Category: CANA News

West Indies Under-19s’ hopes of reaching the semifinal of the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup suffered a major setback when they went down by 22 runs to defending champions Australia in their crucial Super Six, Group 1 encounter here on Wednesday.

Needing a victory to boost their chances of reaching the final four, the regional team produced a below par bowling effort after sending the Aussies into bat at the Harare Sports Club, as captain Oliver Peake scored an impressive century to power his side to a formidable 314 for seven in their 50 overs

Through the efforts of Zachary Carter and skipper Joshua Dorne, who scored contrasting half centuries, West Indies put themselves in a strong position to pull off a memorable win, but faltered at the death to finish on 292 for nine.

With the result, the unbeaten Australians advanced to the semifinal stage of the tournament, leaving the Windies needing a miracle due to their poor net run rate.

They are currently tied on four points with Afghanistan, who are currently in second place on net run rate ahead of Sri Lanka.

However, the Windies would need both Afghanistan, who is set to play Ireland in their final Super Six match on Friday, and Sri Lanka, who take on South Africa on Thursday, to suffer heavy defeats if they are to have any chance of progressing in the tournament.

They will rue a missed opportunity against Australia, who for the first time in the competition looked headed for defeat.

Needing to score at over six runs and over, Carter and Tanez Francis gave the Windies a whirlwind start in an opening partnership of 88 runs, while going at eight runs an over.

Carter was especially brutal on his way to registering the fourth fastest half century of the tournament, pulling Will Malajczuk to the midwicket boundary off the 29th ball he faced. Australia needed some luck to make the breakthrough, when Francis missed a full toss from Charles Lachmund and was adjudged lbw, despite the ball seemingly headed past the leg stump.

Carter and Jewel Andrew then added 35 runs in just over three overs, before Carter unnecessarily tried to heave the first delivery from legspinner Naden Cooray over the legside and was bowled for 64 off 42 balls, inclusive of seven fours and four sixes.

His dismissal brought Dorne to the crease, and together with Andrew, they maintained the momentum to carry the score to 171 for two after 26 overs.

The reintroduction of pacer Hayden Schiller reaped immediate dividends for Australia, with his yorker piercing Andrew’s defense to bowl him for 44.

Dorne then found a useful partner in Kunal Tilokani, with the two adding 68 runs for the fourth wicket. During that partnership, Dorne reached his first half century of the tournament off 80 balls.

But just as the two looked to accelerate, Tilokani edged Lachmund behind to be caught for 35 off 42 balls and with just seven runs added, Schiller returned to bowl Dorne for 62 off 97 balls, to leave the Windies 246 for five in the 43rd over.

Jonathan van Lange and Shaquan Belle tried their best, but the required run rate, which crept up to over 12 runs, proved too much for the Windies to overcome and they lost their four wickets for seven runs in the last 14 balls.

Lachmund ended with 4-66, Aryan Sharma took 2-47 and Schiller 2-54.

Earlier, Peake’s effort along with a half century from Nitesh Samuel and important knocks by Will Malajczuk and Alex Lee Young helped Australia post a mammoth total.

Malajczuk, who scored 48 off 30 balls and Samuel, who made 56 from 74 balls, shared an opening stand of 73 in nine overs that proved to be the foundation.

Fast bowler R’Jai Gittens removed Malajczuk and Steven Hogan, who made four, in quick succession to leave Australia 84 for two after 11 overs.

But Peake, who scored 109 off 117 balls, first added 85 with Samuel and then 69 with Lee Young, who scored 45, to frustrate the Windies’ bowlers.

For the Windies Jakeem Pollard took 2-37 and Gittens 2-45.

The Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) has condemned Tuesday’s storming of its board meeting by several persons, including opposition and trade union officials, who thought that the meeting was discussing the company’s planned take over of Speednet – SMART.

