11172022 NEWS AND SPORT

FTX INVESTIGATION ‘OF HIGHEST ORDER’

PM says effort will be coordinated with authorities in other jurisdictions

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle @ tribunemedia.net

AFTER the collapse of FTX, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said he has ordered that local investiga tions be of the highest order and given precedence, adding that investiga tions will be a coordinated effort with “duly appointed authorities” in other jurisdictions.

He also said govern ment officials have not identified any deficiencies

in the nation’s regulatory framework that could have prevented FTX’s implosion.

“As you know, the FTX group has one entity which is regulated in The Baha mas, FTX Digital Markets Limited,” Mr Davis revealed in the House of Assembly yesterday in his first public remarks on the ongoing saga.

“This entity’s registration has been suspended and it was put in provisional liqui dation. The FTX group and affiliates all now appear to

BAHAMAS LIQUIDATORS DETECT ‘SERIOUS FRAUD’ SIGNS AT FTX

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

FTX’s Bahamian provi sional liquidators have yet to gain control of all its assets amid signs that “serious fraud and mismanagement” may have caused the group’s col lapse, it has been revealed.

Brian Simms KC disclosed

in a November 15, 2022, affi davit filed with the southern New York federal bankruptcy court that the provisional liquidators presently cannot determine the financial posi tion of FTX Digital Markets, the group’s Bahamian subsid iary, because they lack access to the necessary documents and other information.

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg @ tribunemedia.net

POLICE Commis sioner Clayton Fernander said police are working to identify the complaints against Fyre Festival organiser Billy McFarland, adding they cannot confirm if he has returned to the country recently.

TikTok posts with Mr McFarland have raised speculation by some that he probably is or has

continued with one person stating the individual is in The Bahamas with footage of beaches.

However, it is not known when these videos were recorded.

Commissioner Fernander was asked about the con cern and if police were on the lookout for McFarland.

“What I can say is we got that information that he may be here, that has not been confirmed and we are

GOVT TRAVEL SPENDING

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle @ tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Phil lip “Brave” yesterday defended his administra tion’s travel expenditure for the first quarter of the 2022-23 fiscal year, days after the Ministry of Finance reported a $2.3m increase in government’s travel spending when compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year.

On Monday, the Min istry of Finance released its three-month report on the budgetary perfor mance for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which revealed

DRA REPORT HIGHLIGHTS ABACO DOME PROJECT ISSUES

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell @ tribunemedia.net

A COMPANY

discontinued the project after receiving $4.6m of the total $6.4m required to complete the work, despite only completing about 16 percent of the structures.

Following the 2019 monster hurricane, few homes remained intact on Abaco. Given the immi nent need for housing at the time, Sebas Bastian’s Brickell Management Group’s (BMG) $6.4m proposal was accepted and a contract agreed.

BMG, accord ing to a new Disaster

FRONT PORCH: HUBRIS AND THE MARCH OF FOLLY

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday.

PHOTO: Austin Fernander

been in the country. One video shows him tell ing two people they are going to The Bahamas next weekend. The video

con tracted by the former Minnis administration to construct 213 domes and the needed infrastructure on Abaco in the after math of Hurricane Dorian

BILLY McFarland

DEPUTY PM: OFFICIALS WORKING ON DOWNTOWN REVITALISATION PROJECT

TOURISM Minister Chester Cooper said yes terday officials are working actively on the Downtown Revitalisation Project as developments are on the way and some dilapidated structures have already been demolished.

Mr Cooper spoke to The Tribune yesterday about the efforts of revamping the downtown area, noting that there is great interest in investments on Bay Street.

He stressed that the addi tion of an incubation centre would help facilitate Baha mian businesses, as he said the initial spending on the centre will be in the region of $1.5m.

“We are almost ready to launch our incubation centre, this is going to be an incubation centre for authentic Bahamian busi nesses. Shortly you will see the reopening of the new Prince George Wharf,” Mr Cooper said.

“A signature business is going to be the Incubation Centre where we are going to have an authentically Bahamian market. Unlike the Straw Market that now exists only Bahamian prod ucts and services are going to be here.

“We’re also going to have an incubation centre for the creative arts, where young artists and musicians can also be there and partici pate and benefit as a result

of the increasing arrival of tourists to the area.”

During his time in office Mr Cooper has expressed his displeasure with the state of downtown, adding that the area desperately needs to be transformed.

The deteriorating state of the buildings downtown has been called an “eyesore”.

In March, Mr Cooper said downtown must “become the calling card of The Bahamas, not continue to be a point of national shame.”

“As deputy prime min ister, I am daily confronted with the issues: maintaining the infrastructure, clean ing streets and sidewalks, improved signage, address ing poor lighting, the enhancement and enforce ment of the Penal Code as they relate to loitering, solicitation, illegal vendors and illicit activities,” Mr

Cooper said in March.

When asked yesterday what was the main idea behind the project, Mr Cooper said: “Well, we want to clean it up. There are some short-term things that we need to do. The Ministry of Tourism is taking charge of a lot of it. We want to ensure that beautification is done and we want to ensure that it’s cleaned up for the arrival of our guests.

“Then we want to start rebuilding. We’ve met with the property owners and we’ve asked them to repair their buildings. We’ve demolished many buildings already. I believe five build ings we’ve demolished in the downtown area. We’re going to continue this pro cess, where people don’t repair their buildings, we hope they do, but if they don’t the law must take its course.”

Mr Cooper added that action is being taken to address the management issues downtown.

“We have some new leg islation that’s coming to Parliament soon. One that will address many of the management issues that there are for downtown. As well as the attorney general is looking to see how we can better manage some other issues like vagrancy, for example.

“But we’re working along with the police, the attor ney general, the Ministry of Works, we have a task force really to push forward.”

Mental Health Bill debated in House

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of Parlia ment yesterday debated the Mental Health Bill, which, once enacted, will allow people suffering with mental illness to be better protected.

The legislation, which aims to repeal the current Mental Health Act, was first laid in Parliament by Health Minister Dr Michael Dar ville in July.

Prime Minister Phillip Davis opened debate on the new bill yesterday, saying he believed the proposed legislation effectively mod ernises the nation’s laws surrounding mental health, respects the rights of those facing mental health chal lenges, and puts in place a framework to expand the resources available to help those who need it.

“The Mental Health Bill 2022 repeals and replaces the Mental Health Act of 1969—1969, that is how long it has been since we’ve enacted such a comprehen sive reform to the existing mental health legislation,” he said. “What we see before us represents hard work by policymakers and experts working together to get this done.

“My administration has treated the passing of this legislation as a matter of urgency, because we know the difficulties people are

facing throughout the nation. Mental illness, mental disor ders, anxiety, and depression are not necessarily topics we talk about every day in The Bahamas.”

The prime minister con tinued: “Yet, no family goes untouched by these issues. Many Bahamians have struggled under the weight of mental illness for years, often lacking access to counselling, medication, and treatment options due to lack of finances, lack of access to expertise, or simply a lack of awareness of where to turn.

“We need only look at the tragic suicides in recent memory to get an indica tion of the silent battles being fought all over the country. And The Baha mas is not alone in this. The World Health Organization estimates that one in four people are living with mental illness and that number is growing every year.

“Mental health has become a major focus of public health efforts around the world and The Bahamas is no exception. The bill we are debating today provides a modern, best practicealigned framework, one which will usher us into a new era for mental health in The Bahamas.”

According to Mr Davis, the objective of the bill is to preserve the human rights of those diagnosed with mental illnesses, to ensure that appropriate levels of mental health care and treatment options are available in our communities; to empower persons with mental illness to make decisions about their care and treatment, while providing safeguards to protect them and ensure they are treated fairly and humanely.

Another aim of the bill, he added, is to establish standards for mental health services, which seeks to ensure there are benchmarks related to quality, safety, and appropriateness of treat ments and facilities.

The bill, among other functions, allows for the establishment of a Mental

Health Services Board and Mental Health Review Tribunal.

It also speaks of how people with mental ill ness should be treated and addresses offences against persons diagnosed with or exhibiting symptoms of mental illness.

For instance, people found guilty of such offences can be fined up to $1,000 or face up to two years in prison or both.

“This change has been a long time coming,” Mr Davis continued. “There are many who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes and advocated vigorously to make today a possibility. Much to the frustration of those living with mental ill ness and the mental health professionals who take care of them, mental illness is one of the most neglected areas of public health. However, things are changing. The Mental Health Bill (2022) is a testament to that change.”

National Security Min ister Wayne Munroe, who seconded the bill, called it “timely, relevant and necessary” in terms of safe guarding how we care for and treat people who may or may not have been diag nosed with a mental illness.

Meanwhile, Iram Lewis, FNM MP for Central Grand Bahama, described the legis lation as a “gamechanger.”

“The trauma caused by the COVID-19 pan demic, the worsening stress and loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and an eventual lack of access to mental health support, have caused significant mental health gaps in the country,” he said, while also calling for more to be done to protect victims.

“Our people are crying out for help but with legislation must come imple mentation and enforcement. We must ensure that Baha mians are given the right support system to access this level of care.

“We must ensure that the right people are in the right place to advance this matter forward.”

MASKS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED IN CLASSROOMS

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

MASKS are no longer required in indoor classroom settings, officials announced yesterday.

Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin told this news paper yesterday that she has no concerns about the relaxa tion of the mask mandate in schools.

Mrs Hanna Martin expressed her support for the decision, saying her ministry is “completely guided” by the Ministry of Health which made the decision.

She said that she was more concerned about students wearing masks in “hot and stifling” circumstances.

“We are completely guided by the Ministry of Health. My concerns were that chil dren were in the classroom wearing masks and some times in hot and stifling circumstances. I am very, very happy that the Ministry of Health has now deemed it timely, appropriate and about time for children to be able to remove the mask,” said Mrs Hanna Martin yesterday.

According to officials, the mask mandate in schools was lifted on Monday.

“The Ministry of Edu cation and Technical and Vocational Training advises that the Ministry of Health and Wellness has relaxed the mask mandate for all persons in an indoor class room setting effective November 14, 2022,” the

Ministry of Education said in a statement.

“This means that staff, stu dents and visitors on school campuses and educational institutions are no longer required to wear masks.”

Following the announce ment, Mrs Hanna Martin said she is unaware of concerns from parents on the matter.

However, some parents had previously expressed concerns about the stu dents wearing masks for an extended period of time.

“I think that pre dominantly parents were concerned about the fact that children were wearing masks for extended hours at a time and not being able to prop erly ventilate,” she told The Tribune yesterday.

Mrs Hanna Martin said she is hopeful that students are able to have a “greater sense of ease” in the classroom that will help in their learning and development.

The Ministry of Health said there are cases where mask wearing will still be required.

This includes people accessing a health care facil ity for any reason, including workers, patients, visitors and vendors or any non-res ident worker of a long-term care residential facility.

Despite the change in policy, officials said some Bahamians might still choose to wear masks for protection from COVID-19 regardless of the setting and added that their decision to do so should be respected.

DEPUTY Prime Minister and Tourism Minister Chester Cooper.

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe called the Bill ‘timely, relevant and necessary’. Photo: Austin Fernander

FTX INVESTIGATION

FROM

be subject to insolvency proceedings pending in Nassau and in the United States.

“

This comes as local and international inves tigations continue into the embattled cryptocur rency exchange following reports that it mishandled customers’ funds. A bipar tisan hearing into matters related to FTX is set to take place in the US next month.

The hearing was announced in a statement released yesterday from the US House Financial Services Committee, whose chairwoman is Congress woman Maxine Waters.

The body will be hear ing testimony from all individuals and companies involved with FTX’s fall out, including FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried - who has since resigned as CEO of the company and com mitted himself to doing right by his customers in the aftermath of the com pany’s collapse.

Meanwhile, local regu lators last week moved to protect clients of The Bahamas’ flagship crypto currency investor by “freezing” its assets and just recently received court approval to appoint joint provisional liquidators.

“There are reports that FTX has mismanaged cus tomer assets, and numerous investigations have begun into the reported actions and actors in several coun tries, including by our own Securities Commission and the Financial Crimes Inves tigation Branch,” Mr Davis continued.

“I note that The Baha mas did not have sole oversight of FTX’s world wide operation. I have given directions that these proceedings and investi gations are to be of the highest order and given precedence, given the amounts involved and because committed and rigorous oversight is of national importance.

“We will be coordinat ing these efforts with duly appointed authorities in other jurisdictions.”

Mr Davis explained that there have been “booms and busts” in the crypto world and even pointed to several crypto tokens and global companies that have suffered similar fates over the last several months.

The prime minister also addressed concerns about the future of the nation’s digital asset management sector in view of FTX’s collapse, insisting that he had every confidence The Bahamas will emerge from proceedings related to FTX with an enhanced reputation as a solid digital assets jurisdiction.

He also noted that based on analysis of the crisis, government officials have not identified any defi ciencies in the nation’s regulatory framework that could have avoided the current situation.

“In fact, it was because The Bahamas already had in place a regulatory frame work for digital assets and digital asset businesses, that the regulator was able to take immediate steps in order to protect the inter ests of clients, creditors, and other stakeholders

globally,” Prime Minister Davis also said.

“The Bahamas was already on track to update the regulatory frame work before year’s end, to address lessons learned as a result of this year’s crypto winter.”

“No doubt, as the vari ous jurisdictions involved unravel the actions that led to this moment, we will be among the first jurisdic tions to gain and put to use valuable insights, allowing us to further strengthen our framework.”

Mr Davis also asked “those who care about our country’s reputation” to tread carefully when speaking about matters related to FTX, saying the situation was “very com plex and still unfolding.”

Responding to Mr Davis’ communication, Free National Movement Leader and Marco City MP Michael Pintard told parliamentarians that he was stunned “at the brev ity and to a large extent, the hollowness” of the prime minister’s remarks on FTX’s collapse.

He added: “We are facing a substantial risk to our financial services sector and one would’ve expected that since the international community’s eyes are trained on the Common wealth of The Bahamas that on this occasion that this Davis-Cooper admin istration would’ve thought it necessary to break its silence much earlier with a far more comprehensive statement given the gravity of this.”

However, Mr Davis, rising on a point of order, called for Mr Pintard to listen carefully to what he had actually said.

“When the facts are unfolding, you don’t jump ahead of yourself to make these cheap political shots,” he stressed.

“Understand what the facts are, they are still unfolding and you have to be careful with what you’re saying because the matter is still before the courts so I try to be as sanguine as possible so as not to say that I am influencing the procedures going on at the court. That’s why brevity.

PM DEFENDS GOVT TRAVEL SPENDING

that travel-related spending and subsistence payments by the govern ment totaled $4.2 million.

The figure is up from $1.9 million spent on travel and subsistence in the same period in the 2021/22 fiscal year, according to published reports.

“Madam Speaker, I wish to draw attention to one area of expenditure which excites a lot of commen tary from those who oppose us, and that is the area of travel,” Mr Davis said in the House of Assembly.

He was responding to the Free National Move ment that has frequently hit out on what it consid ers excessive travel by the government.

“I accept that emotions must run high for them, as they see our administra tion move The Bahamas to a stronger position of influence in the world,” Mr Davis continued.

“I understand the feel ings of regret that their voices and views were not canvassed by international bodies, in the way that our presence is sought. But I do hope that they understand in turn, that when we travel, we do so for the good of The Bahamas and the bet terment of the Bahamian people.

“They should also appre ciate that a significant portion of the travel spend includes the cost of tech nical officers’ travel for training, capacity building and development. Expendi ture includes the cost of travel to Family Islands for public servants, to ensure equal access to government

services around the archipelago.”

The prime minister also conceded that his govern ment’s travel expenses for the first quarter were not remarkable and should be within budget by year’s end.

“The first quarter expenditure on travel is around 28 percent of the travel budget, marginally above the 25 percent level of the amount budgeted for the year.

“This is not remarkable. “Some quarters will be a little higher, others a little lower,” he added.

“But by year’s end, it should be within budget.

In my budget communica tion earlier in the year, I highlighted the difference between money spent on investment, and money which is expenditure. Fun damentally and ultimately, the test is whether we can show a return on that investment.”

He continued: “Madam Speaker, permit me to demonstrate what travel has yielded just in the past week. In September, I was invited by the New York Times newspaper to par ticipate in a panel in New York. The other two par ticipants were the head of the IMF and the head of the World Bank.

“That conversation sparked widespread global discussion and is credited with a shift in the position of the World Bank.”

Mr Davis said following these discussions, he met with the head of the Inter national Monetary Fund at COP 27 in Egypt.

“As you may have seen previously reported, the conversation led to a

ground-breaking agree ment in principle for the IMF to partner with The Bahamas, to develop our blue carbon market sector, and to explore swapping debt for carbon credits.”

“You would’ve heard comments about our meetings. This has never happened before, and The Bahamas is set to be in the forefront of this innovation.

“This is the difference between our approach and what went before. We didn’t go to the IMF begging for a loan - they came to us, you know, to discuss a partner ship,” he added.

Since taking office last year, the Davis administra tion has been criticised for their frequency of travelling and the number of people allowed on delegations.

