Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
It was supposed to be a day of protests against the Speednet acquisition but this weekend, the NTUCB, who have joined forces with the social partners, called off the troops. The combined membership was ready to put boots on the ground in front of the Sir Edney Cain Building where today's Cabinet meeting was held. However, that protest was instead replaced with a press conference.
As we told you, last week, the Cabinet issued a release stating that they are rejecting the proposed acquisition. But today, the NTUCB's president explained that that is just the start, and they have a list of demands which they're giving the government only 90 days to complete.
However, they're expecting that their first and most important demand be met immediately: the removal of BTL's chairman Markhelm Lizarraga. The NTUCB says he and several other board members should be on the chopping block:
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB "If there are any outstanding internal BTL board processes, resolutions, approvals, corporate requirements necessary to conclude the closure of the rejection of the acquisition process, these should be done urgently and transparently. The public should be informed when these processes have been completed, not held behind closed doors. Two, restore confidence in BTL's leadership. We call for the immediate removal of chairman Mark Lizarraga."
"Our position is based on a loss of confidence, we believe the chairman has not been sufficiently honest, transparent and forthcoming with the BTL workers and the Belizean public and therefore has lost the confidence of many employees at BTL, workers, and Belizeans. When BTL lost business to Smart, he took a nonchalant attitude, he advocated to pay $90 million to cable companies, an industry that has long since been dying, and his insistence that he wanted to go through with the purchase of Smart and Speednet. Other board members at BTL whose roles and accountability should be reviewed and eventually, we will ask for their removal, Moises Cal, Arturo Lizarraga, and Eric Eusey who represents the small shareholders."
"And the timeline is immediate. Immediate removal."
"Another demand, the people's telecommunications company must include the people in BTL. In BTL it was said by the chairman, it has finally been admitted that the company is owned by Belizeans. Then we say workers and Belizeans must have a meaningful voice in its governance. We therefore called for what has been established at many other organizational boards, the tripartite structure at BTL. The timeline is 90 days. It can be done, it's been done at the Social Security Board, the University of Belize board, many other boards, it allows for accountability, transparency and once we have BCCI, the employers' representative, the workers' representative NTUCB, we know that we can then gain back that trust in these organizations. 90 days timelines."
And they have other demands, including a revision of the Public Utilities Commission and assurance that GOB will only use BTL's services - despite the recent release from Speednet, which they called distasteful. Here's how Waight put it:
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB "The recent Smart/Speednet release, I don't know about you but it left a bad taste in the workers of this country's mouths. We found it to be vindictive rather than constructive, and consistent with the principles of fair competition, our position is not an anti-Smart position or anti-Speednet, our position is protecting national assets and defense of BTL. And that is what we must spread out to our members and to the workers of this country, defending BTL. Of course that when Mr Lizarraga leaves immediately right. But BTL belongs to the Belizean public, owner jointly by the government of Belize, the Social Security Board, and everyday Belizeans feeds back into the public revenue, workers pension and national infrastructure. 100% channeling of government business, the NTUCB's stance is non-negotiable. All government business, statutory board contracts, and public sector communications services must be funneled directly through BTL."
"Taxpayers must not subsidize private corporate profits when a stake owned enterprise is full equipped to serve public needs. Lastly, mandatory procurement policy. We formally call on Cabinet to institute an immediate policy requiring 100% of government telecommunications business to remain with BTL, protecting operational revenue and keeping public money within public entities is vital."
"And lastly the conflict of interest with Smart and PUC."
"The public could reasonable ask whether commissioners are completely free to make a decision that could adversely affect an entity in which the appointing prime minister's family has a financial interest. So the NTUCB calls on the government to return public confidence in the PUC by having 4 of the 7 commissioners nominated through the recognized social partners in good standing. These include labor, which is through the NTUCB, business through BCCI, Belizean NGOs through BNN and churches through NEAB. And then three commissioners from the government of the day. As you can see the structure it allows for the citizens of Belize to have majority control over the PUC. This will strengthen the perception that commissioners there are now to serve the public interest rather than the government of the day."
