yard interception return by Jeff Okudah.

Fields then went 67 yards untouched for a TD to put Chicago (3-7) back on top 30-24. Cairo Santos missed the extra point.

Goff led an eight-play, 91-yard drive in the closing

minutes. Williams made it 31-30 when he scored with 2:21 remaining.

Fields ran for 147 yards and two scores, after rush ing for 178 the previous week against Miami. He became the only quarter back in the Super Bowl era with multiple rush ing touchdowns of 60-plus yards in the same season.

CHIEFS 27, JAGUARS 17

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 331 yards and four touchdowns as Kansas City rolled past Jacksonville.

Kadarius Toney, who was acquired a couple of weeks ago from the Giants, had 33 yards rushing to go with four catches for 57 yards and his first NFL touchdown reception, help ing the Chiefs (7-2) win their sixth straight over the Jaguars.

Travis Kelce, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Noah Gray also had touchdown catches for the Chiefs.

Kansas City wide receiver JuJu SmithSchuster was placed in the concussion protocol after a helmet-to-helmet hit by Jacksonville safety Andre Cisco early in the game.

Trevor Lawrence threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns, both to Chris tian Kirk, who finished with nine catches for 105 yards for the Jaguars (3-7).

STEELERS 20, SAINTS 10

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kenny Pickett and George Pickens ran for 1-yard touchdowns and Pittsburgh pulled away from listless New Orleans.

Fueled by the return of star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, the Steelers (3-6) held the Saints to 186 yards to win for the second time in eight games.

Pittsburgh sacked Andy Dalton twice and forced a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions to thwart any hope of a late rally by the Saints (3-7).

Watt hadn’t played since tearing his left pectoral late in a Week 1 win over Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh ran for a season-best 217 yards — including 99 by Najee Harris and 51 by Pickett — and didn’t turn it over for the third time this season. The Steelers are 3-0 in those games.

Pickett completed 18 of 30 passes for 199 yards without an interception. He also shook off a tweaked left ankle to convert a couple of late quarterback sneaks, including a 1-yard dive with 8:40 to play that gave the Steelers a 10-point lead.

TAGOVAILOA STAYS HOT, THROWS FOR 3 TDS, DOLPHINS TOP BROWNS

By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida (AP) — The “MVP!” chants for Tua Tagovailoa started early in the second half, and they didn’t stop until after the game ended, as Tagovailoa flashed a smile and waved on his way off the field.

Tagovailoa maintained his scorching form since his return from a concussion, throwing three touchdown passes as the Miami Dol phins beat the Cleveland Browns 39-17 yesterday for their fourth straight win.

In a game that was a blowout by the fourth quar ter, Tagovailoa connected with three receivers for his third straight three-touch down performance.

“Tua is playing very, very high-level football,” Dol phins coach Mike McDaniel said. “It’s phenomenal to watch.”

Since returning in Week 7, Tagovailoa has 10 TD passes and no interceptions. He finished with 285 yards on 25-of-32 passing Sunday. Miami (7-3) moved into first place alone in the AFC East, overtaking Buffalo, which lost in overtime to Minnesota and dropped into a tie with the New York Jets (6-3) in the stout division.

Tagovailoa said he was flattered by the crowd hyping him as an MVP candidate.

“It would be cool,” Tago vailoa said. “But we have bigger goals and aspirations on what we want to do as a team.”

Jeff Wilson rushed for 119 yards on 17 carries as the Dolphins finished with 491 yards of offense.

The Browns (3-6) scored a touchdown on their open ing drive, thanks in part to a 48-yard kickoff return by rookie Jerome Ford, but Miami tied the game on its first possession en route to scoring 24 straight points. Cleveland never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way. “We really didn’t do any of the things you need to do versus that foot ball team,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said.

Cleveland’s Jacoby Bris sett completed 22 of 35 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown against one of his former teams. Nick Chubb had 11 carries for 63 yards, including a 33-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The World Series is over, and the Phillies had to settle for the NL pennant. The Union not only lost the MLS Cup final, they helped Philadelphia earn the dubi ous distinction of becoming the first city to lose two championships in one day.

That leaves it to the Eagles to try to win the next championship for the city. And so far, coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts have been a winning combination for the Eagles, who are 8-0 for the first time in franchise history and the lone unde feated team in the NFL.

But first come the NFC East rematches.

The Eagles play the Washington Command ers (4-5) on Monday night for a second time and the first since they roughed up former quarterback Carson Wentz in a 24-8 rout in Sep tember. Wentz is on injured reserve following surgery to repair a broken finger, and the Commanders turned to

Taylor Heinicke to take his spot.

Be it Heinicke or Wentz, the oddsmakers don’t care — the Eagles are favored by 10 1/2 points, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Hurts has won 11 straight regular-season games, the longest active streak in the NFL. He has been giving defenses fits with his arm and his legs and has passed for 2,042 yards and 12 TDs and has run for 326 yards and six TDs this season.

