04172026 NEWS

All systems go as about 130 candidates successfully nominated for the May 12 general election amid festive rallies and minor disruptions

Nomination Day

Motorcades and music mark a festive Nomination Day

By TRIBUNE STAFF

ABOUT 130 candidates were nominated for the May 12 general election yesterday, with no official complaints and only minor disruptions reported as Nomination Day unfolded in a burst of motorcades, music and political theatre across the country.

Parliamentary Commissioner Harrison Thompson said the process went largely as expected, with only limited issues in a few constituencies.

“From all indications, my team did what they were supposed to do today and it would appear that everything went well,” he said, adding that no applications were rejected.

He said there were some challenges in Fort Charlotte, Pinewood and Garden Hills, including concerns about whether some people qualified.

“The conclusion was that everybody who appeared to be nominated were nominated,” he said. “They presented the documents that they needed to be nominated with, and they were accepted by the returning officers.”

While final figures were still being compiled, particularly from the Family Islands, Mr Thompson said early indications suggested there would be around 130 nominees across 41 constituencies.

“We thought it would be more independents, but the amount of independents didn’t move up to what we

expected,” he said. “And we thought another party would have been involved, but they did not nominate.”

Candidates were required to submit nomination papers and asset and liabilities declarations, with additional documentation depending on their circumstances.

Mr Thompson said several constituencies had as many as five candidates, though he did not have a confirmed breakdown.

With nominations complete, the Parliamentary Registration Department is now shifting its focus to the advance poll, while candidate disclosures are expected to be published within two days.

The voter register stands at just over 206,000 people.

Across New Providence and the Family Islands, the formal process was matched by spectacle, as candidates arrived with entourages, horns blaring and Junkanoo groups setting the rhythm outside nomination centres.

Prime Minister Philip Davis was among those nominated, formally entering the race for Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador for the eighth consecutive time as a Progressive Liberal Party candidate.

Mr Davis said he felt “exhilarated” to be among those seeking to form the next Parliament and described the PLP’s slate as united in “spirit and purpose,” with a mix of experience and youth.

“It is a great honour to renew my commitment to

serving the people of Cat Island, Rum Cay, and San Salvador,” Mr Davis said after nominating. “Growing up on Cat Island shaped who I am, and it remains a privilege to work every day for real change in these communities.”

In Grand Bahama, FNM leader Michael Pintard was nominated in Marco City, arriving at the Belinda Wilson Convention Centre with a large crowd and a decorated truck leading the procession.

“I am humbled by the support we are getting from people of Marco City and from the people of Grand Bahama,” he said. “Today, we are happy to be getting over the formalities of

being nominated, and now it's back to work. We are optimistic, and we know by the grace of God, on the evening of the 12th of May, we will be the government.”

Mr Pintard, who first won the seat in 2017 and again in 2021, said his party remains unified and ready for what he described as a “brutal” campaign schedule.

Killarney drew some of the day’s biggest attention, with its crowded slate, including a former prime minister entering the race as an independent.

Free National Movement candidate Michela Barnett-Ellis arrived at Gambier Primary School with dozens of supporters dressed in red, including her

father, former Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett. She said the constituency was ready for a “new chapter.”

She will go up against former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, who was nominated as an independent on his birthday.

“This same photo you're taking today, this will be in the history book,” he said.

“Never before in the history of The Bahamas a Prime Minister who has led his party to the greatest victory recorded in The Bahamas, now running independent after being booted out by that same party.” In fact, Dr Minnis was not forced out of the FNM, but his decision to run as an independent automatically disqualifies

him from the party.

He said his campaign would be driven by representing the voice of the people rather than any political organisation.

PLP candidate Robyn Lynes also entered the race, appearing alongside former Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling, who publicly backed her candidacy.

“I support the woman dem,” Dame Marguerite said. “I think she is just so worthy, and I'll do whatever I can to help see that she brings the bacon home.” For some candidates, yesterday’s process was deeply emotional.

“It’s a feeling I can’t explain,” PLP Marco City candidate Eddie Whan told reporters, adding that he had previously turned down a request to run in the constituency about nine times.

Assistant Parliamentary Commissioner Denise Pinder said 16 candidates were nominated across Grand Bahama, with three candidates each in several constituencies and four in Pineridge. She said the process there went smoothly, with all candidates presenting the required documentation.

Amid the day’s activity, Coalition of Independents leader Lincoln Bain raised questions about whether Fort Charlotte candidate Sebas Bastian qualified to run, alleging he held undisclosed government contracts. Mr Bastian rejected the claim.

Bonaby dodges questions on $141m parks authority spending

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Chief Reporter

MOUNT Moriah MP McKell Bonaby refused to answer questions about the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority during a rare encounter with a reporter yesterday amid scrutiny over the agency’s spending.

Mr Bonaby, flanked by party supporters, declined to engage with The Tribune after filing his nomination papers at Government High School ahead of the general election.

“It’s such a wonderful day today being here today nominating,” he said.

“We’re focusing on positivity. This is a one-on-one exercise and how you do politics with all the people around me. We’re excited and we’re going to go back,” he said.

He then told The Tribune “no further questions” before walking away and shouting “PLP” with his hands raised in the party’s three-finger gesture.

Questions about the authority intensified this week after The Nassau Guardian reported repeated overspending and

Dames says he is innocent after former employee’s drug arrest

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER National

Security Minister and FNM candidate Marvin Dames said he has not been called in for questioning in connection with a drug trafficking probe involving his former employee, whom he described as a young man who took the wrong path after he and his wife gave him a chance to improve his life.

Malcolm Goodman, a boat captain who worked for Mr Dames, was arrested on February 11 after US authorities allegedly found an estimated $4 million worth of cocaine on a boat he was operating near Florida that was owned by Mr Dames and his wife.

Goodman has pleaded not guilty to the offences but is expected to reverse course, according to his lawyer. US authorities said Goodman admitted he was solely involved in the smuggling of narcotics.

Mr Dames has previously maintained his innocence in relation to the matter and continued to defend himself yesterday as he answered questions from the press for the first

time since news of Goodman’s arrest broke.

He said he is working to retrieve his vessel.

He said Goodman was “never really a business partner”, but rather an employee whom he and his wife had given an opportunity to improve his circumstances.

The two had entered into a business arrangement in 2024.

Mr Dames compared the situation to lending someone your car or allowing an employee to use your vehicle, only for them to be caught with illegal items inside.

He argued that the owner should not be blamed for another person’s actions and asked why he should be punished.

