On Thursday, the Financial Intelligence Unit froze the bank accounts of an Internet gaming operation based at Data Pro in Ladyville. The F.I.U. said it was acting on a request from the United States Department of Justice, which claims it has evidence that the company is engaged in money laundering. Today, legal representatives for Caribsports […]
The case of the Public Utilities Commission versus Belize Telecommunications Limited over rates the company has been charging consumers since December 2001, opened today in the Supreme Court. The proceedings started shortly after eleven o’clock, but before arguments on the substantive case could be heard by Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh, B.T.L.’s attorney Lois Young, raised […]
Air pollution: it’s not something Belizeans in general think about, but for some residents of the Orange Walk District, air pollution from the sugar industry is a constant concern. This week I visited some residents who fight a daily battle against a black, sooty nuisance that falls from the sky. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting The fly […]
In an update to a story we ran in December of last year on an employee of a cruise ship arrested while trying to smuggle cocaine out of Belize, on Thursday, Jamaican Steve Armstrong Evans appeared in Magistrate’s Court. He was sentenced to five years in prison and fined twenty thousand dollars. Last week another […]
There was a fatal accident on the road between San Ignacio and Benque on Thursday. Pedro Caretella, a forty-six year old resident of Esperanza Village, apparently lost control of his Isuzu Trooper sometime around midnight and it overturned. He was thrown from the vehicle and landed fifty feet away. Caretella was pronounced dead on arrival […]
It began as a tribute to the two hundredth anniversary of the Haitian Revolution, but with the current rebellion in Haiti making the headlines nightly, a new exhibit at the House of Culture may be even more meaningful to those interested in Caribbean history. This afternoon News 5 got an advanced preview of the show […]
Horse and buggies are a picturesque sight around Belize City. But while they may be a quaint and slow paced way of seeing the town, they rely on the energy of horsepower… and there are some who are worried about the welfare of the animals. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting The horse and carriage rides have become […]
It was a series of brazen crimes that shocked residents of the Cayo District… but tonight police in San Ignacio have arrested and charged four men they believe are responsible for the February twelfth shooting of a police officer and robbery of several other people including the town’s mayor. Thirty-six year old Perfidio del Cid, […]
While P.C. Jacobs fights for his life in a Merida hospital, he may soon be joined in Mexico by another shooting victim, security guard Andre Douze. Douze, a Haitian national, was shot once in the shoulder on February sixteenth, during a robbery attempt, and while his condition continues to improve, doctors at the K.H.M.H. have […]
The Belize Government today froze the bank accounts of an Internet gambling operation based at the Data Pro compound near the Burrell Boom cut-off. According to the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Keith Arnold, under the terms of a treaty between Belize and the United States of America, the U.S. Department of Justice asked […]
With drugs like ecstasy and heroin threatening to take their place alongside crack and cocaine in Belize, international agencies are arming local law enforcement bodies with upgraded tools to control the narcotics trade. The latest pieces of equipment to be donated to Belize are fifteen drug kits, courtesy of the United Nations. This morning, officials […]
It seems to be the season for high school pageants…and tonight we feature the lovely ladies of St. Michael’s who will appear on stage this Friday night. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting The young women vying for the title of Miss St. Michael’s have been preparing themselves for the pageant. The students are hoping that they will […]
There are few sights more pitiful than that of an emaciated diseased dog limping down the street… or more frightening than an aroused pack of vicious canines ready to pounce on anything resembling a meal. In either case, it’s a big problem that authorities must confront. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods, herself a proud dog owner, […]
It is a situation that is well known in the teaching profession, yet rarely discussed publicly. But the practice by some church affiliated school management bodies of forcing unwed pregnant teachers to get married or get fired is coming under increasing scrutiny–by both teachers and government. Janelle Chanona, Reporting The education system of Belize is […]
Belize Telecommunications Limited offices throughout the country were largely empty today as close to three hundred employees, well over half the total work force, called in sick. No, there was no mass epidemic or mysterious virus affecting the staff, but exactly what caused the absences depends on whom you believe. According to B.T.L. management, it […]
If you are one of those thousands of Belizeans who rely on the bus to get to work, school, or any other destination, enjoy the ride while you can… because by the end of the dry season you’ll be paying more for your journey. That’s the word from Novelo’s, the nation’s dominant carrier. A press […]
If it looks like a name brand, feels like a name brand and has all the trademarks of a name brand except the high price, it’s probably a fake. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of counterfeit clothing have been seized by Belize Customs officials, working in collaboration with U.S. based manufacturers of the real […]
To a nation that has become far too used to crime and violence, she stands out as a shining example of what our newscast could be without the usual diet of murder, robbery, and political controversy. And today one of our most durable Belizeans is celebrating one more year in the jewel. Jacqueline Woods was […]
The United Nations Children’s Fund today released a report on the state of indigenous children around the world. The thirty-two page study, titled: “Ensuring the rights of indigenous children” reports on programmes being carried out in different countries that seek to put children at the front of development. And while Belize did not make it […]
According to the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute, there are more than a hundred fishing camps scattered across the cayes. But as economic trends continue to push for diversification from traditional products, fishermen say they are eager to tap into Belize’s big money maker, tourism. But according to the C.Z.M.A.I, if there’s to be […]
It’s what’s for dinner in more Belizean homes than any other source of protein. And as a result the business of raising poultry is no small matter. Patrick Jones reports that even without Colonel Saunders, the chicken industry is still juicy. Patrick Jones, Reporting Over eighty farmers from poultry producing areas in the northern and […]
The Supreme Court today handed down a landmark judgement in a case that challenged the constitutionality of the forced retirement of four public officers last year. And the effects of the ruling will be felt in Belmopan for quite some time. On September eighteenth, 2003, four senior employees of the Customs Department were sent home, […]
In crime news, a robber who targeted the Mennonite settlement of Springfield off the Hummingbird Highway made what is no doubt the easiest heist in his career. According to police, on Sunday morning a man described as Hispanic in appearance, dressed in camouflage and armed with a machete and handgun, approached fifty-one year old John […]
By international standards it is a tempest in a teapot, but these days anything even remotely touching the explosive Middle East situation seems to be hit by bomb fragments. How Belize got involved in the latest controversy at the International Court of Justice at The Hague is somewhat murky, but we somehow wound up as […]
He was one of the movers and shakers on the local music scene and his energy will be sorely missed. Founder of the Larubéya drummers, Dax Thomas, died at the Southern Regional Hospital over the weekend. According to his brother, Bert Ramos, the thirty-one year old musician succumbed on Friday night to complications from kidney […]