Most recently, the gov ernment faced some criticism after a 70-person delegation attended COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt; however, it was revealed that some people as a part of the trip were funded by the private sector.

There was also wide spread controversy over the prime minister’s trip to Ber muda last month.

The trip saw a number of government and Progres sive Liberal Party officials attend.

While it was initially said that travel costs associated with the trip were covered by the PLP, it was later revealed that the govern ment had funded the travel; however, the government was eventually reimbursed for some costs.

Meanwhile, the adminis tration has maintained that it is vital for The Bahamas to make representations

That’s why I just settled to say the facts and that’s what responsibility says on my part.”

internationally to advance the country’s national interests.

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis and Free National Movement Leader Michael Pintard in the House of Assembly yesterday. PHOTOS: Austin Fernander

Reconstruction Author ity audit report tabled at Parliament yesterday, was contracted to oversee the dome site preparation, electrical power, water supply and sewerage dis posal and pathways along with the installation of the 213 domes at a designated site.

However, after two site changes and a third deci sion to construct the domes at the site of destroyed homes, BMG said it did not wish to continue, and the DRA did not require a specific performance report. At that time, only 34 of the domes were fully erected at homeowners’ properties, the report said.

A second contracted company, Precision Design & Construction, BMG’s subcontractor, took over the project, but they too pulled out. It was later determined that they owed the DRA more than $81,000.

The revelations, which shed more light on how taxpayer funds for the domes were distributed, were in the audited finan cial statements of the DRA over a 19-month period from December 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021. The independent auditor, LDL Associates, signed its report on the financial statements on September 22, 2022.

“This contract included the cost of infrastructure installations (site prepa ration, electrical power, water supply and sewerage disposal and pathways) and the installation of 213 domes at a designated site in Central Abaco,” the report said.

“After the commence ment of work at the site,

it was determined that the location did not meet cer tain environmental criteria and so a second site was chosen, and work com menced in November 2019.

“Subsequently, the second site was deter mined to not be the most suitable, as homeowners preferred the erection of the domes on the site of their destroyed homes.

“On April 30, 2020, BMG determined that they did not wish to con tinue with the contract to install the domes on pri vate properties. The DRA did not require ‘specific performance’. At the time only 34 of the 213 domes were fully erected on homeowners’ properties.”

The report continued: “Of the contract sum of $6.4m, $4.6m had already been paid to BMG in the purchase of the domes and the other materials that were to assist in the setup of the ‘Family Relief Centre’ and toward the management of the con tract at that stage. The balance of the contract, $1.8m remained in pos session of the Bahamas Disaster Relief Fund, under the control of NEMA.”

Following this, the report said the DRA was charged to manage the completion of dome instal lations and undertook an exercise to determine the inventory of materi als on hand and the value received on the BMG contract, with a view to assessing any liability or recoverable amount that might exist.

While this exercise is continuing, and follow ing numerous meetings with BMG representatives of various positions, the DRA determined that no

further money was owed to the company.

But this remains under dispute.

“BMG’s initial position was that they were owed $1,129,182. They were pre pared to settle for a sum of $1m, which was further reduced to $600,000.

“Negotiations are con tinuing on this matter, but as at June 30, 2021, the DRA has a contin gent liability to pay up to $600,000 to settle the claim by BMG. Because of management’s disagree ment with the proposed settlement amount and the uncertainty as to what the final settlement amount, if any, will be, no accrual has been made in these accounts for this amount.”

After BMG discon tinued its work, it was decided that BMG’s sub contractor, a trained and certified InterShelter Inc (dome manufacturer) installer – Precision Design & Construction, bid on the construction of 66 domes on timber bases, primar ily at homes in and around Marsh Harbour, Dundas and Murphy Towns.

“The DRA entered into a contract with Pre cision on July 1, 2020 for $670,505 to fulfil the said scope of work.

“A number of challenges impacted the Precision contract, including the ini tial COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, funding issues from NEMA and the DRA and the vandalisation and theft on the construction site resulted in a longer than forecasted contract duration and additional overhead costs, requiring

the DRA to fund a remo bilisation of the Precision contract.

“In January 2021, the balance of the undrawn BMG contract was finally released to the DRA and work on the Precision con tract was then able to be resumed. However, at the beginning of April 2021, Precision determined that

it did not wish to continue with the contract and ceased the installation of the 66 domes.

“At the time, 35 domes were deemed completed and 31 domes were yet to be commenced.

“Again, ‘specific perfor mance’ was not requested by the DRA.

“The DRA determined that Precision owes the authority $81,106 being the net amount paid to them in excess of the contractual value of work completed at the time they discontin ued the contract.

“This balance due from Precision has not yet been agreed with Preci sion and has therefore not been accrued as a receiv able in these financial statements.”

DRA Chairman Alex Storr, Mr Bastian and Brickell Management Group did not return calls yesterday.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING SIGNED WITH THE AFRICAN EXPORT-IMPORT BANK

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

A MEMORANDUM of understanding was signed between the government and the African Export-Import Bank, allow ing The Bahamas to join other Caribbean states in establishing a partnership with the multilateral trade finance institution.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis described the signing as an historic moment for The Bahamas, adding that it would fill the gap in the region for private sector businesses seeking international funding.

The MoU was signed at the Office of the Prime Minister at West Bay Street, where Financial Secretary Simon Wilson and bank executives - Ayman El Zoghby, head of trade and corporate finance and Temwa Gondwe, senior manager trade facilitation – were in attendance.

Mr Davis said: “In keeping with its mis sion, the African Exim Bank seeks to expand its operation to Caribbean member states through the establishment of the Caribbean Exim Bank, which will provide services to the region such as trade and project financing, export development, guarantees and trade information, and advisory services.

“In other words, it will fill the gap in the region for private sector businesses seeking international funding which is presently not readily available through the CDB, which is the Caribbean Development Bank.

“This partnership holds much promise. It provides for the promotion and financ ing of ‘South-South trade’ between African countries and Caribbean Member States.

“Provision is also made for financing exports and imports of non-traditional African goods and services, the provision of insurance, and guaranteeing service cov erage for commercial and non-commercial risks associated with African exports and imports.

“Member states will also support the bank in acting as an intermediary between African traders and traders of the Car ibbean community, and to facilitate and support the execution of banking opera tions and the borrowing of funds.

“The African Exim Bank has also indi cated that once the regional office has been established that it envisaged committing an investment of US$700 million in the Carib bean as quickly as possible.”

Through this, Mr Davis said the CARI COM Community will be able to unlock further economic and social benefits at a critical time when so much support is needed.

He went on to thank representa tives of the bank for visiting the county expeditiously.

“I must say that the bank has moved with rapid speed because this follows upon a meeting with myself and the chairman of the bank in Egypt at Sharma El-Sheikh.

“Two days after my meeting with him he had representatives in The Bahamas and I want to thank them for their expeditious ness to notice what we are doing and to fulfil our dream of connecting and putting this bridge between the Caribbean and Africa.”

For his part, Mr Zoghby said the bank was moving to soon establish an office in the region.

He also clarified that rather than allo cating monetary investment for specific countries, there would be an integration for the region.

“We’re witnessing the first of milestones with The Bahamas joining the African Export Import Bank as a member state, which will unlock so many of our activi ties, financing programmes and facilitation initiatives into the Caribbean,” Mr Zoghby said.

“We’re starting immediately on the establishment of some representation for the African Export Import Bank here in the Caribbean,” he said further. “That will evolve eventually into an EXIM bank that will support trade and investment between Africa and the Caribbean.

“So, we’ve laid the foundation for this and we’re starting to move on that opportunity.

“For the investments we’ve already started a programme, Africa Caribbean Trade and Investment Promotion Pro gramme, for $250m that we are immediately launching for financing and investments.

“We have not allocated a certain amount for certain countries,” he also said.

“We are doing this on an integrated basis for the whole of the Caribbean but the sooner the opportunities come up the bank will provide the financing and we’re active as can be. So, if plans are ready, we will immediately do them in The Bahamas.”

Among the projects that have been dis cussed so far involving the bank include further developing transportation and poultry farming among other things.

Police to establish a domestic violence office before end of year

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

POLICE Commissioner Clay ton Fernander said yesterday that a domestic violence office, housed separate and apart from the Royal Bahamas Police, should be established before the end of the year.

The commissioner’s com ments come after recent concerns regarding a United Nations Inter national Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) report, which highlighted the prevalence of vio lence against women and children in the Caribbean from 2015 to 2021.

“That’s something I don’t sup port when it comes to dealing with the females and ladies. As I indicated when I took office, the domestic violence office will be housed separate, apart and stan dalone. And we are doing just that between now and before the year’s end,” Commissioner Fer nander said yesterday.

“I am talking with all of the stakeholders on board from social services and the private sector. The key persons will be on board to protect the females,” he said.

On August 29, Assistant Com missioner of Police Dellareece Ferguson, who is also head of the

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg @ tribunemedia.net

POLICE have noticed a trend regarding stolen vehicles where suspects are covering the original VIN number with a false plate, according to Com missioner of Police Clayton Fernander.

During his welcome remarks at the inaugural senior commanders’ con clave, he showed footage identifying the trend.

He said before any vehi cle is sold or purchased, he explained “you should bring it to CID” so that it can be properly examined to determine if the vehicle is stolen.

“Too many complaints are coming in where per sons go to the bank, get a loan, purchase a vehicle either online and eventually discover that the vehicle is stolen. So they are losing twice - they still paying

Royal Bahamas Police Force’s (RBPF) Domestic Violence Unit, released data on the nation’s sex crimes during a consultation meeting on the draft CARICOM Regional Gender Equality Strat egy (CRGES) at Superclubs Breezes.

Between January 1 and August 23, there were 51 reported rape

the bank and without a vehicle.”

He pointed to the crea tive ways of hiding VIN numbers.

“Individuals are covering the original VIN number with a false plate and you will see that that is a false plate and around that VIN number is Bondo. That’s a red flag right away that something is wrong,” he said.

“Some of them will get a plate engraved - just put maybe eight numbers to suggest that is a valid VIN number and our experts in the stolen vehicle section have identified this recent trend and you can see the Bondo around the VIN number they were able to remove that VIN number that plate, which is a false flag and to restore the origi nal number to identify the owner of that vehicle.”

He brought many matters to light at the

incidents, up three from the 48 incidents that were recorded for the entire year of 2021.

Police said they had also recorded 69 cases of indecent assault, 10 reported incidents of incest and more than 60 cases of unlawful sexual intercourse during the reported timeframe.

Due to these figures, ACP

conclave being held at the Breezes resort.

“We have brought our senior commanders together from throughout the length and breadth of the Bahamas and placed them into one room to have a meeting of the minds with tangible solutions. We have added a mix of our most skilled criminal inves tigators, crime detectives, analysts, intelligence offic ers to think outside the box, to remove the box, and just think to innovate and work in synergy to tackle this vexing crime problem in our country,” he said.

Commissioner Fernander explained to the audi ence what can be expected during the conclave.

“We will be on lockdown for the next three days with motivational sessions, group sessions, informative sessions and so much more.

“Our huddle will include a reflection of the past year

Ferguson said at the time that the key priorities of the Domes tic Violence Unit include training officers on how to effec tively respond to gender based or domestic violence situations, and collaboration with various government agencies to raise awareness on social issues among other things.

“Some of the key indicators for us, will be greater aware ness of gender based violence and domestic violence among our officers, greater awareness of human smuggling and traf ficking in persons, increase in the numbers of persons charged with gender based violence and domestic violence, but reduc tion in exploitative incidents, and number five effective, effi cient and effective investigations geared towards gender based vio lence and domestic violence.”

Domestic abuse and violence have been a serious problem in the country over the years, prompting numerous calls for more to be done to protect vic tims of gender-based violence.

The Davis administration has already said it is working on pro posed legislation that addresses gender-based matters, with drafts to Parliament said to be forthcoming.

thus far and the way for ward in 2023 while building out our policing plan in the process. We will participate in multiple session review cases, strategies, and pro cedures. (Evaluating) what worked and did not work. Looking at successes and implementing best prac tices - all with the view of preventing crime before it happens.

“We will be liaising and working with our law enforcement counterparts at all levels in this fight against crime. We will have a zero-tolerance approach to minor crimes because

if left unchecked, they can develop into more serious matters. We will follow up on all cases where there are named suspects to bring closure to our minor crimes. We will double our efforts on stolen vehicles,” the police chief said.

For his part, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe gave the statistics provided to him for 2021. He said there were 118 murders and 388 armed robberies recorded. He said 82 percent of the suspects and 67 percent of the vic tims were under the age of 35.

still checking to see if we have any com plaints with respect to him at this time. That is something that I’m still checking to see if we have any com plaints with respect to him at this time,” he told reporters yesterday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Exuma MP Chester Cooper said on Monday the government will not endorse or approve any event in The Baha mas associated with Mr McFarland, whom he dubbed a “fugitive” due to several pend ing complaints made against him with the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF).

Asked how long police have been looking for him, the commissioner replied: “That’s what we are trying to find out now. (Fyre Festival) was a few years ago and we are trying to identify the complaints.

“Once we have done that and if he is here, then he will be arrested and questioned with respect to those matters.”

Several international media outlets recently reported that Mr McFarland has a new venture, with plans of returning to the coun try to host a “treasure hunt” that will be the focus of an upcoming documentary.

He has been teasing the hunt on TikTok.

POLICE Commissioner Clayton Fernander. (File photo)

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How the energy crisis is pressuring countries’ climate plans

(THE CONVERSATION) Russia’s war on Ukraine has cast a shadow over this week’s meetings of world lead ers at the G-20 summit in Bali and the United Nations climate change confer ence in Egypt.

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

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

These actions are a long way from the countries’ pledges just a year ago to rein in fossil fuels, and they’re likely to further increase greenhouse gas emis sions, at least temporarily.

But will the war and the economic turmoil prevent the world from meet ing 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 countries respond to a focus of this year’s climate conference: fulfilling their pledges in the Paris Agreement to provide support for low- and middleincome countries to build clean energy systems.

• Europe speeds up clean energy plans A key lesson many countries are taking away from the ongoing energy crisis is that, if anything, the transition to renewable energy must be pushed forward faster.

I work with countries as they update national climate pledges and have been involved in evaluating the compat ibility of global emissions reduction scenarios with the Paris Agreement. I see the energy crisis affecting coun tries’ 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 supplies have felt some of the pain of exorbitant prices. In the U.S., for example, natural gas and electricity prices are higher than normal because they are increasingly tied to interna tional 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 countries have offered to help African countries produce more natural gas and have courted authoritarian regimes. The Biden administration is urging companies to extract more oil and gas, has tried to pressure Saudi Arabia to produce more oil, and considered lifting sanc tions against Venezuela.

However, Europe also has a grow ing renewable energy supply that has helped cushion some of the impact. A quarter of the European Union’s electricity 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 wealthier coun tries, 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 past decade and now represent the cheap est 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 low-income countries, and those costs will increase as countries raise interest rates to fight inflation.

As part of the Paris Agreement, wealthy countries 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 developing countries have their own fossil fuel resources, and some in Africa have been calling for increasing production, although not without pushback.

Without a strong alternative 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 coun try expects to sign agreements with Shell and other oil majors for a $40 billion liquefied natural gas export project.

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

Encouraging the construction of new fossil-fuel infrastructure in Africa – presumably to be earmarked for Europe in the short to medium term –may help ameliorate some near-term supply shortages, but how long will those customers 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 without more ambitious climate policies. Any infra structure built today for short-term supplies risks becoming a stranded asset, worthless in a low-emissions world.

Encouraging developing 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 “businessas-usual” path still leads the planet toward warming levels with climate change costs that are hard to con template, especially for the most vulnerable countries.

The outcomes from the climate con ference and G-20 summit will give an indication of whether the global com munity is willing to accelerate the transition.

(This article is by Robert Brecha of the University of Dayton for thecon versation.com. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

The madness of shrinkflation

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I got one of the most sig nificant shocks of my life when I saw a young lady holding a baby standing next to me in a food store aisle, unzip her bag and politely drop two jars of baby food in it, and calmly zip it back up. Then she moved further down the aisle and repeated the same thing with other items.

This was the first time I had witnessed such a sce nario, so I was too shocked to say anything.

Eventually, I got a hold of myself and asked her if she realised she was not only committing a crime but was the cause of high store prices.

She looked at me and said the shop could afford it, and I’m probably some wealthy person who doesn’t know how tough things are for the poor — especially girls with babies and no one to help them.

I could not let her get away with such an assumption.

So, I started asking ques tions like how she got into such a predicament. Where is her baby’s daddy and who is she living with.

Her baby’s daddy is in prison for armed robbery, and she is living with friends because her parents put her out when she got pregnant. For the last few months, shoplifting has been her only means of survival.

My grandson, who was with me, insisted that I give her some money to pay for the goods she had in her bag. I gave her a twentydollar bill, for which she thanked me profusely.

I watched her walk toward the cashier, think ing she would pay for the stashed items. But to my surprise, the young lady walked right out of the store.

With the soaring increase in inflation, we must now prepare ourselves to deal with an even higher crime rate.

