Bahamas Morning Briefing: News Headlines – Thursday, November 12, 2026

By Michael Elijah Muhammad Clare

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Good morning. At home, a clash in the House of Assembly, a Bahamian bid for a top job at the UN's telecommunications agency, and anger over promotions at Customs lead the news this Thursday. Abroad, Mississippi has elected a new senator, Indonesia's vice-president has resigned, and world leaders finish their COP31 summit in Türkiye today.

The Bahamas

Speaker orders Long Island MP out as House clash forces suspension

The House of Assembly was briefly suspended on Wednesday, November 11, after Speaker Patricia Deveaux ordered Long Island MP Dr. André Rollins to leave the chamber. The row was over whether the House should hold its monthly question time, when opposition MPs can question ministers. Rollins said the rules required it, but the Speaker ruled against him and moved on. After Rollins called her "a disgrace," Deveaux named him for being grossly disrespectful to the chair and police officers stood by. Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper then asked for a five-minute suspension, the latest of several clashes between the two in recent months.

Bahamian candidate faces ITU leadership vote today

Stephen Bereaux, The Bahamas' candidate for Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, is up for election today, Thursday, November 12, at the agency's Plenipotentiary Conference in Doha, Qatar. Bereaux has run the union's finance and human resources. Innovation Minister Sebastian Bastian presented him to delegates when he gave the country's policy statement on Tuesday. Bastian also said the country will begin assigning spectrum for 5G services in early 2027 and will soon publish its first subsea cable framework. More than 94 percent of the population already has access to connectivity.

Finance Minister responds as Customs officers protest rehired retirees

Finance Minister Michael Halkitis says he has heard the concerns of Customs officers who demonstrated outside Customs House this week. The officers say they have been stuck in the same ranks for years while retired senior officers are brought back into active posts. Their union says 15 retirees have returned to the department, 13 of them still working, and it wants them moved into civilian advisory roles instead of uniformed command. FNM deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright has called for an immediate review of outstanding promotions, clear rules for rehiring retirees and a proper succession plan.

Anti-corruption watchdog still has no commissioners

More than a year and a half after Parliament passed the law creating it, the Independent Commission of Investigations is still not working. Prime Minister Philip Davis is reviewing names, and the government is considering recruiting commissioners from overseas. Attorney General Wayne Munroe says he has put forward two candidates. The law calls for three commissioners to investigate serious allegations against police, defence force, corrections, Customs and Immigration officers and some public officials, including MPs.

Immigration repatriates 62 Haitian nationals

The Department of Immigration returned 62 Haitian nationals, 51 men and 11 women, on Wednesday, November 11, in an exercise that also included Dominican and Chinese nationals. Officials said regular removals are keeping the detention centre's population at about 100. Operations this week covered Abaco, Bimini, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera, and 16 people were detained in Abaco. The department warned that anyone without legal status faces arrest, prosecution, detention and deportation.

Hotels report winter bookings running ahead of last year

Bookings for the 2027 winter season and room rates for US Thanksgiving are both running a few percent ahead of last year, according to the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association. Its president said hotels expect Thanksgiving occupancy between the mid-80s and mid-90s in percent, and Christmas week and the first three months of 2027 are also slightly ahead. Airlift into Nassau and Paradise Island is up 7 to 8 percent so far this year compared with 2025.

Director of Aviation named first Bahamian ICAO Global Ambassador

Dr. Kenneth Romer, Director of Aviation and Deputy Director General of Tourism, has been named a Global Ambassador by the International Civil Aviation Organization from November 1, 2026, to November 1, 2028. The government says he is the first Bahamian to hold the role. Ambassadors help promote careers in aviation and push for more women and young people in the industry.

Rosewood Exuma developer calls rival's new lawsuit an abuse of process

The developer of the $200 million Rosewood Exuma resort on Sampson Cay is asking the Supreme Court to strike out a new constitutional motion filed by neighbouring Turtlegrass Resort. Turtlegrass says it did not get a fair hearing because the planning appeal board hearing its challenge to Rosewood's site plan approval was not independent or impartial. Yntegra Group says the action is premature and an abuse of process because Turtlegrass can already appeal any board decision to the court.

The Caribbean

Haiti's prime minister to visit El Salvador after strikes on major gang base

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele says Salvadoran forces have destroyed the headquarters of the 400 Mawozo gang and its leader's home east of Port-au-Prince, and he released video of helicopters firing rockets at the compound. Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé praised the operation and will visit El Salvador next week to discuss the more than 2,000 Salvadoran troops in Haiti. Most of those troops operate outside the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force. The search goes on for four Salvadoran aviation technicians missing since an October 18 ambush, and Amnesty International has urged both governments to respect human rights law.

Barbados doubles borrowing ceiling to fund health debt swap

Barbados' House of Assembly has approved raising the country's special loans limit from $2.5 billion to $5 billion Barbados dollars, and the Senate is now debating the bill. The change clears the way for a $1.2 billion debt-for-social swap backed by regional and international development banks. Finance Minister Ryan Straughn says buying back and reissuing Series B bonds should free up about $320 million for health care. The money will go to tackling chronic diseases, mental health and childhood obesity.