And sitting at the head table with Waight were the president and the general secretary of the Belize Communications Workers Union. They have voiced their disapproval of the proposed acquisition before, but today they congratulated the two board members who rejected the deal - that is Allan Pollard and Anisa Perdomo - while issuing a vote of no confidence for the others:
Harrison August, General Secretary, BCWU "Moises Cal, director. Again we know to be a diplomat politician but one needs to do only a basic Google search of the name and you will find the first thing that pops up is what? Panama. Again, half a billion dollars in United States currency passing through Panama on a diplomatic passport nonetheless. For someone sitting in the seat he holds as a board member of BTL, he holds such an important seat and has these clouds hanging over him that is not showing the type of people we want in leadership on the board of BTL, vote of no confidence."
"Mr Arturo Lizarraga, doesn't sit on one but sits on two, SSB and BTL. Again, we must acknowledge Ms Imogen Habet who stepped down from the Social Security Board in March again due to this controversial telecom position. We commend Ms Habet on that bold stance at the time. Instead of replacing her with someone of character and integrity the board got Mr Lizarraga who is a well known anti-labor views, his views are always anti-labor. Again, we do not feel this is proper representation for the people of Belize. We know that he is the president of the Belize Business Bureau. He has been the president for some two decades. How is he elected? What democratic process has been done to put him in that very important seat?"
"Vote of no confidence."
"It is very interesting to see that Mr Eric Eusey, directors for small shareholders representatives again voted in favor of the acquisition without even a phone call to any of the small shareholders. None to us at BCWU, none to PSU, none to BNTU, and none to PSWT who represents public servants, the police officers and the public servants of this nation. No consultation, he makes his bold declaration yes in support. Mr Eusey we no longer hold that seat you have with any confidence and as such, we will not wait until September 17th which is the next AGM for BTL, we will get the ball rolling to ensure we have someone there to act in the best interest of all the small shareholders and the Belizean populace. Vote of no confidence."
And while August called out the board members, the Union Senator Glenfield Dennison directed some words to public officers. That's because as he put it, some people believed the proposed acquisition was brought back to the table to distract the public from the audit of the Ministry of Defense and the leaks that showed sub $10,000 payments to several politically connected companies.
Dennison is now encouraging the public to share photos of the food the BDF is served and appealing to public officers to keep speaking out against injustices. And he added another name to the list of resignations they're calling for: Cabinet Secretary Stewart Leslie. Here's how that went.
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator "Everybody here has a BDF in their family. Everybody. Yes. Ask them, send you a picture of the food what they eat. And post it on WhatsApp, on Facebook, on Instagram, and show me where the baby back ribs are. Where the lobster are. Where is the Jumbo shrimp. Any one of you please, when any of the family member have jumbo shrimp and baby back ribs in their plate, send it to me, 'cause I really wanna see it. 'Cause I've never seen a BDF eat those things."
"So where the money gone? Right. Now I am not stopping at just BDF, you know? Because it wasnt only there it was. So the senator for the unions is saying to public servants If you all are doing things out there that you are not supposed to be doing, don't come shelter under your union when get due process and get fired. Public officers stand on integrity and report these things."
"Which brings me to the highest permanent secretary in the land. You all don't know who it is true? The cabinet secretary my brother. What wrong with you? My brother, you take... For those who don't know, right? The cabinet secretary used to be the permanent secretaries of permanent secretaries. He was the top of the top because he was the brightest of the bright and the best of the best."
He would have never had a hand catch in the cookie jar or is it spice jar. He would have never had his hand catch in the spice jar. So RSL. If you got any semblance of integrity brother, resign man. Just resign. Because you don't belongs there brother. You don't belongs there. Right?"
"That the same thing I said to Mark, you know? That he need to do the honorable thing and resign. And no benefits. Go directly home. Do not collect your pension. Do not collect $200. Just go home."
Senator Dennison also spoke about legislation reform. He pointed out three pieces of legislation that could strengthen transparency and accountability in the government - if they wanted to. One of them, he added, could even be enacted almost immediately. Here's what he said.
The PSU President added to Dennison's point by highlighting areas that the GOB promised good governance but have not been following through. He also criticized the auditor general and called for the resignation of the contractor general.
The president of the BNTU took the mic after that to zero in on several issues that the teachers have been facing. They added to the list of demands and they say they're not waiting the 90 days. In fact, President Nadia Caliz started by declaring that this would be the last September that teachers will go into their pockets to pay for supplies for their classrooms. She stated that their neon green shirts glow in the dark for a reason and if their demands are not met, they'll be on the streets day and night:
These were only some of the issues arising from the 2 hour press conference, and we'll have more for you in tomorrow's newscast.
