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
Last week the public rightfully raised a suspicious eye when activist Nigel Petillo caught a government vehicle dumping and burning a massive trove of documents. With the active public distrust in government, it doesn't take much to stoke a firestorm of controversy about burning the evidence. And that's just what Petillo's post did.
But, the next day, a release from the Ministry of Economic Transformation tried to allay public distrust when it said, quote, "The files that were being disposed of on Thursday have been physically verified by auditors and date back to 2010-2012. They have no relevance to any ongoing project or initiative."
But, were they really? 7News has obtained a memorandum from the Auditor General to the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of the Economic Transformation dated June 09th. It basically asks who gave the order to destroy the documents and under what authority?
The memo asks pointedly, "Was approval obtained from the Accountant General for the destruction of records? "Which auditor provided a Destruction Certificate to go ahead with the destruction?
The memo also notes, quote, "Projects, grants and loans documentation are a significant part of source documents to audit the national financial statements. Therefore, we should be informed of what records are no longer available due to this action. This Office requires a list of documents that were destroyed."
It's a sharp rebuke to the M.E.T., already under scrutiny for careless project spending-and just last week, proudly claiming that the destroyed documents had been verified by auditors. Apparently, not the right auditors. We'll see where this one goes. ENDS
Ramiro Ramirez is the area representative for Corozal Southwest - but today he ran into big trouble in that constituency's most feisty village. Ramirez is captured on cell phone camera in a testy and verbally abusive dispute with villagers, and at one point he even appears to push one of the villagers.
The ugly back and forth went on for more than 7 minutes before Ramirez retreated to a chorus of boos and curse words.
So, what's behind it? Well, it's a land dispute. Apparently, in the run up to village council elections - Ramirez or his supporters had promised 30 lots to villagers.
But when the election was held on June 8th, the slate backed by Ramirez lost. And, with that, it seems, the promise of 30 lots also fell through.
But, villagers with an interest in those lots didn't want to hear that and that's what fueled today's bitter dispute.
The Belize Bus Association is once again rejecting the government's proposal of a consolidated National Bus Company. While they maintain that they want to work with GOB to find a way forward, they say NBC isn't it.
One of the biggest concerns with the proposal is that there is no financial plan that has been disclosed to them. That leaves the bus operators wondering just how much they stand to make, and whether it will be worth it. Thus they say it's impossible for them to agree to the plan at this juncture until they get key information such as a financial model and a 5 year projection of dividends.
The president of the association, Thomas Shaw, told us more about their concerns via Zoom.
Thomas Shaw, President, BBA "All of what is taking place, there is no solid foundation or anything set. They listened to the budget speech and there wasn't anything mentioned about public transportation. They wanted to know about funding, they wanted to know how the dividends would be shared. We heard about social security along with the government, they would be the major shareholder in this and for the operators, what is left, the dividend will be very small. So they were looking at how the dividend would be worked out quarterly or monthly or yearly, because most operators on a daily basis, they're accustomed to collecting money to survive in terms of their livelihood, paying their light, water, and fuel and all the rest of it. So operators were looking at all of this and trying to figure out how will it be worked out because as the minister stated, remember, you won't own any buses again, it's the company that will be owning these buses and what it is, it all depends on the shares that you have and you dividend will actually be based on that and they were looking at that and they said, I'm giving up my birthright, I'm giving up everything. Some said they don't mind getting out but in other words, they are saying compensate me and let me get out but they cannot just afford to have someone come to your establishment and value one or two buses and that's based on your years of operation. If you work 20, 30 years, when you retire you're looking at pension or a severance pay. Some of the operators said, Mr Shaw, I'm 50, 60 years already. They said it this company form, I don't have any benefits because they won't even employ me so that was another factor."
"After the press release, I'm supposed to meet with the minister on the 16th and most of these that we are discussing right now will be discussed in that meeting and hopefully we can set a meeting for the executive to meet with him and see the way forward but as I said, we need to dialogue and we need to, there's more questions than answers. Operators are looking at the terminals, we're looking at the structure of the shares and why the operators are saying that there's no way under this heaven that you can afford to put the buses out there without touching the fares because it's not all the runs that are profitable. You have the peak and you have the off peak."
Aside from the financial model, the BBA is now calling for additional dialogue, the co-development of a hybrid model with public oversight and private experience, and the adjustment in fares that will be required to sustain the proposed concept.