He has thrown just two interceptions while accu mulating a 107.8 QB rating, which is second in the NFL behind Tua Tagovailoa’s 115.9. Hurts was 22 of 35 for 340 yards and three touchdown passes, one each to DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert against the Commanders.

“He’s been able to attack all parts of the field,” Sirianni said. “The more they have to prepare for, the harder we are going to be to defend.”

CHASE YOUNG TIME?

Washington edge rusher Chase Young could make

his season debut a year to the day after tearing the ACL in his right knee.

He and doctors, train ers and the team have been very careful about his recovery after Young’s sur gery involved grafting part of his left patellar tendon to fix the tear on the other side.

Young’s return would bring what left tackle

Charles Leno called a sur plus of energy.

“He has a different amount of energy that is really unmatched,” Leno said. “I haven’t seen it from a lot of people in my years of playing. He just has this aura about him and this energy about him that’s completely different from a lot of players that I’ve gone against and played with.”

“They’re wreaking havoc,” cornerback Ken dall Fuller said. “They’re getting to the quarterback, making him get the ball out of their hand and stuff like that.”

CHEERING DALLAS

Goedert had his fourth career performance with 100-plus receiving yards, with eight catches for 100 yards and one touchdown against Houston. The Eagles tight end reached 100 yards receiving for the first time this season and may finally be considered among the best in his league at his position.

“There’s no question about it, Dallas is one of the premier tight ends in this league right now,” Eagles offensive coordina tor Shane Steichen said. “It starts in the meeting rooms. It starts on the practice field. The way he takes care of his body to get ready for football games. And

the way he mentally pre pares for football games. Then just his strength and size and his quickness and his play strength, it’s at the top of the league right now without question.”

O-LINE CHALLENGE

After the Eagles sacked Wentz nine times in the teams’ first meeting this season, Washington’s offen sive line needs to be better to keep Heinicke upright. If that doesn’t happen, the running game has little chance of getting going.

“We got to go out there and do our jobs and execute at a high level — individu ally and unit-wise,” Leno said.

“That’s how we can give our team the best chance to win.”

VIKINGS cornerback Patrick Peterson (7) runs with the ball after incepting a pass by Bills quarterback Josh Allen as safety Cam ryn Bynum (24) looks on in overtime yesterday. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)

The defensive line already has been the Com manders’ biggest area of strength, with Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen and Montez Sweat leading the way.

EAGLES quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) passes during the first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday in Philadelphia.

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

ultimate team sport. You have nine competitors maximum in each division and five can score. “So they know it’s a team com petition. The fact that they showed up, they were run ning for something bigger than themselves. So I was extremely impressed with that. We had our sprinters, our distance runners, our swimmers and tennis play ers. Everybody showed up and gave us 110 percent.”

Despite the loss, Comets’ head coach Everette Fraser said Queen’s College gave an excellent showing in the championships.

“I’m happy and pleased with the performances,” he said. “The kids came out and they ran at their best. That was what we expected.”

With a lot of their new kids in the spotlight, Fraser said their coaching staff wanted to see how they would perform under pressure.

“When you could find new talent from a lot of people who never ran cross country before, and although I didn’t know some of their names, I was happy and pleased with their performances. My expectations wasn’t as high for the kids that competed, but it showed me a lot of the kids that I can work with.”

It was that combined effort, according to Edwards, that enabled SAC to prevail against the stiff competition that came from all of the schools, includ ing their close archrivals, Queen’s College Comets, who came in second place.

In the under-20 boys divi sion, the Big Red Machine clinched the title with a sweep of the top two spots from Dentry Mortimer in 24 minutes and 07.77 sec onds and Clinton Laguerre in 24:53.41. Nassau Chris tian Academy’s Mikail Paul was third in 25:55.69. SAC’s Alexis Brown (26:51.96) was fourth and Tenaj Glin ton (28:08.57) got fifth.

SAC’s victory in the under-20 girls division was fuelled by the win ning performance from Ezthia Maycock in 12:39.22. St Andrew’s Grace Far rington was second in 13:01.55 and Lilly Comar cho of Queen’s College was third in 14:40.19. The Big Red Machine’s Antonicia Moultrie (15:02.13) was fourth and Trinity Penner man (15:18.18) was fifth.

While Kevannio Smith took the individual title to St Anne’s in a time of 11:27.23, the Big Red

Machine kept the under17 boys team title at SAC with Dylan Simon leading their attack for second in 11:35.58. Temple Chris tian Academy’s Breck Kemp was third in 11:36.80. Quinton Rolle of SAC was fourth in 11:52.55 and Dayyan Major of St John’s College was fifth in 12:03.31.

The under-17 girls divi sion saw Kristr Ford of Queen’s College take the individual title in 13:36.89 with Tellica Seymour of Kingsway Academy coming in second in 13:43.29. SAC, however, won the divisional title with Taylor Adderley turning in their best perfor mance for third in 13:50.87. Azaria Marshall of SAC

was fourth in 14:06.25 and Kennedi Knowles of St John’s was fifth in 14:18.25.

