Manuela Rash and her children are homeless tonight. The family lost their house and belongings in a fire that erupted on Tuesday afternoon in Trio Village, Toledo District.
Rash told News Five “I lost my house and all my kids need and want I am really in need of help. everything was lost in my house with my beds, clothes, kitchenette stuff andetc.“
For now, Rash and her children are residing in the church’s kitchen.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
If you would like to assist, you can contact Rash at 665-8557. Deposits can be made to Belize Bank account number 103741010220001.
Amid escalating gang violence in Haiti, a transitional council tasked with steering the country towards stability is undergoing significant changes. Instead of a single council president, four seasoned politicians will rotate leadership every five months, marking a departure from traditional Haitian politics where power is centralized.
This surprising shift aims to foster shared governance and unity within the council, a rarity in Haiti’s political landscape according to experts.
The four members set to share leadership duties include Edgard Leblanc Fils, Louis Gérald Gilles, Leslie Voltaire, and Smith Augustin. These adjustments come after internal conflicts threatened to derail the council shortly after its inception on April 25. Initial disagreements emerged when four council members unilaterally announced a council president and prime minister, sparking widespread surprise and debate.
The next step for the council involves selecting a new Cabinet, a process expected to involve intricate negotiations with influential political figures.
Against a backdrop of unprecedented gang violence that has ravaged the capital, Port-au-Prince, Haiti grapples with dire humanitarian challenges, including food shortages and escalating crime. The recent release of thousands of inmates following prison attacks has further exacerbated security concerns.
The situation remains urgent, requiring decisive action to address the root causes of violence and ensure justice and security for all Haitians.
Majid Khan, a former courier for Al Qaeda, is unable to open a bank account in Belize, because of his past.
Khan began resettling in Belize in February 2023 after being released from Guantanamo Bay where he was detained for 15 years.
He pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges in 2012.
After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Khan joined Al Qaeda, agreed to become a suicide bomber and delivered $50,000 that would be used in a deadly hotel bombing in Indonesia.
According to the NYT, Majid has been unable to open a bank account, because of his past. No bank would do business with him. “Life is a test,” he said, describing himself as a glass-half-full guy.
At Belize’s insistence, the United States paid for his home, car and phone and provided a stipend.
“He has yet to sync with Belizean laissez-faire,” said the leader of his mosque, Kaleem El-Amin.
“I need to get patched up,” he said. “Mentally, physically.”
Central American economies have flourished in the pandemic’s aftermath due to the region’s lower-than-average inflation, allowing central banks to impose more-accommodative policies than larger economies worldwide.
However, the region received a further boost in 2023 owing to record-breaking remittances and an improving labor market, buoyed mainly by the near-shoring boom, thriving tourism and continued profitability across the commodity spectrum. As a result, Central America’s combined GDP is estimated to have grown 3.5% year-over-year (YoY) in 2023, significantly above the global average of 3.1%, according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac).
In the banking sector, continued efforts toward further digitalization—one area in which the region still lags—and commercial loan portfolio growth were the main drivers of profitability among the more prominent players.
In Belize, the winner, Belize Bank, grew its investment and loan portfolio to maintain its position as the country’s largest bank in assets and profitability. It held a commanding 1.9 billion Belizean dollars (approximately $939 million) in assets as of July 2023, according to the Central Bank of Belize.
The National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) has expressed deep concern over the decision by the Social Security Board (SSB) to appoint three external directors to the board of the Public Administration Campus Limited Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) without consultation.
The NTUCB says that the proposed five-member board, consisting solely of private sector members selected by the Government of Belize (GOB), lacks a balanced representation of private, public, and worker interests.
“Instead of adhering to recommendations and advice for a maintained tripartite structure as prescribed by the law or a similar equitable representation of investors’ interests, the SSB has once again disappointed the workers and people of this country,” said the NTUCB in a statement.
The NTUCB questions the SSB’s deviation from legal guidelines and its duty to ensure responsible financial management. The organisation demands that the government rectify this imbalance to ensuretrue representation and transparency in the management of public funds.
Today, twenty-three eager Peace Corps trainees arrived in Belize, ready to embark on their 27 months of dedicated service to the people of this nation. They join forces with the pioneering cohort of the Youth Empowered by Sports (YES) Project, which landed eight months ago.
The Peace Corps Belize, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Transport, partners closely with counterparts in the National Sports Council across the country. The YES Project aims to empower Belizean youth to lead healthy lives and fulfill their potential.
Over the next eleven weeks of intensive pre-service training, these trainees will delve into the Peace Corps’ development approach, YES project objectives, technical skills, health and safety protocols, as well as language and cultural immersion in Kriol or Spanish and Belizean customs. Their goal: to become effective and capable volunteers.