Yesterday we told you about the late evening murder of 27-year-old Tyrel Robinson, a worker at Jun's Meat Shop of Belize City, who was fatally shot at the Michael Finnegan Market on West Collet Canal.
Initial investigations indicate that Robinson was inside the shop when a male person approached him and requested to purchase meat. While Robinson was serving the individual, the man reportedly pulled out a firearm and pointed it at him before firing several shots. The owner of Jun's Meat Shop, Aaron Castillo says he will remember Robinson as a good person:
Aaron Castillo, Owner - Jun's Meat Shop "It happened so fast you know, I was serving somebody, I was serving a man here a customer and at the same time I had my back turned then the young boy was washing his face and his hands so behind my back I heard a gun shot and so I turned around because I heard it too close and when I turned around I see the young boy got shot. When I looked, the young boy was cranking the gun so what I did, I came out because I don't have my weapon cause they took away my weapon and so I came out because I don't know what his intention was and I don't know what the young guy did and so I came out because my life is on the line too. So, I didn't take that chance. When I came out I met an officer by the corner right there so and I told the officer they just shot someone in my shop and so the officer waited until everything was calm down because he didn't want to come out just like that either so when we came the gunman was already gone and the young boy ran from here to the gate over yonder and he fell."
Reporter "How long has he worked here?"
Aaron Castillo, Owner - Jun's Meat Shop "He have like about 6 months already, 5 to 6 months and he always comes and helps me clean in the evening so that was his job and then he used to serve people now and again and people remembered he was an alright young boy, people liked him around here but I don't really know what happened let all of that happen."
"He was an alright person, calm, well from the time you deal with these things you have patience to deal with people that means you are an alright person you know, you calm because you deal with people you have to have that patience and he had a lot of patience and people liked him. He carried himself good, as far as I know you know."
It has been 4 days since former BDF soldier Richard Cal has been sitting in prison with a shattered leg. As we reported, Cal was on his farm in Pomona on August 6th when three officers in civilian clothing approached him. That's where the story gets fuzzy - according to Cal's wife, the officers shot him and his dog. However, the police's version of events is that Cal shot at the officers - who were conducting surveillance and that's why they weren't uniformed. The officers then reportedly returned fire.
Cal was then charged for aggravated assault and because of the nature of the offense, was remanded to prison. However, tonight we can report that Cal was granted bail in the sum of $15,000 with three sureties of $5,000. His bail comes with conditions of course - such as having to report to the Dangriga police station every Friday. He is expected to be back in court on November 17th.
A major archaeological site in northern Belize has been partially destroyed, and the Institute of Archaeology is now asking the public to help identify whoever is responsible. El Pozito is one of thousands of archaeological sites across Belize that are protected by law, yet unlike the country's 17 archaeological reserves, these sites do not have permanent staff on the ground. And it seems someone took advantage of that and caused serious damage to a portion of the site. Jaleeza Roberts reports:
From above, the damage is difficult to miss, what was once part of Complex D at El Pozito, an archaeological site near Guinea Grass Village in the Orange Walk District has been cleared. The Institute of Archaeology says the discovery was made during a routine inspection on August 17 and Senior Archeologist Josue Ramos says technology, rather than a person on the ground, helped reveal what had happened:
Josue Ramos, Senior Archeologist - IA (NICH) "So we go to these hotspots, we do flyovers, try to see any anomalies. And in this case, we did see something that stood out behind the site core. In this case, the images that were shared with you, you can see one of those bigger or larger structure completely cleared and you can see the white mouse sticking out. So at this stage, what we did, conducted yesterday, we did a flyover. We did a quick assessment of how much structures were impacted by this. We also have informed our stakeholders. In this case, on the release, you see that we have partnered with Dr. Keith Epic, who is one of our principal investigators who has started doing archaeological research in this area."