Quincy Rolle led SAC in their win in the under15 boys division with his top place finish in 12:26.61. Temple Christian Acad emy’s Daniel Dean was second in 12:27.75, Dylan Archer got third for SAC in 12:37.78. Queen’s Col lege duo of Davon Davis (12:43.84) and Andrew Sey mour (12:44.45) was fourth and fifth respectively.

Lyford Cay International School’s Zoe McCarroll emerged as the winner of the under-15 girls race in

9:34.79, but as SAC took the overall title, Alexis Roberts got second in 9:42.57. The Kemp sisters Breyteisha (9:51.65) and Breyneice (9:56.22) were third and fourth respectively and was joined by their Temple Christian Academy’s teammate Jasmine Thompson (9:58.55) in fifth.

SAC got a 1-2 punch on their way to winning the under-13 boys division as Arjay Roberts won in 9:30.79 and Nathon King was second in 9:47.24. Cordell Munroe of St John’s College was third in 10:11.98. Anthony Saunders

Samoa shocks England to reach first World Cup final

LONDON (AP) — Samoa pulled off one of the great sporting comebacks to knock out England from its own Rugby League World Cup on Saturday and earn a final showdown with Australia.

Four weeks after being humiliated 60-6 by Eng land in the tournament opener in Newcastle, the Samoans turned the table in dramatic fashion with a golden point 27-26 semi final victory at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

Centre Stephen Crich ton was the match winner, kicking a 40-metre drop goal in the fourth minute of extra time, to add to his two tries and three conversions.

England saved its worst 40-minute performance for the semifinal but emerged from its slumber to rally from 20-12 down and twice draw level in a breathless second half before being pipped at the death.

The game lacked the quality of the first semi final between Australia and New Zealand on Friday but it made up for it with sheer excitement and drama as Samoa, making its first appear ance in a World Cup semifinal, revelled in the role of underdog. It played the more attractive rugby while England was strangely tentative from

the start despite being given a helping hand.

Samoa fullback Joseph Suaali’i and standoff Anthony Milford kicked out on the full to frit ter away possession and skipper Junior Paulo was sin-binned for a tip tackle on Tom Burgess after 12 minutes.

Samoa was 4-0 up by then after centre Tim Lafai slipped Kallum Wat kins to score.

The visitors suffered a blow when hooker Fa’amanu Brown, playing in place of an unavailable Danny Levi, was knocked out in a clash of heads with teammate Oregon Kaufusi. They had a letoff when England captain Sam Tomkins got Wat kins through a gap only to lose his grip on the ball in Lafai’s last-ditch tackle.

England finally broke through when secondrower Elliott Whitehead supported a half-break by standoff George Williams to score their first try.

Tommy Makinson’s goal made it 6-4 but Samoa went back in front 10 min utes before halftime when second-rower Ligi Sao caught England’s defence napping to go over from dummy half. Crichton converted for 10-6.

England received a dose of luck in the new half when Lafai had the ball jolted from his grasp by Watkins and second-rower

John Bateman was gifted the easiest of tries.

Makinson’s second goal nudged England in front but the lead lasted three minutes. Luai took a return pass from Paulo to get Crichton through a gaping hole wide out for Samoa’s third try, to which Crichton added his second goal. After an England knock-on 10 metres from its tryline, Milford and Luai combined to get Lafai over for his second try in the 56th and extend the lead to 20-12.

Herbie Farnworth bus tled past four defenders to score England’s third try and Makinson levelled the score after 67 minutes with a penalty. England had all the momentum and was mounting a

promising attack when Crichton picked off a pass from Victor Radley meant for Whitehead and sprinted 60 metres for his second try.

Crichton’s third goal gave Samoa a six-point lead but England struck back through Farnworth, who went 70 metres for his second try to finish off a break by Williams. Mak inson kept his nerve to tie the score again.

Whitehead charged down Milford’s drop-goal attempt in the second minute of extra time but when England was pulled up for a forward pass inside its half, Crichton nailed the chance from 40 metres out.

The final is next Satur day at Old Trafford.

of St John’s was fourth in 10:15.19 and Tobias Saun ders of SAC was fifth in 10:20.04.

And in the under-13 girls division, Emma Johnston of Windsor School clocked 9:48.96 for the win. Cierra Delancy of Queen’s Col lege was second in 10:06.07.

Angel Culmer of the Big Red Machine was third in 10:39.25, Malaya Pratt of Queen’s College was fourth in 10:51.70 and Hailey Parker of SAC rounded out the top five in 11:19.70.

Edwards thanked the BAISS and their sports committee chairperson

batsmen guessing. (To be the) world champions, how good.”

While heavy rain fell around Melbourne last night, concerns that the final would be interrupted were unfounded with only a few drops falling early in England’s pursuit.

