After just about two weeks in Belize, a seventeen member team from the Republic of China on Taiwan – comprising engineers, technicians, mechanics and pilots – has completed the assembly of two UH – 1H helicopters gifted to Belize. According to a release issued today from the Taiwanese Embassy, the assembly works were completed on […]
Police Constables Hallet King and Leonard Nunez were the two officers charged for the vicious killing of eighteen year old Baptist High School student Hilberto Sotz inside the police station on Caye Caulker. They were arraigned for the murder one day later in Belize City on June ninth, 2015, but ten months later on April […]
This year, the Belize Tourism Board will be bringing back the Taste of Belize, a competitive culinary show. Chefs, bakers and bartenders from across the country will face off in a one-day competition to determine the best in their trade. According to Capacity Building and Sustainable Tourism Officer, Shona Babb, the Taste of Belize allows […]
To close the news tonight, we report on a recent statement made by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales. Morales was interviewed by a New York Times reporter and was asked specifically for his thoughts on the proposed wall that presidential candidate Donald Trump says he will build to keep away immigrants from Mexico. A TV comedian […]
On Friday, charges against two police constables were downgraded from murder to manslaughter. PCs Hallet King and Leonard Nunez were accused of killing eighteen year old Hilberto Sotz, while he was detained at the Caye Caulker Police Station. Sotz was badly beaten and taken to the polyclinic, but died within hours of his detention. Both […]
Sotz killing prompted riots on Caye Caulker and the family believes that the wheels of justice are not turning. The two cops were also granted bail of two thousand dollars each. Hilberto was to graduate from Baptist High School in the west when his life was cut short ten months ago. Santorino Sotz, Father […]
Today the Social Security Board held the finals of its 2016 Debate Competition where six students from two tertiary level institutions faced off – Corozal Junior College and Ecumenical Junior College from Stann Creek. The topic was (the criminal legislation of marijuana has been a major discussion in many countries. Do you believe that marijuana […]
The debate raged on all morning, with the three members of each team presenting the results of studies and surveys to support the stance assigned for the debate. Pearla Martinez, Debator, Ecumenical Junior College “Legalizing marijuana will reduce the street competition and the need for control of turf. Drastically reducing violence, corruption and the […]
Why is the Belize Defense Force the subject of an intensive investigation commissioned by the Ministry of National Security? And why is the Ministry of Finance, the Accountant General and the Auditor-General involved in that investigation? Why have all transactions from the B.D.F. Account Fund been put on immediate hold, and why has Commander Brigadier-General […]
Deputy Commissioner of Police Miguel Segura remains on interdiction with half pay, following a fatal road traffic accident along the George Price Highway on August sixteenth, 2014. The deadly head-on collision on the stretch of road near the outskirts of San Jose Succotz claimed the life of fifty-four-year-old Yolanda Valencia and left twenty-eight-year-old cabdriver Yanie […]
Is there another Pennergate? There is an unconfirmed report that an investigation is taking place at the Immigration Department where two Belize passports were reportedly issued to Chinese nationals who did not qualify. As far as we know, the Chinese nationals never set foot in Belize, but were able to secure the Belizean passports. The […]
We’re pretty willing to bet that a lot of viewers tuned into CBS Wednesday night for the first airing of this week’s Criminal Minds. It’s a popular show featuring a hotshot F.B.I. team solving violent crimes. But this episode was special – Criminal Minds Beyond Borders…in Belize. That’s right, that hotshot team in the jewel, […]
The United States Embassy in Belize has released its 2015 Human Rights Report. The comprehensive study which looks at human rights violations highlights excessive use of force by the police, lengthy pretrial detention, as well as harassment and threats based on sexual orientation or gender identity. On the issue of police brutality, the case of […]
In January 2015, the Government of Taiwan publicly announced that it will be gifting the Government two helicopters that are required to expand Belize’s military training program. That announcement was followed with the arrival in July of a team of seven mechanics from Taiwan to ensure that the B.D.F. air wing had the equipment and […]
The top brass of the police was present today for an award ceremony recognizing its finest officers who performed impressively in the first quarter of this year. More than twenty officers based in Belize City made the cut and received certificates as well as monitory compensation. News Five’s Isani Cayetano was present for the ceremony […]
The Ministry of Health is working overtime in southern Belize where samples are being collected by personnel to be sent for testing at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) laboratory in Trinidad. The data gathering activity is being conducted to determine the presence of ZIKA in Belize. Despite the notice sent by the Centers for […]
Since Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams effected a citywide curfew roughly one month ago, various sectors, including parents, government departments and non-government organizations have raised concerns about the housing of minors picked up off the streets of Belize City after nine p.m. That disquiet prompted ACP Williams to return to the drawing board in […]
On Holy Saturday, B.D.F. Staff Sergeant Richard Lambey was shot near Valentin Camp in the Chiquibul. Days after, a report into the incident commissioned by the Ministry of National Security was leaked to News Five. In that document, the claim is that Lambey was ambushed, possibly in retaliation for the arrest of a Guatemalan one […]
Turning to politics…the U.D.P. Deputy Leadership convention has been set for May twenty-ninth. In the ongoing campaign, on Tuesday, Minister John Saldivar, who is running for first deputy party leader, released photographs of parliamentarians and others who endorse him, including the Deputy Prime Minister himself, Gaspar Vega. But interestingly others in the Orange Walk caucus […]
There’s more tonight on the eleven protocols that were presented to Guatemalan officials. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington asserted that there is an unofficial understanding at the Sarstoon, a sort of agreement to keep the peace. In fact, Elrington claims that the understanding has been in place since March fifteenth when both parties met […]
While the discussion on the new Sarstoon protocols was no doubt the primary item on the agenda of last Friday’s meeting at the O.A.S., it wasn’t the only one. Both parties, Belize and Guatemala, are also in earnest talks to source funding which will allow the O.A.S. to maintain a presence in the adjacency zone […]
A second Belize Sign was installed today in the area of the Baron Bliss Lighthouse in the City. The first, which is erected at Buttonwood Bay, has been evoking nationalism and pride so much so that the City Council decided to put up two others at strategic areas in the City. The launch was held […]
The Council has been working closely with the Belize Tourism Board and the National Institute of Culture and History on a series of programs to enhance the character of Belize City. These include projects to address the issue of sanitation as well as working with the police to ensure a reduction in crime and making […]
The weekly meet and greet exercise conducted by Belize City police was concentrated in the Saint Martin’s area this afternoon where officers of varying ranks descended on the streets of that neighborhood. While the men and women of law enforcement made their rounds, they were being commended on the implementation of a recent curfew for […]
Several Belizean artists and bands have been selected for an opportunity of a lifetime; to represent Belize in the 2016 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Popularly known as the Jazz Fest, Belize and our artists will be featured in the event that runs from April twenty-second to May first. Artists such as Supa G, […]