The area known as "The Dike" off Faber's Road in Belize was the scene of a daring aggravated burglary this morning. At around 12:25 a.m., police responded to a report of a robbery in progress. They found a BWSL security guard bleeding from the side of his face with his wrists tightly bound in black zip ties. He told police that while stationed inside a company vehicle, he was ambushed by a group of six masked men-three of whom appeared to be armed. According to the guard, the assailants threw him to the ground, tied his hands, and began burglarizing a container on the site. He says he was beaten and threatened before being locked inside the container as the robbers made their escape. They got away with 2 generators, one 1 power washer, and electrical items.
He was later able to break free from the restraints and seek assistance. No arrests have been made.
The 'Dike' area is a misnomer - it's actually the site of the city's sewage treatment ponds.
He killed a teenager in 2020 and today Cassian Billary - who at the age of 18 confessed to murder - was today convicted of the murder of 19 year old Micah Baltazar.
"It was he kill or be killed" said Billary who shot Baltazar 17 times.
Justice Candace Nanton today rejected the version of events presented by Billary and declared him guilty of murder. Billary who will be back before the court on July 11th when mitigation pleas will be heard on his behalf.
On Monday, December 4, 2020, Baltazar was lured by friends who claimed they were taking him to see a girl-but minutes after leaving his uncle's home, they led him to his death.
Billary who was represented by Attorney Leeroy Banner gave a dock statement claiming he was forced to commit the murder or he would have been killed.
If you frequently visit San Ignacio, then you've probably eaten at Ko-Ox Ha-Nah. It's one of the town's star restaurants - you can ask anyone about their burgers! But despite how good that lamb is or how puffy their fry jacks are, it's not enough to save them from the declining tourism climate.
Popular destinations across the country are feeling the pinch - tourists are only trickling in and locals are saving their money. The owner of Ko-Ox Ha-Nah explained that they've had to take drastic measures to cut operational costs. And he says he's not the only one.
Courtney Menzies has this story.
This is Ko-ox Ha-nah - one of San Ignacio's most popular and prized eateries. Its extensive menu includes Belizean breakfasts, lunches, finger foods, and specials. It's a favorite spot of both locals and tourists. But that heavy traffic has turned into a trickle and Ko-Ox has almost KO'd.
The owner of the restaurant, Peter Margesson, took to Reddit to share his concern - and found that the problem is country wide.
Peter Margesson, Owner, Ko-ox Ha-nah "I'm happy to say for the majority of the past tourist season, it's been really good, it's been one of the best seasons we've had. But thing collapsed in mid-May and it's just been dreadful since then and it still hasn't picked up and we're having to cut down on staffing to accommodate that."
"I put a post on Reddit asking that question to see what response I would get and it was the same everywhere. San Pedro, Caye Caulker, down south, everybody is feeling the pinch."
But what's causing it? Well, that part isn't really a mystery. Both Margesson and the Minister of Tourism explained that it's mainly due to the uncertainty in the US following President Trump's election.
Peter Margesson, Owner, Ko-ox Ha-nah "From my perspective, I think there's several reasons. I think people are afraid to travel at the moment, they rather save their money because the political situation up north isn't very stable. I think that's a major reason why people are not traveling and I think Belizeans are holding on to their money because they're not sure what's going to happen and if the tourist season collapses completely, everybody has to look after their money and sometimes eating out at a restaurant is a special occasion."
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism, Youth, & Sports "Well, from the first five months that we've seen, we're up by 1%. May was a bit soft. And I think the next couple of months will be difficult, but, we will ensure that we do everything possible to and have the numbers don't go down or don't go down much at all."
Courtney Menzies: "Does it have anything to do with the tariff wars or something?"
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism, Youth, & Sports "Everything. I just got back from an investment conference for hotels, and the entire talk was about the uncertainty all around us and what that creates is it's a drying up of liquidity, and people's 401 K has been destroyed for the most part. And so they don't have that liquidity in their own lives to be able to take luxury vacations like what Belize offers."
And Margesson says that it's the employees of these restaurants in tourist destination that are suffering the most right now.
Peter Margesson, Owner, Ko-ox Ha-nah "Obviously the biggest impact is for my staff. If we're not getting the money in, we can't keep a full staffing going so we're having to reduce people's hours on a weekly basis and that's terribly difficult because we're all in this together and I imagine because everybody else is slow, it's the same thing so the income that the locals have is cut down and it's quite difficult."
