Belize’s National Cricket Team is heading to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to compete in the Men’s T20 World Cup Regionals. The team departed from the Phillip Goldson International Airport this afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
In a phone interview, Roy Young, manager of the team, spoke about the tournament’s importance. “This tournament is leading towards the T20 World Cup in 2026,” he said. “We are playing in the competition for the Americas. There are nine teams that are playing in this phase of the tournament… Bermuda, the Bahamas, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Brazil, Suriname, and the Cayman Islands.”
The top three teams from this phase will advance to a tournament in Canada in 2025. Young added, “From that four, one team will emerge to go on to the World Cup in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.”
Young said that “The energy is very high. We are hopeful that we will be in the top three.”
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has directed Venezuela to “refrain from destroying” voting tallies from the contentious presidential election held in July.
These tallies, which provide a detailed breakdown of votes at each polling station, are at the heart of the dispute over the election’s outcome. While the National Electoral Council (CNE), aligned with the government, declared incumbent President Nicolás Maduro the winner, it failed to release the detailed voting data to substantiate its claim.
The opposition, led by presidential candidate Edmundo González, has shared over 80% of the voting tallies through accredited election witnesses. The opposition asserts that these documents demonstrate González’s decisive victory.
The Human Rights Committee, comprising 18 independent UN experts, is investigating allegations of electoral fraud based on a complaint filed by a Venezuelan voter with the assistance of IHR Legal, an international law firm. As part of this probe, the committee has demanded that Venezuela preserve all detailed voting data from the election held on July 28.
Pressure has mounted on the CNE, which is dominated by government loyalists, to release the official voting tallies. However, the council has yet to do so, citing an alleged election-night computer hack as the reason for its failure to publish the data within the mandated 30-day period.
The opposition, meanwhile, has swiftly uploaded its collected tallies online. Independent observers and international media outlets, including The New York Times and CNN, report that the opposition’s tallies suggest Edmundo González won with 67% of the vote, compared to Maduro’s 30%.
President Maduro has dismissed the opposition’s data as fraudulent and continues to assert his victory. He is proceeding with plans to be sworn in for a third term on January 10, despite growing international opposition. Countries including the United States, Italy, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay have recognised González as Venezuela’s president-elect.
IHR Legal has called the UN committee’s involvement “historic” and suggested that it could lead to confirmation that Nicolás Maduro is not the legitimate president-elect. The ongoing case marks a pivotal moment in the international response to Venezuela’s disputed election.
Police are investigating a robbery that occurred in Benque Viejo Town.
28-year-old Carlos Alfredo Reynoso Zacarias, a construction worker from Guinea Grass Village, reported that he and his wife were travelling on Mollejon Road when two men emerged from nearby bushes.
The suspects, armed with a firearm, demanded Zacarias’ motorcycle, valued at $3,500 BZD.
Authorities are now seeking the two individuals involved in the incident.
A 17-year-old male lost his life this morning in the Boiton Area of San Ignacio in what is being treated as an attempted burglary.
According to reports, the property owner visited his storeroom, located inside a container, and discovered the teenager reportedly in the act of breaking in. The owner claims the teen confronted him with a piece of wood, leading him to discharge his licensed firearm in what he described as self-defence.
The young man reportedly tried to escape but collapsed nearby and was pronounced dead at the scene. The deceased has not been identified.
A 32-year-old fisherman from the San Mateo Area in San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, has been arrested and charged with sexual assault.
According to police reports, the arrest follows a report made by a 39-year-old woman on Monday, December 2. Police say a 39-year-old woman was walking around 6:30 p.m. when two men approached her. The woman told police that one of the men greeted her with “Good night” and walked past, while the other grabbed her left buttock.
She reported that when she asked, “What is the problem?” The man threw a drink at her.
Police arrested the suspect on December 2, charging him with sexual assault.
Police are investigating a fire that destroyed two houses in the Orange Walk District on Monday, December 2.
According to an initial police investigation, the fire started around 11:30 a.m. in San Jose Village when 64-year-old business owner Concepcion Rosa was inside her shop. Rosa reported that she saw smoke coming from the back of her home and, upon checking, found her house fully engulfed in flames. The fire then spread to a nearby wooden building belonging to 90-year-old labourer Fabiano Rodriguez.
Authorities are continuing to look into the cause of the incident.