The Institute recently partnered with the College of East Texas, under Principal Investigator Dr. Keith Eppich, to conduct archaeological research at El Pozito. The first field season was carried out during the summer of 2026 with the goal of updating a 1976 site map and establishing a foundation for future research. In other words, researchers were beginning to look more closely at what remained of El Pozito just as parts of the site were being destroyed:
Josue Ramos, Senior Archeologist - IA (NICH) "Every site in the country, be it small or big, and in this case, Complex D is part of a much larger component of the site of El Pozito. El Pozito is one of those major sites in northern Belize. Of course, you're aware of like sites of Lamanai, Santa Rita, Cerro Maya, Nokmul, that was once in the news in 2013. So El Pozito is one of those sites in the region that we have great interest And as I told you earlier, we have started the partnership with Dr.Keith Epic out of the College of East Texas. That does not diminish, like I mentioned, even if it was a small structure. Let's say when you say a small structure, let's say it was a one meter tall building, we ensure that all the information that can possibly be recorded is recorded And also in areas where we can do some conservation and preservation, we do that."
The Institute says it has been trying to determine who may be farming in the area, but officials do not have direct access to the relevant land information. Ramos says the Institute has also liaised with the chairman of Guinea Grass, who indicated that surrounding land is considered Crown land. If that information is correct, then the investigation takes on another dimension because the question is no longer simply who destroyed the structure but it becomes a matter of who was clearing it and for what purpose. Many are not aware that archeological reserves and sites differ and they are located many places:
Josue Ramos, Senior Archeologist - IA (NICH) "I must state that there is a distinction between archaeological reserves and archaeological sites. So we have 17 archaeological reserves in the country. However, we have thousands of archaeological sites in the country. And just the reserve is where we have permanent staff stationed 24-7. Archaeological sites does not diminish their value. They are protected as they are by our legislation. It states that it doesn't matter where it's located, be it on private land, lease, be it out at sea or under the territorial waters of Belize, they are vested in the state and are protected by the NICH Act."
And they are pressing on the fines that now start at 75,000:
Josue Ramos, Senior Archeologist - IA (NICH) "Some people may not be aware that in December of 2024, the NICH Act was amended. So those penalties that were $5,000 and $10,000 before, those moved to $75,000 and $100,000. And that's why we are seeking the general public assistance because we have a small staff. And in the country of Belize, anywhere you go, you will find archaeological features, be it ancient Maya or pre-Maya, the archaic or palindian, or the historic period."
IA says the investigation remains ongoing, and no individual has yet been identified or charged in connection with the destruction. Jaleeza Roberts, 7 News
If you have information, you can contact the Institute of Archaeology's WhatsApp at 601-7292.
And we also asked the Senior Archeologist about the back drop at Saturday's Miss Universe Belize pageant where Tikal was featured instead of a Belizean temple. He stated that the organizers should have paid more attention with their AI usage to avoid the mistake.
Josue Ramos, Senior Archeologist - IA (NICH) "You're right in stating that Belize, and I just in the introduction, I told you that we have 17 archaeological reserves and we have thousands of archaeological sites in Belize that are unique to Belize, so the moment you see a structure or a building you can relate to it and say, oh, this is, for example, Lamanai, it's in the Orange Walk District, or is Nim Li Punit, that's in the Toledo district, or let's say Caracol, that's in the Cayo district, so even at the local level, once you see a particular site, facade of a structure, you can identify and say, oh, this is from this district. At the national level, it's unfortunate that whoever the organizers or people who were scrutinizing and reviewing these things would not see or identify that Tikal is not an ancient city that is within our modern boundary of Belize. We have Caracol, we have Xunantunich we have Altun Ha, we have numerous sites, and one of the things probably that is happening is because people are relying too much on AI. I personally, I'm not a fan of AI to that level, where you will solely depend on putting a question and accepting whatever the AI gives you, because things like these will happen, and it might not be unique just to them. I'm pretty sure teachers and researchers who are evaluating students' paper, they might time to time come across either an image or something in writing, because we need to do our own research and not depend on AI."
And after 72 hours, the Miss Universe Belize executive is finally speaking out. As we told you, apart from the back drop, the pageant also saw a top 6 instead of a top 5 along with repeated questions for the Q&A section. There were also reports of other issues happening backstage, such as a lack of privacy for the contestants.
After repeated requests for comments - all of which were ignored by the National Director Destiny Wagner - she took to Facebook to blame the mistakes on human error - a seemingly inadequate cop out to cover up egregious mistakes.
