Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition (LOO), is rejecting statements issued by Shyne Barrow in a press statement bearing the UDP’s name on Monday night.
She accused Barrow of having no authority within the party. She said, “The former Standard Bearer of Mesop, who received a mere 300 votes in the most recent General Elections, is NO LONGER the Leader lof the Opposition. He is NO LONGER the Leader of our great United Democratic Party. He is NO LONGER the elected Area Representative of the Mesopotamia Division. He has NO authority whatsoever to act on or behalf of the UDP.”
Barrow lost his seat and position as LOO after being defeated by his UDP rival, Lee Mark Chang as part of Panton’s UDP slate.
Panton’s comments followed a statement from Barrow who denounced Panton’s National Party Council Meeting held on April 5 as a “fake” UDP gathering.
In her statement on social media, Panton insisted that her focus is on rebuilding the UDP, adding that if Barrow and “those who believe they are so entitled insist to facilitate this madness, we will take the appropriate action.”
A press release branding the United Democratic Party ‘s name was issued by former Opposition Leader Moses Shyne Barrow on Monday night.
The statement condemned the UDP National Party Council Meeting held on Saturday by Leader of the Opposition and Albert representative Tracy Panton.
It said the UDP “denounces the Alliance for Democracy Party’s continued false claims of UDP leadership and NPC meetings.”
It added, “The meeting held on Saturday, April 5, 2025, by Tracy Panton and others was not a UDP National Party Council meeting.”
The statement also refuted Panton’s leadership, adding that “until the High Court issues its decision on the civil action brought against Panton for her false claim to leadership, the status quo remains as to the duly elected and appointed Central Executive Committee Members of UDP.”
The We Walk as One Foundation is organising its Hearts & Hands Clothes & Shoes Drive. This campaign is part of the Hearts & Hands Community Outreach to support families in need in Armenia Village, Belize.
The drive will be from February 24th to May 15th, 2025. The foundation is seeking donations of children’s and adults’ clothing, shoes (new or gently used), and blankets. Items can be dropped off at the designated collection point at 9151 M.Y. Street, Belize City, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily.
The items will be going to women, men and children who will happily accept your donations. The foundation encouraged anyone to contribute items in good condition. “Your donations will bring comfort and relief to families facing hardships. Let’s give with love and dignity,” the foundation said.
Anyone who would like to arrange donations can reach out to the foundation at 638-3625 or via email at admin@wewalkasonefoundation.com.
Belize has secured a BZD 1.9 million grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to enhance its climate change response. According to a statement, the Ministry of Economic Transformation, through its Climate Finance Unit (CFU), will use the funding to advance the country’s climate agenda.
The project will focus on strengthening key institutions involved in climate action, including the University of Belize, the Belize Social Investment Fund, and national disaster management efforts.
A key goal is to establish a dedicated climate finance fund and transition the CFU into a full department. “The project will enable the Climate Finance Unit (CFU) to initiate the process of transitioning into a full-fledged department, as well as establishing a climate finance fun,” the ministry said.
Among the objectives are the development of legal frameworks and policies aligned with national climate priorities, the launch of a public awareness campaign, and the creation of a climate-focused education model at the University of Belize.
49-year-old Ervin Middleton from Belize City has been found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2020. The verdict was delivered today in the High Court by Justice Nigel Pilgrim.
Middleton, a security guard, was remanded to the Belize Central Prison pending his sentencing on May 16.
The victim testified that Middleton raped her while living at their residence. At the time of the incident, she was home alone when he returned early, asking for water. Following this, Middleton forcibly pinned her down despite her resistance. The girl, now 18, provided credible testimony.
Middleton denied the allegations, claiming they were fabricated due to a familial dispute. However, Justice Pilgrim ruled the victim’s testimony reliable.
Middleton was represented by attorney Ian Gray. His bail was revoked.
A man, a woman, and a minor were injured in a Sunday afternoon shooting in Belize City.
The three individuals were “sitting in a yard on Iguana Street when a motorcycle came to the area, and a person came off the motorcycle and fired several shots towards the direction,” the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero, said.
According to ACP Romero, the victims were taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) for treatment. They are in stable condition.
Romero told reporters, “A person that was at the yard was the intended target, but he was not shot.” He said several people are in custody.
According to Romero, police are investigating the connection of this shooting incident with previous ones and that the department is “doing follow-up work on it.”
“We will do several operations and bring in the persons from those areas to try to prevent any further retaliation,” Romero concluded.