“The real question that we need to be asking as a people is why do all so many of our young men continue to fall through the cracks, despite the help that people like me continue to offer?” he said after filing his nomination papers yesterday. “I have been doing this most of my life.”

“My wife and I gave a young man an opportunity to make better of his life. He decided to take the wrong path. Should I be

punished for that?”

Nonetheless, he said the entire ordeal was a lesson learned for him and his wife, but said it would not deter them from helping others.

He also revealed that he and his wife continue to pay a “significant loan” they took out for the boat, but added that

because when I come, I coming with receipts.”

He said he had been silent on the issue because he refused to answer “garbage.”

“I’ve never been a part of the subject of any investigation ever in my entire life, okay?” he said. “I've never been asked to come and sit down and give information or evidence or anything related to crime, other than me taking the bad guys down.”

Mr Dames, a former Deputy Commissioner of Police who later served as Minister of National Security under the Minnis administration, said he can travel anywhere in the world and go to places where some politicians in this country allegedly cannot go today.

the controversy has not harmed their business relationships.

He said he has never been the subject of any investigation and accused what he called “paid surrogates” of the PLP for attempting to change the narrative.

“Did we know that something like this was gonna happen?” he asked.

“No we didn’t but I'm not discouraged by this. Others are trying to paint a picture, just the minority, for their own personal gain. They’re trying to paint a picture that Marvin Dames is involved in some sinister act. I say to you, if you have the evidence, come in the open and bring it

He questioned why the media has not been reporting on people he described as known drug traffickers and criminals walking on the streets with police-issued permits to carry concealed weapons, saying those were the kinds of issues that should be highlighted.

“Let’s not get sucked in by garbage that people are putting out there,” he added.

Barnett-Ellis vows to push for marital rape legislation

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Move-

ment Senator Michela Barnett-Ellis said criminalising marital rape is among the issues she wants addressed if her party wins the upcoming general election.

Mrs Barnett-Ellis, who has repeatedly criticised the Davis administration’s handling of the issue, said the current legal position leaves women without adequate protection.

“Marital rape is one of the issues I would like

us to address, but there are other equally important matters like bringing dignity to divorce proceedings,” she said yesterday.

She also pointed to the need for changes to laws governing families.

“Modernising the law on parental responsibility will promote belief that both parents ought to be equally involved in children’s lives.” Her comments come as the FNM’s position on marital rape has become cloudy. In a recent press release, Elizabeth candidate Heather Hunt said

the party would criminalise marital rape and “remove the legal exception that has for too long denied women equal protection under the law.”

However, the party later recalled the press release.

In February 2025, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said he wanted “consensus” on marital rape and to understand the views of a broad cross-section of Bahamians, “not just one group”.

Attorney General Ryan Pinder said in the same month that the government did not expect to

introduce legislation before the end of its term, citing the political sensitivity of the matter.

However, Ann Marie Davis, the prime minister’s spouse, has publicly supported criminalising marital rape and said the

government should proceed with the necessary legislation. Critics argue that waiting for consensus is inconsistent with how governments have handled other contentious issues. The Christie

administration legalised the gaming industry after a referendum in which most voters opposed it, while the Davis administration moved ahead with cannabis reforms despite opposition from some in the religious community.

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Teachers secure 16.5 percent pay raise in new contract

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE Government has signed a new five-year industrial agreement with the Bahamas Educators, Counsellors and Allied Workers Union (BECAWU), delivering salary increases and expanded benefits for teachers, guidance counsellors and teacher aides, though the overall cost of the agreement was not disclosed.

The agreement follows the expiration of the previous contract in 2025 and will run through to 2030.

While officials outlined several financial improvements, they said the total value must be calculated by the Ministry of Finance.

Education Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin said the agreement reflects a “balanced and responsible approach” that addresses longstanding concerns raised by the union while ensuring fiscal sustainability.

“The government understands the role of educators in the national development of our country,” Mrs Hanna Martin said. “This agreement represents a comprehensive and forward-looking investment in educators. It balances union priorities with national fiscal responsibility while addressing long-standing concerns across multiple areas.”

She said the government has, over the past five years, sought to enhance salaries and benefits and remains committed to strengthening the education system through “meaningful and targeted financial improvements”.

Key provisions include increases to several allowances. The classroom allowance will rise from $250 to $300, while guidance counsellors—who were specifically advocated for during negotiations— will now receive a $300 allowance to support incentive programmes. A new annual allowance of $1,000 has also been introduced for school systems administrators, recognising their role in managing digital systems, data accuracy and institutional reporting.

Early childhood educators will also see improvements, with preschool team leader and coordinator allowances increasing from $250 to $450. The disturbance allowance for teachers affected by transfers will rise from $300 to $400 per month.

Mrs Hanna Martin described the agreement as featuring “significant advances for benefits for teachers in this nation” and said it reflects the government’s intent to better support and retain educators.

BECAWU president Sandra Major said the

agreement represents the largest increase negotiated by the union, with a 16.5 percent salary increase— surpassing the 15 percent secured in the previous 2021 agreement.

She noted that salaries at certain levels will increase from $44,800 to $52,200 annually, while incremental increases have also been improved, including a rise from $700 to $900 in the third year. Starting salaries are set to increase from $30,100 to $31,500, and further to $33,300 by 2028.

Ms Major said the union made a deliberate decision to prioritise permanent salary increases over lump sum payments.

“At the end of the day, this is yours for life. Instead, lump sum payments are good but when you add that $200 a year to your salary at the end of the year, you’re going to be better off for it,” she said.

She emphasised that the agreement covers all categories of BECAWU members, including teachers, teacher aides and guidance counsellors.

“We fought for this agreement to make sure none of them are left behind,” she said, adding that guidance counsellors were a key focus during negotiations. “They are an integral part of our education system. We cannot do it without them.”

The agreement also includes improvements to

non-salary benefits. The rental geographical allowance will increase from $3,000 to $3,500, and the Ministry of Education will now cover first and last month’s rent for teachers assigned to the Family Islands—an issue that previously caused frustration among new postings.

Ms Major said BECAWU currently has approximately 850 members across The Bahamas. She described the negotiation process as at times challenging but ultimately

respectful, noting that both sides remained focused on achieving the best outcome for educators.

“We’ve had our moments of disagreement, but we’ve always had that respect for each other to know that at the end of the day, it is what is best for this country,” she said. She also pointed to broader concerns about teacher retention and morale, noting that improved compensation is key to keeping educators in the system and

attracting more men to the profession.

“Teachers are leaving,” she said yesterday.