But the Miss Universe Belize Organization's statement pointed the finger at the Belizean organizers, which includes Wagner. They stated that individuals who were not members of the team or "jury" were tabulating scores from the papers being handed to them. They explained, quote, "The local production team justified that "this was how events had always been handled in here". However, our Organization requested that no one who was not a member of the jury should be calculating the scores and provide them to the presenters. This created a chain of errors that ultimately caused the presenters to become confused about the Top and announce incorrect information, resulting in the confusion witnessed by everyone." End quote.
The organization then went on to reveal that as an act of good faith they entrusted 100% of the grand final event to the national directorate and her team, and that they were fully responsible for event's setup, logistics and production. This implied that the selection and use of the Tikal archeological site was an error made by Belize's production team. The organization says they were surprised by the situation, but regardless of whose error it was, the Organization says they assume full responsibility.
The MUB organization apologized to Belize, and added that the next pageant will be available and accessible through social media and television channels free of charge. They also clarified that none of the delegates paid an entry fee to participate in the Miss Universe Belize competition.
Tonight, Channel 7's News Director Jules Vasquez of was named the 2026 CBU-CMIA Caribbean Defender of Media Freedom at the Opening Ceremony of the 57th CBU Annual General Assembly. This first of its kind regional honour, established in partnership by The Center for Media Integrity of the Americas and The Caribbean Broadcasting Union, recognizes outstanding journalism, courageous reporting, and meaningful contributions to the protection and advancement of media freedom across the Dutch, English, French & Spanish Caribbean. Here's a snippet of Vasquez' winning speech from the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Georgetown, Guyana:
Jules Vasquez "My family, my wife, my children. I think also of the family of all those who are wedded to this profession, wedded, married."
"When we stand here solitary, there is a suffering family behind us that you don't see, a family who misses their father or mother."
"It seems at every major event, a family who sees their father or mother, husband or wife come home after the paper is printed or the newscast is finished, drained, maybe crushed and inconsolable after missing a scoop, or maybe briefly ecstatic after getting a scoop."
"And then it's on to the next one, back on the rollercoaster that we are all on. And I'm always aware that I don't stand here alone."
"Behind me is a committed team of professionals, past and presents, past and present, whose dedication is a true bedrock of our newsroom."
"I think especially of my professional partner of the last thirty years, my news anchor, Indira Craig. Small personal reflection, please allow me."
"How I got here to this esteemed podium, I will never know. I will only say never underestimate the motivating energy of self-loathing and imposter syndrome. Especially when I am at these events among these gilded exemplars of excellence in our profession. I mean you hear her voice. I recall the great singer, Leonard Cohen. He said, "I was born like this. I had no choice. I was born with the gift of a golden voice."
"Well, I was born with a stutter and a face and a figure that my mother might say is best suited for radio. But I am still here. While I did not have Cohen's golden voice, I was born with the gift of a certain determination and audacity, some would say an outrageousness."
"And while certainly not fearless, I have an ability to disregard fear, to somehow think myself invulnerable, an affinity to face down danger in the pursuit of the greater good that the public needs to know."
Vasquez was conferred with the inaugural prize from among three esteemed nominees from the region, which included Wesley Gibbins and the Media Institute of the Caribbean.
It's been almost 3 years since Israel started its relentless and merciless bombing of Palestine. Since then, hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children - some of whom never saw their first birthday or even got their birth certificate - have been murdered. Thousands more have been left severely injured and for those who the bombs missed, they have had to contend with living in tents, polluted water, lack of food, diseases, and pests such as rats.
And tonight, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement, expressing that the Government Belize is "gravely concerned by the escalating violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over the last months." The release stated that the United Nations has reported that 2026 has already seen the highest levels of settler violence in the West Bank since the monitoring began.
It also says, quote, "As the occupying Power, Israel bears primary responsibility under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of the Palestinian population, including from violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers, and to investigate and hold accountable all those responsible. Belize calls on the Government of Israel to take immediate and effective measures to prevent further settler violence, to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice, and to refrain from any actions that collectively punish Palestinian civilian populations." End quote.
The Government of Belize also reaffirmed its position that the Israeli Occupation of and settlements in Palestinian territory are unlawful and must end. Belize is also calling on the international community to take concrete and coordinated action to protect Palestinian civilians and to ensure accountability for violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and reaffirms its own commitment to continue raising these concerns within the United Nations system.