"We're all in the same situation and we just have to hang in there and do the best we can and hopefully in July, I'm hearing that some July bookings are getting better so I'm positive that it might pick up in July and August."
In other news, as you may have seen on this newscast, the government has launched an ad campaign targeting PSU president, Dean Flowers. The attack comes after the joint unions' rejection of GOB's proposal and their continued industrial action.
But Flowers took to Facebook to condemn the government, not just for essentially union busting, but also for using the taxpayers' money to do it. Here is a snippet of a video he posted.
Dean Flowers, President, PSU "They have launched a taxpayer funded campaign to discredit the joint unions and personally attack my character. This government has once again weaponized state resources to spread false financial claims on the salary adjustment we seek, aiming to turn citizens against hard working public officers. They have engaged in union busting tactics that promote hatred and undermine the dignity of Belizean workers. I call on all right thinking Belizean to reject these disputable actions."
"To public officers aiding the government in these attacks, if you use your position in the press office to attack the union that is fighting for you then please do the honorable thing. Formerly renounce future benefits won by the PSU. Submit a written declaration to the financial secretary and please copy in the PSU. And that declaration should read the following, it should state that you do not wish to receive any salary adjustments, any increments, or benefits negotiated by the PSU."
"To those CEOs who support these types of division, to those CEOs who also received raises without even asking while frontline workers were suffering and continue to suffer, I call on you to show true leadership. Write to the financial secretary and please copy the PSU as well, stating that you are hereby returning your unrequested increase to fund social programs for those who genuinely need it."
"These government funded ads, these attacks simply waste thousands of public dollars on propaganda ads to preferred paid media. These government funded attacks constitute defamation."
In 2024, work began on the Joe Taylor Bridge - a critical piece of infrastructure located at the northern entrance of Punta Gorda town.
But, it's Joe no more - that old colonialist namesake has been replaced by the recently deceased area rep Mike Espat. And the old bridge - which was first built over a century ago has been thoroughly modernized with railings for pedestrians and a boat ramp for the nearby marina. These were some of the final touches added to the new bridge in Punta Gorda Town before its official inauguration today. Jomarie Lanza has this report.
What was once known as the Joe Taylor Bridge is now a state of the art structure with a new name. At the inauguration ceremony today the minister of infrastructure Julius Espat provided some historical context on the significance of this bridge and how it first got its original name
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure and Development "The original bridge, one of the oldest in Belize, was a wooden structure built in the early 1890s. It was built to connect Ex-Confederate and East Indian communities of Eldridge, Westmorland, Forest Home, Cattle Landing and surrounding areas to Punta Gorda for their trading and marketing. This original bridge was called the Joe Taylor Bridge."
"After a former warden of the Colonial Prison and then district commissioner of the Toledo District, who lived right next to the bridge. I've been listening because I was always intrigued. I've been listening to some old footage of residents from Punta Gorda giving their interpretation, and I came upon that said he was a butcher."
"But the fact is, he was somebody that was known. He was somebody from the colonial era. He was somebody that that left a mark. But now we are coming to another era, another period of time. The first wooden bridge was replaced with a composite structure in the early 1920s, and again in 1978 with a single lane steel structure. In the passing of a half a century since the last bridge was constructed corrosive salt marsh environment, coupled with the infrequent maintenance."
"Additionally, and in realising the projected growth and economic development of Punta Gorda and the Toledo District as a whole, the Joe Taylor bridge quickly became a limiting infrastructure, a bottleneck. Hence the urgent need for its replacement. The completion of this two lane concrete structure is further testament to this government's commitment to the creating of a better future and a better society, based on equality, based on opportunity."
Toledo West Area Rep Oscar Requena says the new bridge will not only connect neighboring villages but also boost economic and tourism activity in the south.
Oscar Requena, Area Representative, Toledo West "This is a very significant bridge that connects the Southside to the Northside of Punta Gorda and also serves as a very important link to connect our main urban town with the rural areas of Toledo so this is very historic Ladies and gentlemen I want to thank the minister and staff, all the engineers and everybody else, the contractor who work hard to ensure that today we can be inaugurating this wonderful piece of infrastructure that we hope can last for many many years to come."
"This is a masterpiece of work and it will continue to create and bring opportunities for the Toledo district. Tourism plays a very very big role in the economic development of our district and we know that this will help to contribute and improve tourism in this district."