Belize has presented oral arguments at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as part of the Advisory Opinion proceedings on state obligations regarding climate change.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change, Dr. Kenrick Williams, stressed the urgent need to clarify legal responsibilities for mitigating climate impacts and protecting vulnerable populations.
Dr. Williams stressed the severe risks faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and described the hearings as a pivotal moment for global climate accountability. “This Advisory Opinion represents a historic opportunity for the international community to clarify the obligations of States in addressing this global crisis. For Belize, the stakes could not be higher,” Dr. Williams stated.
In his address, Dr. Williams detailed the escalating challenges facing Belize, including rising sea levels, warming oceans, and increasingly destructive storms. He pointed to the coastal community of Monkey River as a case study, where severe erosion and economic losses underscore the wider climate crisis affecting SIDS. Despite these challenges, Belize has shown resilience, protecting over 40% of its territory, transitioning to renewable energy, and pioneering innovative financing mechanisms like the Blue Bonds initiative for marine conservation.
The ICJ proceedings focus on critical issues such as state obligations to curb greenhouse gas emissions, prevent environmental harm, and support adaptation measures. Belize has urged the court to issue guidance that strengthens accountability and enhances international cooperation under key frameworks like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.
If you’ve ever visited the market in the nation’s capital, you might remember the food booth at the back called Miriam’s Sunrise, near the restrooms. Sadly, the friendly face of fifty-four-year-old Miriam Cordon will no longer be there to greet customers. Miriam was traveling towards Belmopan from Belize City when she was involved in a traffic accident on Monday night between miles twenty-five and twenty-six. Police have detained the driver of another vehicle and suspect alcohol intoxication played a role in the incident. News Five’s Marion Ali has more on this story.
Marion Ali, Reporting
This is what the George Price Highway looked like after two traffic accidents occurred at the same spot between 8:45 and nine p.m. on Monday night. These accidents tragically resulted in the death of fifty-four-year-old Miriam Cordon, the owner of Miriam’s Sunrise at the Belmopan Market. The first accident involved a grey Kia Soul SUV heading from Belmopan towards Belize City. As it reached between miles twenty-five and twenty-six, the driver, forty-nine-year-old Kelvin Reneau Sr., lost control, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and into the bushes. Reneau and his passengers, Aliyah Torres and Aaisha Williams, sustained various injuries. Torres and Williams are currently receiving medical treatment, while Reneau, who suffered a broken rib, is recovering at home. He told News Five that he was blinded by the bright halogen lights of an oncoming vehicle, which caused him to run off the road.
Via Phone: Kelvin Reneau, Sr.
Via Phone: Kelvin Reneau, Sr., Injured in Accident
“I di dip this person fi lower ih light, lower ih light, lower ih light and this person deh pahn wa curve. When you di drive fast pahn wa curve, you might can’t see in your lane so you might shift into somebody else’s lane. I had to slow down and shift and you know how fi we road stand – like the edge ah it nuh perfect. Soh as far as I could remember, I come offa the pavement and hit the gravel and I nuh know weh happen after that. I just feel the vehicle di flip and flip and flip.”
While police were helping the victims and processing the scene, oncoming traffic had to pull over to let the ambulance through. That’s when the second accident happened, claiming the life of Miriam Cordon. A white Ford Econoline van, driven by Leroy Nunez, was heading from Belize City to Belmopan when it crashed into the back of a parked red Chevrolet Equinox. Inside the Equinox were Cordon, Joshua Magaña, and Angel Pastrana. Cordon was so badly injured that she died on the way to the KHMH. Reneau shared what he heard while being helped at the scene.
Miriam Cordon
Via Phone: Kelvin Reneau
“By the time deh come fi me fi put me pahn the stretcher, all weh I hear da hard tires, hard tires and wa loud bang, and I hear people di scream. Dehm mi deh out deh di ait cause police have to give the okay when fi pass and there was a delay soh deh mi can’t pass. The driver who hit da person deh suppose to mi di come under speed and couldn’t slow down but there were a lot of lights soh how dehn nuh see the lights? Ambulance light, vehicle lights, hazard lights, and cones. How come da person neva see all da light.”
Magana and Pastrana are hospitalized. Two of Cordon’s friends, Coreen Rudon and Ruth Guzman, told reporters that the food court at the Belmopan Market was not the same today.
Ruth Guzman
Ruth Guzman, Friend of Deceased
“I never believe it, that she dead because I expect she fi come back well from her destination. She never mek it.”
Marion Ali
“So last week when you worked with her the last day, what was that like?”