Cuba's president says people want fewer blackouts and more food

President Miguel Díaz-Canel says what Cubans most want from his government's economic reforms is fewer power cuts and more food, in remarks published by the presidency on Wednesday, November 11. The same day, National Assembly committees reviewed the 176 economic measures approved in June, and officials reported that 172 now have approved policies. The island remains under heavy US sanctions and fuel restrictions that have caused widespread blackouts and flight cancellations this year.

Cardi B apologises to Jamaica's government as promoter dispute heats up

American rapper Cardi B has apologised to the Government of Jamaica. She had claimed the government offered to cover the balance of her fee for the cancelled BZR WKND festival, and now says she was misled. Jamaica's culture ministry says the government made no commitment or payment and that the show was a private commercial deal. The promoter says she was paid in full and plans to sue, while her team says payments were missed, and the festival has been cut to a two-day event in December.

Trinidad and Tobago PM vows to keep up Maloney crackdown

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says her government will do whatever it takes to protect residents of Maloney, praising police and soldiers after the first night of special operations there. The Maloney Buildings Housing Development is now a closed area under the new Special Operations Act, with a nightly curfew. Critics want clearer answers on safeguards: officers in closed areas are supposed to wear body cameras, but the police commissioner says only about 100 cameras are working.

United States

Democrat Scott Colom wins Mississippi Senate race

The Associated Press called Mississippi's US Senate race for Democrat Scott Colom on Wednesday, November 11, and Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith conceded in a video soon after. As of November 11, AP's count showed Colom with 49.2 percent and Hyde-Smith with 48.7 percent, with an estimated 99 percent of votes counted; the figures may have changed since. Colom, a district attorney who campaigned on the cost of living, is the first Democrat Mississippi has elected to the Senate since the 1980s.

Epstein files petition reaches 218 signatures, forcing a House vote

Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie's petition to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II reached the 218 signatures it needed on Wednesday, November 11, going around House leadership. All 214 Democrats signed, along with Republicans Massie, Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman and Brian Fitzpatrick. The bill would let survivors, state attorneys general and members of Congress sue the Justice Department over Epstein records they say are being withheld. A floor vote could come by early December.

White House warns Democrats over planned investigations

White House counsel Will Scharf has warned House Democrats that some of their planned investigations of the administration could amount to criminality. The warning came in a letter to Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. Democrats, who take control of the House in January, rejected it and promised tough oversight, while incoming House Republican leader Jim Jordan praised the letter. Separately, a US attorney sent Senator Richard Blumenthal a letter telling him to preserve documents, accusing him of trying to intimidate people over their links to the president.

Appeals court rules Voice of America director was illegally fired

A three-judge federal appeals panel ruled unanimously on Tuesday, November 10, that former agency head Kari Lake illegally fired Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz in August 2025. The court found that only the International Broadcasting Advisory Board can remove the broadcaster's director, and it upheld an order blocking his removal. Abramowitz said he was gratified and looks forward to returning to work.

Investigation finds ICE hired officers with past red flags

At least 19 Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruits whose names leaked in an October Homeland Security data breach were hired despite past allegations of misconduct, violence or criminal charges, according to a Washington Post review of public records. The findings point to gaps in background checks during the agency's fast hiring drive since 2025.

Global News Updates

Indonesia's vice-president resigns over eligibility dispute

Indonesian Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, son of former President Joko Widodo, formally submitted his resignation to the People's Consultative Assembly on Thursday, November 12. Courts had found that his education documents did not meet election requirements. President Prabowo Subianto accepted the resignation, which came just before lawmakers were due to take up a petition seeking his impeachment. The assembly has up to 60 days to choose a replacement from two candidates the president will put forward.

Israeli strike on Gaza's Nasser hospital kills six, including a surgeon

An Israeli air strike hit a building inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis on Thursday, November 12, killing at least six people, including a surgeon, according to Gaza's civil defence. Israel's military said it was targeting a senior Hamas member inside the complex, and Hamas called the strike a war crime. The UN has also made an emergency appeal for waterproof tents as heavy rain floods shelters across Gaza.

Congo's Ebola outbreak passes 11,000 confirmed cases

Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo have reached 11,042, with 5,387 deaths, according to government figures released on Tuesday, November 10. It is now the second-largest and second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, behind only the 2014-2016 West African epidemic, and it has reached eight of Congo's 26 provinces. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain causing it. The World Health Organization has approved trials of two new vaccines, with results expected in early 2027.

COP31 leaders' summit closes with electrification pledge in focus

World leaders finish the two-day leaders' summit at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, today. A group of countries has signed on to the host's pledge to raise electricity's share of global energy use to 35 percent by 2035, though critics note it does not require the extra power to come from renewables. The Netherlands also formally committed up to $500 million over 10 years to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, and negotiations continue until November 20.

Iran rejects talk of Vance meeting as Trump seeks "total victory"

Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has denied reports that he will meet US Vice President JD Vance and said Iran's nuclear programme is not up for discussion. A senior Iranian military commander warned that US bases and interests are within range of Iranian missiles and drones if attacks resume. President Donald Trump says the United States has already won the war but wants a total victory before pulling back.