Already murder is at an alarming rate, just a few less than last year. Sta tistics prove that, for the most part, the majority appears to be gang-related. Recently there has been an increase in armed robberies.

Petty theft, such as house breaking and the theft of car parts, is also out of control. I can’t understand why the latter is still rel evant. Maybe it’s because the police are waiting to charge some car owner with murder.

Shoplifting is set to go mass market.

People who never thought they would be walking out of the store with items they did not pay for are doing it without giving it a second thought.

This is especially so, but not limited to single mothers.

Shoplifting is rising, and there is a clear indication of the relationship between the high rise in stealing and the soaring cost of living crisis.

The saddest part of it all, like the young lady who takes her baby with her when shoplifting. Chil dren are being taught the craft and, in later years, will become professional thieves.

The seriousness of it is the majority of crimes are committed by kids from single parents. But that is a story for another time.

Soup kitchens offer a last resort for challenged indi viduals, but the recent high rise in prices and decline in donors has seen many of them closed, with the ones operating overwhelmed with new faces daily.

The soup kitchens play an essential role in the lives of many. Without soup kitch ens, many people would go hungry all day long. People you never thought you would see in soup lines are taking lunch breaks to get something to eat.

There is mention of social service distributing discount grocery vouchers to those most in need.

But who is to determine who is most in need?

Unfortunately, like all profit-yielding crime, shop lifting will intensify as the cost of living worsens.

Stealing to eat has become a way of life for many people; most of the things that they steal are just food and basic things they need to get by.

Not too long ago, there was a video on social media with two young ladies caught shoplifting.

They were made to empty their bags and pock ets, handcuffed, and taken away by the police.

While we do not advo cate crime of any kind, we must call a spade a spade. Because like those two young ladies who I’m sure were first-time offenders. Amateurs. With prices as high as they are, there will be many more first-timers who will learn how to steal from shops.

We can hear the noise from the privileged ones who don’t understand the situation. ”Good for them. They need to go work, should know better, and so on.” But it is what it is, and until we are faced with a hungry baby and nothing for them to eat, we can say anything.

Last week there was a big commotion over some proposals put forward by the government that would

help ease the burden of the people.

But this does not in any way absolve them from the furor because many say they should not have put Vat back on bread basket items.

While we are trying to understand the merchant’s position, what we do not understand is why two tomatoes are sold for five dollars and why the prices on old items that have been on the shelf for God knows how long have been changed to a higher price. Now there is shrinkflation.

I’m sure we are not the only ones that have noticed that while groceries are going up in price, their sizes are decreasing.

Shrinkflation is a word I ran across while trying to understand the decrease in sizes, but an increase in prices on many items.

This is madness. They decrease the size of bread, juice, and snacks, the daily needs, and then go up in price.

I read somewhere that while supermarkets may be trying to get ahold of shop lifting, some people see it as a form of fighting against greedy merchants.

We are not trying to tell the merchants how to run their businesses because they are the smart ones.

If they weren’t brilliant, they would not have been able to amass such great wealth.

What we are asking is no begging that you show a little mercy.

For God’s sake, a head of lettuce for five dollars, a loaf of bread for five dol lars, and two tomatoes for five dollars. Four essentials for a healthy living costs fif teen dollars.

I believe even rich folks are having a problem with these prices.

Can’t you have a little mercy and let us slide with them? They can’t cut too much in your already exor bitant profits.

A matter of fact the price of almost every single item in your store has gone up, with many of them being downsized.

And now you tell us eve rything is being done in our best interest.

With things worsening this winter, we urge that we all do our best to be our brother’s keepers. We all know each other and what most of us are going through. Let us not turn a blind eye to each other’s condition.

Where possible, lend a hand and, when necessary, ask for help.

God bless the Bahamas

ANTHONY PRATT Nassau, November

16, 2022.

ELEPHANT cub Akito sits in his enclosure at Leipzig Zoo, Germany, Wednesday. Born on Sept. 25, 2022, the Asian elephant was named Akito after a vote by zoo visitors, which translates as “autumn child.” (Sebastian Willnow/dpa via AP)

OF MANSLAUGHTER OVER TOUR BOAT EXPLOSION ARE ACQUITTED

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey @ tribunemedia.net

TWO men accused of manslaughter in the death of a woman in the 2018 tour boat explosion in Exuma were acquit ted in the Supreme Court yesterday.

Clayton PattersonSmith and Roderick Watson, represented by Murrio Ducille, appeared before Justice Jeanine Weech-Gomez on the final day of their trial.

They both faced charges of manslaughter by negligence.

Patterson-Smith faced an additional charge of negligently endangering a vessel while Watson faced four counts of caus ing harm by negligence.

It was alleged that on June 30, 2018 the two, due to negligence, were

responsible for the boat explosion that caused the death of 39-year-old American tourist Maleka Jackson.

Four other passengers aboard the recreational vessel at the time of the incident were also injured.

After reviewing Mr Ducille’s no case submission, Justice Weech-Gomez ruled that the prosecution, led by Crown prosecutor Raquel Whymms, lacked sufficient evidence for the case to proceed.

Under the justice’s direction, the jury acquit ted the defendants, finding them not guilty of all charges against them.

Both men appeared relieved as they left the court after their official dismissal.

MAN CHARGED WITH EXUMA MURDER

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was sent to prison yesterday after he was charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a man on bail for murder earlier this month.

Alcot Fox, 28, faced Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans on a charge of murder.

Fox is alleged to have shot and killed 22-year-old Malik Fernander around 11pm on November 10 in Rolleville, Exuma.

According to police reports, the victim was found lying on a track road by authori ties with multiple apparent gunshot wounds to the upper body.

At the time of his death Fernander was out on bail on charges of two counts of

murder and one count of attempted murder from 2018. On February 16 of that year in New Providence, Fernander was accused in the shooting deaths of Rashad Bethel and D’Siorn Symonette as well as a failed attempt on Roland Brown’s life.

Fox was not required to enter a plea in court. He was informed that his matter would be fast tracked to the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

The accused was also told that as the magistrate lacked the jurisdiction to grant him bail he had the right to apply for it in the Supreme Court.

Until bail is granted to Fox he will be remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

Fox’s VBI is set for service on January 30, 2023.

PURSE SNATCHING SUSPECT ARRESTED

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

A MAN is in custody in connection with a purse snatching that was caught on camera, according to Commissioner Clayton Fernander.

The incident took place on Bay Street, near McDonald’s.

In the photos circu lating on social media, a man is seen approaching two people and snatch ing a woman’s purse. The woman, who appeared

GB to host Labour on the Blocks 2.0 job fair

“To

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

NEARLY 30 companies and over 200 jobs will be available at the Labour on the Blocks 2.0 job fair in Grand Bahama this weekend, said Labour Director Robert Far quharson yesterday.

The Department of Labour partnered with the Ministry of Grand Bahama to host a job fair on Saturday beginning at 9am at St George’s High School Gymnasium in Free port, Grand Bahama.

Labour Director Robert Farquharson said, “We esti mate over 200 jobs will be available from 23 companies as of yesterday (Tuesday). As of this morning (Wednesday), we had six more companies join, so it’s up to 29 companies ranging from the food and beverage industry, to the cruise lines, to the industrial industry, security compa nies, and all aspects.”

Mr Farquharson added, “A couple of companies said to us, if you come pre pared with your police record, we will hire you on the spot.”

He said the department has partnered with various government agencies in an effort to reduce challenges that job seek ers may face at the job fair.

“Social services will be there because we learned a lesson from the last job fair held at Anatol Rogers, we had a number of young persons come there looking for jobs who needed immediate help. You may need a food voucher, you may need emergency housing and we want to make it easier,” he said.

“We have partnered with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, if you don’t have your police record, you can sign up for your police record right on the spot and you will be able to get your police record on Monday morning,” he said.

Mr Farquharson added: “The new owners of Gold Rock will be there and they will be hiring people. We are so excited about this opportunity. All of those employees who were employees of Gold Rock, come to the job fair. Some thing good will be for them if they attend this job fair.”

Grand Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey also encouraged jobseekers to participate in the job fair.

I say to you that as

our

to be a tourist, fell to the ground during the incident.

Commissioner Fernander told reporters on the sidelines of an event yes terday that the suspect was arrested and taken into cus tody following the incident.

He also noted that offic ers will continue to be present downtown, to ensure the safety of tourists as they are “our bread and butter”.

“We continue with our presence downtown, that is our bread and butter and

we have to ensure that our tourists are safe.

“The individual who is responsible, right there and then, the officers were pre sent, not too far away and were able to arrest this indi vidual,” he said yesterday.

He condemned the incident.

“I don’t know what is in the minds of these young people who have no regard, no respect.

“I’m looking at the bigger picture — that is our life line, tourism — and they are messing with it.”

TRIAL DATE SET IN UNLAWFUL SEX CASE

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of sexually assaulting a child had his trial date set in the Supreme Court yesterday.

Doyle Dean, 40, of Exuma, faced Justice Cheryl Grant Thompson on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse and indecent assault.

It is alleged that in 2018 and 2021, the defendant sexually assaulted the female complainant when she was 10 and 12 years old.

After Dean pleaded not guilty to the offence, a nine-member jury was empaneled to hear his case.

He was informed that his bail for the matter will continue on condi tion he return to Nassau at his own expense for the commencement of his trial on November 29.

He is represented by attorney Calvin Seymour.

and

jobs are available. So, I admonish you all to take advantage of this opportunity to transform your lives. This administration is truly focused on bettering the lives of our people and Grand Bahama we are with you,” she said.

“I want you to come out, participate, bring all the docu ments that you need and I’m sure that something will be there for you. There are many organisations that are partici pating,” Ms Moxey said.

Ms Moxey added that though the direct assistance with work clothing won’t be available in Grand Bahama, she will be partnering with the Department of Labour so that those in need of work clothes can have something sent to them from New Providence.

“We would want to partner with that to ensure that everyone has every oppor tunity to get a job. If that is one of the things that New Providence has we want to ensure that Grand Bahama has it as well,” she said.

Jobseekers can pre-register for Satur day’s job fair through The Department of Labour’s Facebook page, so that at the job fair those registered already can go straight into interviews.

Jobseekers are encouraged to bring their resume, National Insurance cards, police record and references on Saturday.

Mr Farquharson said yesterday in the future the Department of Labour will be focusing on a specialty job fair for pro fessionals, including qualified general managers and vice presidents in need of work.

He added that the Department of Sta tistics will have labour force statistics from January 2023 to indicate unemploy ment figures, which should be completed by the end of February of 2023.

The Labour on the Blocks Job Fair held October 15 at Anatol Rodgers High School had over 1,500 attendees and saw many students and the job seekers granted opportunities for employment.

In May, the Department of Labour held two fairs in New Providence and Grand Bahama simultaneously focused on a number of inner-city communities.

the residents of Grand Bahama,

we recover

rebuild

island that

LABOUR Director Robert Farquharson.

HUBRIS AND THE MARCH OF FOLLY

gain?”

It is at once fascinat ing and disturbing to observe how the lust for power, greed and other blinding ambitions, so often lead to folly and failure. Politicians, busi nesspeople and others over millennia, though repeatedly warned of their delusions, have pursued courses of action leading to disaster and defeat.

Folly is often more our companion than wisdom. It is defined as “the lack of good sense or judgment”; “a foolish act or idea: fool ish behavior” and “the lack of... normal prudence and foresight”.

Folly is the grand sub ject of historian, author and journalist Barbara Tuchman in her sweep ing book, “The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam.” Born in 1912, Tuchman died in 1989 at age 77. She was a two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner for General Non-fiction and a university lecturer.

She frames the crite ria: “To qualify as folly, the policy adopted must meet three criteria: it must have been perceived as counter-productive in its own time, not merely by hindsight. ... Secondly a feasible alternative cause of action must have been available.”

She continues: “To remove the problem from personality, a third cri terion must be that the policy in question should be that of a group, not an individual ruler, and should persist beyond any one political lifetime.”

A review of her book at www.stoneschool.com/ Reviews/MarchOfFolly.

html casts the criteria as such: “... Acts have to be clearly contrary to the self-interest of the organi zation or group pursuing them; conducted over a period of time, not just in a single burst of irrational

behavior; conducted by a number of individuals, not just one deranged maniac; and, importantly, there have to be people alive at the time who pointed out correctly why the act

Protestant Secessions, the British loss of its American colonies, the American debacle in Viet nam. Along the way she also provides lesser exam ples of folly.

Tuchman’s criteria have been tweaked by others to address quite a number of contexts, some as epic as George W. Bush’s Iraq War to other less grave follies in government and politics. Successive political parties and gov ernments here at home have pursued folly, some more vigorously than others.

Often, temporary vic tories intoxicate, blinding a group to impending dis aster and grave danger ahead. In the U.S., the Democratic Party kept nominating presidential candidates who were sure losers, until Bill Clinton recast and steered the party to victory.

Democrats were ini tially delighted with the nomination of Massachu setts Governor Michael Dukakis as the party’s 1988 presidential nomi nee. They were fairly certain that they could defeat the Republican nominee George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan’s successor.

in question was folly (no 20/20 hindsight allowed).”

Tuchman recalls a vari ety of examples of historic folly:

“Why, to begin at the beginning, did the Trojan rulers drag that suspi cious-looking wooden horse inside their walls despite every reason to suspect a Greek trick?

“Why did successive ministries of George III insist on coercing rather than conciliating the American colonies though repeatedly advised by many counsellors that the harm done most be greater than any possible

Their groupthink and delusion proved politically fatal. Bush went on to run a more effective campaign and trounced Dukakis, who was not the strongest candidate for the Demo crats. It was after the 1988 shellacking that the Dem ocrats pulled their heads out of the sand and nomi nated a viable candidate.

Folly should not be confused with failure to achieve various objectives, such as certain setbacks and defeats by those struggling for equality, including women and gays and lesbians, though some tactics in these struggles might prove folly.

For Tuchman, self-inter est is defined as what is in the long-term best inter est of an organization or group, not the narrow or benighted interests

of a few who seek to use an organization or gov ernment to pursue their overweening ambitions or to exact revenge or banish past ghosts.

Tuchman describes the mindset of those prone to folly:

“Wooden-headedness, the source of self-decep tion, is a factor that plays a remarkably large role in government. It consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived

fixed notions while ignor ing or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts.”

The book review at www.stoneschool.com notes the role of those who warned of folly and the likely disaster on the horizon:

“In the case of the Trojan Horse, the ... role is played by Laocoon, a blind priest, who chas tises Trojan leadership the moment the wooden equine is found. ‘You can’t bring that thing in here,’ he says, ‘it might be full of Greek soldiers’.

“Later, as it becomes evident the will to bring it in is strong, he suggests helpfully, ‘Well, if you’re going to bring it in, at least poke it with a spear and see if anybody yelps.’ “ He was of course ignored. The resulting defeat of the Trojans could have been prevented. Those who divined that they knew better and who convinced themselves that they were more clever than others, could not countenance their fatal error, despite numerous warnings, and until it was too late.

The book review notes: “The third section of the book is entitled The Brit ish Loss of North America and treats the American Revolution from a rarelyseen perspective: that of an avoidable and silly loss of valuable colonies occurring primarily due to stiff British necks (upper lips being of no service).

“The extent to which the war was unpopular in Britain is covered, as well as the many Laocoons decrying the idiocy of antagonizing the colonists, including some viewed in the American version of events as villains.”

One has to distinguish in history and life what is a real victory and what may be a Pyrrhic victory. This requires discernment and wisdom, which Tuch man defines in the spheres of politics and govern ment as “the exercise of

judgment acting on expe rience, common sense and available information.”

Those who ignore common sense and read ily available information in the public domain in the pursuit of overween ing self-interest, often look back and wonder how they could have been so wrong, after convincing themselves of their own delusions.

The apocryphal tale of Marie Antoinette’s instruction that the peas antry should eat cake, suggests the extent of delusion and absence from reality of some drunk and giddy with their own sense of power and the prowess of their intellect.

Intellectual acuity does not necessarily trans late into good judgment, restraint and prudence. Indeed, intellect can be so fetishized, ignoring streams of wisdom from myriad sources, including the experience of others offering warnings and red flags to those blinded and deafened by euphoria.

The author Willa Cather advises, “There are only two or three human sto ries, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they have never happened before.”

One of these stories is hubris. In the West ern classics from Icarus to Oedipus, Antigone, Macbeth, King Lear, Cleopatra and others, excessive pride or hubris, “a belief that [one] is somehow above the fates, or in control of destiny”, typically leads to failure as one is ensnared by one’s own unbridled arrogance.

Throughout history there were political lead ers, generals and their advisers, convinced that they were marching to victory, but instead were about to march them selves and others over a cliff.

Even after folly is revealed, some errone ously still believe that they followed the right course of action. Such is the march of folly, which keeps repeating itself.

“Awful momentum makes carrying through easier than calling off folly.”

– Barbara W. Tuchman

“Those who ignore common sense and readily available information in the public domain in the pursuit of overweening selfinterest, often look back and wonder how they could have been so wrong, after convincing themselves of their own delusions.”