Police continue investigating a shooting incident that occurred over the weekend in the Cohune Walk area of Belmopan City. The shooting incident occurred in front of the T&J store on Saturday around midday.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero confirmed that 23-year-old Jamal Hyde sustained gunshot injuries. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
A police investigation revealed that Hyde, who was driving a Mazda vehicle, was targeted by a shooter inside a passing suburban vehicle.
The police believe the suspects may have been trailing Hyde’s vehicle before the shooting occurred. “They have some feud amongst themselves, and that is what led to this shooting… At some point the Suburban came upon the Mazda. The Mazda had been to several places in Belmopan prior to the shooting,” Romero said.
Two other passengers were also inside Hyde’s vehicle. Romero confirmed that the two men were unharmed. “There were two other persons in the Mazda, but they were not injured,” Romero stated.
Romero also confirmed a firearm was recovered and multiple individuals are now in custody as part of the ongoing investigation.
Belize’s protected areas are set to benefit from a new partnership between the Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT) and the Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future. Both organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen financing for Belize’s National Protected Areas System (NPAS).
According to a statement, the partnership aims to improve the coordination and effectiveness of funding for the country’s protected areas.
The MOU focuses on key areas such as joint resource mobilisation, standardising financing policies, and increasing stakeholder engagement. It also includes plans for public outreach, including a National Conservation Summit in 2025, to raise awareness about conservation efforts.
Over the next five years, both organisations will work together to support the country’s natural heritage to secure long-term sustainable funding for Belize’s environmental initiatives.
Why would Belize’s Ministry of Education (MOE) issue a warning notice against a promising 20,000-acre university? While it has been over 2 months since the notice was issued, the school has been in the works for years.
For over a decade, The Ultimate Business University (UBU) has been planning to build a massive, Harry Potter-inspired campus in Belize. The size of the school campus would be nearly three times the size of Belmopan.
Except, not any student would be able to enrol in UBU. The university will be “a non-profit organisation designed to support youths at risk”, according to its website. These youths will be U.S. citizens under the age of 18 who would be emancipated and then brought over to Belize on full scholarships.
The day that MOE issued the warning notice, News 5 contacted the ministry’s Chief Executive Officer, Dian Maheia. According to her, the ministry received a query about UBU, which prompted MOE to look into the university. The ministry’s research came down to issuing a warning stating that UBU “is neither legally registered nor authorised to operate as an educational institution in Belize and that it has no official affiliation or recognition from the Ministry of Education.”
On February 5th, the former Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca, told reporters that his team was alerted, and the ministry was forced to take action. “It was brought to the attention of our communications team that these things were being posted and notices being sent out. So we had to take action,” he said.
Some of these “notices” were actually being sent out to Belizeans who were being recruited to be part of the project. The recruitment process was being done through LinkedIn, a platform professionals use to network, share career updates, and find job opportunities or business collaborations. The Belizeans that News 5 reached out to reported that they were contacted via LinkedIn directly by the founder of UBU.
Most of the names of these Belizeans were also found on UBU’s official website. They were listed as part of UBU’s team alongside the job title or responsibility they would be contributing to the university. Some of these same Belizeans were not aware their names were listed out already, with one saying that they made an application but never received confirmation of the position.
Meanwhile, Fonseca pointed out that the lack of background information about the people behind the school and the large-scale features it plans to implement does not sound “feasible or logical.” He added, “We get lots of proposals from institutions all over the world. You don’t know who the people are; you don’t know anything about them. My own view is that that would not be something that we would consider at all.”
He added that the government needs to be really cautious when considering institutions that want to establish in Belize. There are often concerns about entities that exist to exploit vulnerable people, which is a major reason why the government must always verify the legitimacy of any school operating in the country. “There’s a legal procedure in place for you to apply. Especially if you want to open some offshore school. Especially for those kinds of institutions, because so many of them have been associated with scams, fly-by-night institutions that are just taking people’s money,” Fonseca said.
According to the former minister, there is a legal process for applications of this scale. As stated in the ministry’s notice, UBU has not followed the legal process.
Investors are increasingly concerned that President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war could lead to a global recession. According to The Economist, stock markets were rattled following the announcement of Trump’s new tariffs.
The Russell 3000, one of the broadest measures of the American stock market, dropped 5% on April 3 and another 6% the following day after China retaliated with its own tariffs, according to The Economist.
It also added that gold and the US dollar also showed unusual movements, while oil and copper prices plunged.
Concerns have intensified as bank stocks, particularly those exposed to economic cycles, have tumbled, and several private firms have delayed their public listings. The VIX, a measure of market volatility, has surged, prompting analysts to raise global recession odds to 60%.