“I mean, they, unlike me who stayed for 40, they're staying for 10. They say 'Ms we won't stay like you'. So unless we change it, and change their perception of what this is. We don't get male teachers because male teacher says its not enough.” Additionally, Mrs Hanna Martin confirmed that a similar offer has been extended to the Bahamas Union of Teachers, which is still considering the proposal. This development comes after the Bahamas Union of Teachers rejected the government’s second financial counter-proposal earlier this week and issued a deadline for a revised offer.

Union president Belinda Wilson has said 90 percent of surveyed members voted to reject the proposal, while 95 percent supported a three-year agreement.

“Three days,” she had said in a voice note earlier this week. “I’ve already sent the union’s position to Prime Minister Davis, to the chief consultant and the government’s negotiating team. I’m awaiting their response.”

She did not say what action would follow if the deadline is not met, though industrial action remains a possibility.

Rolle defends his eligibility after Bain questions WSC job

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Pinewood candidate Denarii Rolle defended his eligibility to run yesterday, insisting he is compliant with the law after Coalition of Independents leader Lincoln Bain challenged his employment status during Nomination Day proceedings.

Mr Bain questioned whether Mr Rolle, whom he said works at the Water and Sewerage Corporation, had met the legal requirements to seek office.

“If you are a public

servant, even if it's quasi area, you must resign,” Mr Bain said. “We have to make sure we do things by the book. If he goes to say that he is not P and P and that he is just contract, then he should have notified the public of that contract a month before.”

Mr Rolle rejected the claims, saying he is on unpaid political leave and not receiving a salary from the corporation.

“I’ve already spoken to this on the record,” he said. “He can check our industrial agreement that speaks to the political leave that I’m off, I’m unpaid, so I’m not getting a salary from Water and Sewerage.”

He said the agreement outlines his status during the campaign and the period after the election.

“It speaks specifically to the clause you’re off, without pay and I have actually 30 days to decide if I’m unsuccessful, if I want to return or not.”

Incumbent Progressive Liberal Party candidate Myles Laroda declined to engage in the dispute, saying his focus remained on his campaign.

“Mr Bain raised the issue,” he said. “I have no comment on the other side, I’m just here to worry about the Progressive Liberal Party.”

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Reject election theatre

NOMINATION day came yesterday

– with all its traditional colour and fanfare. The election campaign is now truly under way.

There were the triumphal marches by some to the nomination booth, confident in their hopes of election or re-election.

There were the cavalcades of cars and jitneys, bedecked in party colours.

Then there were the smaller stories, of the independents lining up to nominate, driven by the conviction to stand.

It is a day of political theatre – costumes and banners and all. That can be good, and it can be bad.

Lincoln Bain, leader of the Coalition of Independents, was determined to make his theatrical entrance, making a lot of noise as he claimed that Sebas Bastian, the PLP candidate for Fort Charlotte, was not qualified to run, saying that Mr Bastian had government contracts that were undisclosed. Mr Bastian denied it.

Mr Bastian may be known for his gambling empire – that he has now stepped away from in order to run for politics –but the safest bet in town is that Mr Bain is going to continue to make noise.

The wannabe leader of the nation, whose party’s policies are built on foundations that are both unconstitutional and fiscally impossible, recently urged voters to interrogate their fellow voters in the election lines.

Mr Bain is building a platform based on stoking hatred of foreigners – and he did the same when he urged people: “When you get in that election lines, talk to the person in front of you, talk to the person in the back of you. If they cannot speak the Queen’s English, they should not have a passport. When you get to that door, you let us know.”

Let us first of all skip over the lack of Queen’s English in Mr Bain’s own statement there, which would surely disqualify him by his own rules if he were aware enough to notice, and get to the point – do not, whatever you do, harass anyone else in the voting lines.

People have a right to vote. If there is any doubt over whether someone is rightfully able to vote, there are processes for such challenges. Take it to court if you believe as much. The same could be said for his allegations against Mr Bastian. If you have the evidence, take it to court. Make it public. Do not just stand there shouting at the election staff because you think it gives you a good soundbite and a clip for social media. It is performative if you do not follow it up with appropriate action.

Grandmom’s murder deeply troubling

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I HAVE not been able to get Tamika Nottage-Cime out of my mind.

As a daughter and grandmother myself, I cannot escape the image of what should have been an ordinary moment: being at home with her grandchildren and her mom, hanging out, chatting, spending quality time together, and believing, as any of us would, that home was the safest place to be. What makes this tragedy so deeply disturbing is how profoundly human it is.

tribune news network

Has the evidence been provided to anyone? Well, not to The Tribune. It is easy to make allegations, but they do not mean a thing without the evidence to back them up.

National Security Minister Wayne Munroe was quite right when he rebuked Mr Bain for his suggestion. He said: “Do not listen to that foolish advice unless you have a will not to vote if you want your vote to count. You will not interfere with anybody else exercising their right to vote. If you do, you will be the one who is not able to vote because you will be in custody.”

Remember this – if you take that advice, and normalise the harassment of voters in line, then you too will be opening the door to being harassed yourself. This is tearing away any pretense of trust in one another. If we cannot even trust ourselves, we can never call ourselves a united nation.

There are processes in place for election security. If you do not trust them, campaign for them to be changed, to be tightened – but do not urge that people take matters into their own hands in the election line. Enough of that nonsense.

Around the world, there have been populist leaders who have tried to surge to prominence based on pointing the finger at foreigners and blaming them. They blame the other, the outsider –who often does not even have the right to vote. They say that person, that is the reason you do not have as much money in your pocket, or why you cannot get a job – all while ever more of the globe’s wealth seems to be concentrated in the bank balances of billionaires.

It is not the gardener or the handyman taking your wealth or opportunities away – even as those who have come from elsewhere and fill such roles are blamed by populists.

We must not allow ourselves to participate in this race to the bottom of politics, and we must not allow ourselves to be set one against another, even in this election season where the tribalism of politics comes to the fore.

A good measure throughout this election season, as allegations are thrown one way or another, is to ask the simple question – where is the proof?

If someone keeps making claims without the evidence to back them up, then ask yourself if they really deserve your vote, or even the time in your day.

The Bahamas faces real issues. We do not need to make up new ones.