That was fortunate for England, which slipped behind the required run rate in the middle stages until Stokes’ settling innings, and also the 80,462 fans in attendance for the final.Pakistan will ponder what might have been after star pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi injured him self while taking a catch to remove Harry Brook with the final still in the balance.

On returning to the field after treatment, Afridi was reintroduced into the attack with five overs remaining but lasted just one delivery before again limping from the MCG in despair.

This proved a reprieve for England, which still required 41 runs from 30 balls when Afridi was brought back on to bowl. It was here that Stokes launched the winning attack with the bat.

It is a deserved tri umph for the tournament favourites — they were as methodical with both the ball and bat in hand in the final as they had been throughout the month in Australia.

Curran and right-arm leg spinner Adil Rashid were superb in helping restrict Pakistan, vindicating But tler’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss.

Pakistan’s opening com bination of Babar Azam

“This is what the chil

needed. I’m glad we made the decision to have the meet,” said Edwards, who also thanked David Ferguson and his Chip Elite Timing staff for managing the meet, along with Wil liamson ‘Knucklehead’ Johnson and his staff as well as SAC’s Athletic Depart ment, including Clinton Smikle and Tito Moss for their assistance. “It was really needed.”

and Mohammad Rizwan combined for 29 runs before the latter dragged a delivery from Curran on to his stumps in the fifth over.

Azam, the Pakistan cap tain, batted with measured aggression until losing his wicket caught-and-bowled to Rashid for 32 runs off 28 balls in the 12th over.

Rashid’s variety and ability to surprise when fin ishing with figures of 2-22 from four overs proved crucial in helping England restrict Pakistan at a pivotal moment in their innings.

As adept in the infancy and also at the death of Pakistan’s innings was Curran, who bowled superbly.

Buttler, who said on Sat urday that he had dreamed of leading his nation to success as a boy, set an aggressive tone for England at the top of the batting order after Afridi removed Alex Hales in the first over.

But when an innings fea turing classical cover drives and innovative shots was ended by Rauf Haris for 26 off 17 balls, the pro-Paki stan crowd came to life.

Stokes and Brook slowed the tempo when combining for a crucial 39-run partner ship before the latter holed out to Afridi off the bowl ing of Shadab Khan in a pivotal moment.

But with Stokes at the crease and Afridi hobbled, England always looked likely to reach the target, with the hero at the crease praising the work of the nation’s bowlers.

“In finals, especially when chasing, you forget all the hard work that came first.

“To restrict them to 137, the bowlers have to take a lot of credit,” Stokes said.

Marici Thompson, the prin cipal at SAC, for putting on what he called a “wonderful event” that lived up to its expectations.

dren

SAC’s Big Red Machine team display their trophies won at the BAISS Cross Country Championships on Saturday. Photos: Taylor Bain

SAC Big Red Machine senior girls’ team celebrate together.

SAC coach Clinton Smikle, left, and QC coach Sandra Hobbs.

SAMOA’s players celebrate at the end of the Rugby League World Cup semi-final match against England at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

CARIFTA: Team Bahamas bringing home 4 medals

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas national team is expected to return home from the CARIFTA Triathlon & Aquathlon Championships with a total of four medals, inclusive of a pair of silver and bronze each and a fifth place overall.

Team Bahamas collected 38 points from the triathlon and 29 from the aquathlon for a total of 67. Barbados won the overall total of 145 (72 and 73 in the triathlon and aquathlon respectively.

Bermuda got second with 115 points (63-73), Aruba was third with 73 (39-34) and Trinidad & Tobago got fourth with 69 (32-37).

On Saturday, Team Bahamas got a silver from Erin Pritchard and Mal colm Menzies in the girls and boys 13-15 age group respectively, while Ralph Wood picked up a pair of bronze in the men’s 20-21 age group in Saturday’s triathlon and the aquath lon swim on Sunday.Other results posted are:

Female 16-19 - Kami Roach was fifth and Sienna Culmer-Mackey seventh.

Female 13-15 - Anjaleah Knowles was sixth and Issa Bournas 10th.

Male 13-15 – Ayden Bain was fifth, Enea Garvasini 20th, Launy Duncombe 21 and Lenin Hamilton 23.

Female 11-12 - Taylor Knowles was 13th

Male 11-12 - Jayden Smith was sixth, Sibby Potter ninth, Lauchlan Menzies 13th, Callum Pritchard 16th, Tristan Johnson 19th and Mirko Gervanisi 20th.

In addition to the aquathlon on Sunday, teams also participated in the team relays, but the Bahamas didn’t get on the podium in any of the combined or mixed relay events.

Head coach Cameron Roach, who was assisted by Sylvia Bateman, said they are super excited about the team’s performance because they saw a lot of determination, concentra tion and will on the faces of the athletes.