Trump and McConnell were both right

DONALD Trump was correct.

Mitch McConnell was also correct.

AS soon as the Supreme Court ruled at the end of its last term to withdraw federal protection for a woman’s right to have an abortion by overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, Trump was widely quoted saying that the decision, and its timing, would hurt the Republicans in the general election last week.

And McConnell, itching to resume his prior role as Senate Majority Leader, complained in public over the summer about how the “quality” of GOP Senate can didates might imperil his chances to once again command a majority in the US upper house of Congress.

In the aftermath of last Tuesday’s surprisingly strong performance by the Democrats, both men were proven to be prescient. The irony for Republicans is that each was largely responsible for the accurate forecast of the other.

When Trump complained about the political fallout from the high court’s abortion decision, he could fairly attribute the makeup and zeal of that court to McConnell’s refusal to grant a hearing to Barack Obama’s 2016 nominee for the Supreme Court – current Attor ney General Merrick Garland. The vacancy had occurred when long time conservative justice Antonin Scalia died. McConnell’s stall tactic ultimately led to the nomination and confirmation of conservative antiabortion Justice Neil Gorsuch within the first three months of Trump’s term as president.

Then, at the end of Trump’s term, McConnell pushed through in record time the confirmation of perhaps even more conservative antiabortion Justice Amy Comey Barrett to replace liberal megastar Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who died from pancreatic cancer but resisted pleas to retire while Barack Obama was president and could have nom inated her successor.

McConnell was thus the master mind who tactically facilitated the installation of today’s hard-right leaning Supreme Court that in turn moved swiftly to overturn Roe v Wade and open the door for states to outlaw the practice. In the pro cess, the Court helped Democrats mobilize for their recent electoral success by reportedly convincing almost every American woman with a college degree to vote for the Dems.

But at the same time, the blame for McConnell’s complaints about the quality of GOP Senate candi dates for this cycle could fairly be assigned to Trump, who recruited and endorsed several primary elec tion candidates who seemed so unelectable that the Democrats actually supported their primary campaigns, figuring they’d be easier to beat. The Dems were cor rect in almost every case.

When Republican voters duti fully nominated questionable

candidates for governor in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona whose principal qualifica tion was their obeisance to Trump and his bogus claims about 2020 election fraud, the GOP got what it richly deserved: Defeat.

Additionally, every election denier candidate who ran for the office of Secretary of State -- the top election official -- in critical battleground states lost their elec tion, as voters rejected partisans who promised to limit voting opportunities and distort the elec toral process.

“When my coalition of secre tary of state candidates around the country gets elected, we’re going to fix the whole country, and Presi dent Trump is going to be president again in 2024,” Trump endorsee and Nevada secretary of state can didate Jim Marchant boasted at a rally held with Trump last month. Marchant then lost to Democrat Cisco Aguilar.

“People are tired of chaos,” Mr. Aguilar told reporters after his victory. “They want stability; they want normalcy; they want some body who’s going to be an adult and make decisions that are fair, transparent, and in the best inter ests of everyone.”

So the two top politicians in the Republican Party, profoundly dis dainful of each other, managed

to snatch defeat from the jaws of virtually certain victory. McCo nnell will have to suffer through at least two more years as Minority Leader; it’s less certain how high a price Trump might have to pay.

Many observers feel that Repub licans will again fall in line behind Trump as he runs again in 2024 despite his outrageous behaviour, narcissistic decision making and evident disregard for the success of his political party.

Most Republicans did the same thing in the days after the January 6 capitol riots.

Indeed, unless the American economy sustains a comeback and President Joe Biden discovers the Fountain of Youth, a third Trump

GROUPS TO WATCH AS THE WORLD CUP KICKS

While which one is preeminent is the subject of much debate, there is no doubt that the big gest, most-watched sports events in the entire world are the Summer Olympics and the World Cup. The Olympic Games are two years off. The World Cup begins on Sunday.

The decision by soc cer’s ruling body to stage this year’s championship tournament in Qatar was all about money. That’s good for FIFA and its member associations, but potentially disastrous for the players, almost all of whom are interrupting their busy national and club competition sched ules to accommodate a wintertime event oth erwise contested in the summer.

The World Cup fea tures eight groups of four national teams each. These groups will compete against each other and the top two will emerge for the second round, which begins two Weeks later on December 3.

The past two decades at the World Cup have been dominated by European teams, who have been winners of the last four World Cups and were 13 of the 16 semi-finalists in that time. But the early betting favourite this year is mighty Brazil at 4 – 1. Regional rival Argentina is next at 11 – 2, followed by European giants France (13 – 2), England (15 – 2) and Spain (also 15 – 2). This favourites list omits Germany, Croatia,

Belgium and surprising Denmark, all of whom also have an outside chance at the title.

There’s always much speculation about the competitiveness of the initial eight groupings, but the top seeds usually prevail without too much suspense. Here are the most interesting groups, with their degree of com petitiveness as rated by Aljazeera’s world website:

Group E (second most competitive): Germany, Spain, Costa Rica, Japan. The Germans generally do well in the World Cup, and it would be surpris ing if they fail to continue this year. This team quali fied with nine wins out of 10 matches, and its tac tics and discipline should serve it well. Inconsistent Spain is the likely secondplace finisher, though neither Costa Rica nor Japan would shock with an upset.

Group B (first): Eng land, USA, Wales, Iran. The English are coming into this tournament hamstrung by injuries to defenders and wingers Kyle Walker, Reece James and Ben Chilwell. The team is also too depend ent on Tottenham’s Harry Kane for scoring. Gareth Bale of Wales is the big gest star on the three other teams, any of which could advance. Wales is in the World Cup for the first time since 1958. The U.S. will need to improve recent form to advance.

Group F (third): Bel gium, Canada, Croatia, Morocco. Belgium still boasts Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois. It is still capable of devastating attacking football, but the defense is old and slow. Croatia has a cohesive core of skilled players, and they did finish second in the most recent 2018 World Cup.

The Canadians were unbeaten in qualifying against Mexico and the U.S., and they feature Alphonso Davies, proba bly the highest-profile star in their history.

Group G Brazil, Serbia, Switzer land, Cameroon. Brazil has lost only one of its last 29 games and features Neymar and a star-stud ded supporting cast. They’re favourites for a reason. The others are in a balanced group, each hoping to finish second.

Elsewhere, France and Denmark are clearly the class of Group D. Argen tina should prevail in Group C, seeking Lionel Messi’s first World Cup and to extend a current 35-game unbeaten streak. Injuries will hamper Por tugal in Group H, where Uruguay and Korea threaten.

Finally, Group A may see Senegal emerge as an African winner.

presidential candidacy might be the best hope Biden and the Dem ocrats have to retain the White House next time around.

It might nonetheless not be an easy path to renomination for the former president. Trump has seen his support dwindle among Republicans and Americans who lean Republican, even if a majority (60%) say they feel warmly toward him, according to a Pew Research Center survey released this week. That number is down from 79% who said the same in April 2020, and 67% in July 2021.

It will be fascinating to watch it all unfold.

KHALIFA INTERNATIONAL STADIUM, in Doha, Qatar. AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)

FORMER President Donald Trump. SENATE Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Love Beyond Christmas: Salvation Army launches 2022 Red Kettle campaign;

As the holiday season approaches, the Salvation Army is again on the front lines, officially launching the Red Kettle season under the theme ‘Love Beyond Christ mas’ to bring help and hope to the most vulnerable in the community.

This year, from November 14 to December 24, more than 30 locations throughout New Providence, Freeport, Eleuthera and the Berry Islands will feature Red Kettle bells and volunteer bell ringers, including all Super Value, Kelly’s Home Centre, Lowe’s Pharmacy, Quality Home Centre, and John Bull locations.

The funds raised during the annual Red Kettle Bell season enable the Salva tion Army to help more than 30,000 people rebuild broken homes and lives each year. This year, the organisa tion aims to raise $250,000 during the campaign.

While the Red Kettle has become synonymous with the holiday season as the Salvation Army’s hallmark fundraising initiative, the generosity of donors enables the organisation to share love far beyond Christmas.

Red Kettle corporate and individual donations

help power a wide array of social services programmes year-round. This outreach includes providing food for the hungry, relief for disas ter victims, schooling and employment for the blind, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter for the homeless, and opportu nities for underprivileged children.

“Since 1931, the Salvation Army has been restoring hope and dignity to men, women, and children. With increasing demand, these requirements have become more numerous and

wide-ranging. “Executing this work would not be pos sible without the help and support of our volunteers and generous donors. There is always the need for finan cial and volunteer support to maintain these programs, so help is always welcomed,” said Felix Stubbs, chairman of the Salvation Army Advi sory Board.

For the second con secutive year, CIBC FirstCaribbean, a long-time supporter of the Salvation Army, supports the Red Kettle campaign with a $7,000 corporate donation.

“We want to ensure

that this holiday season families are not hungry, without clothes, or without the giving of Christmas,” said Dr Jacqui Bend, managing director, CIBC FirstCaribbean.

“The Salvation Army’s work is important because it is all-encompassing. It’s for those who are in need. It is very important that the Sal vation Army supports these areas in the community, and we are happy to partner with them while they do that.”

In addition, the Salva tion Army announced it is proud to partner with the Central Bank of the Baha mas to enable donations through SandDollar, the

digital version of the Baha mian dollar.

Each Salvation Army Kettle Bell station will have a QR code that anyone with a digital wallet can scan to donate SandDollars within seconds. People can also send digital donations remotely using the Salva tion Army’s wallet nickname ‘salvationarmy@sanddollar. bs’.

During this year’s Red Kettle campaign, the Cen tral Bank has pledged to match SandDollar contribu tions to the Salvation Army.

SandDollar is compat ible with all authorised digital wallets in rhe Baha mas, including Cash n’ Go, Island Pay, Kanoo, Mobile Assist, MoneyMaxx, Omni, and SunCash, any of which can be downloaded from the Google Play and Apple App store.

“The Central Bank has contributed to worthy causes such as the Salvation Army for many years. The Salvation Army’s work is exceptional and invaluable,” said Jermaine Campbell, Currency Manager, Central Bank.

With more than nine community programmes in the Bahamas, including the Salvation Army Erin Gil mour School For the Blind, the Grants Town Learning Center, the Women & Chil dren’s Emergency Shelter, and Welfare and Family Services in Freeport, Grand Bahama and Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, the Salva tion Army remains one of the largest non-governmen tal direct providers of social services in the country.

One of the reasons the Salvation Army can do what it does is its many friends’ support and generosity. Here are some of the ways you can help:

• Become a volunteer

• In-kind donations of food, clothing, books, furni ture, or anything else

• Service donations

• Financial contributions of any amount

To learn more about the Salvation Army or make a difference in the lives of those in your community, visit salvationarmybahamas. org or call 393-2340.

MAJOR Aldene Meo of the Salvation Army, Dr Jacqui Bend of CIBC FirstCaribbean and Major Roodolph Meo of the Salvation Army.

FELIX STUBBS, chairman of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and Major Roodolph Meo, Divisional Commander, open the Red Kettle for donations.

FELIX STUBBS, chairman of the Salvation Army Advisory Board.

DR JACQUI BEND, managing director, CIBC FirstCaribbean.

A PERFORMANCE by the Salvation Army Erin H Gilmour School For the Blind - Mighty Beacons.

GOP wins slim House majority, complicating ambitious agenda

By WILL WEISSERT, SARA BURNETT and JILL COLVIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans won control of the U.S. House on Wednes day, returning the party to power in Washington and giving conservatives lever age to blunt President Joe Biden’s agenda and spur a flurry of investigations. But a threadbare majority will pose immediate challenges for GOP leaders and com plicate the party’s ability to govern.

More than a week after Election Day, Republi cans secured the 218th seat needed to flip the House from Democratic control. The full scope of the party’s majority may not be clear for several more days — or weeks — as votes in com petitive races are still being counted.

But they are on track to cobble together what could be the party’s narrowest majority of the 21st century, rivaling 2001, when Repub licans had just a nine-seat majority, 221-212 with two independents. That’s far short of the sweeping vic tory the GOP predicted going into this year’s mid term elections, when the party hoped to reset the agenda on Capitol Hill by capitalising on economic challenges and Biden’s lag ging popularity.

Instead, Democrats showed surprising resil ience, holding on to moderate, suburban dis tricts from Virginia to Minnesota and Kansas. The results could compli cate House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy’s plans to become speaker as some conservative members have questioned whether to back him or have imposed condi tions for their support.

Celebrated

McCarthy celebrated his party having “officially flipped” the House on Twit ter on Wednesday night, writing, “Americans are ready for a new direction, and House Republicans are ready to deliver.”

President Joe Biden congratulated McCarthy, saying he is “ready to work with House Republicans to deliver results for working families.”

“Last week’s elections demonstrated the strength and resilience of American democracy. There was a strong rejection of election deniers, political violence, and intimidation,” Biden said in a statement. “There was an emphatic statement that, in America, the will of the people prevails.”

He added, that “the future is too promising to be trapped in political warfare.”

The narrow margins have upended Republi can politics and prompted finger-pointing about what went wrong. Some in the GOP have blamed Donald Trump for the worse-thanexpected outcome. The former president, who

announced his third White House bid Tuesday, lifted candidates during this year’s Republican primaries who often questioned the results of the 2020 election or downplayed the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol last year. Many of those struggled to win during the general election.

Despite the GOP’s under whelming showing, the party will still have notable power. Republicans will take control of key com mittees, giving them the ability to shape legislation and launch probes of Biden, his family and his adminis tration. There’s particular interest in investigating the overseas business deal ings of the president’s son Hunter Biden. Some of the most conservative law makers have raised the prospect of impeaching Biden, though that will be much harder for the party to accomplish with a tight majority.

Any legislation that emerges from the House could face steep odds in the Senate, where Democrats won the barest of majorities Saturday.

Both parties are looking to a Dec. 6 Senate runoff in Georgia as a last chance to pad their ranks.

With such a potentially slim House majority, there’s also potential for legislative chaos. The dynamic essen tially gives an individual member enormous sway over shaping what hap pens in the chamber. That could lead to particularly tricky circumstances for GOP leaders as they try to win support for must-pass measures that keep the gov ernment funded or raise the debt ceiling.

The GOP’s failure to notch more wins — they needed a net gain of five seats to take the majority — was especially surprising because the party went into the election benefiting from congressional maps that were redrawn by Repub lican legislatures. History was also on Republicans’ side: The party that holds the White House had lost congressional seats during virtually every new presi dent’s first midterm of the modern era.

The new majority will usher in a new group of leaders in Washington. If elected to succeed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the top post, McCarthy would lead what will likely be a rowdy conference of House Republicans, most of whom are aligned with Trump’s bare-knuckle brand of politics.

Many Republicans in the incoming Congress rejected the results of the 2020 presidential election, even though claims of wide spread fraud were refuted by courts, elections officials and Trump’s own attorney general.

McCarthy won the nomi nation for House speaker on Tuesday, with a formal vote to come when the new Congress convenes in January.

“I’m proud to announce the era of one-party

Democrat rule in Wash ington is over,” McCarthy said after winning the nomination.

Republican candidates pledged on the campaign trail to cut taxes and tighten border security. GOP law makers also could withhold aid to Ukraine as it fights a war with Russia or use the threat of defaulting on the nation’s debt as leverage to extract cuts from social spending and entitlements — though all such pursuits will be tougher given how small the GOP majority may end up being.

As a senator and then vice president, Biden spent a career crafting legisla tive compromises with Republicans.

But as president, he was clear about what he viewed as the threats posed by the current Republican Party.

Biden said the midterms show voters want Demo crats and Republicans to find ways to cooperate and govern in a bipartisan manner, but also noted that Republicans didn’t achieve the electoral surge they’d been betting on and vowed, “I’m not going to change anything in any fundamen tal way.”

Survey

AP VoteCast, a broad survey of the national electorate, showed that high inflation and con cerns about the fragility of democracy had heavily influenced voters. Half of voters said inflation fac tored significantly, with groceries, gasoline, hous ing, food and other costs that have shot up in the past year. Slightly fewer — 44% — said the future of democ racy was their primary consideration.

Counter to the GOP’s expectations, Biden didn’t entirely shoulder the blame for inflation, with close to half of voters saying the higher-than-usual prices were more because of fac tors outside his control. And despite the president bearing criticism from a pessimistic electorate, some of those voters backed Democratic candidates.

Democrats also likely benefited from anger over the Supreme Court over turning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision cementing a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. Voters in Michigan voted to amend their state consti tution to protect abortion rights while far more reli ably Republican Kentucky rejected a constitutional amendment declaring no right to an abortion.

Overall, 7 in 10 voters said the high court’s ruling overturning the 1973 deci sion enshrining abortion rights was an important factor in their midterm decisions. VoteCast also showed the reversal was broadly unpopular.

About 6 in 10 say they are angry or dissatisfied by it. And roughly 6 in 10 say they favour a law guar anteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.