And on a sentimental note both cabinet colleagues reflected on the man who's memory and name will live on through the bridge, 6 term representative Mike Espat. They explained why they believe the new name for the bridge speaks volumes:
Oscar Requena, Area Representative, Toledo West "This dream of Mike Espat has come to reality, the late honourable Mike Espat toiled and built not only bridges he built roads across the Toledo district we can boast that the communities of Cirque Sarco, Sunday wood, Conejo, Dolores Matchakilha and the last can go on were all connected by the late Mike Espat."
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure and Development "The streets that you walk on was built by him, the schools that you go to he was the principal, the credit unions you see that was his mastermind and he has so many things that have been done and sadly, and this is not Belizean sadness it is a human being sadness we give thanks to people when they are dead but when they are alive we tend to ignore them its a sad reality we face but at least in this case we can give homage to him his constituents."
"It is because of that, because of so many more things positive that Mike Espat has done that I lobbied, and I lobbied hard for this bridge to be named Michael Espat Bridge. I must thank Cabinet, When the paper was presented in cabinet, there was absolutely no objection to it. Absolutely none."
"And so it is an honour. It is a privilege. It is it love that we now have the name of this bridge under the name of Michael Espat."
The bridge was completed at a cost of 2.4 million dollars and has been elevated 2.3 meters.
And townspeople came out today to witness the ribbon cutting. Here's what two of them told PGTV about their new bridge.
Beatrice Bo, Resident "I feel happy today I feel his spirit is with us and I know he is smiling you know because the bridge is completed and they named it his name and we are very happy about it because this is a remembrance for the children so they could recognise his work, his hard work, he works so hard for the communities and town and he always told me about this bridge that one day it would be completed and today it is completed and we are very happy about it."
Dennis Garbutt, Resident "Well I feel good. I feel that it's long overdue it has been years now that we have been clamouring for a new bridge especially a two way bridge to Punta Gorda Town, I have seen quite a bit of incidents and stuff being here at the marina you see where vehicles they literally crash into the bridge I've seen vehicles run off into the river, into the creek and ive seen motorcycle accidents on this thing but I am hoping that people adhere to the speed limit and we can utilise this bridge in the best possible way and we continue to save lives and keep people alive here because at the end of the day this bridge enhances what Toledo has to offer I can see people coming in just the drive going out you get the view of that ocean so I am happy that this bridge is being built."
Notably, the new area rep for Toledo East Osmond Martinez was not present today but - he may have been returning from a major regional summit in Brazil where he rubbed shoulders with regional leaders.
A government release says "the high-level meeting brought together heads of government and senior officials from CARICOM and Brazil to strengthen regional cooperation across critical areas, including food and nutrition security, climate change, energy transition, disaster risk management, and connectivity."
Martinez, as Minister of State in the Ministry of Economic Transformation, delivered the Government's remarks.
The BAA security contracts - we probably wouldn't have even heard of them if it weren't for a tip that came to this newsroom after the April 17th hijacking. Since then we've been revealing layer after layer of personal and political interests in getting those contracts signed and executed. Tonight, we have one more interesting revelation. Jules Vasquez reports:
The Four Diamonds Security contract was signed on Christmas Eve - but - reports tell us it was never quite the gift that the other contract for ISECURITY was.
The owners of the company, Mike Estephan and BAA Board member Nigel Bouloy did not get a 6 figure up front payment like ISECURITY did.
But, don't blame that on their attorney, William A Lindo. He confirmed to us that he wrote up the contract for Four Diamond - and we're told that contract came to closely resemble the one given to ISECURITY.
And, perhaps as a cherry, after the March 2025 General Election, 7News has learned that Lindo was named to the BAA board - making it so that one co owner of Four Diamond and the man who wrote up their contract would both sit on the Board. But, Lindo confirmed to us that he resigned shortly after - he says it was two days before the BAA put out this statement on June fifth. In the statement they announced the immediate suspension of those contracts, that a legal opinion would be sought on the validity of the contracts and that, quote, "proper procedures may not have been observed in the award of these security contracts."
Lindo told us he attended one meeting and resigned after that. And when he did attend there was no talk of any cancellation of any contract - just an amendment or variation to the contracts.
In April, BEL announced that it asked the PUC for an increase in the average price of electricity, from $0.40 cents per kilowatt hour to a minimum of $0.43 cents per kilowatt hour with effect from January 1, 2026, through to the remainder of the Full Tariff Period ending June 30, 2028.
