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Traditionally, the second Sunday in the month of May is celebrated across the world as Mother’s Day. It’s a time where we recognize mothers for their love and dedication to family. This Sunday, celebrations will be held in various forms to honor those very special persons. So we took to the streets where residents sent […]
Written on May 12, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Hi Mom! Mother’s Day Greetings from the Streets
Norman Rodriguez, the magistrate who was charged with rape on Wednesday, kept away from the courtroom today. The allegation against him is made by an ex-girlfriend who has given her version of events that took place at his house near the Alejo Beni Park while he was the sitting magistrate in Dangriga. Rodriguez has hired […]
The Governments of Mexico and Belize have mutually agreed to a temporary ban on vehicles and motorcycles crossing the old border bridge of Subteniente Lopez, restricting traffic to pedestrians only. According to reports confirmed by Belizean sources, merchants of the Commercial Free Zone have complained about smugglers flouting the customary limit on transferring goods over […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Mexico Shuts Border Crossing at Subteniete Lopez, but Rest of Border is Open
Fuel prices keep going up. At midnight on Wednesday, prices shot up again, for the third time since the beginning of the new financial year. This time, the price of premium is above the eleven-dollar mark. It is retailing at eleven dollars and four cents per gallon in the city; that’s a forty-six cents increase […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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There will be a Special Sitting of the House of Representatives on Friday. It is the first meeting of the lower chamber since the budget debate in March. In many quarters, the guessing game is that Prime Minister Dean Barrow may be making an announcement following his comments at the Chamber of Commerce annual general […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Heritage Preservation Legislation Bill to go to House on Friday
Nineteen-year-old Saul Pech was stabbed and killed on the balcony of his apartment in Chetumal around two a.m. Mexican time a week ago today. The man accused of his killing, his cousin Romario Pech, was as close to him as a brother and they were mates in a rock band. Mexican authorities have apparently decided […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Manslaughter Charge for Romario Pech, Accused of Killing Cousin
We continue our coverage of the Senate Special Select Committee’s public hearings. On Wednesday, former Minister of State for Immigration and Nationality, Elvin Penner, visited and sat for more than five hours of testimony. Penner started off on a bad foot by ruling out speaking in depth about the Won Hong Kim scandal that cost […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Reviled Elvin Penner Wants to Recommend Ways to Fix Immigration
Who accompanied Elvin Penner to Taiwan and China to meet with Won Hong Kim? And what were they discussing? These are some of the questions that were put to the former Minister of State on Wednesday, though he did his best not to try to answer because of his claims of self-incrimination and double legal […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on More on the International Meetings of Penner and Won Hong Kim
But Penner started to clam up again when Senator Courtenay tried to make the connection between the ex-Minister of State’s ‘business vacation’ in Mainland China and Kim’s data showing up in Belize seeking passport and nationality. He would only say that the Mainland China meeting happened after becoming Minister of State – but avoided any […]
Witnesses from the Immigration Department who have testified at the public hearings have spoken of ‘sponsors’ for Asian visas. People would ask these persons to write on their behalf to the Department for a ‘super-recommendation’ often on grounds of investment in Belize. There are examples provided in the Audit Report. Earlier, former Minister of State […]
Teachers from across the country were recognized today as part of Education Showcase 2017 for excelling in their profession. Eight outstanding teachers and school leaders took the spotlight at the annual event. News Five’s Duane Moody was present for the ceremony that lasted more than two hours. Duane Moody, Reporting “The best teachers open […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Top Teachers for 2016-17 Awarded
We have covered many fires over the course of the last few weeks, which have caused untold damage to many families in Belize City and elsewhere. This morning there was another on the Philip Goldson Highway where one man was trapped in the flames and had to be rescued by the National Fire Service. Fortunately […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Fire Service Grades Performance in CEMO Simulation
Of course, the best defense against fire is not allowing one to start in the first place. And that is why Fire Chief Ted Smith took the opportunity in his interview with us to stress again the importance of minimizing avenues and sources of fire, especially for curious children. Not a few fires start because […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Turning Off Fire Sources Keeps You Safe