HOUSE Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of Calif., talks to the media, Tuesday, after voting on top House Republican leadership positions, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is at right. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

POLAND, NATO SAY MISSILE STRIKE WASN’T A RUSSIAN ATTACK

By VASILISA STEPANENKO Associated Press

PRZEWODOW, Poland (AP) — NATO member Poland and the head of the military alli ance both said Wednesday that a missile strike in Polish farmland that killed two people appeared to be unintentional and was probably launched by air defences in neighbouring Ukraine. Russia had been bombarding Ukraine at the time in an attack that savaged its power grid.

“Ukraine’s defence was launching their mis siles in various directions, and it is highly prob able that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda. “There is

nothing, absolutely noth ing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.”

NATO Secretary-Gen eral Jens Stoltenberg, at a meeting of the 30-nation military alliance in Brussels, echoed the preliminary Polish find ings. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, disputed them and asked for further investigation.

The assessments of Tuesday’s deadly missile landing appeared to dial back the likelihood of the strike triggering another major escalation in the nearly 9-month-old Rus sian invasion of Ukraine. If Russia had targeted Poland, that could have risked drawing NATO into the conflict.

Still, Stoltenberg and

others laid overall but not specific blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

“This is not Ukraine’s fault. Russia bears ulti mate responsibility,” Stoltenberg said.

Zelenskyy told report ers he had “no doubts” about a report he received from his top command ers “that it wasn’t our missile or our missile strike.” Ukrainian officials should have access to the site and take part in the

investigation, he added.

“Let’s say openly, if, God forbid, some remnant (of Ukraine’s air-defences) killed a person, these people, then we need to apologize,” he said. “But first there needs to be a probe, access — we want to get the data you have.”

On Tuesday, he called the strike “a very signifi cant escalation.”

Before the Polish and NATO assessments, U.S. President Joe Biden had said it was “unlikely” that

Russia fired the missile but added: “I’m going to make sure we find out exactly what happened.”

A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman in Moscow said no Rus sian strike Tuesday was closer than 35 kilome tres (22 miles) from the Ukraine-Poland border. The Kremlin denounced Poland’s and other coun tries’ initial response and, in rare praise for a U.S. leader, hailed Biden’s “restrained, much more professional reaction.”

“We have witnessed another hysterical, fren zied, Russo-phobic reaction that was not based on any real data,” Krem lin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Later Wednesday, Rus sia’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Polish ambassador in Moscow; the discussion reportedly lasted about 20 minutes.

The Polish president said the missile was proba bly a Russian-made S-300 dating from the Soviet era. Ukraine, once part of the Soviet Union, fields Soviet- and Russian-made weaponry and has also seized many more Russian weapons while beating back the Kremlin’s inva sion forces.

Russia’s assault on power generation and transmission facili ties Tuesday included Ukraine’s western region bordering Poland. Ukraine’s military said 77 of the more than 90 mis siles fired were brought down by air defenses, along with 11 drones.

The countrywide bom bardment by cruise missiles and exploding drones clouded the initial picture of what happened in Poland.

“It was a huge blast, the sound was terrifying.” said Ewa Byra, the pri mary school director in the eastern village of Prze wodow, where the missile struck. She said she knew both men who were killed — one was the husband of a school employee, the other the father of a former pupil.

Another resident, 24-year-old Kinga Kancir, said the men worked at a grain-drying facility.

“It is very hard to accept,” she said. “Noth ing was going on and, all of a sudden, there is a world sensation.”

In Europe, NATO members called for a thor ough investigation and criticized Moscow.

“This wouldn’t have happened without the Russian war against Ukraine, without the mis siles that are now being fired at Ukrainian infra structure intensively and on a large scale,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Swaths of Ukraine were without power after the aerial assault.

Zelenskyy said about 10 million people lost electricity, but tweeted overnight that 8 million were subsequently recon nected. Previous strikes had already destroyed an estimated 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure.

Ukraine said the bom bardment was the largest on its power grid so far.

A Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said

Ukraine’s downing of so many Russian missiles Tuesday “illustrates the improvement in Ukrain ian air defences in the last month,” which are being bolstered with Westernsupplied systems. Sweden said Wednesday that an air defence system with ammunition would form part of its latest and larg est package of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, worth $360 million.

The U.S. has been Ukraine’s largest sup porter, providing $18.6 billion in weapons and equipment. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the flow of weap ons and assistance would continue “throughout the winter so that Ukraine can continue to consolidate gains and seize the initia tive on the battlefield.”

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he tried to speak to his Russian counterpart Wednesday, but those efforts were not success ful. Milley didn’t elaborate on the efforts, but the lack of a conversation, at a time when there were questions about whether Russia had struck a NATO ally, raises concerns about high-level U.S.-Russian communica tions in a crisis.

At the United Nations, the organisation’s political chief said the missile strike in Poland was “a frighten ing reminder” of the need to prevent any more esca lation of the war.

As long as the fight ing continues, Rosemary DiCarlo warned the U.N. Security Council, “the risks of potentially cata strophic spillover remain all too real.”

The Russian attacks fol lowed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military suc cesses — the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.

With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting Ukraine’s power grid as winter approaches.

Russian attacks in the previous 24 hours killed at least six civilians and wounded another 17, a senior official, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said Wednesday.

Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskyy said two of three Russian missiles hit critical energy infra structure in the western province. Power was restored to about 95% of the province, he said, but only 30% of consumers can use electricity at the same time.

Power shortages caused extensive train delays extending into Wednes day, but there were no cancellations because diesel locomotives were pressed into service, rail officials said.

Kyiv resident Mar gina Daria said Tuesday’s strikes knocked out cell phone service in her area.

“We have already adapted to life without light, because we have scheduled outages every day, but without com munication it was quite disturbing,” she said. “There was no way to even tell our families that we were OK.”

POLISH police officers search for missile wreck age in the field, near the place where a missile struck, killing two people in a farmland at the Polish village of Przewodow, near the border with Ukraine, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A dozen Haitian migrants who spent five days on a tiny, uninhabited island near Puerto Rico where human smugglers abandoned them were rescued, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

A small campfire that the group built on Monito Island caught the attention of U.S. Border Patrol agents on Monday, authorities said.

The U.S Coast Guard then dispatched a cutter, adding that when the seven men and five women spotted it, they made their way down a rocky cliff and jumped one by one into the water. The barren, rocky island located between

Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic has increasingly become a drop-off point for smug glers who promise to take migrants fleeing violence and poverty to the main island of Puerto Rico.

Dozens have died en route to the U.S. territory this year as the rickety boats they’re crammed into capsize in treacher ous waters.

More than 570 Hai tians and about 250 people from the Domin ican Republic have been detained in waters around Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from October 2021 to March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

TO ADVERTISE IN THE TRIBUNE CALL 502 2394

Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited

(Incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas)

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position (Unaudited)

As of 30 September 2022

(Expressed in Bahamian dollars)

ASSETS

Cash on hand and at banks

‘SAVE A GROUPER, EAT A LIONFISH’ – BAHA MAR HOSTS CULINARY EXPERIENCE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES

THE Baha Mar Resort Foundation, the resort’s charitable arm that works to advocate sustainable conservation efforts, is hosting a “Save a Grouper, Eat a Lionfish” themed dinner to raise awareness about an iconic Bahamian endangered species, the Nassau grouper.

Taking place on Thurs day, November 17, from 6pm to 8pm at The Kitchen restaurant, the event aims to encourage locals and guests to consider consum ing invasive species like lionfish as an alternative to endangered species like the

Nassau grouper. Considered a threatened species under the Endan gered Species Act, Nassau grouper is one of the most culturally and economi cally important fish species in the Bahamas. Economi cally, Nassau grouper accounts for roughly $1.5 million worth of exports annually – proving to be important to the economy and ultimately supporting the livelihoods of many fishermen.

Ecologically, Nassau grouper play an extremely important role in maintain ing the ecological balance

of coral reef systems, and as a high-level preda tor, they help control the population of other reef organisms.

The event will also look to educate locals and guests about the stigma associ ated with eating lionfish.

Lionfish are venomous, not poisonous, meaning lion fish carry no poison in the edible meat of the fish.

As such, once the spines are removed, the lionfish is as safe as any other fish to eat.

The event will include a demo by Chef Michael Davis that will show how

of Changes in Equity (Unaudited) For the Nine (9) Months Ended 30 September 2022 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars)

Capital

to safely clean and prepare lionfish. The interactive experience will highlight many ways lionfish can be enjoyed.

Thursday’s dinner menu will consist of specially prepared lionfish dishes, including: tropical lionfish ceviche; Bahamian lionfish fritters with Dijon mustard aioli; seared lionfish on bed of soft tortilla shells with wasabi aioli.

The Baha Mar Resort Foundation supports local fishermen to supply fresh lionfish for the dinner, ensuring the highest qual ity for the dishes served.

As of 1 January 2022 20,449,512 15,000,000 1,176,670 67,801,023 104,427,205

2022 2021 $ $

280,861,437 378,754,192

Investment securities 104,753,257 105,409,865

Loans and advances to customers 383,102,267 401,585,362

Other assets 3,705,390 1,937,147

Investments in joint ventures 173,058 195,695

Property, plant and equipment 11,012,240 11,219,518

Total assets 783,607,649 899,101,779

LIABILITIES

Deposits from customers 666,411,005 769,754,950

Accrued expenses and other liabilities 5,187,124 4,851,294

Debt securities 20,068,330

Total liabilities 671,598,129 794,674,574

EQUITY

Capital ordinary shares 20,449,512 20,449,512

Capital preference shares 15,000,000 15,000,000

Revaluation reserve 1,142,909 1,176,670

Retained earnings 75,417,099 67,801,023

Total equity 112,009,520 104,427,205

Total liabilities and equity 783,607,649 899,101,779

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) For the Nine (9) Months Ended 30 September 2022 (Expressed in

1,104,420 Total expenses 10,204,153 28,615,536 24,991,498 Operating profit 5,214,525 15,593,779 17,790,877

Comprehensive income

Net income 15,571,142 15,571,142

Total comprehensive income 15,571,142 15,571,142

Transfers

Depreciation transfer (33,761 ) 33,761

Total transfers (33,761 ) 33,761

Transactions with owners

Issuance of ordinary shares

Dividends preference shares (483,493 ) (483,493 )

Dividends ordinary shares (7,505,334 ) (7,505,334 )

Total transactions with owners (7,988,827 ) (7,988,827 )

As of 30 September 2022 20,449,512 15,000,000 1,142,909 75,417,099 112,009,520

Dividends per share 0.26 0.32

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity (Unaudited) For the Year Ended 31 December 2021 (Expressed in Bahamian dollars)

As of 1 January 2021 20,410,050 15,000,000 971,225 61,429,700 97,810,975

Comprehensive income

Net income 22,169,732 22,169,732

Total comprehensive income 22,169,732 22,169,732

Transfers

Depreciation transfer 205 445 (205 445 ) Total transfers 205 445 (205 445 )

Transactions with owners

Men’s national beach soccer team set for CAC Sea and Beach Games

WINNER of the Bahamas Football Association’s Beach Soccer Cup in October, the Baha mas men’s national beach soccer team is headed to Santa Marta, Colombia, to compete in the Juegos Centroamericanos y Del Caribe Mar Y Playa (Central American and Caribbean Sea and Beach Games) November 19-26.

BFA technical director Bruce Swan will travel with the team and lauded the hard work of the coaching staff and players over

the past few months and is con fident they will again dominate the beach soccer landscape in Colombia.

“Our men’s national soccer team is emerging to the top of the Caribbean region for a reason, because they are putting in the hard work to be successful in the sand.

“The Bahamas Football Associ ation is extremely proud of all the players and thanks the coaching staff and association leadership.

AP Exclusive: Balich leads Olympicsstyle World Cup ceremony

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer

ROME (AP) — First World Cup in the Middle East. First World Cup kicking off in November.

First modern edition based around a single city. First in an Arab country.

Now add “first World Cup with an Olympics-style opening ceremony” to the list of novelties for the tour nament in Qatar beginning on Sunday.

Creative director Marco Balich, a veteran of multi ple Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, told The Associated Press that he has been working for a year on a 30-minute show that will run ahead of the opening game between Qatar and Ecuador.

“The supreme commit tee wanted to create a real show, which FIFA is not accustomed to,” Balich said in a phone interview from Doha, referring to Qatar’s

DIEGO MARADONA ‘HAND OF GOD’ WORLD CUP BALL SOLD FOR $2.4M

LONDON (AP) — The ball punched in by Diego Maradona for his “Hand of God” goal at the 1986 World Cup has been sold at auction for nearly $2.4 million by the referee who missed soccer’s most famous handball.

Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian former match official who refereed the quarterfinal game between Argentina and England in Mexico, owned the 36-yearold Adidas ball that was sold at Graham Budd Auctions in London for 2 million pounds ($2.37 mil lion) yesterday.

Bin Nasser said before the auction he felt it was the right time to share the item with the world and expressed hope the buyer would put it on public display.

The Maradona goal that gave Argentina a 1-0 lead in that match against England — but should not have been allowed — has become part of soccer legend.

Maradona jumped as if to head the ball but instead punched it past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

Maradona quipped after ward that it was scored “a little with the head of Mara dona and a little with the hand of God,” leading to its iconic name.

Speaking ahead of the auction, Bin Nasser said: “I couldn’t see the inci dent clearly. The two players, Shilton and Mara dona, were facing me from behind.

“As per FIFA’s instruc tions issued before the tournament, I looked to my linesman for confirmation of the validity of the goal — he made his way back to the halfway line indicating he was satisfied that the goal should stand. At the end of the match, the England head coach Bobby Robson said to me, ‘You did a good job, but the linesman was irresponsible.’”

Maradona scored a bril liant second goal against England only four minutes later with the same ball — the only one used in the quarterfinal. He ran nearly 70 metres from his own half and weaved his way past half the England team before slipping the ball past Shilton to make it 2-0. That goal was voted the World Cup Goal of the Century in 2002.

Argentina won the game 2-1 and went on to lift the World Cup. Maradona died in 2020 at the age of 60. The upcoming World Cup in Qatar, which starts Sunday, will be the first since Mara dona’s death.

For this tournament, the head coach will be Nesly Jean, assistant coach Julian Gardner and man ager Larry Minns.

“We are excited to see our Beach Boys compete in Colombia and hope they score big during the tournament,” said Swan.

The Bahamas men’s national beach soccer team for this tourna ment will include:

Michael Butler, Evens Julmis, Ian Winder, Jean Francois, Dwayne Forbes, Gary Joseph,

Jamie Thompson, Evelt Julmis, Brandon Adderley, Lesly St Fleur, Gavin Christie and Ian Rolle

Matches will be played Novem ber 20-25 at the Estadio Futbol Playa – Parque | Multideportivo, Cancha in Santa Marta.

The schedule is as follows:

November 20 Bahamas vs. Colombia 4:30pm COT (UTC-5) November 21 Bahamas vs El Salvador 1:30pm - COT (UTC-5)

November 22 Bahamas vs Mexico 3pm - COT (UTC-5)

November 24 Bahamas vs Venezuela 1:30pm - COT (UTC-5)

November 25 Bahamas vs Trinidad and Tobago 1:30pm - COT (UTC-5)

local organising committee. The extravagant ceremony was one of the reasons why in August the World Cup start was moved up a day in a late switch — to give the show a more prominent viewing slot.

“FIFA and the supreme committee — especially FIFA — realised how much effort was going into cre ating the ceremony and creating for the first time something that’s not just someone singing before the opening game,” Balich said.

One of the few details many fans remember from previous World Cup open ing ceremonies was Diana Ross missing a penalty kick in 1994 during a song-anddance act in Chicago.

Balich is promising much more substance in Qatar, indicating that con cerns over the treatment of migrant workers, human rights and the conserva tive country’s handling of gays and lesbians will be addressed during the ceremony.

“I can’t spoil the surprise but there will definitely be attention given and responses to all of the issues being debated right now,” Balich said. “It’s not about pleasing the West but being the platform on which Asia and the West ern world can comfortably meet. … I think you’ll have answers to all of the criti cism and issues that have been raised.”

Balich, who is Italian, began his Olympic experi ence at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games with the flag handover ceremony to Turin.

Unlike the full ceremo nies that he created for the 2006, 2014, 2016 and 2020 Olympics in Turin, Sochi, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, respectively, Balich was given strict instructions for this event by Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

“The message and con tent of this show were curated personally by the country’s leadership,” said Balich, who is working with co-artistic director Akhmed Al Baker. “They want to talk about multicultural ism, accepting diversity and being a platform for peace.”

Sheikh Hamad has been an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member for two decades and sat through many of Balich’s ceremonies. So it’s not surprising that the emir wants an Olympic-style production.

The ceremony — and tournament in general — is also an audition for Doha’s desire to host a Summer Olympics.

Doha has expressed interest in bidding for the Olympics three times but has so far been unable to get onto the candidate list.

Qatari officials were left blindsided last year when the IOC gave Brisbane

exclusive bidding rights and then awarded the 2032 Games to the Australian city.

The next available Summer Games is 2036.

Doha has been awarded the 2030 Asian Games.

