Effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. non-immigrant visa will increase worldwide from BZ$200 (US$100) to BZ$262 (US$131). This fee increase allows the U.S. Department of State to recover the costs of security and other enhancements to the non-immigrant visa application process.

In a story appearing in the New York Times National, on November 30, 2007, journalist Rebecca Cathcart reported that a California Appeals Court had ordered police in Garden Grove, California, to return marijuana it had taken from a gentleman named Felix Kha. The marijuana (about a quarter of an ounce), which was given under prescription (the young man suffers from chronic pain), was taken away from Mr. Kha in 2005. California law allows a person to have in his/her possession up to 8 ounces of marijuana, if a doctor has decreed that the person is in need of such substance.

Official inauguration ceremonies were held today for a new and modern Quarantine Treatment facility at the Western

On the 2nd of December the Venezuelan people gave a lesson on civic behaviour when they peacefully voted on the Referendum for the Constitutional Reform, where the options were YES or NO; the latter obtained 51.7% of the votes and the YES obtained 49.29%. Although the race was close, and immediately after the National Electoral Council (CNE) issued the first bulletin, President Hugo Chavez held a press conference with the media acknowledging the results and once more showed that he is a true democrat, silencing the national and international organizations who have tried to create a different image through the powerful international media; the one of a dictator; silencing as well the cries of fraud from the opposition, who have incessantly attacked the Supreme Electoral Council all these years. The National Electoral Council proved that they have the most advanced electoral system in the world.

According to the Joint Intelligence Coordinating Center (Belize) there were 50 cases of rape reported in 2003, with 36 arrests. In 2004 there were 53 cases of rape reported, with 44 arrests.

Black Orchid Resort (Belize) announced today that it has joined the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (WHA) as a Member. The WHA is an industry-leading initiative; it was founded by Expedia, Inc. and the United Nations Foundation, to support UNESCO’s goal of promoting and protecting the 851 World Heritage sites around the world.

I find it amusing that the PENINSULA CITIZENS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT are crying out “foul” by claiming that there were racial overtones in the public hearing held in the village of Seine Bight some weeks ago relative to the proposed False Caye development. A recent “Reporter” headline also indicates that serious tensions exist amongst the residents of the village.

The International community rejected for its sixteen consecutive time the United States policy towards Cuba, 6 days after President George Bush made statements that evidence an unprecedented escalation in the US government’s efforts to conquer the Cuban people by hunger and disease, and to bring about a regime change in Cuba, even by force.

Foundation UBAD officials and board members of the UBAD Educational Foundation (UEF) held meetings with executive members of the Universal Negro Improvement Association–African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) on Saturday evening, October 27, and Sunday morning, October 28, on the rooftop of the Kremandala building.

Following up on a newsbreak earlier this week (Hon. Dean Barrow and Channel 7), Amandala contacted CEO Allan Usher in the Ministry of Natural Resources to find out if there was any truth to the story that a sizable portion of the Bacalar Chico National Park in San Pedro Ambergris Caye was up for sale. According to 7 News, “senior sources” had indicated that the government had accepted US$1million as partial payment for 3,000 acres on Ambergris Caye. According to Honorable Barrow (7News archives), buyers had insisted on getting beachfront, so the government had agreed to “put into the mix thousands of acres out of the Bacalar Chico National Park.”

The question of Taiwan’s membership in the United Nations has been excluded from the formal agenda of the 62nd General Assembly, but that has not stopped several Taiwan allies, including Belize, from highlighting the issue in their country presentations.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras: As part of its strategy to support the region, particularly in the face of natural disasters, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, (CABEI), has once more joined cooperative efforts, to contribute to the emergency and rehabilitation work of its member countries affected by recent natural disasters.

Knowing the value and history of the Queen of the Bay pageant, and having won such a contest herself in New York City, Maureen Gill, a Belizean living in Los Angeles and employed by American Airlines, organized a team called, “Los Angeles Queen Of the Bay Team,” and began soliciting donations and prizes to give to participants of the annual Queen of the Bay pageant in Belize.

As part of the ongoing cooperation in health between the Government of Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Government of Belize, an eleven-member medical team from Taiwan arrived in Belize on September 10, 2007.