FNM shares a clear vision

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I RECENTLY watched the Free National Movement’s manifesto launch and was struck by the clarity and forward-looking vision it presented. Unlike the Progressive Liberal Party, which introduced its “Blueprint for Progress” without a tangible document for public scrutiny, the FNM not only launched its manifesto but also made it immediately available for Bahamians to read. Rather than asking the public to simply trust their words, the FNM has provided a plan that citizens can examine and use to hold the party accountable. One of the most significant commitments, in my view, is the pledge to implement Vision 2040, the National Development Plan. Initiated under the Christie-led PLP administration with bipartisan support, this plan reflects the collective input of Bahamians from across the archipelago. I had expected it to remain a priority under the current administration,

but it has largely been paid only lip service, and its recent reemergence feels like an effort at public appeasement. It is therefore encouraging to see the FNM recognize the value of this comprehensive, nationally informed document and commit to its implementation. If followed through, this could have a meaningful and lasting impact on governance in The Bahamas. Another noteworthy proposal is the introduction of a national lottery, with proceeds earmarked for education, youth, sports, and cultural development. This is an initiative many Bahamians have long supported. It stands in contrast to the PLP government’s decision to regularise the web shop industry; a move some believe benefits a limited few rather than the wider public. The manifesto also outlines several ambitious initiatives, including providing $200 per month in child support during the first two years of a child’s life, increasing investment

in Bahamian entrepreneurs, constructing at least 5,000 homes, establishing a standalone National Fire Department, and offering targeted incentives for the Family Islands. While questions may arise about how these initiatives will be funded, they reflect a willingness to think beyond maintaining the status quo and to present concrete ideas for national development. With May 12, election day, fast approaching, Bahamians will soon have the opportunity to assess the current administration’s record and determine whether it has met the expectations placed upon it. The choice will ultimately rest on whether voters believe their lives have improved and whether the vision presented for the future by both the Free National Movement and the Progressive Liberal Party is credible and compelling.

THE BAYMAN Nassau, April 12, 2026.

Tamika was not out being reckless, she was inside her multi-generational home, in the quiet dignity of family life, when a bullet entered that space and ended her life, escaping other human beings nearby. The sheer cruelty

of that reality is difficult to process.

My heart is deeply with her husband, mother, children, grandchildren, and every loved one who is now left to navigate a grief that words cannot meaningfully ease. I extend my sincerest condolences to them. I pray they are given the strength to endure what no family should ever have to face.

We all sit at home with our loved ones doing normal every day things, every day; so to know that such a moment can be shattered by violence from outside the walls of one’s home should trouble the conscience of this nation.

When violence invades the sanctity of home, it strikes at more than one life. It wounds a family, shakes a community, and chips away at the sense of safety that every ordinary Bahamian deserves to feel behind their own doors.

Tamika should still be here, and the fact that she is not, and that innocent children witnessed her demise, must weigh heavily on all of us. May her memory remind us of the fragility of life, the sacredness of family, and the urgent need to protect the dignity of ordinary people simply trying to live, love, and feel safe in their homes.

Disheartened,

MAXINE SEYMOUR

Nassau, Bahamas April 14, 2026

We deserve the promised economic revolution

EDITOR, The Tribune. R EAL Progress Is Felt, Not Marketed. Every nation eventually reaches a point where slogans are inadequate, excuses no longer suffice, and public patience wears thin. I believe that the Bahamas has now reached this critical moment.

After 5.5 years of promises (including the pre-2021 election cycle) and 4.5 years of governance that have consistently failed to translate those promises into measurable and meaningful change, the credibility of this Philip Davis Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) administration has dwindled.

Bahamians are right to question whether this government possesses the competence or conviction to deliver the economic revolution it now claims the country needs.

The real issue is no longer whether the PLP can articulate the language of progress; it can. The pressing concern is whether it can deliver actual progress. Unfortunately, based on its record, the answer appears to be no.

An economic revolution isn’t built on speeches, press events, ceremonial announcements, or meticulously crafted talking points. It requires policy clarity, effective execution, institutional seriousness, investment confidence, productivity growth, new enterprise formation, improved affordability, stronger human capital, and a clear framework for expanding ownership and opportunities for ordinary citizens.

By these standards, the government’s performance has fallen far short of what the moment demands.

Bahamians were not promised aimless movement, delays, or a continuation of the same structural weaknesses that have kept too many citizens trapped in economic vulnerability, dependency, and exclusion. They were promised something larger, a transformation.

Yet, many Bahamians continue to face persistent challenges: high costs, fragile opportunities, limited upward mobility, weak pathways to ownership, underdeveloped industries, and an economy that often feels more extractive than empowering.

This growing skepticism toward the PLP is not unfounded; it has been earned.

If this administration truly had the

discipline, imagination, and capability to foster meaningful economic change, the results would already be visible in people’s lives. We would see stronger systems to support homeownership, a more aggressive push for Bahamians to own productive assets, and deeper reforms to stimulate small business growth, local investment, digital transformation, and modern capital formation. Instead, many Bahamians have observed an increasing gap between promise and performance.

The Bahamas cannot afford another cycle of ornamental politics, where leaders speak about the future while governing merely as custodians of inertia.

This country needs leadership that comprehends that the next stage of national development cannot be limited to administration; it must entail construction. We must build an economy that is thriving, vibrant, inclusive, resilient, sustainable, opportunity-driven, and centered on ownership.

This is why the question of leadership is so crucial.

I sincerely believe that under Michael C Pintard’s leadership, the Bahamas has its best opportunity to transition from passive inheritors of the past to active architects of the future.

This isn’t a call for blind optimism; it’s a recognition that the country requires a different governing approach, one that moves beyond maintenance politics to nation-building politics.

The next era of leadership must be defined by more than simply managing decline. It should focus on restructuring the economy so that Bahamians are not just workers, consumers, or spectators of development but active owners within the system.

Ownership must become the core of public policy: ownership of homes, businesses, productive land, investment opportunities, and financial infrastructure. We must own our future.

This is the unfinished promise left to us by the generation that secured our independence. They achieved the Political Revolution; our generation must now secure an Economic Revolution.

Political independence without broad economic empowerment remains incomplete.

A flag alone cannot create prosperity, and a

Parliament alone cannot ensure resilience.

As sovereign people, we must also become economically capable, equipped to not just survive in our nation but to own, shape, and expand it. The real national project before us is not simply growth in the abstract; it is the democratisation of opportunity and the broadening of ownership across the Bahamian population.

This is where competent leadership becomes crucial. The country does not need another administration skilled only in rhetoric, delay, and political self-preservation. It requires leadership capable of transforming vision into systems, policy into investment, and national aspiration into genuine economic participation. We need leaders who understand that growth without inclusion is fragile and unsustainable.