BIG SPENDERS

While the ceremony budget doesn’t come near that of an Olympic opener — mostly because of the difference in length, with Olympic ceremonies usu ally lasting hours with the parade of athletes and all sorts of protocols — Balich said Qatar “wasn’t afraid to invest in artistic quality.

“We have a team of 900 people with best-in-theworld choreographers and lighting technicians,” Balich added. “I think it’s going to be a big step forward in terms of World Cup his tory, and the next edition in the United States, Mexico and Canada will inherit the challenge to create this big show which enriches the experience and identity of the entire tournament.”

NOT A SUPER BOWL

While Balich is still restricted from reveal ing details of the show’s content, he did say that “famous actors and artists” will be involved.

“But it’s not a Super Bowl halftime show,” he added.

“It’s a real ceremony with content about Qatar and stresses the fact that this is a tournament of many firsts: the first time it’s been

played in the winter; the first time it’s been played in an Arab country; and the first time that eight stadi ums surround a single city.”

Among the confirmed performers at the ceremony is K-pop star Jungkook.

The ceremony and open ing game are slated for the tent-shaped Al Bayt Sta dium, which has a capacity of 60,000.

TIMING

The ceremony will start at 5:40pm local time (1440 GMT, 9:40am EST) and end 30 minutes later.

Then the Qatar and Ecuador teams will come out for pre-match warmups and the opening game will kick off at 7pm.

CLOSING CEREMONY

Balich is also directing a closing ceremony before the World Cup final on December 18 that he said will be “less important in terms of content.

“It will be more a cel ebration of the tournament with the realisation that the focus for the final is nearly always on the two teams taking part,” he added.

CORNICHE SHOWS

Lastly, Balich is creating a daily water show off Doha’s corniche, the promenade alongside the city’s bay.

Featuring fountains, drones and fire, Balich said the corniche display will be three times as big as the fountain show at the Bella gio in Las Vegas.

THE BAHAMAS men’s national beach soccer team is expected to compete in the Central American and Caribbean Sea and Beach Games November 19-26.

THE OLYMPIC flame burns as fireworks explode during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics on July 23, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Aaron Rodgers, Packers in desperate mode facing Titans

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer

AARON Rodgers has won plenty of games throughout his career so it’s no surprise he’s been suc cessful on Thursday nights, going 11-5.

Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers need another win this week against the AFC South-leading Ten nessee Titans to help them climb into the playoff race after a poor start.

The Packers (4-6) snapped a five-game losing streak with an upset over the Dallas Cowboys. They’re back at Lambeau Field to take on the Titans (6-3).

“It’s obviously a big advantage for us to sleep in our own beds and have our crowd, but I think it just comes down to the study time, just being locked in,” Rodgers said.

“These are long days. We’re going through a lot of different plays. We’re cramming it in, two days into one day.”

Rodgers has thrown 15 touchdowns with one inter ception and has a 112.5 passer rating in his past six Thursday games.

With a trip to Philadel phia to face the Eagles (8-1) up next, the Packers have a tough road to get back to .500. Led by Derrick Henry, the Titans have won six of seven after opening with two losses.

The Packers are 3-point favourites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Pro Picks likes the Packers because they’re already a desperate team in November.

PACKERS, 24-20

Washington (minus 3 1/2) at Houston

The Commanders have won four of five to reach .500 after handing the Eagles their first loss of the season. It’s a tough spot for the Commandeers (5-5) against the Texans (1-7-1).

Short week, back-to-back road games, coming off an emotional win against a divisional rival is a setup for a letdown.

UPSET SPECIAL: TEXANS, 20-19

Detroit (plus 3) at New York Giants

Saquon Barkley is facing the second-worst run defense so the Giants (7-2) can run it all day against the Lions (3-6).

BEST BET: GIANTS, 27-20 Carolina (plus 12 1/2) at Baltimore

Baker Mayfield is back under center for the Pan thers (3-7). The Ravens (6-3) have won three in a row and coming off a bye.

RAVENS, 28-16 Cleveland (plus 8 1/2) at Buffalo

Josh Allen needs to stop turning the ball over in the red zone or the Bills (6-3) won’t live up to Super Bowl expectations.

BILLS, 30-17 Philadelphia (minus 6 1/2) at Indianapolis

The Eagles (8-1) weren’t going to go undefeated. The Colts (4-5-1) are unde feated under interim coach Jeff Saturday.

EAGLES, 26-20

New York Jets (plus 3 1/2) at New England

The Jets (6-3) bounced back from a home loss to the Patriots with a huge upset over the Bills before a bye. The Patriots (5-4) have won four of five.

PATRIOTS, 20-18

Los Angeles Rams (plus 4) at New Orleans

The Super Bowl hango ver bit the Rams (3-6). The Saints 3-7) weren’t sup posed to be this bad.

SAINTS, 23-20 Chicago (plus 3) at Atlanta

Justin Fields is showing dynamic playmaking abil ity for the Bears (3-7). The Falcons (4-6) are only one game out of first in a weak NFC South.

FALCONS, 24-19 Las Vegas (plus 2 1/2) at Denver

Two first-year coaches who’ve been major disap pointments. The Raiders (2-7) are going for the season sweep against the Broncos (3-6).

BRONCOS, 23-17 Dallas (minus 1 1/2) at Minnesota

An 8-1 team coming off a road win against a Super Bowl favorite is some how a home underdog. The Vikings are getting no respect from oddsmakers. This is the ultimate defini tion of the line dictating the pick.

COWBOYS, 27-24 Cincinnati (minus 4 1/2) at Pittsburgh Which version of the Bengals (5-4) shows up? The Steelers (3-6) already beat them in Cincinnati in Week 1.

BENGALS, 28-16 Kansas City (minus 6 1/2) at Los Angeles Chargers The injury-depleted Chargers (5-4) may be getting wideouts Mike Wil liams and Keenan Allen back.

The Chiefs (7-2) have taken first place in the con ference and don’t want to look back.

CHIEFS, 30-26

San Francisco (minus 8) at Arizona in Mexico City

The Cardinals (4-6) have a better chance with “home” games outside Arizona considering their record at home under Kliff Kingsbury. The 49ers (5-4) have their sights set on first place.

49ERS, 24-22

2022 RECORD

Last Week: Straight up: 7-7. Against spread: 7-7.

Season: Straight up: 86-64. Against spread: 78-69-3.

Thursday Night: Straight up: 6-4. Against spread: 4-6.

Monday Night: Straight up: 5-6. Against spread: 5-6.

Best Bet: Straight up: 7-3. Against spread: 7-3. Upset Special: Straight up: 4-6. Against spread: 5-4-1.

Raiders still searching for answers to improve pass rush

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer

HENDERSON, Nev.

(AP) — When the Las Vegas Raiders acquired Chandler Jones in March, the move was expected to relieve the pass-rush ing stress from Maxx Crosby and force opposing offenses to pay attention to both defensive ends.

That hasn’t happened.

Crosby has still pro duced for the Raiders, but he has been forced to con stantly find his way through double teams and other roadblocks because Jones hasn’t provided enough pressure on the other side.

That’s part of why the Raiders’ pass rush has been nearly nonexistent. They are last in the NFL with 3.24% of sacks coming on opposing passing attempts.

And that’s with Crosby tied for 10th in the league with seven sacks; the rest of the team has three combined.

Jones has half a sack, just a season after he registered 10 1/2, with five coming in the season opener against the Tennessee Titans, accounting for nearly half his total.

Still, the Raiders were expecting more production from Jones, but it’s not all on him.

The Raiders haven’t gen erated pressure from their interior line, either, and it’s led to opposing quar terbacks having more than ample time to find open receivers.

The result? Those quarterbacks have an average passer rating of a

league-high 107.0 against Las Vegas.

To put that into perspec tive, Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes is the NFL’s career leader with a 105.8 rating.

“Rushing and cover works together,” line backer Denzel Perryman said. “If the quarterback has all the time in the world back there to throw, the rush has got to get home. If the quarterback gets the ball out quick and the rush can’t get there, that means we’ve got to cover longer.”

Sunday’s 25-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts was the perfect example of Las Vegas’ struggles. Indian apolis entered the game having given up 35 sacks, including nine the week before against the New England Patriots.

The Raiders deactivated three interior defensive linemen, which coach Josh McDaniels later intimated had to do with disciplinary reasons. The move made Las Vegas short-handed going into that game.

It showed, even with Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday chose start vet eran QB Matt Ryan, a player who doesn’t remind anyone of Mahomes or Kyler Murray when it comes to his ability to scramble. But Ryan was sacked just once — by Crosby, of course — and later burned the Raiders with a career-long 39-yard run to set up the winning touchdown.

Ryan passed for 222 yards with a passer rating of 109.5.

“I thought they mixed in some different things relative to the way they were throwing the ball,” McDaniels said. “The (runpass option) stuff, when you throw those, you’re kind of playing run while they’re throwing it. Those are some things that obvi ously your pass rush is a little limited there.

“I thought they mixed in some of the quick game stuff that the ball was coming out pretty quickly, which usually limits the rush and the production. We have to do better on the downs that we can do better on, if we can create some third-and-longs, some obvious passing situ ations to be able to provide more rush.”

The Raiders took a step to improve their play up front by signing tackle

Jerry Tillery, a 2019 firstround draft pick who was with the Los Ange les Chargers before being waived Monday. He had 4 1/2 sacks last season, but only one through seven games this year.

Maybe Tillery will help Las Vegas improve its pass rush — it would be difficult for it to be worse.

“Sometimes (sacks) come in bunches, and sometimes there’s streaks where they don’t happen,” McDaniels said. “I’d say, right now, we’re in one of those streaks for whatever reason. There have been opportunities. It’s not like we haven’t had chances.

“How do we improve that collectively, and adding Tillery, does that help us? Yeah, hopefully. We’ll see. But that was the intent on it, is maybe we

can add another guy that has some disruption inside, maybe people pay a little less attention to our ends. And that’s a choice that obviously every offense is going to need to make.”

INJURY UPDATES

Perryman, who did not play against the Colts because of hip and rib inju ries, was limited in practice yesterday. Wide receiver Davante Adams (abdo men) also was limited, as were offensive tackle Kolton Miller (shoulder and abdomen), linebacker Luke Masterson (ribs) and cornerback Sam Webb (knee).

Running back Ameer Abdullah didn’t practice because of illness, and run ning back Brandon Bolden and cornerback Rock Ya-Sin missed for personal reasons.

GIANTS’ BARKLEY, BILLS’ DIGGS AMONG BEST BETS TO SCORE

By DORIAN COLBERT RosterWatch

SOME of our usual scoring stars are off the map because of inju ries sustained in Week 10, but we’ve still got plenty of options going into Week 11 of the NFL season.

These are the best bets to score:

Running

Back

BRIAN ROBINSON, Commanders

Robinson isn’t the most explosive back, but he does know his way into the end zone. He got 26 carries and a score in a win against the previ ously undefeated Eagles in Week 10, so don’t expect the Command ers to deviate from this game plan, especially up against the Texans, our absolute best matchup for opposing RBs.

SAQUON BARKLEY,

Giants

Barkley is the big gest part of the Giants offence, scoring a TD in six of nine games this season, including four of the past five games. He stays on the field more than most backs in the league at an 80% snap count over the past month. This week he’ll take on Detroit, our sixth-best matchup for opposing backs, and with -200 odds to score, Barkley is likely to find the end zone sooner or later.

DERRICK

HENRY,

Titans Henry is expected to score against the Pack ers this week. The only question is going to be how many times. Green Bay defends the pass well on average, ranking in the top 10 in defend ing WRs and QBs, but they’re the 11th-best matchup for opposing runners. Don’t just take my word about Henry’s chances to score though, as Henry has -275 odds to find the end zone on Thursday night. Those are the best odds for any NFL player to score this week.

Wide Receiver CHRISTIAN WATSON, Packers Watson broke out in Week 10, scoring three times against Dallas’ defence. This week he’ll face a Titans defence that is the seventh-worst matchup for opposing RBs, but the third-best matchup for opposing WRs. It also helps his chances that fellow rookie WR Romeo Doubs is unlikely to play on the short week with an ankle injury.

STEFON DIGGS, Bills

Only Davante Adams has more receiving TDs (eight) than Diggs (seven) at the WR posi tion, but Adams doesn’t have a top 10, or even 20, matchup this week. Diggs, on the other hand, is going up against the Browns, our 10thbest matchup on the week for WRs. On the field for 92% of snaps in Week 10, Diggs has -135 odds to score this week, the best odds for any receiver.

CEEDEE LAMB, Cowboys

Lamb had the best game of his season thus far in Week 10, catching 11 passes for 150 yards and two scores. He’ll look to better that line this week against Min nesota, our fifth-best matchup for opposing WRs. I expect fireworks again this week, as this game is shaping up to be a shootout. Lamb has excellent -105 odds to find the end zone for at least the sixth time this season.

COLTS quarterback Matt Ryan (2) is sacked by Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) in the second half in Las Vegas on Sunday.

(AP Photo/ David Becker)

Class of 2022 inducted into National Sports Hall of Fame

By RENALDO DORSETT

A GROUP of the coun try’s sporting icons joined a fraternity of elite company when they were inducted as new members to the National Sports Hall of Fame.

The 2022 class was hon oured by the signature event of Sports Heritage Month - the Hall of Fame induction ceremony - last night at the Baha Mar Con vention Centre.

Highlighting the 2022 class is the internationally acclaimed “Golden Girls” 4x100m relay team.

The team of Savatheda Fynes-Coke, Chandra Stur rup, Pauline Davis, Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie and Eldece Clarke fittingly entered the Hall of Fame together following their 4x100m silver at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, gold at the Sydney Olympics in Australia and gold at the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Spain.

Other inductees included Lorenzo “Ray” Minus (Boxing), Stephen Larrimore (Boxing), Wel lington Miller (Sports Administration), Evette B. L. Johnson (Soft ball), Sidney Fernander (Softball), Charles Frank lyn Adderley (Martial Arts), Raymond Wilson (Volleyball), Perry Thum pam Sr (Basketball), Frederick Alonzo Laing Sr (Basketball), Maxine Darville (Bodybuild ing), Dr. Patricia “Patti” Symonette, (Volleyball), Monique Leary (Bowling), and posthumous honourees

Ivern Davis (Squash) and John Terry Wildgoose (Basketball).

“To be inducted into the National Sports Hall of Fame is to be honoured as one of the greatest Baha mians in sports. Not only in the arena of competition, but in the development and growth of sports for others.

As a country we must con tinue to appreciate the work that these inductees have done to bring The Bahamas to the forefront of sporting achievement regionally and globally,” said Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg.

“Their achievement acts as an inspiration for the next generation of athletes, not only to strive for great ness but to develop the characteristics necessary

to achieve greatness. I commend you for your dedication put forth into your discipline and to the development of sports in the country.”

Sports Heritage Week originally began in 1989 with the introduction of five of our national heroes - the late great Thomas A Robin son, Sir Durward Knowles, Cecil Cooke, Andre Rodg ers and Everette “Elisha Obed” Ferguson.

The National Hall of Fame was established as a means to show the country’s appreciation to those con tributors to sports whose exploits may have gone unnoticed in the past and, at the same time, deliver recognition to those who continue to shine for the Bahamas.

“If you were to interview each designate, their jour neys are all diverse, but you would find one singular most prolific honour, that is as an athlete adorning our national uniform, the rais ing of our national flag.

“Hearing our national anthem gives one a sense of pride, comparable to noth ing else in this world.

“The designates would tell you they love sports, and the positive attrib utes they learned how to practice long hours per fecting their craft,” said Romell Knowles, president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee.

“Wear it proudly, wear it responsibly for I believe it is the highest honour bestowed on any athlete or administrator.”

INDIA, NEW ZEALAND MOVE ON FROM WORLD CUP IN T20, ODI SERIES

By STEVE MCMORRAN AP Sports Writer

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — India and New Zealand both will try to move on from disap pointing campaigns at the Twenty20 World Cup in a white-ball series which begins Friday with the first of three T20 internationals at Wellington.

Both teams were beaten in the Cup semifinals in Australia, India by even tual champion England and New Zealand by Pakistan.

Those losses ended cam paigns which had held much brighter promise.

The New Zealand series of three T20 matches and three one-day internation als allow both teams to immediately move on from those disappointments. Having put the T20 World Cup behind them, both teams already will be look ing forward to the 50-over World Cup in India and next year.

New Zealand may have produced an almost perfect

game in its opening World Cup clash with Australia in which hard-hitting batting was backed up by aggres sive and accurate bowling. But it couldn’t reproduce that performance and has to work now on achieving consistency.

The young opener Finn Allen was New Zealand’s discovery of the tourna ment and is now established in its lineup to the point the veteran Martin Guptill has been omitted from the series.

Allen set the tone in the win over Australia with his 42 from 16 balls but he also struggled to replicate that form.

“Finn’s a very exciting talent,” New Zealand cap tain Kane Williamson said at a recent media call.

“It’s been great to see him in the side and expressing himself. “You mentioned that Australian game where he made an amazing con tribution and it went a long way in us getting ahead of the game. That’s a real strength of his, it’s natural

for him in terms of how he plays.”

