You may not have noticed it due to the heavy cloud cover, but there was a partial eclipse of the sun this afternoon. It is one of two solar eclipses this year and was visible over a corridor from the South Pacific to the Americas. Solar eclipses occur when the earth, the moon, and the […]
If you woke up early this morning to watch the farewell service for Pope John Paul II, you were in good company. Millions of people witnessed the spectacular event via TV or on giant screens in public squares, cathedrals and churches all over the world. At least two million people filed past the Pope’s body […]
This afternoon district eliminations in the eleventh annual Coca-Cola Spelling Bee got underway in front of a packed audience inside the Holy Redeemer Parish Hall. It was a quick and exciting afternoon, and as usual, the children were well prepared. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting A total of eighteen students representing various primary schools from both the […]
As expected, Jeffrey Prosser and his attorneys in Miami did not react well to the Belize Supreme Court ruling yesterday that two of his directors were no longer eligible to sit on the B.T.L. board, and that in fact he was no longer eligible to be chairman. Today in Miami, Prosser’s people filed Justice Conteh’s […]
The twenty-fourth meeting of the Education and Cultural Coordination for Central America, CECC, officially opened in Belize today. Twelve national secretaries of the Ministries of Education and Culture for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Belize are taking part. News Five attended the inaugural ceremony, which featured addresses from Prime Minister Said […]
During this week’s Cabinet meeting, that executive body has finalized financial plans to fill a multi-million dollar gap created as a result of negotiations with Belize’s labour movement in February of this year. On Wednesday, officials told the media that the salary increases, a roll back in the environmental tax, and more money for the […]
The cycling community is without its elected leader less than half way into the 2005 calendar, after two-time president Gerald Garbutt decided to call it quits. Garbutt, who was first elected to the post in late November 2003, says it’s time to concentrate his efforts on other pursuits. This afternoon he told News Five’s Patrick […]
She walked away with the cheque this afternoon, but even up to the moment she collected, the latest winner of the Lotto jackpot could not believe her good luck. Around four this afternoon, Santa Elena housewife Clara Alicia Velasquez claimed Wednesday night’s jackpot of fifty-seven thousand, five hundred dollars. Velasquez says she has religiously bought […]
“Make Every Mother and Child Count” is the focus for this year’s World Health Day. Today, the occasion was marked in Belize with an official ceremony and an exhibition hosted at the Matron Roberts Health Clinic. Dr. Kathleen Israel, Country Rep., PAHO/WHO ?The focus today is on making every child and mother count and that […]
The Senate Special Committee investigating the Social Security Board loan portfolios held its third public hearing today in Belmopan. The main feature of the session was a special auditor’s report on the Board’s investment portfolio transactions. While the report was referred to and extracts discussed during the meeting, it was not released to the public […]
There were two major developments in the B.T.L. case today. First, Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh gave a judgment regarding the composition of the B.T.L. Board, and then Belize’s lawyers in Miami filed a motion to try and stop the judge there from finding Belize in contempt and imposing sanctions. After considerable examination of the B.T.L. […]
Attorney for E-Com, Dean Barrow, agrees that while the ball is ultimately still in the Florida court, today’s judgment by the Chief Justice offers G.O.B. some hope and says it was important for Belizean interests to be protected in Belize. Dean Barrow, Attorney for E-Com ?In so far as the question of interpreting the Articles […]
This afternoon, attorney for the Belizean Government in Miami, Barry Davidson spoke to News Five about the action his firm is taking to try and get Justice Ursula Ungaro-Benages to reconsider her ruling that Belize was in contempt of the Miami court and had been withholding vital information about the change in directors from Jeffrey […]
In crime news, the Novelo’s Bus Terminal in Belize City was robbed of over eight thousand dollars on Tuesday night. Two men wearing masks and carrying handguns burst into the office around ten-thirty and held up a cashier and two other employees. Geayon Davis told police one of the men put a gun to her […]
Corozal police are questioning three people who were detained after the discovery of suspicious drugs in their vehicle. A blue van was pulled over Tuesday evening near mile eighty-five on the Northern Highway and a search revealed eighty bags containing pills. Preliminary analysis by the police’s chief forensic officer confirmed the pills contained large quantities […]
As one of the fastest growing economic sectors in Belize with more than a million visitors passing through the country in 2004, tourism is big business. This morning the movers and shakers of the industry met in the old capital for a status report. Janelle Chanona, Reporting Hoteliers, restaurateurs, and other investors in Belize?s tourism […]
The Karaoke TV semi-finals continued last night at the Palm Court of the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts… And as usual, the judges had a hard time selecting the winners. Here’s host William Neal with the results. William Neal, KTV Host “And the winners are… contestant number one and number four: Ladies and gentlemen […]
In the latest hiccup in the B.T.L. legal battle, the Chief Justice postponed his expected judgment until Wednesday morning at nine-thirty. While that decision will be with regard to the composition of the legally beleaguered company’s board of directors, other developments today concerned the Belizean entity Sunrise and its bid to take over B.T.L. In […]
She was accused of forging official documents and giving false evidence under oath in connection with the 2002 immigration scandal. And today, after three weeks of testimonies, justice was meted out to forty-six year old store clerk Therese Cabral. After being convicted of eleven counts of forgery on Monday in the courtroom of Justice Adolph […]
With the dry weather on us, there is a lot of smoke in the air from brush fires. But this afternoon it was a house fire at mile two and a half on the Western Highway that caused a commotion. By the time fire fighters arrived on the scene, however, there was no way to […]
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today announced that is has lowered Belize’s long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating to “CCC” from a “B-“. While the sovereign ratings on the short-term foreign and local currency remained at “C”, S&P also downgraded the country’s long-term local rating to “CCC+”, a drop from “B”. And according to a […]
A twenty-nine year old taxi driver from Succotz Village has been arrested after police caught him with a thirteen-year-old minor. Authorities say police patrol discovered Hipolito Itza and the young girl on the banks of the Mopan River around two on Monday morning. The girl claimed he had forced her to have intercourse against her […]
Tonight there is another report of rape, this time involving a member of the Belize Police Department. According to the authorities, forty-nine year old P.C. Evan Reynolds, attached to the Benque Viejo station was arrested and charged on Monday with two counts of rape. The alleged victim, a fourteen-year-old girl, told police that Reynolds raped […]
Residents of the Cayo District are still in shock following a disturbing report made to police regarding a local doctor. According to San Ignacio police, fifty-eight year old physician Dr. Jorge Garcia has been arrested and charged with indecent assault as a result of allegations made by a female patient. News Five understands that the […]
Belmopan police have charged Josephat Choc with murder in connection with the death of her common-law husband twenty-six year old police constable Benedicto Salam. Authorities say the couple were involved in a domestic dispute on Sunday at their home in Las Flores, which ended with Choc shooting Salam with his own service revolver. Salam, a […]