The students of Stella Maris Primary School will begin this academic year with 2 sets of new uniforms. The donation was made possible thanks to a partnership with the Belize City council and its BRIDGE 501 project. A ceremony was held today and Jomarie Lanza was there. Here's her report.
And with the Belize City PUP municipal convention less than 2 weeks away, we asked councillor Kaya Cattouse how she has been preparing. She says she has been actively campaigning on the ground.
Kaya Cattouse, Councilor Belize City Council "Definitely I have been on the ground from we got the delegate list about a week ago we have been on the ground trying to reach out to all the delegates and preparing for August 30th."
Reporter- "And your reaction to your colleague not being allowed to contest Mr Evan Thompson?"
Kaya Cattouse, Councilor Belize City Council "Definitely unfortunate but sometimes that is the nature of politics and we must move on."
Reporter- "Do you know why he was not allowed?"
Kaya Cattouse, Councilor Belize City Council "I am not necessarily sure I have not been able to delve so much into his issues I was trying to be dealing with selling myself and selling the team that we have on the ground."
And while Cattouse is preparing for the convention, today Edward Broaster exchanged his politician hat for a baker's apron. The UDP Caretaker was the lead Cookie connoisseur in his division, teaching young children how to not only bake cookies but also to follow instructions and work together as a team. The activity was part of his 2 day back to school program and with up to 75 kids in attendance, Broaster was overseeing the mixing and the baking when we met him in the kitchen this morning. He spoke with us about the activity and why he decided to end off the camp with a fun baking competition to see who could make the best cookie.
And finally tonight, one anonymous Mega Bingo player is now over 200 thousand dollars richer. The Dangriga resident won Jackpot and outside world after purchasing from Xian Dali store. We spoke with her and she joked that she suddenly has friends she never knew about:
Reporter "Can you start off by telling us how you feel for winning this?"
Mega Bingo Winner "Good, excellent."
Reporter "What will you do with the money that you won?"
Mega Bingo Winner "Finish build my house."
Reporter "How much money did you win?"
Mega Bingo Winner "A good amount."
Reporter "How long have you been buying this ticket?"
Mega Bingo Winner "Hmm, Miss, years, years."
Reporter "Did you ever think that you would win?"
Mega Bingo Winner "No, Ma'am."
Reporter "So what encouraged you to keep buying?"
Mega Bingo Winner "Because, from 1 till I finally caught it."
Reporter "Have you won smaller amounts before?"
Mega Bingo Winner "No Ma'aam."
"I was at work playing but I said I wasn't gonna buy but I did and when I won, I didn't even want to finish the hours."
Reporter "Have you quit your job as yet?"
Mega Bingo Winner "No Ma'am we will put more on top of that."
Reporter "The night when you were watching it and you were seeing your numbers, every number that was playing it was going in your favor, how did you feel?"
Mega Bingo Winner "Miss nervous like right now because you have friends that you didnt have and boy friends that you didn't have."
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It was supposed to be a day of protests against the Speednet acquisition but this weekend, the NTUCB, who have joined forces with the social partners, called off the troops. The combined membership was ready to put boots on the ground in front of the Sir Edney Cain Building where today's Cabinet meeting was held. However, that protest was instead replaced with a press conference.
"Our position is based on a loss of confidence, we believe the chairman has not been sufficiently honest, transparent and forthcoming with the BTL workers and the Belizean public and therefore has lost the confidence of many employees at BTL, workers, and Belizeans. When BTL lost business to Smart, he took a nonchalant attitude, he advocated to pay $90 million to cable companies, an industry that has long since been dying, and his insistence that he wanted to go through with the purchase of Smart and Speednet. Other board members at BTL whose roles and accountability should be reviewed and eventually, we will ask for their removal, Moises Cal, Arturo Lizarraga, and Eric Eusey who represents the small shareholders."
And sitting at the head table with Waight were the president and the general secretary of the Belize Communications Workers Union. They have voiced their disapproval of the proposed acquisition before, but today they congratulated the two board members who rejected the deal - that is Allan Pollard and Anisa Perdomo - while issuing a vote of no confidence for the others:
"Mr Arturo Lizarraga, doesn't sit on one but sits on two, SSB and BTL. Again, we must acknowledge Ms Imogen Habet who stepped down from the Social Security Board in March again due to this controversial telecom position. We commend Ms Habet on that bold stance at the time. Instead of replacing her with someone of character and integrity the board got Mr Lizarraga who is a well known anti-labor views, his views are always anti-labor. Again, we do not feel this is proper representation for the people of Belize. We know that he is the president of the Belize Business Bureau. He has been the president for some two decades. How is he elected? What democratic process has been done to put him in that very important seat?"