Williamson has form issues of his own. His 61 against Ireland was his brightest effort in an other wise lackluster World Cup.

Williamson recently was released by Sunris ers Hyderabad, his Indian

Premier League franchise for the past eight seasons.

His recent form strug gles have much to do with a chronic elbow injury which recently has affected his availability.

“The elbow is improv ing,” Williamson said. “It certainly took quite a long

time but I’m feeling a lot better now.”

New Zealand has moved on by naming the same lineup it used at the World Cup, except for fast bowler Trent Boult. Boult opted out of central contract with New Zealand Cricket earlier this year and head coach Gary Stead has indi cated the selectors will give priority to contracted players.

“We’re all aware of Trent’s world-class ability but at this time, as we build towards more global events, we want to give opportu nities and experiences to others,” Stead said.

India has faced a greater backlash than New Zealand for its perceived failure at the World Cup. Much of the criticism has fallen on captain Rohit Sharma has been accused of a timid or “old school” approach to T20 cricket. Calls have been made for former cap tain M.S. Dhoni to be given an oversight role with the team. Hardik Pandya will captain India in Rohit’s

place in the T20 matches against New Zealand, start ing in Wellington on Friday. He acknowledged criti cism but said India doesn’t “need to prove anything to anybody.”

“We know there is disap pointment with the World Cup but we are profession als and we have to cope with our successes and cope with our failures,” he said. “We have to move forward and look forward to get better. We have to rectify the mistakes we made and ensure that it this series we don’t repeat that.”

Pandya said there are a number of new players in the India squad who would bring “new energy.”

“It’s a new bunch, new guys with a lot of new excitement, new energy so it’s going to be quite excit ing,” he said.

“The next T20 World Cup will be in two years . . . we have time before then and a lot of people will get chances to show what they can do. The road map starts from now.”

Djokovic eases into semifinals with victory over Rublev

TURIN, Italy (AP)

— Five-time champion Novak Djokovic eased into the final four of the ATP Finals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.

It took the seventhseeded Djokovic just 68 minutes to see off Rublev and make it two wins out of two in Turin to qualify for his 11th semifinal in 15 appearances at the year-end tournament.

Djokovic is aiming to equal Roger Federer’s record six titles at the event. His last victory came in 2015.

“I played very, very well. One of the best matches of the year without a doubt,” Djokovic said.

“He is a tough opponent. A great competitor. He possesses a lot of strengths in his game.

“I managed to find the right attitude and the right game.

“He went down in his energy a little in the second and I wanted to use the momentum and energy from my side in the first few games and it was a flawless second set.”

In a first set dominated by serving on the fast indoor court, the first break point didn’t come until the final game and when Djokovic hit a return down the line to take the opener, Rublev threw his racket down in frustration.

Djokovic broke early in the second set and took a 3-0 lead with no way back for Rublev.

The Russian won two points in the final two games as Djokovic broke again and went on to take the match.

(AP Photo/A Calanni)

Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the players’ opening match.

The second-seeded Tsit sipas will face Rublev on Friday in their final group match with a spot in the semifinals at stake as both players are now at 1-1 in the Red Group after the Greek player beat Daniil Medvedev.

Tsitsipas squandered three match points in the second set but managed to win 6-3, 6-7 (11), 7-6 (1).

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal was eliminated on Tuesday after his second loss of the tournament, while Casper Ruud booked his place in the semifinals. Felix AugerAliassime and Taylor Fritz will play each other on Thursday, with the winner set to secure the other semifinal spot from Green Group.

INDIA’s Virat Kohli. (AP)

SERBIA’s Novak Djokovic cel ebrates after winning against Russia’s Andrej Rublev during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals, at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022.

THE CLASS OF 2022 was honoured by the signature event of Sports Heritage Month - the Hall of Fame induction ceremony - at the Baha Mar Convention Centre.

GOVERNOR General Cornelius Smith, right, presents Maxine Darville (Bodybuilding) with her certificate during her induction into the Class of 2022 National Sports Hall of Fame yesterday evening.

Photos: Moises Amisial/Tribune Staff

Celtics win 8th in a row, beating Hawks 126-101

ATLANTA (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 22 points to lead a balanced Boston attack and the Eastleading Celtics stretched their winning streak to eight with a 126-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks last night.

The Celtics were miss ing injured guards Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brog don. It hardly mattered.

There were plenty of players to fill the void against the Hawks, who were coming off a big win at Milwaukee and eager to show they could challenge the best in the conference. Not on this night.

Boston took control in the first quarter against the cold-shooting Hawks, whose occasional spurts were quickly snuffed out by the Celtics’ stifling defense.

Trae Young led the Hawks with 27 points, but was held to 10-of-23 shoot ing, including a mere 2 of 7 from beyond the arc.

PACERS 125, HORNETS 113

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Tyrese Halibur ton had 22 points and 11 assists, Myles Turner added 20 points and 10 rebounds and Indiana beat Charlotte in a game in which Hornets guard LaMelo Ball reinjured his left ankle after stepping on a fan’s foot Bennedict Mathurin had 20 points off the bench, including Indiana’s first 10 points of the fourth quar ter, and the Pacers won for the sixth time in eight games. Chavano “Buddy” Hield added 19 points.

Ball finished with 26 points for the Hornets, but left with 1:34 left when he re-injured his left ankle — the same one that kept him out of the first 13 games of the season.

Ball was hurt attempting to save a ball from going out of bounds near where coach Steve Clifford was standing, but stepped on a fan’s foot and rolled his ankle as he attempted to brace himself from going out of bounds.

He immediately limped toward the bench and then headed straight to the locker room.

There was no immediate word on the extent of the injury.

BUCKS 113, CAVALIERS 98

MILWAUKEE (AP)

— Brook Lopez shot 7 for 9 from 3-point range and scored 29 points and Milwaukee beat skidding Cleveland.

The Cavaliers have lost five straight games since racing to an 8-1 start.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Bucks. Jordan Nwora had a season-high 21 points to help the Bucks outscore the Cavaliers 45-20 in bench points.

Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland each had 23 points for the Cavaliers.

PELICANS 124, BULLS 110

NEW ORLEANS (AP)

— CJ McCollum scored 23 points, Jonas Valanciu nas added 22 points and New Orleans its second straight game without Zion Williamson in the lineup, beating Chicago.

Trey Murphy III hit five 3s and finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his first career dou ble-double, and the Pelicans combined to make 17 3-pointers en route to their third straight win overall, and fourth in five games.

DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and Zach LaVine had 25 for Chicago. The Bulls have dropped three straight, starting with their home loss to New Orleans on Nov. 9.

With Williamson watch ing from the bench with a bruised right foot, New Orleans opened a lead as large as 26 points when Naji Marshall’s 3 made it 108-82 with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter.

ROCKETS 101, MAVERICKS 92

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. had 17 points and 11 rebounds and eight assists, and last-place Hou ston took advantage of

Luka Doncic’s absence in a victory over Dallas.

Doncic was out for rest a night after he played 40 minutes to help prevent the Mavericks from blowing a 25-point lead in a twopoint victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Christian Wood, traded to Dallas in the offseason after blossoming from a journeyman into a 20-point scorer for the Rockets, scored 26 points in his first game against his former team.

THUNDER 121, WIZARDS 120

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alex ander hit a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining and matched a career high with 42 points in Okla homa City’s victory over Washington.

Alexander scored 30 points in the second half, making nine of 10 field goals. Kristips Porzin gis scored 27 points for

Washington, which had its four-game winning streak halted.

RAPTORS 112, HEAT 104

TORONTO (AP) — O.G. Anunoby scored a season-high 32 points and matched his season high with 10 rebounds and Toronto used a 21-0 run in the third quarter to beat Miami.

It ended the Heat’s win ning streak at three.

Fred VanVleet returned from illness to score 23 points to help Toronto extend its home winning streak to four.

The Raptors are 6-1 at home this season.

Scottie Barnes added 19 points, Chris Boucher had 15 and Thad Young 12.

Anunoby shot 13 for 18, matching his career high for field goals.

Miami’s Max Strus scored 20 points and Kyle Lowry had 19 against his former team.

By DICK SCANLON Associated Press

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 35 points, KarlAnthony Towns added 30 and the Minnesota Timber wolves built a 27-point lead in the first half in a 126-108 victory over the Orlando Magic last night.

Edwards and Towns had scoring season highs and the Timberwolves shot 52.3% in their biggest victory margin of the season.

Rudy Gobert, the NBA’s leading rebounder, had 16 points and eight rebounds to help Minnesota win backto-back road games for the first time this season.

Bol Bol led the Magic with a career-high 26 points and added 12 rebounds. Jalen Suggs added 23 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Edwards hit three 3-pointers and had a dunk to spot the Timberwolves to a 15-6 lead and they stretched it to 18 by the end of the first quarter.

Orlando cut a 27-point second-half lead down to nine on a four-point play by Suggs early in the fourth quarter, but D’Angelo Rus sell scored four points to help Minnesota push its lead back up to 114-97 in the closing minutes.

The Magic played without rookie Paolo Banchero and centre Wendell Carter Jr, their two leading rebound ers and two of their top three scorers.

TIP-INS

Timberwolves: F Taurean Prince was ejected after committing a Flagrant Foul 2 on Suggs as he drove for a layup with 4.9 seconds remaining in the third quar ter. ... Chris Finch raised his career coaching record to 69-69.

Magic: The Magic went 3-4 on a seven-game home stand. ... Carter missed his first game of the season due to a foot injury. Banchero missed a fourth game with a sprained left ankle.

UP NEXT Timberwolves: At Phila delphia on Saturday night.

Magic: At Chicago on Friday night.

By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer

THE top of the Eastern Conference looks about as expected — with Boston and Milwaukee currently neck and neck for the lead.

Those fast starts have been anything but routine, however.

The Celtics suspended their coach before the season even started, but under interim choice Joe Mazzulla, they’re now on a seven-game winning streak and have the best record in the NBA. The Bucks won their first nine games, but recently they’ve had to deal with Giannis Ante tokounmpo’s occasional absences. They’ve won two of three when he’s been out.

“It just shows our depth and how good of a team we truly are,” Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez said recently. “Coach (Mike Buden holzer) — he said before, it’s like, it’s kind of exciting. Giannis gets to rest, refill his cup, and we get a chance to get better and see what we’re like without Giannis on the court, and get better in that way.”

The Celtics (11-3) and Bucks (10-3) don’t play each other until Christmas.

For now, these two teams — who played a stirring seven-game playoff series in the second round last season — are bringing a bit of normalcy to the stand ings. That’s been largely absent in the West, where Golden State is muddling along under .500 while Utah and Portland are around the top of the conference.

The Celtics went to the NBA Finals last season in Ime Udoka’s first season as coach. Then he was sus pended for at least this season for violating team rules by having a relation ship with a female staffer

within the organisation. Mazzulla took over and has the team rolling. Boston routed Nikola Jokic and Denver 131-112 on Friday.

On Monday night, the Celt ics rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat Oklahoma City 126-122.

After falling just short of a title last season, Boston looks tested and ready to contend again.

“These guys have been through a ton, and it helps them in a game like tonight where they really don’t have it going, and then they’ve got to turn it on on both ends of the floor and

they did,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after Monday’s game. “So credit them. They went and got that one.”

Boston is No. 1 in the league in offensive rating, and Milwaukee is No. 1 in defensive rating. The first time the Bucks played without Antetokounmpo this season was a little over a week ago against Okla homa City.

Lopez scored 25 points, Bobby Portis had 21 rebounds, Jrue Holiday had 13 assists — and Milwaukee held the Thunder under 100 points to win by 14.

“I think we all knew obvi ously that we’d all have to chip in,” Lopez said. “Pretty much everyone came on, had an impact.”

These are the stretches that test a team over the course of an 82-game season, when injuries or just normal wear and tear leave a star player unavailable.

That win over the Thun der gave Milwaukee a 9-0 record, and since then, the Bucks have played twice more without Antetok ounmpo, who has dealt with left knee soreness.

The Bucks split those two games. Ironically,

they’ve lost the last two games they’ve played with Antetokounmpo, including Monday against Atlanta.

Still, they’ve shown they can win without their big gest star. Another team that’s done that of late is the Washington Wizards, who have won four straight despite playing all of those games without Bradley Beal, who went through health and safety protocols.

The last game Beal played in was Nov. 4, a 42-point loss to Brook lyn.

Coincidentally, that was also the first game for the Nets following Kyrie Irving’s suspension. Irving was suspended after post ing a tweet with a link to a documentary that includes Holocaust denial and con spiracy theories about Jews. The Nets said they sus pended him in part because he wouldn’t say unequivo cally he has no antisemitic beliefs.

Brooklyn looked down right dysfunctional while losing six of its first eight games. Coach Steve Nash was replaced after the team’s seventh game, and then — with Jacque Vaughn serving as acting coach — Irving scored just four points in a loss to Chicago. But since then, Brooklyn has won four of six, all with out Irving — and the Nets decided to keep Vaughn as their head coach going forward.

His team isn’t surging quite the way Mazzulla’s is, but Brooklyn is hopeful it has found the right leader after an ugly start to the season.

INDIANA Pacers guard Buddy Hield (24) drives to the basket past Charlotte Hornets guard Theo Maledon (9) last night. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

BOSTON Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey, left, and forward Aleksej Pokusevski (17) during the second half on Monday in Boston.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

QC Comets are BAISS softball champions

SOFTBALL

FROM PAGE 20

Kamaii Knowles was the winning pitcher.

The Suns’ offence was led by starting pitcher Stanaz Seymour who finished 2-3 with two home runs and four RBI.

After a high scoring 23-19 win in game one, the Big Red Machine junior girls closed out the Comets 15-9 in game two.

The Comets had an early 7-3 lead before the Big Red Machine rallied to score 10 runs across the fourth and fifth innings.

Ashleigh Forbes got the win on the mound for the Big Red Machine with three strikeouts.

In senior girls’ play, the Nassau Christian Acad emy Crusaders completed an undefeated season with a 4-3 win over the Comets.

Apryl Davis was dominant on the mound with seven strikeouts to lead the Crusaders to the win.

Crusaders manager Donna Brown said the win was influential for the programme and the impact it can have on school spirit.

“It means a lot because it boosted their spirit. Most of these girls haven’t played since COVID really started so when we knew we were going to play this year everyone came out,” she said. “I had like 50 kids come out to try out and we just kept working and working until we had the best possi ble team.”

The Crusaders took a 14-10 win in game one but didn’t score the go ahead run until the fifth inning in a closely contested game two.

“It was unity. They fought hard and they all came together. We have a great pitcher but even when she got hit, the defence behind her was ready to make plays,” Brown said. As for the sustainabil ity of the programme: “We only have two players that are leaving,” she said. “The rest of them will still be here so we expect to be back next year.”

In senior boys’ play, the Big Red Machine forced a third and deciding game in the series with a 19-18 win in game two last night.

SAC squandered an 11-5 lead and the Crusaders rallied to eventually take control, 18-17 in the top half of the seventh inning.

With the score tied at 18 in the bottom of the seventh, Cedric Duvalier delivered a two-out walk off single to keep the Big Red Machine season alive.

In the highest scoring series in all divisions, the Crusaders took game one 26-11.

Game three is set for 4pm Friday at the Freedom Farm Baseball Complex in Yamacraw.

MCILROY, FOX LEAD CHASE TO END YEAR AS EURO TOUR’S NO. 1

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer

RORY McIlroy has been in this position many times. For Ryan Fox, it’s a new experience.

Two golfers with very dif ferent profiles are vying to finish a turbulent year on the European tour as its No. 1 player heading into the season-ending DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course in Dubai.

McIlroy — the topranked player, a four-time career major winner and the FedExCup champion on the PGA Tour this year — leads the Race to Dubai

standings as he bids to be the European tour’s leading player for the fourth time in his career, after 2012, ‘14 and ‘15.

Fox is only narrowly behind McIlroy in second place — the points dif ference is 128.1 — after the best year of his career that has seen him win two events, the Ras al Khaimah Classic and the Alfred Dunhill Links Champion ship, and be runner-up four times. Last month, the New Zealander reached a careerhigh ranking of No. 23.

“Rory is the best player in the world,” Fox said yesterday. “He’s obviously

the favourite but to be in this position is great and I’ve got nothing to lose this week.

“Won’t do anything dif ferent from what I’ve been doing all year. Just go out and try to beat the golf course and see what hap pens in that sense. That’s served me pretty well and hopefully I can do the same thing this week.”

McIlroy has won the Fed ExCup and Race to Dubai three times each, but never in the same year.

“The way I’ve played throughout the year, I’ve been so consistent, espe cially the last six or seven months post-Augusta,” said McIlroy, who spoke out again Tuesday about the fractured state of golf between established tours and Saudi-funded LIV Golf, saying he hoped it could be healed.

“I feel like my game is in good shape. I would be slightly disappointed if I walked away from here knowing I didn’t play as well as I can, and I know if I do play like that, I’ll give myself a good chance.”