“They didn’t just per form, they performed better than I could have hoped for,” Roach said. “The team has ended today

(Saturday) with very high spirits and confidence, we are sitting exactly where we want to be sitting after day 1 of competition.”

Roach said the competi tion was extremely fierce this year.

“Watching the develop ment of all counties in our region over the years, it’s evident that a lot of time in development and training is flourishing,” he said.

“The teams are strong and the talent is amazing. It’s an exciting time for our sport and even more exciting for me to see our athletes compete and excel on this stage.”

Team Bahamas, man aged by Lori Roach with Grand Menzies and

‘BUDDY’ HIELD AND PACERS OFF TO SURPRISING START

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

CHAVANO “Buddy” Hield’s sixth 20-point game of the year led the Indiana Pacers to a win on the road for what most NBA pundits have deemed a surprising start to the 2022-23 season.

Hield scored a team high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Pacers’ 118104 win over the Toronto Raptors at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

He shot 5-11 from beyond the arc, his seventh game this season with at least four three-point field goals made.

“Good team win, tough loss against Denver, and came showing fight,” Hield said. “Shoutout to TJ [McConnell], Ben [Mathurin] those in for the second unit getting us over the hump.”

THOMAS

In his last relief appear ance on the mound, Thomas allowed a run on a hit, two walks and two strikeouts in an inning of work.

He is one of several Pitts burgh Pirates prospects who are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft unless they are protected and named to the 40-man roster.

Unprotected players are eligible to be taken by

With the win, the Pacers improved to 6-6, currently ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference.

After Toronto went ahead by 15 in the first minute of the third quarter, the Pacers went on a 20-6 run to get back into the game. “The game changed when our fight changed,” Indiana coach Rick Carl isle said. “Every distraction you can imagine, we were coming up with some reason to complain about something in the first half. It was ugly. It’s not the cul ture we are building. The second half looked like us. It’s a win that feels good.”

Hield, who recently signed a multi-year shoe deal extension with Nike, is averaging 18.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He is also shooting 47 percent from the field, 41 percent from three-point range and 87 percent from the free throw line.

the other 29 teams when the draft takes place at the Winter Meetings on December 7.

The deadline to add players to a team’s 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft is Novem ber 15.

Thomas began his regu lar season with the Altoona Curve at the AA level.

In 37 games this year, he finished with a 5-4 record and three saves.

He pitched 50.2 innings, with a 3.02 ERA and 52 strikeouts.

Hield ranks second in the league in three-point field goals made with 49 behind Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors with 59. The Pacers are one of the youngest teams in the NBA with an average age of just

MCFALL, MCCOY OFF TO GOOD START IN NCAA DIV. II

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BOTH Johnathan McFall and Malachi McCoy got their senior seasons off to promising starts as the NCAA Division II basket ball season tipped off last weekend in early season tournament play.

McFall scored a career high 28 points to lead Slippery Rock to a 82-72 victory over Notre Dame College (Ohio) on Novem ber 12 at Morrow Field House on day two of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce Conference Challenge.

His career high night came on an efficient 10-17 shooting from the field, 2-6 from three-point range and 6-8 free throws. The versatile wing also had five rebounds and three steals in 33 minutes.

In the season opener, McFall added 15 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots as SRU defeated Alderson Broad dus 68-62 in a comeback victory to begin the Confer ence Challenge.

SRU was picked to finish fifth in the Penn sylvania State Athletic Conference Western Divi sion this season in the preseason coaches poll.

In his first season with SRU last year, McFall averaged 13 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and one block per game. He also shot 52 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line.

McFall transferred to SRU after a year with Chowan and after a twoyear stint with Catawba Valley Community College Red Hawks.

Slippery Rock looks to stay undefeated when they face Penn State Greater Allegheny.

McCoy and his Ben edict Tigers split their opening weekend games at the South Region Tip Off Classic. The Tigers opened the season falling to Florida Tech 67-59 in the Benja min E Mays HRC Arena in Columbia, South Carolina. McCoy finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. He shot 8-11 from the field and made 1-3 from beyond the arc. Benedict got in the win column in game two with a 76-49 win over Rol lins the following night.

The Tigers will face Blue field State on November 19.

character and tremendous upside.”

Hield, one of the elder statesmen on the team at 29, encourages the youth movement led by franchise point guard Tyrese Halibur ton and rising star Benedict Mathurin, who has emerged as an early Rookie of the Year candidate.

“I just think when you bring in a bunch of good guys that have great per sonalities and great fits and understand and like each other it’s easy to have a great vibe,” Hield said.

BRAZIL TOPS US 94-79 IN WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

WASHINGTON (AP)

— USA Basketball still has some work to do before clinching a berth in next year’s World Cup.

over 24. “This is a new era, an official new era of Pacers basketball. It’s certainly a direction of youth,” Car lisle said. “It’s a direction of going all-in on a group of guys that are young, tal ented, of extremely high

The 23-year-old, 6’5” right hand pitcher, is cur rently ranked no.29 in the Pirates organisation accord ing to MLB Pipeline and was named to the MLB Pipeline Prospect Team of the Week for July 4-10.

