And keeping it on politics, at the top of the newscast we told you how the PUP would be standing by its Orange walk East Representative Marco Tulio Mendez – at least for the time being. If Mendez is criminally charged, then that could change. But, there is some tactical value in the PUP closing ranks and taking a conservative position at this time – and that's because the prospect of a bye-election is a costly and complicated one. But then that wouldn;t make them much better We asked the party leader about the moral hazard of ending up in a bad situation:..

Jules Vasquez

"Might it not evolve into a situation where the party may at some point have to distance itself for what ever reason, but Mr. Mendez has indicated he will fight and defend his reputation. So could there be the evolution of a situation similar to what has happened to Elvin Penner, where he refused to go any where and just sits at the end of the back bench and reserves the seat for the UDP; Which is very important and also strategically for the PUP reserving a seat and not going to a bi-election is some how strategically important."

Hon. Francis Fonseca Leader – PUP

"I don't see that happening that way Jules. As I said, you're going way beyond where we are today. So I don't see that happening. I think this matter, one way or the other, will be resolved in a very clear and deliberate way."

Will Audrey Run?

Recently, Audrey Matura-Shepherd seems to be on the frontline of every conflict – but will she try and parlay this high visibility, into a political career?

Yesterday our colleague from the Guardian Newspaper asked her if she has political aspirations.

Here's her barbed response:

We asked Audrey Wallace, CEO in the Prime Minister's Office, about Matura-Shepherd's claim that Wallace approached her on behalf of the Prime Minister to become a member of the United Democratic Party.

She told us categorically that she has done no such thing, and to her knowledge, Matura-Shepherd is already partial toward the UDP… But as you heard, Matura-Shepherd claims that she is being treated as a follower of the Opposition, PUP – and that was certainly cemented last week with this front page appearance.

New Ring Road

Today, the Ministry of Works signed 2 important construction contracts to repair the ring road in Belmopan City under the Road Safety Project. Errol Gentle, the CEO in the Ministry of Works and Transport, said at the ceremony this afternoon that all the government and private sector partners must work together to ensure that this project serves Belmopan to it's full intended effect:

They Are The Champions

On Monday, we showed you our story with the 2014 Nationals for the Belize Amateur Athletics Association, the first 1 in 5 years.

Well, we have been provided with the results of the 2 day competition – and here are some of them.

In the 100-metre race, Tricia Flores placed first. For the males, the Mark Anderson was the top sprinter.

In the 200 metres, Shanicka Augustine was first place for females while For the males, Linford Avila won.

In the 400 metre race, there was only 1 female who competed, and she was Ashtomie Carr. For the males, Mark Anderson placed first.

In the 800, only 2 females ran the race, and between them, Ashtomie Carr was faster than Delmi Hernandez. For the males, Erson Moreira placed first, beating Alexander Alvarado.

In the 5K marathon, no females competed, but for the males, Giovanni Baizar ran faster than his only competitor, Alexander Alvarado.

For the female high-jump competition, Kay-De Vaughan was the only competitor. For the males, First place was won by Linford Avila.

For long jump, the best female competitor was Tricia Flores, and for the men, the top long jumpers was Kenneth Brackett.

In Triple Jump, Shanicka Augustine won and for the men, Kenneth Brackett was the best.

7 News for January 28th, 2015 from 7News Belize on Vimeo.