Five other players — Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hov land, Shane Lowry and Adrian Meronk — also have a chance of overhaul ing McIlroy in the Race to Dubai standings but are relying on favours from both the Northern Irishman and Fox.

Fitzpatrick, the U.S. Open champion, is in third place and has the best

chance of the outsiders. A third win at the World Tour Championship would see him jump to first place provided neither McIlroy or Fox finish the event in second, while a secondplace finish would also require McIlroy to finish lower than seventh.

Fitzpatrick feels he has the ideal game to follow

up his previous victories at the Earth Course in 2016 and ‘20. “I remember when I first came here in 2015, everyone said they didn’t think that it would neces sarily suit me because it is a big golf course,” Fitzpatrick said.

“But there are things that you have to do well here. Putting is No. 1. That’s the

OPTIMIST SAILING: TOMLINSON AND MUNRO QUALIFY FOR GOLD FLEET

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A PAIR of Bahamian sailors advanced to this weekend’s gold fleet for the final series of races at the Optimist North American Championships, hosted at the Nassau Yacht Club. Patrick Tomlinson and Zane Munro earned their gold fleet qualification to lead the 19-member team of Bahamian athletes at the event which includes 155 sailors from 20 countries across the globe competing in Montagu Bay.

Participating sailors hail from Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Ber muda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, the United States, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Sailing in the red group, Tomlinson had finishes of 22nd, 20th, 16th, third and 11th in the qualifying races. Munro’s first three races were in the yellow group with finishes of 13th, 25th, and 20th and in the red group, he finished fourth and 24th in his final two races.

Other members of Team Bahamas include Craig Ferguson II, Finley McKinney-Lambert, Norman Cartwright, Eliza Denning, Sienna Jones, Jude McCarroll, Mary Jacqueline Nash, Joss Knowles, Emit Knowles, Erik Jensen, Johannes Maritz, Callum Pritchard, Alethea Tsoumpas, Taryn McKinney-Lambert, Johan Hauber, Conry Raine, and Javien Rankine.

The head coach of the team is Martin Manrique.

The first two days of competition featured fleet racing and races in the qual ification series.

The format now shifts to Team Racing and Nations Cup, and finally will con clude with the Final Series of fleet racing.

The Bahamas last hosted the event in 2019.

Sigrid Beckmann, Vice President Americas, Inter national Optimist Dinghy Association, welcomed the international fleet of sail ors at Monday’s opening ceremony.

“We cannot be happier to be back in the clear blue waters of the Bahamas and to meet all of you again in this wonderful venue where we have always been received with incredible hospitality and fabulous sailing conditions.

“I want to thank the organising committee, all the volunteers, the Nassau Yacht Club, The Bahamas Optimist Class, and the sail ors of team Bahamas for working so hard to make this event happen and for welcoming us with open arms and so much kind ness,” she said.

“Enjoy this incredible venue with your teammates and friends, new and old. Have a great week of sail ing, friendship, nature and endless sun.”

biggest influencer of play ing well here, and driving is No. 2. And they are both my strengths.

“Over the years, particu larly as I’ve got longer as well now, that’s obviously been a big bonus and the greens are just so pure here as well.”

As for Fleetwood, Hov land, Lowry and Meronk, they all need to win and hope McIlroy and Fox aren’t too close behind them on the leaderboard.

Fleetwood, who recently moved to the Middle East with his family, is coming off winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa last week and open ing the Tommy Fleetwood Academy at Jumeirah Golf Estates this week.

“Dubai is where normal life is for us at this time,” Fleetwood said.

RORY MCILROY, the top-ranked

player, a four-time career ma jor winner and the FedExCup champion on the PGA Tour this year, leads the Race to Dubai standings as he bids to be the European tour’s leading player for the fourth time in his career.

(AP Photo/Stephen B Morton)

QUEEN’s College Comets pitcher Kamaii Knowles winds up to deliver the pitch yesterday.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS: The Queen’s College Comets junior boys completed a two-game sweep yesterday in Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools softball championship action at the Freedom Farm Baseball Complex.

QUEEN’s College Comets batter Ajay Knowles in action yesterday.

Champions crowned in the BAISS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Association of Independent Sec ondary Schools decided softball champions in three of its four divisions at the Freedom Farm Baseball Complex last night.

The Queen’s College Comets junior boys, the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine junior girls and the NCA Crusaders senior girls completed twogame sweeps while the Big Red Machine and Crusad ers are headed to a game three in the senior boys’ division.

The Comets concluded the series and the season with a 15-9 win over the Temple Christian Suns. They took game one 11-8.

“We had no doubts all season long that we had the best team in the division, both offensively and defen sively,” said Comets head coach Julian Kemp. “I’d like to thank God for giving these boys the talent and the work ethic to continue on all season. This was our only loss of the year against St Augustine’s so it means a lot to us.”

A high scoring Comets’ offence was led by Ajay Knowles, Ethan North and Evon Johnson who all went 3-4 and scored two runs each.

“We came out ready to hit the ball today,” Knowles said. “We jumped on

them early and we never stopped.”

North added: “We have a lot of great hitters and they really came to play today. It’s a good feeling, we worked very hard to get here.”

King and Bluejays undefeated so far

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

FREDRICK King and the no.9 ranked Creighton Bluejays are off to an expected undefeated start to the season.

The freshman big has averaged 7.3 points and five rebounds per game off the bench in his early transi tion to NCAA Division I basketball.

In game two, King fin ished with eight points and eight rebounds in just 14 minutes of a 96-61 win over South Dakota.

He followed with nine points and five rebounds in Tuesday night’s 94-65 win over Holy Cross.

“When I first came I was a shy guy but they’ve made me feel like a brother,” King said in the presea son. “Great culture, great coaches, great environment and positive people.”

Creighton continues their four-game home stand tonight against UC Riverside.

In exhibition play, King had 10 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in a 109-97 win over Drury.

The Bluejays were selected to finish number one overall in the Big East when the confer ence announced its preseason poll. They fin ished last season 23-12, fourth place in the Big East Conference regular-season standings, and runner-up in the league tournament.

FREDRICK KING

After receiving an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament, they defeated San Diego State in the first round before they lost in the second round to even tual national champion Kansas Jayhawks.

“We’re trying to win the ‘Natty’ but for me I’m just trying to be a better me eve rytime I step on the court,” King said of the team and his individual goals this season. “We just have to stick together as a team, work for each other and have each other’s back.”

King joined a roster that returned three double figure scorers from last season, several players that received all-conference honours.

A 6’10” frontcourt player out of the NBA Acad emy (Latin America), he decided on the Bluejays over the BYU Cougars, Georgia Tech Yellow Jack ets and Utah Utes.

The Comets scored three runs in the first inning and broke the game open with a five-run second. They eventually took a 10-0 lead before the Comets got on the scoreboard.

SAC pitcher Ashleigh Forbes got the win on the mound for the Big Red Machine junior girls with three strikeouts.

TGHS Alumni Association announces new executive board members

THE Government High School Alumni Associa tion has announced the new Alumni Executive Board Members for 2022; President – Paul Fernander; Vice President – Barbara Wallace; Secretary – Tessa Bullard; Treasurer – Rivi anna Smith; Asst. Treasurer – Alanna Brice; Public Relations Officer – Xavier Knowles; and Chaplin Car olyn Nairn.

This month, the Alumni received its registration as a nonprofit in order to accept members.

The primary purpose of this organisation is to create and reinforce lifelong intellectual, pro fessional, and personal connections among its members; to serve the Government High School community; to strengthen the link between the alumni membership and The Gov ernment High School; and to recognise and celebrate the accomplishments of members of the Govern ment High School Alumni; to recognise and celebrate the accomplishments of students, staff and faculty of The Government High School; to maintain the traditions of The Govern ment High School (TGHS); to assist in the advance ment of TGHS through its alumni; and to generate and maintain the active interest of all alumni as a support organisation with pride in the heritage of The Gov ernment High School.

The Government High School Alumni Associa tion has begun an exciting new chapter and has reestablished the once vibrant Government High School Old Scholars Association. The Old Scholars Associa tion was organised in1941 to foster union of all Old Scholars of the High School, to keep Old Schol ars and other members of the community interested in the affairs of the school and to foster and encourage education.

The Old Scholars Asso ciation held two social

functions annually – an informal social during the summer months and a formal dance at Christmas, both of which were well attended. In addition to these functions, however, the association held infor mal talks and discussions on the general welfare of the school, on current events and on education generally. They also donated a piano, prizes, a Challenge Cup for House Competition, money for books for the School Library and for science equipment. Further, the Old Scholars Asso ciation sponsored scholarships at the University of McGill. To mark the Silver (25th) Jubilee

year of the

School, the Old Scholars Association undertook the responsibility of producing a special edition of “The Phoe nix”. A petition was also presented to the House of Assembly about three months after the University College of the West Indies was formally opened in 1950, requesting the House of Assembly’s considera tion of associating the then Colony with the University College of the West Indies. The petition was unsuc cessful, however, as the House of Assembly at that time felt the Bahamas was unable financially to partic ipate in such an educational project. About 14 years later, The Bahamas became associated with the Univer sity of the West Indies.

Mrs Anatol Rodgers, former student, former member of TGHS Old Scholars Association, former teacher and former Headmistress of TGHS was quoted during the Golden Jubilee (50th) year

of TGHS as saying: “It is a great pity that the Asso ciation did not remain an active body for they, per haps, might have played a vital part in the retaining of Government High School as a selective Secondary Grammar School, to meet the needs of students of the kind from whom have come so many of the outstanding persons in the community.”

Now in 2022, The Gov ernment High School

life in The Bahamas and even around the world. TGHS Alumni as a body is poised to embrace their new season and their time to now petition the Gov ernment to return TGHS to a selective grammar school, and give all who will one day attend the same opportunity that was given to them. TGHS Alumni feel The Bahamas should return to the tradition of excellence in education.

A core focus of TGHS Alumni Association will be re-establishing the common Entrance Exam or simi lar exam that will afford scores of ninth graders with the opportunity to enter TGHS with a large group of like-minded students.

From as early as 1925 to 1974, students that entered TGHS were exposed to an environment of learning excellence.

Alumni Association looks forward to reaffirming Mrs Rodgers’ sentiments by being a strong advocate for the re-establishment of The Government High School becoming a selective Sec ondary Grammar School. In addition to being the pre-eminent High School from 1925 and beyond, TGHS Alumni can boast of having two Prime Min isters - Sir Lynden Pindling and Perry Christie; three Deputy Prime Ministers - A.D. Hanna, Sir Orville Turnquest and Desmond Banister; scores of Cabi net Ministers; former Governors General Sir Gerald Cash, Dame Ivy Dumont, the first woman elected to the HOA, Dame Janet Bostwick, and lead ers in every aspect of

Sixth graders from around The Bahamas strived to be afforded a high place ment when they took the Common Entrance exam. The Common Entrance exam was more than a guaranteed seat into TGHS but the Government granted full scholarships to many of the private schools to those who wished to attend pri vate school.

How will this work? Paul Fernander, recently elected president of The Government High School Alumni Association, has a workable concept: Starting April 2023, the Ministry of Education would create an exam similar to the ones in Barbados as well as our other Caribbean neigh bours. The Ministry of Education would provide a total number of scholar ships they will offer, which should not exceed 325 per year. Annually there would be 975 scholarships offered for three years, however in the first year there would be 325 offered for 10 graders for three years, 325 for two years for 11 graders and 325 for 12 graders for one year.

All potential tenth graders as well as all students that would be eligible to enter grades 11 and 12 in Septem ber 2025 would be able to take the common entrance in March 2024. This con cept would need fine tuning by the Ministry of Edu cation, however TGHS Alumni believe it is doable if we as a nation want to change the trajectory of our country. In addition to renewed focus on return ing TGHS as a selective Grammar School, TGHS Alumni will also advocate for salary increases for teachers in The Bahamas, believing that increasing teachers’ salaries strength ens the pipeline salary and lowers turnover which, in turn, increases student performance.

To date, TGHS Alumni and one of its corporate partners, TIG Foundation, have been instrumental in donating two new basket ball backboards, poles, and rims, as well as two sets of blue and white basketball uniforms for the ladies and gentlemen’s basketball teams. The former stu dents also started a TGHS Alumni Dollars for Schol ars promotion to assist in the purchasing of a server, switch and work stations for a new computer lab.

The TGHS Alumni Dol lars for Scholars promotion will end in December and persons who wish to donate can contact TGHS Alumni or the Principal at TGHS.

As far as the common misconception about TGHS versus GHS is concerned, Mr. Fernander stated that “this is only a mindset”.

“The persons who feel infe rior have to think there are persons who they look at as

superior. The persons in the 50s and before were told they did not go to the real TGHS so did the persons in the 60s and so on. But persons who matriculated through TGHS, whatever year, and tried their best to get an education and make a valuable contribution to The Bahamas can boast of attending The Government High School.

“It was and still is not the school but the indi vidual that became a part of The Government High School. The Government High School is more than a location, concrete blocks or cement - it is a mindset. If, during a person’s matricula tion through the institution, their favourite period was lunch and getting an edu cation was the last thing on their agenda, whatever year be - 1925 or 2022 - boasting that you attended TGHS will be looked at as hollow.

“However, if persons took advantage of the free education and made some thing of themselves and contributed to the develop ment of The Bahamas, then saying they attended TGHS stands for the excellence the institution is known for producing. ”

Mr. Fernander said in his opinion, persons that earned their placement at TGHS when it was a selec tive institution and persons that attended when it was changed to a compre hensive institution both received a free education.

All the persons that took advantage of the free edu cation and contributed to the development of The Bahamas all went to THE Government High School.

RF PROVIDES MEDICINE TO 40 PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

The funds will be used towards the medication assistance pro gramme launched in September. The programme offers three med ications to kidney patients in two phases.

“One in ten Bahamians suf fers from diabetes so preventive and curative care are extremely important to achieving a healthier population,” commented Cleora Farquharson, RF VP of Pension Services. “RF is proud to provide assistance to those who otherwise couldn’t afford these lifesaving medications.”

Diabetes is among the top three causes of death and disability in The Bahamas according to the Pan American Health Organisation’s country profile. It’s treatment also costs Bahamian taxpayers close to $35m per annum, or almost 18 percent of public health spending, in combination with treatments for hypertension according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

“It is our intent to start the pro gramme with 50 persons initially at a cost of $300 per patient/per month,” said Tamika Roberts, Kidney Association President. “We understand the financial burden patients bear and we are committed to providing assistance.

“This month our Peer Educa tors have also launched a slogan and poster competition among primary and high school students to bring awareness to kidney disease.

PRESIDENT – Paul Fernander. SECRETARY – Tessa Bullard. TREASURER – Rivianna Smith.

ASST. Treasurer – Alanna Brice. PUBLIC Relations Officer –Xavier Knowles.

IN HONOUR of Diabetes Awareness Month, RF Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd. (RF) made a donation to the Bahamas Kidney Association to cover a month’s worth of medication for 40 patients.

“The competition aims to edu cate our younger population on preventative measures in our effort to reduce the instances of kidney failure in The Bahamas.”

The medications provided by the Kidney Associations assistance programme include Nephrovite,

Alfacalcidol and Mircera. The Bahamas Kidney

Association is a non-profit focused on increasing public awareness of the functions of kid neys and the measures necessary to prevent kidney disease.

The organisation’s vision is to reduce the instances of kidney failure throughout The Bahamas and improve the lives of persons affected by kidney disease.

FROM left: Tina Kelly, Coordinator Bahamas Kidney Association, Tamika Roberts, Kidney Association President, Cleora Farquharson, RF VP of Pension Services, Rachael Allahar, RF Group Head of Marketing.

Hundreds of

REGIONAL investment bank RF Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd. (RF) and the humanitarian Brighter Bahamas Foundation (BBF) have joined forces to fight illiteracy. RF recently invited team members to donate lightly used books to Brighter Bahamas for use in their free libraries ini tiative. Hundreds of books were donated to be used for micro libraries across New Providence.

“Literacy is the foun dation for many things including developing independence, managing money and working,” noted Rachael Allahar, Group Head of Marketing at RF Bank & Trust. “RF is proud to take part in an initiative that focuses on making literacy and subse quently opportunities for advancement, equitable and inclusive.”

The donation comes as part of a wider initiative that is being supported by the Rotary Clubs of the Bahamas and visiting clubs of District 6990 out of the United States and Grand Bahama.

“This donation will play a major role in the refurbish ment and restocking of our free libraries across New Providence,” commented Jehan Unwala, Cofounder of Brighter Bahamas

donated

RF to free libraries

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Foundation. “We appreci ate the support from RF and their staff in providing books for disadvantaged individuals.”

The community librar ies were opened in May 2017 by Brighter Bahamas to promote literacy for Bahamian children. The

group reported that 21% of Bahamian households have fewer than 10 books at home based on a survey they executed.

ABOVE: RF presents Brighter Bahamas with donated books (L-R): Cherilyn Bethel, RF Marketing Coordinator, Jehan Unwala, Cofounder of Brighter Bahamas Foundation, Rachael Allahar, Group Head of Marketing at RF.