Following his minor league campaign, he helped Great Britain baseball make history at the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.

In an 8-1 win in the semi final of Germany, Thomas closed out the game in the ninth inning and also recorded a strikeout.

“I think the guys we have in the locker room are guys that love each other already and are guys that want to grow and learn and have fun playing with each other.”

Hield and the Pacers will face Kai Jones and the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center in Char lotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, November 16.

In the finale, Great Brit ain overcame a five-run deficit to defeat Spain 10-9 in extra innings. Thomas held Spain scoreless in the top half of the 10th inning on the mound.

Locally, Thomas now shifts his attention to host ing the Elite 9 Baseball and Softball Classic in honour of his late mother, Michelle Thomas.

The fourth edition event is scheduled to be hosted November 24-28 at the Emera Baseball Park in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

Bruno Caboclo scored 24 points, Georghino De Paula added 18 and Brazil greatly improved its chances of making the 32-team World Cup field by beating the US 94-79 in a qualifying game on Friday.

The US would have wrapped up a World Cup spot with a win. The Americans play their next qualifying game today in Washington against Colombia — and now might not clinch a World Cup berth until the final qualifying window in February.

Langston Galloway led the US with 14 points, while Charlie Brown and Alize Johnson each scored 10.

The US still controls its destiny regarding qualifying.

All the US needs to do is finish in first, second or third place to automati cally qualify for the World Cup.

Barron ‘Turbo’ Musgrove as chap erones, will take today to relax before they head home on Tuesday.

TAHNAJ THOMAS

CHAVANO “Buddy” Hield scored a team high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Pacers’ 118-104 win over the To ronto Raptors on Saturday. (AP Photo)

THE NATIONAL team is expected to return home from the CARIFTA Triathlon & Aquathlon Championships with four medals.

TEAM Bahamas’ Jason Cates, Sienna Culmer-Mackey, Kami Roach, Ralph Wood and Barron Musgrove get ready to compete.

AYDEN Bain on the run.

SIENNA Culmer-Mackey in transition.

Fritz beats

Nadal at ATP Finals, Ruud downs AugerAliassime

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Rafael Nadal’s bid to win one of the few titles missing from his glittering career started poorly as he was beaten in straight sets by eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz in their opening match at the ATP Finals yesterday.

After a close-fought opening set, Fritz domi nated the second as the American secured a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over the top-seeded Nadal.

“It feels great. I felt like coming out first match, especially for my hopes of getting out of the group, it was going to be really important,” Fritz said.

“I came out and played a great match, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Fritz strengthened his grip on the match when he broke Nadal’s serve in the fourth game of the second set. Nadal fought valiantly to stay in the match and managed to save four break points in the sixth game but Fritz prevailed at the fifth time of asking to leave him serving for the match. He closed it out when the

Spaniard sent a forehand long. It was only Nadal’s second singles match since the US Open as he has struggled with injuries and also became a father for the first time in October.

Nadal has never won the ATP Finals title in 10 attempts. He finished run ner-up in 2010 and 2013.

Earlier, third-seeded Casper Ruud, who lost in the semifinals last year, eased to a straight-set vic tory over tournament debutant Felix Auger-Ali assime in the other Green Group match.

The match was largely dominated by serving and a solitary break in the sev enth game of the second set proved enough for the Norwegian player to secure a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over the fifth-seeded Canadian.

“I think this is some of the best level that I have played since the US Open,” said Ruud, who lost the final at Flushing Meadows to Carlos Alcaraz. “The last couple of months have been a little bit of a strug gle, I have to honestly say

that, but you have to accept it as well. “You will face difficult moments in your career, and maybe these last couple of months was

one of those … It doesn’t matter how hard you practice if you don’t win matches, so today was a great win for me.”

Brandon Nakashima beats Lehecka again to win Next Gen Finals title

By DANIELLA MATAR AP Sports Writer

MILAN (AP) — Ameri can Brandon Nakashima stayed perfect in Milan as he won the Next Gen ATP Finals on Saturday with his second straight-set vic tory over Jirí Lehecka this week.

Nakashima took just 80 minutes to win 4-3 (5), 4-3 (6), 4-2, securing the title on the first of three championship points when Lehecka sent a forehand long.

The fourth-seeded Nakashima won all five of his matches at the yearending tournament for 21-and-under players, including a straight-set vic tory over Lehecka in the group stage.

“It’s been a great season for me. I’ve definitely learned a lot with every match, with every tourna ment,” said Nakashima, who won his first ATP title in his home city of San Diego in September.

“Of course at the begin ning of the year I had some

goals, to win my first ATP title and to be able to do that in San Diego was super special. To finish off the year here with the title at the Next Gen is super special. I think the whole year for me has been very consistent.”