Back in September we told you about the launch of the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN). The United Nations Development Programme, with support from the European Union and other partners, is financing this initiative. A one point six million dollar package will be invested over the next two years on a biodiversity finance strategy to ensure […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Learning About Profiting from Biodiversity
On Monday night, you heard well-known educator Leroy Green speak out about missing records of his teaching career. Green told us that thirty-four of his forty-three years of teaching documents could not be found. He retired back in November and those missing records were affecting the processing of his full benefits. Well, tonight Green told […]
The Government of Belize signed an agreement earlier today for consultancy and supervision of the construction of the Airport Link Road Project. The stretch of road, approximately five miles long, will intersect the George Price Highway with a bridge crossing over the Belize River near Gentrac Belize Limited at the existing airport access road. The […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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If you’re a regular gym rat, then tonight’s Healthy Living will probably tell you information you already know. But for others, there’s a very important element of your fitness journey that you may be neglecting. That is strength training or building muscle. Fitness Instructor, K’Waun Samuels, explains why it’s important and how you can include […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Healthy Living Trains for Strength and Muscles
Magistrate Norman Rodriguez went to work early this morning at around seven- thirty to avoid the glare of the cameras waiting for his unprecedented appearance in court. But his arraignment for rape did not happen until hours later before Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith, after which we were able to capture only seconds of his […]
Written on May 11, 2017 | Posted in
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Appearing at today’s public hearing of the Senate Special Select Committee at the National Assembly in Belmopan was former Minister of State for Immigration and Nationality, Elvin Penner. This is the first appearance of any Minister of Government, past or present, at the Committee since it opened its public hearings last November. But more so […]
The Committee disagreed. Chairman Senator Aldo Salazar told Penner that any questions put to him would not concern any action in court, nor that the Committee was in the process of a criminal investigation or finding because the Committee cannot recommend such except in the case of perjury. But his assurances were not enough for […]
Written on May 10, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Senate Chair Refutes Penner’s Application of the Law
And while that was Penner’s stance this morning, the Senate panel spent time on other matters before eventually returning to the Kim scandal in the afternoon session. What followed was a game of fencing between Penner and the Senators – the Senators probing for what they wanted, Penner doing his best to fend them off. […]
Written on May 10, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Penner Refuses to Discuss Appearance at Immigration Department with ‘Phantom’ Kim
The thrust and parry continued with the panel’s Chairman, Aldo Salazar, scoring a point when he questioned Penner about the remarks of Gordon Wade, former Chief of Nationality at the department. Wade had told the inquiry and the auditors that Penner had approached him concerning the Kim file at some point after his appearance with […]
Written on May 10, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Kim File Documents Were Complete; ex-Minister Does Not Remember What He Did with File
Chairman Salazar tag-teamed out to Senator Eamon Courtenay, who turned to the question of how Penner and Kim met in the first place. Here the former Minister was a little more forthcoming, but not very. He was asked where he was introduced to Kim’s “friends” and was quickly shut down by Penner, who did not […]
Written on May 10, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Penner Met Real Kim But Hesitant to Discuss ‘Friends’
Penner was able to give further details of his meetings with Kim, which took place in both Chinas – the People’s Republic or Mainland China, and the Republic of China, on Taiwan. Kim is South Korean by nationality. The question is whether Penner was meeting with Kim in an official capacity as a Minister of […]
Written on May 10, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on International Buddies Penner and Kim Met in Both Chinas
There are reports that disgraced former Immigration Minister, Elvin Penner, aspires to return to party politics. But his involvement in the Won Hong Kim scandal and the corruption at the Immigration Department, while he was there, remains etched in the minds of most Belizeans. But are his days as a politician for the U.D.P., a […]
Written on May 10, 2017 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Penner a U.D.P. Again? DPM Faber Says Chances Slim to None
