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Tonight the Musa administration is celebrating the news that in an “exceedingly rare” event, almost all of Belize’s bond holders have opted to participate in the country’s debt restructuring proposal. According to a press release issued by Belmopan, ninety-three percent of holders have agreed to exchange their existing claims for new lower-interest bonds that would […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Economy |
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Three Belizeans have been killed in two separate traffic accidents. On Tuesday night in the Toledo district sixty-three year old Mona Ellis and thirty-three year old Kenon Rodney lost their lives when the vehicle in which they were passengers went out of control and rolled over on the Southern Highway. The driver, forty-three year old […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Auto Accidents |
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To our knowledge it has never happened before, but today we have received news that the Governor General, on the advice of the Belize Advisory Council, has exercised the prerogative of mercy to set free a convicted criminal who has been shown to be innocent. The man in question, Omar Vellos, was sentenced to twenty […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on G.G. pardons convicted rapist as victim recants testimony
If you think a summons to jury duty is something to ignore you better think again … at least if the judge in question is Supreme Court Justice Adolf Lucas. Today Lucas not only fined an absent prospective juror but also ordered her boss to appear. On Monday when Doris Mencias failed to show up […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Trials |
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Wednesdays are busy at the Fort Street Tourism Village and today saw five ships in the harbour, unleashing thousands of cruise visitors on the city and country. But the story out of the Village this morning was not about record numbers; it was about a single tourist, coming ashore off the Grand Princess, who had […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Miscellaneous |
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This morning, the staff and students of the Anglican Cathedral College officially declared open their new school building. The structure is the first to be built on the campus since St. Hilda’s College and St. Michael’s College merged to become A.C.C. in the early 1980’s. According to Principal Ismael Requena, the building will be used […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Education |
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Minister of National Development Mark Espat and Financial Secretary Carla Barnett were at the Central Bank this afternoon to sign an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank that would see more than a million dollars invested in making the Government more efficient. According to the I.D.B.’s Operations Specialist Harold Arzu, the initiative is part of […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Economy |
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This is not the first story we’ve done on the Rotary Club’s Gift of Life Programme and we sincerely hope that it’s not the last. Today I spoke to doctors and others involved in the latest patient evaluation sessions and continue to be impressed that in a world so torn by irrational hatred and violence, […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Young patients receive “gift of life” from Rotary
It’s a story that touched a nerve with viewers and by this morning, it seemed that everyone had an opinion on the injury and subsequent mercy killing of a horse on the Western Highway. Today, News Five’s Janelle Chanona caught up with the mare’s owner to find out more about how the animal may have […]
Written on January 31, 2007 | Posted in
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Owner of euthanized horse defends carriage trade
Prime Minister Said Musa has suspended Toledo West representative Marcial Mes from his duties as Minister of State in the Ministry of National Development. Mes, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, knocked down two pedestrians Sunday night as he drove through Forest Home Village on the Southern Highway. According to a government press release, “the […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Auto Accidents |
Comments Off on Mes relieved of duties pending outcome of trial
The Prime Minister’s office has also released a letter sent yesterday to Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya confirming the city’s one U.S. dollar cut of the cruise ship head tax. Although the letter assured Moya that the new subvention takes effect on February first, it does not address the issue of the three hundred and […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Politics |
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The passport scandal: it was big news back in 2002 when it was shown that hundreds, perhaps over a thousand Belize passports had been illegally sold on the global market by unscrupulous private sector agents in collusion with even more unscrupulous public officers and politicians. And while former immigration minister Max Samuels lost his seat […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Trials |
Comments Off on Passport scandal laid to rest as last charges dropped