Nakashima had to recover from being 3-1 down in the opener and also faced two set points in the second-set tiebreaker.

“I think in those pressure situations it all comes down to your mental game,” he said. “It’s about staying calm in those moments, of course there’s going to be some nerves sometimes but you just try to manage as best as possible.

“I think in those pressure situations I’m pretty good this year.”

Lehecka was out for revenge as well as the title and broke Nakashima’s serve in the very first game. But Nakashima broke back in the sixth game to take the set to a tiebreaker, where the American raced into a 5-0 lead and went on to take the set.

Lehecka threatened to start the second set in simi lar fashion but Nakashima managed to save two break points early on. Indeed the next break of serve was to prove the most important as it came in the final game of the tour nament. “It was a tough match. Brandon was play ing very good tennis this week,” Lehecka said. “He deserved to win, he was playing the best tennis out

of everyone here. “I’m sad I didn’t take at least one set today, I was a break up in the first, I had two set points in the second, so this feels kind of unlucky ... He was more solid in the cru cial moments, that’s how I would explain today’s loss.”

It was Nakashima’s second appearance at the Next Gen Finals, having lost to compatriot Sebas tian Korda in the semifinals last year.

This is the fifth edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals, which has featured shorter sets of first-to-four games and other experimental format changes. New rules included no changeovers after the first game of each set and only one sit-down per set after three games; a 15-second serve clock after aces, double-faults and unreturned serves; and coaching during an oppo nent’s medical timeout or toilet break.

Current No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz won last year’s edition.

“This tournament is great. I think it’s great that all the young, up-and-com ing players come together and compete in a nice, fun format,” Nakashima said. “I think it really exposes the younger generation well, so I think it’s a great stepping stone for the ATP tour.

“To be on that list with all the past champions I think is a great achieve ment and we just have to keep working hard and look forward to next year.”

SWITZERLAND DEFEAT AUSTRALIA TO WIN BILLIE JEAN KING CUP

FROM PAGE 13

Teichmann in the early match.

“I gave so much energy in Jil’s match, ‘cause I was trying to push her so much,” Bencic said. “Storm was playing incredible, she was throwing everything at Jil. And she stayed so strong, every point she didn’t go away. And she, like, refused to lose and fought with everything she had, and I was so proud and so inspired in a way. And I kind of tried to do the same thing. I don’t think we got it yet, that we’re the first ones (from Switzerland) to win.”

The Swiss had never won the competition formerly known as the Fed Cup, losing the final in 1998 and again last year. Australia won it seven times, but the last was in 1974. The Aus tralians have reached 10 finals since then, but lost them all.

“We didn’t win this just today, it was this week, and it was actually over years,” Switzerland team captain Heinz Guenthardt said. “Who knows why you win something and you lose something. A lot of it has to do with heart. And this team has a lot of heart, I tell you.”

Bencic said last year’s loss in the final served as extra motivation this time around.

“We were finalists last year and we were so heart broken,” Bencic said. “I don’t think I’ve cried so much. But in the locker room (Teichmann) came to me and said, ‘Next year we’re going to do it.’ And we did.”

PEREIRA UPSETS ADESANYA, WINS UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE AT MSG

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) —

Alex Pereira has Israel Adesanya’s number in any combat sport -- make it 3-0, and now the Brazilian knockout artist also has his rival’s UFC middleweight championship.

Pereira fought back out from a slow start and rocked Adesanya in the fifth round to score the TKO win and claim the 185-pound championship in the main event of UFC 281 on Saturday night at Madi son Square Garden.

The 35-year-old Pereira defeated Adesanya twice -once by knockout -- in their old kickboxing days and the wins got the challenger fast-tracked to a title match after just three UFC fights.

“For everybody that said I couldn’t do five rounds, look at what I did just now,” Pereira said through an interpreter.

Pereira capped his rapid rise to the title in front of

a Garden crowd going wild as he tagged Adesanya with a vicious right that sent the champion into the cage and then socked him with a hook. Adesanya, the Nigeria-born, New Zea land-raised fighter, slumped against the cage and Pereira went for the finishing blows but referee Marc Goddard stopped the bout at 2:01 in the fifth.

Knocked at times for his methodical style, the 31-year-old Adesanya (23-2) known as “The Last Stylebender” got the MSG crowd on his side once he clobbered Pereira with a pounding right and then a fast left hand to the face that ended the first round and sent the challenger reeling.

Trying to shake off the beating, Pereira stood and beckoned fans to get louder as he waited for the bell to signal the second. He raised his arms again to the sellout crowd of 20,845, only this time in victory. Adesanya had been champion since

2019 and his loss snapped his 12-fight win streak at middleweight, only one shy of Anderson Silva’s division record.

Zhang Weili won the 115-belt for a second time and UFC’s first Chinese champion made quick work against Carla Esparza with a rear naked choke

submission at 1:05 of the second round.