"Everybody here has a BDF in their family. Everybody. Yes. Ask them, send you a picture of the food what they eat. And post it on WhatsApp, on Facebook, on Instagram, and show me where the baby back ribs are. Where the lobster are. Where is the Jumbo shrimp. Any one of you please, when any of the family member have jumbo shrimp and baby back ribs in their plate, send it to me, 'cause I really wanna see it. 'Cause I've never seen a BDF eat those things."
Yesterday we told you about the late evening murder of 27-year-old Tyrel Robinson, a worker at Jun's Meat Shop of Belize City, who was fatally shot at the Michael Finnegan Market on West Collet Canal.
"It happened so fast you know, I was serving somebody, I was serving a man here a customer and at the same time I had my back turned then the young boy was washing his face and his hands so behind my back I heard a gun shot and so I turned around because I heard it too close and when I turned around I see the young boy got shot. When I looked, the young boy was cranking the gun so what I did, I came out because I don't have my weapon cause they took away my weapon and so I came out because I don't know what his intention was and I don't know what the young guy did and so I came out because my life is on the line too. So, I didn't take that chance. When I came out I met an officer by the corner right there so and I told the officer they just shot someone in my shop and so the officer waited until everything was calm down because he didn't want to come out just like that either so when we came the gunman was already gone and the young boy ran from here to the gate over yonder and he fell."
It has been 4 days since former BDF soldier Richard Cal has been sitting in prison with a shattered leg. As we reported, Cal was on his farm in Pomona on August 6th when three officers in civilian clothing approached him. That's where the story gets fuzzy - according to Cal's wife, the officers shot him and his dog. However, the police's version of events is that Cal shot at the officers - who were conducting surveillance and that's why they weren't uniformed. The officers then reportedly returned fire.
A major archaeological site in northern Belize has been partially destroyed, and the Institute of Archaeology is now asking the public to help identify whoever is responsible. El Pozito is one of thousands of archaeological sites across Belize that are protected by law, yet unlike the country's 17 archaeological reserves, these sites do not have permanent staff on the ground. And it seems someone took advantage of that and caused serious damage to a portion of the site. Jaleeza Roberts reports:
Josue Ramos, Senior Archeologist - IA (NICH) 
And after 72 hours, the Miss Universe Belize executive is finally speaking out. As we told you, apart from the back drop, the pageant also saw a top 6 instead of a top 5 along with repeated questions for the Q&A section. There were also reports of other issues happening backstage, such as a lack of privacy for the contestants.
Tonight, Channel 7's News Director Jules Vasquez of was named the 2026 CBU-CMIA Caribbean Defender of Media Freedom at the Opening Ceremony of the 57th CBU Annual General Assembly. This first of its kind regional honour, established in partnership by The Center for Media Integrity of the Americas and The Caribbean Broadcasting Union, recognizes outstanding journalism, courageous reporting, and meaningful contributions to the protection and advancement of media freedom across the Dutch, English, French & Spanish Caribbean. Here's a snippet of Vasquez' winning speech from the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Georgetown, Guyana:
"My family, my wife, my children. I think also of the family of all those who are wedded to this profession, wedded, married."
It's been almost 3 years since Israel started its relentless and merciless bombing of Palestine. Since then, hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children - some of whom never saw their first birthday or even got their birth certificate - have been murdered. Thousands more have been left severely injured and for those who the bombs missed, they have had to contend with living in tents, polluted water, lack of food, diseases, and pests such as rats.
And with the Belize City PUP municipal convention less than 2 weeks away, we asked councillor Kaya Cattouse how she has been preparing. She says she has been actively campaigning on the ground.
Kaya Cattouse, Councilor Belize City Council
And finally tonight, one anonymous Mega Bingo player is now over 200 thousand dollars richer. The Dangriga resident won Jackpot and outside world after purchasing from Xian Dali store. We spoke with her and she joked that she suddenly has friends she never knew about:
