There are two hundred and fifty-nine active cases of the coronavirus spread across the country as the number of confirmed cases is nearing the twelve thousand mark. There are three hundred and six deaths recorded since March 2020, of which two hundred and one are men and the remaining one hundred and five women. Eleven […]
A third wave is possible, especially with the new COVID variant detected in the region; the UK variant has been identified in Mexico. Meanwhile, in Belize, we are still awaiting results from samples sent to Baylor College and Caribbean Public Health Agency, CARPHA, to determine if any of the new variants are in the country. […]
The next round of municipal elections is exactly one month away. And while it doesn’t normally attract the level of campaign fanfare and prominence as the general elections, these local elections are important as they directly impact the quality of life of those who live in urban areas. According to the Elections and Boundaries Department, […]
A new Elections and Boundaries Commission held its inaugural meeting today, despite its members not being formally sworn-in to office. As we reported on Tuesday, the E.B.C. is being chaired by Senior Counsel Oscar Sabido who replaces fellow attorney Estevan Perrera in that post. Joining him as members of the newly formed Commission are Orlando […]
Two Corozaleños were busted with a stash of drugs at a checkpoint on Monday evening. Around five o’clock, cops at the Manatee Lookout stopped a pickup truck with Orange Walk license plate driven by Herman Friesen of Little Belize and passenger Gerardo Lino of Progresso Village. The police officers searched the vehicle and discovered one […]
Police have reported that a man died by shooting himself in what they call a shooting death. It was not a case of suicide. On Tuesday evening, the farmer, Alfred Bernard Junior, from Old Mullins River Road in Stann Creek accidentally shot himself. He was found dead sometime after five p.m. with gunshot wounds to […]
Twenty-nine-year-old Shane Harris is no stranger to the law; in fact, his most recent brush on record was in April 2018 when he was arrested and charged for his involvement in an armed robbery in Belmopan. Harris was subsequently released on bail on the condition that he cannot be on the streets between eight-thirty p.m. […]
Michael Faux and Erwin Lanza were the last to be captured from twenty-eight inmates who escaped from the Belize Central Prison in October 2020. The men were caught and returned to jail over the weekend and appeared before Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford on Tuesday where they were charged and sentenced additionally for their escape. In […]
The University of Belize has a newly reconstituted board of trustees. In December 2020, the Ministry of Education announced new appointments: the Minister’s representative attorney Anthony Sylvestre who is now the board’s Chairman. Retired Major Lloyd Jones has been elected as the vice-chairman and will be representing the interest of the tourism industry. Cresencio Sosa […]
It’s been a little less than a year since the schools were closed countrywide. This new model of learning means parents collect school packages, and teachers and students interact virtually. The Ministry of Education decided that schools will remain close to face to face learning until it is deemed safe for students and teachers to […]
And while distance learning is the safest option, for now, the planning has already started for the eventual resumption of face-to-face learning. The Ministry of Education formed the COVID-19 Education Task Force to plan for that safe reopening, aiming for August/September 2021. Its first meeting was held last week, and by the looks of it, […]
It was a crusade led by the Belize National Teachers Union in 2016 that the then Government was forced to sign unto the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Teachers held an eleven-day strike until their demands were met. UNCAC has yet to be fully implemented, and as B.N.T.U. National President Elena Smith told News Five, […]
When they were in opposition, the People’s United Party heavily criticized the Barrow Administration for its nepotism. But the Briceño Administration is now attracting similar criticisms. The Belize National Teachers Union has noticed. National President Elena Smith describes the nepotistic appointments and says that only a small group of people are benefitting. Elena Smith, […]
Critics of the B.N.T.U. have asked why its national president Elena Smith has been silent when it comes to the new government. February eleventh will mark three months since the People’s United Party formed government. The Briceño Administration is facing incredible challenges; the economy has yet to make a bounce back. The COVID-19 pandemic lingers, […]
Some three weeks ago, at the start of the school term in January, close to a hundred tablets for distance learning were stolen from Sadie Vernon High School in Belize City. At least five persons were captured by street cameras leaving the area with plastic bags used to carry the devices. Close to fifty were […]
Today, the International Office of Migration in Belize signed an implementation agreement with three local partners to expand the I.O.M.’s Migrant Hubs in three locations. The hubs are being supported to provide more services to migrants to improve their access to information and other services. According to the I.O.M., translation services, assistance with application forms […]
Wayne Casimiro has been named the head coach of women’s football for the Football Federation of Belize. Casimiro is no stranger to the sport; the football athlete turned teacher began his coaching experience back in 1992 and as a sports coordinator, planned and organized sporting events in Stann Creek District. The licensed CONCACAF coach led […]
Like the brazen killing of shopkeeper Abel Bardalez last Friday, on Monday night armed, masked thieves entered the home of a Belizean tax collector on Monday night not only ransacked the place, stole jewellery and a gun, but also tied up the family and attempted to kidnap Nan Cheng’s, one-year-old baby. Cheng managed to escape […]
On Monday, Attorney Dickie Bradley and attorney Leeroy Banner represented nine men from rural Belize District, who appeared in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court, after police intercepted them inside a boat on Hill Bank Lagoon. Bradley told the media that his clients were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when police caught […]
Prime Minister John Briceño today announced his picks for diplomatic posting. Ambassador-designate Lynn Young will be posted in the United States of America and serve as Belize’s Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States. Belize City Councilor Oscar Arnold has been chosen as ambassador-designate to the United Mexican States. The former C.E.O. in the […]
Senior Counsel Oscar Sabido has been appointed as the new chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission. He succeeds fellow attorney Steve Perrera who demitted office recently amid pressure from the People’s United Party government, which called for his resignation from the post following his party’s defeat at the polls during the November eleventh general […]
The appointment of Deputy Comptroller of Customs Estelle Leslie to the highest office within the Customs and Excise Department hasn’t been without its share of controversy. Leslie, who succeeds Colin Griffith as Comptroller of Customs, was selected by the Briceño administration in a process that also saw senior customs officer Ian Haylock applying for the […]
It is no secret that over the years members of the Belize Police Department, at various ranks, have been accused of being involved in narco-trafficking. Whether facilitating the landing of drug planes or acting as mules transporting quantities of marijuana across the country. Several officers have been arrested and charged for their roles in illicit […]
The cost per gallon of regular gasoline is inching up by another fifty-one cents on Wednesday when it goes from nine dollars and twenty-seven cents to nine dollars and seventy-eight cents. If it’s any comfort to consumers, the prices for premium gasoline, kerosene and diesel remain unchanged at nine dollars and eighty-nine cents, six dollars […]
There was a shooting in Punta Gorda Town on Monday morning that has left one man hospitalized. Police report that Charles Nines was chopping a school compound around ten-fifteen that morning when a man he knows approached him. The man took out a nine millimeter pistol and fired several shots injuring Nunez. Police say that […]