Zhang (23-3) patted her championship belt after UFC President Dana White wrapped it around her waist inside the octagon. Zhang only successfully defended the championship once during her first champion ship reign. She beat Jéssica

Andrade in 2019 and won a decision against Joanna Jedrzejczyk before she suf fered consecutive losses to Rose Namajunas.

Back in the title picture, Zhang didn’t disappoint and capped the victory with a cartwheel.

Esparza (20-7) was a twotime champion.

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar lost the final bout of his MMA career when he was dropped by Chris Gutierrez at 2:01 of the first round of their fight.

The 41-year-old Edgar absorbed a flying knee to the head for a brutal KO loss in his last time in the cage in a career that started in 2005. Gutierrez and Edgar had a long embrace after the spectacular finish in the 135-pound fight that quieted another packed crowd at MSG.

A Toms River, New Jersey native, Edgar fin ished his career at 24-11-1 overall and 18-11-1 in the UFC.

Edgar entered the night with a UFC-record 7 hours, 55 minutes and 9 seconds of total fight time. His 1,799 significant strikes were sec ond-best, and 73 takedowns were fourth on the career list. He held the lightweight championship for nearly two years from 2010 to 2012.

Dustin Poirier made Michael Chandler tap in the third round of bloody slug fest that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Poirier slapped on the rear naked choke to stop a frenetic match that had both fighters seemingly on the brink of victory — the official scorecards had the fight even entering the third round — on multiple occasions. In the second round, Chandler had blood flowing from his nose like an open tap as he mounted Poirier.

Poirier complained blood leaked into his eyes and he told the referee that Chan dler stuck fingers in his mouth and pulled his head back.

Novak Djokovic, Ste fanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev complete the lineup in Turin.

SWITZERLAND’s players Jil Teichmann and Belinda Bencic, right, pose with their trophy after defeating Australia to win the Billie Jean King Cup tennis finals, at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, yesterday.

(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

NIGERIA’S ISRAEL ADESANYA, right, punches Brazil’s Alex Pereira during their middleweight bout at the UFC 281 mixed martial arts event yesterday in New York.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

WINNER United States’ Brandon Nakashima holds the trophy during a medal ceremony for the ATP Next Gen tennis tourna ment after a final match against Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka in Milan, Italy, on Saturday.

(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

UNITED States’ Taylor Fritz celebrates after defeating Spain’s Rafael Nadal yesterday during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals, at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. (AP Photos/Antonio Calanni)

NORWAY’s Casper Ruud reacts after winning a point against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime dur ing their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals yesterday.

ONTARIO OPEN JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS: XAVION JOHNSON GRABS THE GOLD

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN his second tourna ment in two weeks in Canada, Bahamian rising judoka Xavion Johnson had to settle for a gold and a fifth place respectively in the Cadet and Senior divi sions of the Ontario Open Judo Championships at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Center in Ontario.

On Saturday, the 16-yearold Johnson, who attends Capstone Academy, won the Cadet division, but yesterday he had to settle for fifth place in the open division.

“It feels pretty good. It shows that what I did the week before wasn’t a fluke,” said Johnson, who easily won his three matches on Saturday in the 50-kilogram class where he stood as the tallest competitor at 6-feet.

“It was really good. My semi-final was my toughest match because he scored on me in the first 15 sec onds and then I scored on him and I scored on him again in the one minute and 20 seconds. “So it was my hardest match.”

After winning his open ing match rather easily, Johnson had a difficult time in his semi-final match, but survived with the victory.

After that, he got another quick decision in the final to win the title for the third time. “My techniques are better and I am much more focused,” Johnson said. “Everything went very well for me. So I’m pleased with my performance today (Saturday).

With no time to rest, Johnson came back on Sunday and fought in the senior category where he ended up in fifth place.

“To be host, I thought today (Sunday), I was going to go 1-2, but I actu ally went 3-2, so I’m really happy with that,” he said.

Despite his loss, Johnson said he’s not disappointed at all.

“In my opinion, I fought way better today than yes terday,” he said. “I felt like I was more hungry to win today, but it just didn’t happen.”

While in Canada, John son was training with the Lethbridge Kyodokan Judo Club, coached by Russ Gallant.

Johnson is coming off his impressive weekend last week at the Quebec Open at the Claude Robillard Sports Complex in Quebec where he clinched the vic tory in the under-18 boys’ division of the 60-kilogram class to qualify for the Cadet World Champion ships in 2023.

Johnson, who also trains out of the Eastwood Judo Club with sensei Mackey Munnings and the Black Ice Judo in the USA with Joshua White, he will take the rest of the year off to recuperate and enjoy the Christmas holiday before he prepares for next season.

His proud mother, Ordain Moss, said she’s grateful for the assistance from her family members, including his grand and great-grandmothers Tracey and Hazel Chea, god mother Udean Sattom and Paul Sattom.

XAVION JOHNSON, second from left, is flanked by his rivals at the Ontario Open Judo Championships at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Center in Ontario.