A man accused of murder has pled guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. According to court reports, shortly after a jury was empanelled to hear the case against Alexander Palacio, attorney for the accused, Hubert Elrington informed prosecutor Tracy Sosa that the defence would plead guilty to manslaughter. Sosa accepted the plea and Justice […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Trials |
Comments Off on Charged with murder, Palacio pleads guilty to manslaughter
Their names were in the headlines as victims of urban violence, but while dozens of young corpses fill our cemeteries each year, the family members left behind are not grieving alone. On Sunday they gathered to make a statement in the hope that others may be spared their torment. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting They came to […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Grieving mothers unite to end violence
A tour of Altun Ha has ended in tragedy for a cruise ship tourist. According to a police press release, around midday seventy-one year old Michael Lucas, a resident of Rhode Island in the United States, was with his wife and a group of visitors at the ancient Maya site when Lucas reportedly began to […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on U.S. tourist suffers fatal heart attack at Altun Ha
Public hearings by the commission of Inquiry into the operations of the Development Finance Corporation will continue on Thursday and Friday of this week. According to a commission release, the public hearings, held at the Belize Institute of Management in Belize City, will also convene those same two days of the following week; that is […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Economy |
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The collection of garbage–or more precisely, the lack of it–is a growing issue in Belize City politics. Today some residents on the edge of downtown asked us to take a look at their predicament and News Five’s Kendra Griffith, with some company, responded. Wayne Usher, Deputy Mayor, Belize City Council “We have only one designated […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Miscellaneous |
Comments Off on City residents complain about mounting trash
If you’ve been following the U.S. newscasts you’ll know that a horse named Barbaro, winner of the Kentucky Derby, was injured in a subsequent race and had to be put down by its owners. Well, the injured horse found wandering on the Western Highway this morning may not have been a thoroughbred, but the humans […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Owner’s cruelty leaves horse to die
The U.S. military may be bogged down in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it has not abdicated its humanitarian role in the rest of the world as Janelle Chanona found out yesterday in the Toledo District. Janelle Chanona, Reporting For the next two weeks, hundreds of men, women, children, and even pets will gather […]
Written on January 30, 2007 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on U.S. Army brings extra medical care to Toledo villages
Traffic accidents caused by drunk drivers are not unusual in Belize, but when the man behind the wheel is an area representative and Minister of State, what would otherwise be a routine news story becomes a headline. Tonight, while two children battle for life in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, the man who put them […]
Written on January 29, 2007 | Posted in
Auto Accidents |
Comments Off on Victims critical, Minister of State charged in knockdown
Also fighting for life at the K.H.M.H. is twenty-six year old Emrick Meggs. Meggs, who was the first victim in a series of shootings over the weekend, caught a bullet in the right side of the head around nine on Friday night. According to Deputy Officer in Charge of C.I.B., Inspector Alden Dawson, a team […]
Written on January 29, 2007 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Four shooting incidents keep city cops busy
Despite the large number of shootings over the weekend, authorities are saying it could have been worse, as three men were arrested before they could commit what police say was a planned hit. Thirty-one year old Alex O’brien, twenty-two year old Kenneth Dobson and twenty-one year old Kendoyle Ottley were today charged with the crime […]
Written on January 29, 2007 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Three charged with murder conspiracy
In the Supreme Court this afternoon police constable Burton Caliz was found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of Leroy Pilgrim. The killing took place at San Pedro in February of 2004 when Caliz was in the process of making an arrest. The eight person jury deliberated for less than four hours before reaching […]
Written on January 29, 2007 | Posted in
Trials |
Comments Off on Police Constable found guilty of Manslaughter
On Friday night the Belize Tourism Board hosted the annual National Tourism Awards. A total of fourteen people and organisations were honoured across a wide range of categories. Hotel of the year was San Pedro’s Cayo Espanto while Small Hotel of the Year honours went to Beya Suites of Punta Gorda. Back-a-Bush Adventures was top […]
Written on January 29, 2007 | Posted in
Social Issues |
Comments Off on National Tourism Awards honours industry’s best
Taking place in Belize City this week is the annual general meeting of CANTO, the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations. Opening ceremonies were held Sunday night at the Radisson, with Prime Minister Said Musa delivering the main address. Prime Minister Said Musa “It is important that a body such as CANTO protects or work […]
Written on January 29, 2007 | Posted in
Economy |
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