Well, today the PUC announced that the answer is no.
A Release says No adjustments are approved to any previously established Regulated Values, Mean Electricity Rates and Tariffs, Charges and Fees.
You'll feel just a quick pinch, and it will only take up a few minutes of your time to donate. In celebration of World Blood Donors day tomorrow, the media was invited to the blood bank today for the Strat of a blood drive. We spoke to one of the phlebotomists at the event who says that they hope to get a turn out just as good as last years.
Doreen Madrill, Nurse Phlebotomist "Today Is a day where we celebrate and we honour and we acknowledge all our donors, especially our voluntary donors because those are the ones who help us out. Tomorrow is world blood donor day which is celebrated worldwide. It is not a public and bank holiday but it is celebrated throughout the world. So this is the day that we acknowledge all our donors and today we will be having social this evening from 5-8 for our voluntary donors to show up at the diagnostic centre where the blood bank is located at this present moment."
"At this point in time because you know blood donors are healthy individuals, those are the people who help the sick . So at this present moment we are asking all donors to come in and donate voluntarily to help out the bank and you know donors are healthy people and the point is you maintain a healthy lifestyle you get a free blood test that is the beauty of it you don't have to go to doctor you come right here and once you are 18 years and over you are able and eligible to donate."
"Majority of the donors, they are afraid of needles. But when you come in it's a different story. After that process has finished I don't think they have that fear anymore."
And from the blood that is donated - to the kind that is thicker than water. That refers to family relations and none are closer than your parents. But, in this society, dad's can be problematic - a lot of them aren't around at all, and some of them, just part of the time. That's why today when we took to the streets it was hard to find people to speak lovingly about their fathers. But our Clifford Mejia pressed on and he did find a few good ones. Here's what they told him:
And at the Belmopan City Council today - fathers got maximum love and respect.
The Council showed their appreciation to the dads on staff by treating them to a little pampering. Some got haircuts, some got their beards trimmed and some got… free tattoos?
That's right - the Council brought in a tattoo artist as part of their initiative to celebrate fathers. It raised some concern since, well, it is presumed that taxpayers' money is being used to give these dads some fresh ink.
But Mayor Pablo Cawich explained that a deal was worked out with the private businesses that they brought in - much like what happened when they pampered the mothers on staff back in May.
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Last week the public rightfully raised a suspicious eye when activist Nigel Petillo caught a government vehicle dumping and burning a massive trove of documents. With the active public distrust in government, it doesn't take much to stoke a firestorm of controversy about burning the evidence. And that's just what Petillo's post did.
Ramiro Ramirez is the area representative for Corozal Southwest - but today he ran into big trouble in that constituency's most feisty village. Ramirez is captured on cell phone camera in a testy and verbally abusive dispute with villagers, and at one point he even appears to push one of the villagers.
The Belize Bus Association is once again rejecting the government's proposal of a consolidated National Bus Company. While they maintain that they want to work with GOB to find a way forward, they say NBC isn't it.
"All of what is taking place, there is no solid foundation or anything set. They listened to the budget speech and there wasn't anything mentioned about public transportation. They wanted to know about funding, they wanted to know how the dividends would be shared. We heard about social security along with the government, they would be the major shareholder in this and for the operators, what is left, the dividend will be very small. So they were looking at how the dividend would be worked out quarterly or monthly or yearly, because most operators on a daily basis, they're accustomed to collecting money to survive in terms of their livelihood, paying their light, water, and fuel and all the rest of it. So operators were looking at all of this and trying to figure out how will it be worked out because as the minister stated, remember, you won't own any buses again, it's the company that will be owning these buses and what it is, it all depends on the shares that you have and you dividend will actually be based on that and they were looking at that and they said, I'm giving up my birthright, I'm giving up everything. Some said they don't mind getting out but in other words, they are saying compensate me and let me get out but they cannot just afford to have someone come to your establishment and value one or two buses and that's based on your years of operation. If you work 20, 30 years, when you retire you're looking at pension or a severance pay. Some of the operators said, Mr Shaw, I'm 50, 60 years already. They said it this company form, I don't have any benefits because they won't even employ me so that was another factor."