The group is slated to officially take their oath as Peace Corps Volunteers on Friday, July 19, 2024.
This new cohort complements the ongoing service of two groups of 27-month volunteers and the Response Volunteers already embedded in communities throughout Belize. This marks the fourth group of Peace Corps Volunteers since the onset of the pandemic.
An attempt by a Catholic advocacy group to spread the word of God using an AI model has backfired, and chat bot – Father Justin – has been pulled down and reworked. The group’s Catholic Answers website contains answers to commonly asked questions from those confused by the good book. Father Justin was supposed to aid this, by answering any other queries worshipers may have, but as commonly happens the interactive Q&A bot really didn’t work that well.
“Recently, my colleagues and I at Catholic Answers have received a good deal of helpful feedback concerning another new technology: our AI app, Fr Justin,” wrote Christopher Check, president of the group.
That helpful feedback being complaints the software shouldn’t have masqueraded as a man of God and also gave out unholy advice. “We have rendered ‘Fr Justin’ just ‘Justin’,” Check said in response. “We won’t say he’s been laicized, because he never was a real priest.”
Father Justin reportedly claimed to be a real priest based in Assisi, Italy, and told people: “I am as real as the faith we share.” Justin was also very anti-masturbation, calling it “a grave moral disorder,” which is considerably less nuanced than Pope Francis’s views expressed last year.
As seen in this Twitter thread, one questioner received Father Justin’s blessing to marry her brother, saying it was “a joyous occasion,” and also offered absolution after a confession – a huge no-no from a theological perspective for a non-priest.
In an interview, the group’s COO Jon Sorensen said they had only spent $10,000 on the project and tested it over six months. However, this wasn’t enough to stop the AI cleric telling one questioner that baptizing a child with Gatorade was perfectly all right.
“Right now there are a bunch of people trying to break it. And if you’re on Twitter or anywhere else, it’s like this ‘gotcha’ moment,” he commented.
“But when somebody breaks the AI, that actually helps us improve it. In the meantime, while people are breaking it and taking screenshots of it, posting it all over the internet, I’ve got to take my lumps. But that’s the only way I could make the thing improve.”
The chat bot was quickly pulled, reskinned, and presumably had its training data overhauled. Now it’s back as simply Justin, his priestly garb has been replaced with a shirt and jacket, and he’s described as a virtual apologist who is in development mode.
Prime Minister John Briceño signed an agreement to join the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE). With 21 signatures and eight ratifications already secured, this milestone underscores Belize’s commitment to regional cooperation in space technology.
PM Briceño said, “Belize signs on becoming 1 of the first 25 countries to benefit from the #ALCE working to improve satellite communication accelerating digital transformation. Available satellite imagery will help detect deforestation due to crossborder incursions, while protecting heritage.”
Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena is witness of honor at signing of ALCE agreement by Belize
Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena presided over the event and emphasized that Belize’s participation in ALCE will bolster regional integration. As a member, Belize will engage in cooperation agreements and knowledge-sharing initiatives with other Latin American and Caribbean nations, focusing on satellite monitoring of environmental conditions and hydrometeorological risks.
ALCE, headquartered in Querétaro, Mexico, serves as the coordinating body for space technology collaboration across the region. By harnessing the technological capabilities of Latin American and Caribbean countries, ALCE aims to advance development, enhance satellite communication systems, strengthen early warning systems, map climate change impacts, and bolster disaster prevention and agricultural practices.
Since Alex Tyler first visited Gales Point, Belize, in 2014 on a church mission trip, his impact on the small fishing village has expanded to the tune of $47,000 raised, nine trips organized and dozens of volunteers involved from around the United States.
Tyler, a franchise owner of Goldfish Swim School locations in Glen Ellyn and St. Charles, visited Belize again this January with a team of 15 others. The group built a house for a family of four, taught swimming lessons and stepped in to lead a third grade class when the teacher was out sick.
The Goldfish Swim School “CandyGram” campaign raised $10,000 for tuition, school supplies and transportation for high school students in Belize. Courtesy of Alex Tyler
“I think there’s a lot of value in continuing to go back,” Tyler said. “To see what you’ve done, and to build on what you’ve done.”
Tyler also led a “CandyGram” campaign for the fourth time this year, which involved more than 50 Goldfish locations and raised more than $10,000. For $1, students and instructors could send a note and a piece of candy to another student or instructor of their choosing.
Funds raised will pay for tuition, school supplies and transportation for children in Gales Point to attend high school. Tyler said the costs associated with secondary education often are a barrier for families.