As Bahamians, we must approach our next phase of development with a serious mindset. The choice we face is not just between political parties; it’s a choice between stagnation and reconstruction, between inherited dysfunction and intentional redesign.

We have a government that has had ample time to prove itself and an alternative leadership that presents the possibility of a more coherent economic future.

The Bahamas deserves more than the PLP’s recycled promises during this campaign season. We deserve action, courage, and leadership that match the significance of this moment.

The Bahamas requires a new economic direction, rather than political marketing that pretends to represent progress. True progress is not statements engineered for headlines or designed for political advantages. It is evident in the results and is something that people can see, feel, and experience in their daily lives. If we are committed to building a stronger nation, we must stop accepting governments that merely speak of revolution while maintaining the structures of underperformance.

Today, more than ever, the Bahamas needs leadership that is not only prepared to discuss the future but is also ready to actively build it.

Open to intelligent and constructive critiques.

EDEN M JOHNSON Freeport, Grand Bahama April 13, 2026.

Ex-fiancée says Gibson used WSC-funded vehicles for campaign and rental business

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

THE former fiancée of Long Island MP Adrian Gibson told the Supreme Court yesterday that his rental company acquired vehicles from a company he owned, which had been paid by the Water and Sewerage Corporation.

She also claimed he used one of those vehicles during the 2021 general election campaign.

Alexandria Mackey gave the evidence under cross-examination by

defence attorney Damian Gomez, KC, in the ongoing trial tied to WSC contracts. She said Gibson, through Oak Bay Limited, received five vehicles. She indicated that some were used by Gibson’s rental company, Aaron’s Rentals, in Long Island, while another was used by Gibson during the 2021 election. She said the vehicles included a Mazda, a silver Toyota HiAce, a blue 2016 Mazda station wagon and a black 2012 Toyota Previa.

Ms Mackey said she did not see any bill of sale or road traffic certificate of

title transferring the vehicles from Oak Bay Limited to Adrian Gibson or Aaron’s Rentals, but maintained they were bought for Gibson and that he did not pay for them.

When it was put to her that the vehicles were never licensed or part of Aaron’s Rentals, Ms Mackey said she arranged for them to be shipped to Long Island and that at least one vehicle left New Providence. Although Mr Gomez suggested the vehicles were all found in New Providence, with one in the possession of Joann

Landlord accused of raping his tenant over unpaid rent

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of raping his female tenant on Hospital Lane last week was remanded to prison yesterday.

Prosecutors allege that Joey Sawyer, 48, confronted the 47-year-old woman about unpaid rent. The situation escalated after the complainant

said her boyfriend would pay later, and the defendant allegedly snatched her phone, accusing her of recording him. He allegedly choked, stripped and raped the woman.

Sawyer was not required to enter a plea to the rape charge before acting Chief Magistrate Ancella Evans. He was informed that the matter would proceed

to the Supreme Court by way of a voluntary bill of indictment.

Sawyer was also advised of his right to apply for bail in the higher court. He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until the service of his voluntary bill of indictment on August 6.

Inspector Deon Barr prosecuted the case.

Suspect denied bail in violent $12,000 pizza shop robbery

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of robbing a Cable Beach pizza restaurant of $12,000 was remanded to prison yesterday.

Prosecutors allege that Jimmy Jean, 26, and an accomplice violently robbed

Peter Knowles of a bag containing $12,000 in cash belonging to Sbarro Pizza as he was leaving the restaurant at 12.45pm on April 13. The suspects reportedly fled in a teal Nissan. Jean pleaded not guilty to charges of robbery and abetment to robbery before acting Chief Magistrate Ancella Evans.

Prosecutor Inspector Deon Barr objected to bail, citing the defendant’s history of serious offences. Jean was sentenced to 18 months in prison on a firearm charge in 2023. He was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until his trial on July 29.

Knowles, Ms Mackey said she did not know where the vehicles were.

She said she did not know when the vans left New Providence and could not distinguish between them.

She indicated that the van used in Gibson’s 2021 campaign was bought for him but said she could not remember exactly what it looked like.

Ms Mackey agreed that no shares were issued to Gibson for Elite Maintenance and that he never appeared on the Registrar of Directors or held a corporate position, but said

this was by design. She said that although he was not formally appointed, he was the beneficial owner of the company. She rejected the defence’s suggestion that she had repeatedly violated the Bar Code of Ethics to the people she said she represented.

Ms Mackey said she left Elite Maintenance in 2020, although the filing date may differ, and added that Gibson has the company’s documents.

She said Elite Maintenance had a Scotiabank account that she and

Rashae Gibson, the MP’s cousin, signed on as shareholder and director.

Ms Mackey said she and Rashae Gibson were friends.

Gibson, the former executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation, has been on trial since November 2023 alongside Donaldson Jr, a former general manager, Joann Knowles, Peaches Farquharson and Jerome Missick over contracts awarded during his tenure.

Senior Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson is presiding.

Man granted bail after allegedly assaulting a ten-year-old girl

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of indecently assaulting a tenyear-old girl on Johnson Alley last week was granted bail yesterday. Prosecutors allege that Mark “MJ” Davis Jr, 21, inappropriately touched the child on April 8. Davis pleaded not guilty to indecent assault before Magistrate Abigail Farrington. He was granted bail at $7,000 with one or two sureties and must sign in at the Wulff Road Police Station on the last Sunday of each month by 7pm. He was warned not to contact witnesses or risk having his bail revoked. Davis returns for trial on July 22.

Levan Johnson represented the accused, while Assistant Superintendent of Police K Bould prosecuted the case.

Eric Wiberg • Wrecks of The Bahamas

Ditched drug planes on Eleuthera, Abaco, Long Island, San Salvador & Cat Island

“ARE you calling about the plane that landed upside down on Queens Highway loaded with cash for drug pay-outs and skidded along, spilling money everywhere?” the old timer asked innocently. I was calling to interview him about a US Navy fighter that had ditched behind the church and school house at Hard Bargain, Moore’s Island, in the Bight of Abaco, and had not heard about that story. But still, it didn’t entirely surprise me either.

In 1991 after Junkanoo, a friend and I had hopped on a mailboat and headed overnight to Bullock’s Harbour in the Berry Islands, then to Moore’s Island for the night. Another old timer had given us a long walking tour of the island, which included the landing strip, the caves where cash and drugs were stored, and more to tantalize our young imaginations before we headed over to Sandy Point.