The area known as "The Dike" off Faber's Road in Belize was the scene of a daring aggravated burglary this morning. At around 12:25 a.m., police responded to a report of a robbery in progress. They found a BWSL security guard bleeding from the side of his face with his wrists tightly bound in black zip ties. He told police that while stationed inside a company vehicle, he was ambushed by a group of six masked men-three of whom appeared to be armed. According to the guard, the assailants threw him to the ground, tied his hands, and began burglarizing a container on the site. He says he was beaten and threatened before being locked inside the container as the robbers made their escape. They got away with 2 generators, one 1 power washer, and electrical items.
He killed a teenager in 2020 and today Cassian Billary - who at the age of 18 confessed to murder - was today convicted of the murder of 19 year old Micah Baltazar.
If you frequently visit San Ignacio, then you've probably eaten at Ko-Ox Ha-Nah. It's one of the town's star restaurants - you can ask anyone about their burgers! But despite how good that lamb is or how puffy their fry jacks are, it's not enough to save them from the declining tourism climate.
"I'm happy to say for the majority of the past tourist season, it's been really good, it's been one of the best seasons we've had. But thing collapsed in mid-May and it's just been dreadful since then and it still hasn't picked up and we're having to cut down on staffing to accommodate that."
"Well, from the first five months that we've seen, we're up by 1%. May was a bit soft. And I think the next couple of months will be difficult, but, we will ensure that we do everything possible to and have the numbers don't go down or don't go down much at all."
"They have launched a taxpayer funded campaign to discredit the joint unions and personally attack my character. This government has once again weaponized state resources to spread false financial claims on the salary adjustment we seek, aiming to turn citizens against hard working public officers. They have engaged in union busting tactics that promote hatred and undermine the dignity of Belizean workers. I call on all right thinking Belizean to reject these disputable actions."
In 2024, work began on the Joe Taylor Bridge - a critical piece of infrastructure located at the northern entrance of Punta Gorda town.
"After a former warden of the Colonial Prison and then district commissioner of the Toledo District, who lived right next to the bridge. I've been listening because I was always intrigued. I've been listening to some old footage of residents from Punta Gorda giving their interpretation, and I came upon that said he was a butcher."
"This is a very significant bridge that connects the Southside to the Northside of Punta Gorda and also serves as a very important link to connect our main urban town with the rural areas of Toledo so this is very historic Ladies and gentlemen I want to thank the minister and staff, all the engineers and everybody else, the contractor who work hard to ensure that today we can be inaugurating this wonderful piece of infrastructure that we hope can last for many many years to come."
And townspeople came out today to witness the ribbon cutting. Here's what two of them told PGTV about their new bridge.
"I feel happy today I feel his spirit is with us and I know he is smiling you know because the bridge is completed and they named it his name and we are very happy about it because this is a remembrance for the children so they could recognise his work, his hard work, he works so hard for the communities and town and he always told me about this bridge that one day it would be completed and today it is completed and we are very happy about it."
"Well I feel good. I feel that it's long overdue it has been years now that we have been clamouring for a new bridge especially a two way bridge to Punta Gorda Town, I have seen quite a bit of incidents and stuff being here at the marina you see where vehicles they literally crash into the bridge I've seen vehicles run off into the river, into the creek and ive seen motorcycle accidents on this thing but I am hoping that people adhere to the speed limit and we can utilise this bridge in the best possible way and we continue to save lives and keep people alive here because at the end of the day this bridge enhances what Toledo has to offer I can see people coming in just the drive going out you get the view of that ocean so I am happy that this bridge is being built."
Notably, the new area rep for Toledo East Osmond Martinez was not present today but - he may have been returning from a major regional summit in Brazil where he rubbed shoulders with regional leaders.
The BAA security contracts - we probably wouldn't have even heard of them if it weren't for a tip that came to this newsroom after the April 17th hijacking. Since then we've been revealing layer after layer of personal and political interests in getting those contracts signed and executed. Tonight, we have one more interesting revelation. Jules Vasquez reports:
You'll feel just a quick pinch, and it will only take up a few minutes of your time to donate. In celebration of World Blood Donors day tomorrow, the media was invited to the blood bank today for the Strat of a blood drive. We spoke to one of the phlebotomists at the event who says that they hope to get a turn out just as good as last years.
"Today Is a day where we celebrate and we honour and we acknowledge all our donors, especially our voluntary donors because those are the ones who help us out. Tomorrow is world blood donor day which is celebrated worldwide. It is not a public and bank holiday but it is celebrated throughout the world. So this is the day that we acknowledge all our donors and today we will be having social this evening from 5-8 for our voluntary donors to show up at the diagnostic centre where the blood bank is located at this present moment."