Ruth Guzman
“She mi come out and she say ih gwein and then she dress up good and I even tell her, Miss Miriam, you look like a good, pretty gial. Ih holla to me mek I goh get the key and she gone. I tell her goodbye, I tell her, then yesterday ih say ih wa come, today.”
Miriam Cordon
Marion Ali
“You spoke with her yesterday?”
Ruth Guzman
“She talk to ih worker and ih say ih might come today, but ih never mek it.”
Coreen Rudon
Coreen Rudon, Friend of Deceased
“Me and Miriam are very good friends. I get to know Miriam around the market because she’s a business person just like me. And from the time I get to know Miriam, she’s a very kind, loving, and jovial person. Miriam was so good to us. Everyone around this market miss her so much today.”
Police have detained Leroy Nunez and are considering charges, including Driving with Alcohol Concentration Above the Prescribed Limit, Manslaughter by Negligence, Causing Death by Careless Conduct, and Driving Without Due Care and Attention. As he awaits these charges, Cordon’s friends are left with only memories of their last moments with her.
Coreen Rudon
“The last time Miriam speak to us was Thursday; ih come in here and ih dress up and ih got on a hat and everything and I tell ah, madaz gial, I tell ah, you look like Mexican. She da wa person, whenever she cook something special she wa come and seh to me, “Cor, I cook this gial and I cook black dinna and I know you love that soh I bring some fi you because you know I cook the best.” That’s how she do it, you know?”
Marion Ali
“Friendly competition?”
Coreen Rudon
“Very friendly competition, you know? She nuh stuck up with nobody, none of her workers them. If we no have food, we wa say, Mir, you got this? Or, Patty, you got this? Therese, you got? Everybody cooperated with one another, and that’s how we know Miriam, man.”
Kelvin Reneau laments that if he hadn’t been blinded by halogen lights in the first place, the tragedy would not have happened. He made an appeal for something to be done about the use of halogen lights on the highways.
Via Phone: Kelvin Reneau
“I woulda really want the government try to suppress dehn halogen lights cause when dehn light dehn pahn the highway and deh light dehn eena yoh face, ig could deh pahn low beam and ih so bright that ih could blind wa next person coming from the next direction, check.”
The murder trial for twenty-seven-year-old Dane Khalil Gillett, accused of killing fifteen-year-old S.J.C. student Dwayne Darwin Gabourel, began on November twenty-seventh, before Justice Derick Sylvester in the High Court. Gabourel was shot on September twenty-seventh, 2021, while running an errand for his mother and died three days later. The prosecution, led by DPP Cheryl Lynn Vidal, has called thirty witnesses, with most statements read into evidence. The defense, represented by Orson “OJ” Elrington, plans to submit a no-case argument. Justice Sylvester has requested written submissions from both sides, with deadlines set for December twelfth, 2024, for the defense and December twenty-third, 2024, for the prosecution. The trial will resume on January twenty-seventh, 2025, to hear these arguments. The crown alleges that Gillett shot Gabourel due to a gang rivalry, although Gabourel was not involved in any gang activity. The case relies on circumstantial evidence, including video footage showing the shooter, whose face was covered, and a police officer’s testimony identifying Gillett by his tattoo, light skin, and slim build. Additional footage links the shooter to a motorcycle seen at the crime scene and a previous event. The court will decide on the no-case submission in January.
Tonight, a Belize City fisherman, Kelvin Elvis Dickson, is on remand at the Belize Central Prison after failing to post bail. The thirty-seven-year-old, who lives on Raleigh Street, was caught inside the High Court with the intent to steal. Earlier this evening, Dickson appeared in Court Number Seven without a lawyer and faced a burglary charge. Allegedly, in the early hours of December second, 2024, he entered the Supreme Court Library as a trespasser, intending to steal. When asked for his plea, Dickson said, “Your honor, not guilty.” The magistrate explained that he could share his side during the trial. The prosecutor did not object to bail but requested conditions. Dickson was granted bail of three thousand dollars with one surety or two sureties of one thousand, five hundred dollars each. However, he couldn’t post bail due to outstanding fines totaling nine hundred and fifty-five dollars, which he must pay first. These fines date back to 2014. Once eligible for bail, Dickson must attend all court dates, avoid contacting witnesses, and not get arrested for similar offenses, or his bail will be revoked. His next court date is January twenty-second, 2025. Before he could steal anything, a Ranger night security guard caught him red-handed.