Many of us may not realize the strategic importance of these ports: they are only 125 miles due east of Fort Lauderdale and other US drop offs for drugs. They each have their own airstrips. The Gorda Cay strip was built intentionally long by Trinidadian entrepreneur Alvin Tucker in the 1950s. They are also only 10 miles or less from each other, but close to mainland supply and logistics, have deep-water vessel access, and are conveniently many miles from interference. In fact, when I was there on the first of many visits to find a Norwegian WWII grave, Sandy Point was mostly cut off from Marsh Harbour and only served by a dirt road that was, at times, overgrown. It could be an ideal area to smuggle, and I do recall the thrum of military helicopters, the roar of small planes, and the sweeping of searchlights and cackle of anxious radios while there.

Moore’s Island lies between the east tip of Grand Bahama at Sweeting’s Cay and the southern tip of Abaco. Officially, there have been three air accidents there, including a Cessna in October 1973 on a dirt road; a Piper in September 1992, owned by Zig Zag Airlines; and another Cessna in January 1991, for the Freeport Flying Club.

According to investigative journalist Oskar Johansen, in an article titled Degenerate Ark in The Avery Review, after 2018, the conversion of remote Gorda Cay into a runway for drug smuggling was far from accidental.

“In 1957, 150 acres of Gorda Cay was acquired by the Trinidadian real estate developer and entrepreneur Alvin Tucker, an aviation enthusiast [who] built a 2,400-foot tarmac runway. [Soon] the airstrip had been commandeered by narcotics traffickers. With the local authorities reportedly compromised, and

Tucker’s caretaker bought off with a bottle of rum . . . the Narcos would ship their product from South America by sea before sending it on planes bound for Florida. By the time Tucker sold the land to Leisure Club Ltd. in the early seventies, he had stopped visiting the island for fear of his life.” Johansen continues: “Leisure Club Ltd. was, of course, a front for one of these Narcos: an American named Frank Barber. Barber consolidated his smuggling enterprise, renting the airstrip to other Narcos, shipping his own product, and laying plans for a hotel complex. The first bust was in 1977. Barber was himself arrested in 1982, allegedly in possession of 1.8 million Quaalude tablets, but not before becoming an informant for the DEA.”

At nearby Sandy Point, a Cessna flown by Terrance Gibson crashed and was destroyed in September 1993. Previously, a Joel Ribler-owned Beechcraft crashed in 1970.

At Treasure Cay alone during the 1970s to 1990s there were at least a dozen aircraft accidents in the area, involving four Cessnas, three Beechcraft, one Piper and one Mooney, a helicopter, and two Aero Commanders.

Further south, in Eleuthera, over a dozen aircraft were damaged or destroyed during this time, most of them not carrying drugs: from two off Spanish Wells to Alice Town, Rock Sound, North Eleuthera, to Cotton Bay. There were two Cessna, four Beechcraft, and seven Pipers. In Spanish Wells the reasons given behind two accidents are worth noting. In October of 1970, on the way from Rudder Cay Cut to Nassau, a Piper went low on fuel and had to ditch in the water. The NTSB report cites “forced landing off airport on water, low on fuel, lost electrical power, dead battery, deviated due en route weather and became lost.”

Seems like a bad day, except they survived.

The other aircraft was on its way from North Eleuthera to nearby Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands, doing what investigators call “in flight acrobatics” resulting in “collision with ground/ water, uncontrolled: crashed in ocean.”

A Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel newspaper headline from March, 1986, noted: “Plane lands in waterway after dumping pot.” Three Floridians--led by Donald William Underwood, age 39--took off from an airstrip

in Eleuthera laden with 750 pounds, filed a flight plan for Jamaica. But instead, they flew west, south of Andros, to the Florida Keys, then east to Palm Beach, where they ditched the twin-engine Cessna 337 into the Intracoastal Waterway at Loxahatchee, near Palm Beach. They were arrested by the DEA who had been following them.

Outside Magazine published an article titled “Blackbeard Doesn’t Come Here Anymore” by Robert Antoni in 1999. “After my grandfather purchased the island, he’d made plans to build a house for himself and to clear a runway for his plane. He paved a 2,400-foot runway, which even today remains one of the best private airstrips in all the Bahamas.”

By 1980, little Gorda Cay had made the big time--at least in terms of notoriety--appearing in the headlines of the Nassau Tribune. Although drug smuggling was written all over the story, those words remained conspicuously absent from the headline: “Foreigners Take Over Gorda Cay.” According to the story, “two Sandy Point fishermen were found on tiny Upper Gorda Rock, a mile off the Cay, having spent the night and most of the day there. They’d gone to Gorda Cay the previous evening to catch land crabs, using a flashlight beam to

stun them at night, just as they always did. A guard and several Dobermans approached and held them up. He walked them to his boss, who ordered the guard to take them a mile offshore and dump them overboard. The guard carried them 700 feet from the rock and told them to swim for it.”

Several “respected members of this Sandy Point community” were interviewed, who told of counting up to six light airplanes landing and leaving Gorda in a single night. The island was now off-limits to Bahamians, the residents alleged. When Tiny Darville attempted to go ashore to check her farm, she was greeted by armed guards and dogs. The only thing she could do was run, she said. Another story came from a fisherman named Bob Adderley, who up until a few months previous had been caretaker of the island. He told how some American gunmen came, ordered him off the cay by sundown, and then burned down his house.

Frank Barber told authorities how “the merchandise likely arrived by barge or freighter fresh from Colombia — [using] the airstrip of which my grandfather was so proud of. At Gorda it was off-loaded, often directly into light aircraft, which popped in and out like bread out of the toaster, or into screaming Cigarettes and Scarabs, which on a quiet night could make the Delray

Beach inlet in a little over an hour.”

Owner or not, the quantity of narcotics that Barber managed to smuggle through Gorda Cay — or assisted with his rentan-airstrip service — is inestimable. But between the first seizure at Gorda Cay, in 1977, when $30 million worth of marijuana was discovered in two yachts anchored in Pumpkin Harbour, to the last bust, in 1983, involving $100 million worth of cocaine (five days before Barber went to jail), scarcely a month went by when a drug run was not made through Gorda Cay.

The police found Barber on the island not long after, with the passenger seats of his plane removed.

Perhaps it was Judge Roettger, who sent Barber to prison for five years for trafficking (after Barber finked on the very DEA agent he’d had on his payroll for years), who put it most succinctly: “Marijuana. Cocaine. Quaaludes. He smuggled quantities on the order of what General Motors orders from US Steel.” Barber never saw his ambitions for Gorda Cay come to fruition. He died a few years after Roettger’s pronouncement, before he’d even served his five-year sentence.