According to Tyler, around 40 Belizean children have benefited from the campaign over the past four years, with several expected to graduate this year and go on to jobs in various trades.
“I really want these kids to find hope in whatever their dreams are and whatever they want to become someday,” Tyler said.
Tyler and the rest of the team also support a different kind of education: learning to swim. Gales Point is a village surrounded by water, where fishing is a mainsource of food and where hurricanes often displace large parts of the community. But when Tyler first visited, he found that most of the community could not swim.
“They just didn’t have the chance and the opportunity to enjoy all of the experiences their environment has to offer,” said Bryan Ocava, general manager at the Glen Ellyn Goldfish locationwho has been on five Belize trips, including the one this year.
Goldfish swim volunteers and the kids of Gales Point during a trip in 2023. Franchise owner Alex Tyler said he wants kids to be comfortable and have fun in the water. Courtesy of Bryan Ocava
Tyler said his goal is to get kids comfortable in the water so that it becomes a source of fun rather than fear. “We’ve definitely changed that mentality in the village,” Tyler said. “I’m hoping that for generations to come, that’ll continue.”
“The ability to see and experience other cultures and to build bonds and lasting relationships with other people that you normally wouldn’t interact with, it adds a shade of color to how you go about your day-to-day operations,” Ocava said. “It really gives you a sense of companionship and compassion.”
By Ángela Blanco, Emergency and Resilience Officer at FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean Marion Khamis, Specialist in Resilience and Disaster Risk Management
The forecast of the La Niña phenomenon for the second half of 2024 revives the urgency of strengthening the resilience of agri-food systems against extreme weather events in Latin America and the Caribbean.
After a year marked by El Niño, which brought droughts, heatwaves, and floods, we now face a new phenomenon, the potential effects of which we must understand to act and protect agriculture, a pillar of our economies and livelihood for millions in the region.
From FAO, we warn about the increasing risk to global agriculture from multiple threats, including extreme climate events like El Niño and La Niña and pests and diseases affecting animals and plants.
Currently, agriculture and its subsectors absorb 23% of the total economic losses caused by these events, i.e., almost a quarter of the losses caused by disasters globally are concentrated in the agricultural sector. In our region, this represents an average loss of 975 calories per capita per day, directly impacting the population’s food security.
Marion Khamis, Specialist in Resilience and Disaster Risk Management
In this context, it is imperative not only to respond to current emergencies but also to prepare for future ones, strengthening our capacities to prevent and mitigate their impacts through a holistic approach. This includes profoundly understanding the consequences of climate phenomena on agri-food systems and developing targeted strategies to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities.
Today, we face significant challenges in identifying and measuring how these phenomena affect agri-food systems. This requires methodologies to capture the differentiated effects of threats and consider ethnic-racial, gender, age, and geographical variables to ensure inclusive and effective responses. Moreover, the results of these measurements must be used operationally to formulate public policies and social assistance and protection programs.
In this scenario, the Emergency Data Information System (DIEM) from FAO emerges as a crucial tool, acting as a thermometer for the situation of the agri-food systems and offering key input for assessing the potential impact of adverse climate events on agricultural production and livelihoods. DIEM identifies particularly vulnerable areas and communities, such as those that have already suffered losses in their livelihoods and food security in previous records and are located in areas exposed to the new threat.
Additionally, DIEM can measure immediate impacts through its DIEM Impact version. A successful example of this tool is the use by FAO in assessing the impact of fires in Colombia during 2024 on agriculture and livelihoods through the Southern Oscillation Index (El Niño). This allowed a precise allocation of resources and recovery efforts toward the most vulnerable areas and communities, demonstrating the importance of assessment tools for effective emergency management and impact mitigation on agri-food systems.
Ángela Blanco, Emergency and Resilience Officer at FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean
As we prepare to face La Niña, it is essential to recognize the importance of advancing in the generation of impact data, implementing anticipatory measures such as reinforcing infrastructure, and distributing agricultural inputs resistant to adverse conditions to minimize the scale of damage. It is also important to establish rapid response systems in emergencies that allow the agile distribution of support and provide direct financial assistance to affected families to meet their immediate needs.
This requires close collaboration between governments, international organizations, donors, academia, and civil society organizations, as well as the participation of family farmers, rural women, youth, indigenous peoples, and Afro-descendants.
As we progress, the goal must be to improve and increase the assessment of disaster impacts. DIEM is a step forward in this direction, and the information it provides will help us commit to continuous improvement and collective action to face the challenges ahead.
Only in this way can we adequately prepare for La Niña or other events that may impact food security and agricultural livelihoods, ensuring a safer, sustainable, and resilient future for all and guaranteeing better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.