Gorda Cay may be playground for Disney today, but not long ago it was a launching pad for tons of narcotics and other drugs into the American market. The principal of delivery was the same, if the methods and cargoes varied. The evidence is still there – aircraft on the runway –only today they are seen as harmless props. Moore’s Islands holds its secrets. And, driving from Sandy Point to Hole in the Wall Light, you can still see the remains of aircraft that dot the pine barrens.

A new look at Olde Nassau – the view from on high and the hidden gems

IT IS time to take a new look at Nassau. For years, we have been calling it old, tired, in desperate need of a facelift and proper management. I’ve pounded the keyboard and the streets calling for a mayor or city manager, for true local government, for more experiences for the tens of thousands of guests whose first - and sometimes onlyexperience is with downtown. Then, slowly at first, I began uncovering its hidden gems. A tiny teahouse with almost doll-like furniture behind Balcony House and the vast parking lot to its west, beautifully restored by Central Bank. Inside, on those small wooden chairs, I am served a cup of coffee that felt like it was made with love. Fresh guava pastry on this particular day. A place where even looking at your cell phone felt too intrusive. Then Balcony House itself, a view into the past.

And more hidden gems. A whole host of makeshift umbrellas, ramshackle coverings, wooden shelves filled with fruit and hope and proprietors who could take a coconut and carve a piece of edible art, making a living talking with visitors, sharing stores of Bahamian culture on a rough-hewn rock and limestone street at the foot of Fort Fincastle. The scene -- a microcosm of a tourism attraction that erupted in small proportion rather than developed according to a plan.

I know – it is anathema to everything I have begged for over the years – a plan, preservation of historic artifacts and sites, respect for Nassau’s unique architecture, plaques, experiences. And all that is still true and needed. And will help preserve the city we love, the capital of The Bahamas.

But even without the structure in place, a new life is being born in this city and it is within our reach. Not as visitors, but as locals who just need to get out there and discover the hidden gems, the people who bring the city to life without ever asking to be recognized, the tours that have grown up in response to the increased demand of the cruise industry.

We hardly noticed because our eyes were trained on the north coast, the unceasing parade of thousands making their way in the heat from Nassau Cruise Port to Junkanoo Beach while just a few blocks south, the real Nassau was coming back to life.

On Delancey Street, a place visitors were warned not to go just a decade ago, is now booming. Tasty Teas that started out as a table and umbrella is now sprawling – the variety of teas and accessories and cups matched only by the moments of joy that Aunt Hilda Forbes brings when she stops by and tells the story of how soursop and other teas brought her back from an advanced stage of cancer. Guests hang

on her every word and you just want to hug her, you are so touched. Now son Jay Forbes is expanding. He’s already converted a oneroom schoolhouse where the likes of Alfred Sears and Craig Flowers once sat in tiny wooden desks into an ice cream parlour with homemade delights. Next he is planning to bring back limbo and fire dancing.

Down the street, John Watling’s Distillery entertained more than 400,000 guests in 2025, making it possibly the single most visited tourist attraction in The Bahamas. Before Pepin and Jose took it over and opened the doors in 2013, the neglected and abandoned property was a neighbourhood nightmare, derelict, a threat others might have seen as a tear-down but Pepin and Jose spent three years restoring the estate and today it is the anchor of the street with a range of experiences – mixology classes, run-tastings and more. Their rum wins awards. Their experiences win repeat visitors. The occasional concert or film draws locals.

Nearby is the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas with more activities than ever before.

Not far away is Graycliff, a world unto itself with hotel, restaurant, museum, chocolate factory, cigar rolling and the breathtaking pool with hand-painted tiles, one of the most beautiful and photographed in the world. Describing everything that makes Graycliff what it is would take an entire column. You have to experience it for yourself.

The Queen’s Staircase – 66 steps carved by slave labour, a tragic story but a treasure every Bahamian should experience – is unforgettable. Thanks to the half million dollars in improvements by the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board, it is easier than ever to walk.

In between the days of discovery over a period of a work week, I took a rowing lesson with the Nassau Rowing Club on Lake Cunningham.

But the best treat of all was a tour on the 2-storey bus as my dear friend Keevon Maynard, a lawyer by profession and tour operator by choice , shared information about the cemeteries we passed, the churches, the history of Nassau he knows so well. Bethel Baptist Church, built in 1790, next to Buena Vista Estate, built 1789, now home to John Watling’s Distillery, is not only the oldest Baptist church in The Bahamas – it’s the oldest in the Caribbean.

The path less taken may just be the path most interesting to find. We still need a mayor for the city or a city manager, but meantime, discover for yourself the wonders as I did, reacquainting myself with those treasures that make Nassau the wondrous place it is.

World News

A ten-day ceasefire agreed on by Israel and Lebanon goes into effect

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB, ABBY SEWELL and ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press

A TEN-DAY truce began in Lebanon on Friday that could pause fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group and boost attempts to extend the ceasefire between Iran, the United States and Israel after weeks of devastating war.

US President Donald Trump announced the agreement as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. However, Israel has not been fighting with Lebanon itself, but rather with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants inside the country, who were not formally part of the agreement.

Barrages of gunshots rang out across Beirut as residents fired into the air just after midnight to celebrate the beginning of the truce.

Displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, despite warnings by officials not to attempt to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed to the ceasefire "to advance" peace efforts with Lebanon, but said Israeli troops would not withdraw.

Israeli forces have engaged in fierce battles with Hezbollah in the border area as they pushed

into southern Lebanon to create what officials have called a "security zone."

Netanyahu, in his video address, said it will extend 10 kilometres (6 miles) into Lebanon.

"That is where we are, and we are not leaving," he said.

Hezbollah said that "Israeli occupation on our land grants Lebanon and its people the right to resist it, and this matter will be determined based on how developments unfold" — a stance that could complicate the ceasefire.

The US State Department said that according to the agreement reached between the two sides, Israel reserves the right to defend itself "at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks." But otherwise, Israel "will not carry out any offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military, and other state targets."

The wording suggested Israel would maintain the freedom to strike at will, as it did in the months following the ceasefire that ended the previous war. This time, Hezbollah said it would respond to any strikes by Israel.

It's unclear when the 1 million people displaced by the war will be able to safely return.

Hezbollah kept firing rockets at northern Israeli towns and communities right up to the start of the ceasefire. Air raid sirens went off in some often-targeted border towns less than 10 minutes before

midnight.

Flurry of diplomacy

The agreement came about following a meeting between Israel's and Lebanon's ambassadors in Washington and a flurry of subsequent phone calls from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a White House official.

The talks amounted to the first direct diplomatic talks between the two countries in decades. Hezbollah had opposed direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

Trump spoke Wednesday evening with Netanyahu, who agreed to a ceasefire with certain terms, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rubio then called Lebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, who got on board. Trump then spoke with Aoun, and again with Netanyahu.

The State Department worked with both governments to formulate a memorandum of understanding for the truce.

Trump extends White House invitation Lebanon has insisted on a ceasefire to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah before engaging in more talks, while vowing to commit to disarming the group.

Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Lebanon remains deeply divided

over diplomatic engagement with Israel.

Trump also invited the leaders of Israel and Lebanon to the White House for what he said would be "the first meaningful talks" between the countries since 1983.

"Both sides want to see PEACE, and I believe that will happen, quickly," Trump wrote on social media.

Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement in 1983 saying Lebanon would formally recognize Israel, and Israel would withdraw from Lebanon. The deal fell apart during Lebanon's civil war and was formally rescinded a year later.

A Hezbollah official said the ceasefire was a result of Iran's negotiations with the US, in which Iran had insisted Lebanon be included in its own ceasefire, and came about through efforts by mediator Pakistan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Pakistan army chief meets with Iranian parliament speaker

Meanwhile, Pakistan's army chief met Thursday with Iran's parliament speaker as part of international efforts to press for an extension to a ceasefire that has paused almost seven weeks of war between Israel, the US and Iran.

It was unclear whether the frantic diplomacy could lead to a lasting deal before the ceasefire ends next week. The Iran war has killed thousands of people

and upended global markets by disrupting the flow of oil.

Iranian state television did not provide details on the meeting between Pakistani Army Gen. Asim Munir and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, his country's chief negotiator.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, which has become a key mediator after hosting the talks between the US and Iran that authorities said helped narrow differences between the sides.

The White House said any further talks regarding Iran would likely take place in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, though no decision had been made on whether to resume negotiations. The fragile ceasefire is holding despite a US naval blockade of Iranian ports and Iranian counter-threats to target regional ports across the Red Sea.

Trump suggested the ceasefire could be extended.

"If we're close to a deal, would I extend?" Trump said in an exchange with reporters. "Yeah, I would do that."

The war has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have pounded military and civilian infrastructure. Oil prices have fallen amid hopes for an end to fighting, and US stocks on Wednesday surpassed records set in January.

Officials say US and Iran are making progress

Even as the US blockade

on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats strained the ceasefire, regional officials reported progress, telling AP the United States and Iran had an "in-principle agreement" to extend it to allow for more diplomacy. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.

But tensions simmered.

The commander of Iran's joint military command, Ali Abdollahi, threatened to halt trade in the region if the US does not lift its naval blockade, and a newly appointed military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he does not support extending the ceasefire. Mediators seek compromise on sticking points

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states.

Thirteen US service members have also been killed.

Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points: Iran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

Since the war began, Iran has curtailed maritime traffic through the strait, which a fifth of global oil transited through in peacetime. Tehran's effective closure of the strait sent oil prices skyrocketing, raising the cost of fuel, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East.

Artemis II astronauts praise their moonship's performance, especially the heat shield

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer

THE Artemis II astronauts who ignited a lunar renaissance gave high marks Thursday to their moonship, especially the heat shield, for its performance during reentry.

In their first news conference since returning to Earth, the three Americans and one Canadian said their lunar flyby puts NASA in a much better position for a moon landing by a crew in two years and an eventual moon base. They spoke from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, their home base.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen launched to the moon from Florida on April 1, NASA's first lunar crew in more than a half-century and by far the most diverse.

They became the most distant travellers ever — breaking Apollo 13's record — as they whipped around the lunar far side, illuminated enough to reveal

features never viewed before by the human eye. The sight of a total lunar eclipse added to the wonderment.

Their Orion capsule, which they named Integrity, parachuted into the Pacific last Friday to close out the nearly 10-day voyage. Artemis II's Houston homecoming the next day coincided with the 56th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13.

Wiseman said he and Glover "maybe saw two

moments of a touch of char loss" to the heat shield as Integrity plunged through the fastest, hottest part of reentry. Once aboard the recovery ship, they peered at the bottom of the capsule as best they could, leaning over to view any signs of damage. They spotted a little loss of charred material on the shoulder, where the heat shield meets the capsule. "For four humans just looking at the heat shield, it looked wonderful to us.

It looked great, and that ride in was really amazing," Wiseman said.

He cautioned that detailed analyses still need to be conducted. "We are going to fine-tooth comb every single, not even every molecule, probably every atom on this heat shield," he said.

The heat shield on the first Artemis test flight in 2022 — with no one aboard — came back so pockmarked and gouged that it pushed Artemis II back by months if not years. Instead of redoing it, NASA opted to change the capsule's entry path to minimize heating. Future capsules will sport a new design.

As the parachutes released right before splashdown, Glover said he felt like he was in freefall — like diving backward off a skyscraper. "That's what it felt like for five seconds," he said, adding when the ride smoothed out: "It was glorious."

Since their return, the four astronauts have endured round after round of medical testing to check

their balance, vision, muscle strength and coordination, and overall health. They even put on spacewalking suits for exercises under conditions simulating the moon's one-sixth gravity of Earth to see how much endurance and dexterity future moonwalkers might have upon lunar touchdown.

NASA already is working on Artemis III, the next step in its grand moon base-building plans. The platform from which the rocket launches headed back Thursday to Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be prepped for next year's Artemis launch.

Still awaiting an assigned crew, Artemis III will remain in orbit around Earth as astronauts practice docking their Orion capsule with one or two lunar landers in development by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Artemis IV will follow in 2028 under NASA's latest schedule, with two astronauts landing near the moon's south pole.

Koch said that since returning, she and her crewmates are "feeling even more excited and just ready to take that on as an agency." "We made it happen," she added.

Everyone will need to accept extra risk to achieve all this and trust that any future problems can be figured out in real time, Hansen noted. "We're not going to be able to pound everything flat before we go. We're going to have to trust each other," he said.

While everything went smoothly for them, "it was also very clear to us that it can get pretty bumpy," he said. Future crews will have to "understand it can get real bumpy real fast."

NASA is aiming for a sustainable moon presence this time around. During the Apollo moonshots, astronauts kept their visits short. Twelve astronauts explored the lunar surface, beginning with Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 and ending with Apollo 17's Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972.

More Nomination Day photos

More Nomination Day photos