‘BTL respects the right to peaceful and lawful protest. Unfortunately, some of those protestors unlawfully trespassed on BTL’s property and resisted the police’s lawful attempts to eject those trespassers, peacefully. The encouragement to protest was also intended to prevent BTL’s Board of Directors from meeting on January 27, 2026, to discuss BTL business and other matters,’ the company said in a statement on Tuesday night. BTL says it is offering BDZ$80 million (One Belize dollar=US$0.49 cents) with BDZ$10 million being paid in cash and the balance being paid in the form of loan notes which are for a four year term and carry interest at a rate of 4.5 per cent per annum.

Speednet, is a Belizean communications company, established in 2003 and providing mostly deals with cellular services under the brand name ‘SMART’ and other landline services.

But the movve to acquire the company has not found favour with the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), independent legislators and the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) among others.

On Tuesday, despite a heavy police presence, the protestors stormed the meeting, insisting that the government ensure that the planned takeover of Speednet – SMART is done in a transparent way.

‘We have to make sure we do not make our right a wrong. I repeat, we cannot make our right a wrong. We are here to demonstrate. We are here to send a message to the government, to the board of BTL members, we do not want this deal to happen. We want more transparency. We want more information so that we can make an educated decision. Everyone can make an educated decision. If it is such a good deal, open the books,’ said opposition legislator, Lee Mark Chang.

The Christian Workers Union, the Public Service Union, and the Belize Energy Workers Union were among those present indicating that while they support growth in technology and investment, this should not be at the expense of transparency with the BCCI earlier indicating that the acquisition represents ‘a matter of profound national significance’.

‘There is too much at stake here for Belizeans to just sit back and watch it go through. We have had this before in the past with this same administration,’ said Leonora Flowers, President, Christian Workers Union, while Rossanie Novelo, the President of Belize Energy Workers Union, said ‘we are saying no to the merger and accusation of Smart by BTL. The way how it has been happening is so fast, why rush?’

President of the Public Service Union, Dean Flowers, said ‘we need to understand that we are not a country of sheep and this sheepish lifestyle and behavior that we have exhibited over the last twenty to thirty years needs to be done away with.’

In its statement, BTL said it condemned the ‘unlawful occupation of BTL’s premises by trespassers who have sought to disrupt BTL’s legitimate business operations,’ adding ‘these actions constitute a clear violation of BTL’s property rights and created an unsafe environment for BTL’s employees, visitors, customers and the trespassers themselves’.

BTL said that despite attempts at intimidation, its board of directors was meeting to discuss human resources related issues including a ruling by the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling of November 5, 2025, ‘which will have a positive impact on our former and present employees.

‘The attempt to disrupt is both regrettable and counterproductive,’ BTL said, adding that the board had recognised that ‘yielding to intimidation would constitute a breach of their duties to exercise independent judgment and would be contrary to the interests of BTL and BTL’s shareholders’.

The company also warned that it will not tolerate unlawful trespassing or intimidation and that it is working closely with relevant authorities to ensure the safety and security of its staff and operations.

The statement concluded by stating that BTL is an essential service provider and that any threat to its operations poses a broader risk to national and economic security.

Barbadian Aaron Jones has been provisionally suspended by the ICC after being charged with five counts of breaching their anti-corruption codes along with Cricket West Indies’ (CWI).

The 31-year-old, who represented the USA at the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2024, face charges which relate predominantly to the Bim10 tournament in 2023-24, which falls under the jurisdiction of the CWI Anti-Corruption Code, with two other charges relating to international matches.

He has been suspended from all cricket ‘with immediate effect’, meaning he is unlikely to be named in USA’s 15-member squad for next month’s T20 World Cup set to be played in India and Sri Lanka. Jones has been charged with match fixing during the 2023/2024 tournament and failing to disclose to Cricket West Indies details of any approaches or invitations to engage in conduct that would amount to a breach of the CWI Code.

The top order batsman is also charged with failing or refusing to cooperate with a reasonable investigation carried out by the Designated Anti-Corruption Official (ACU); failing to disclose to the ICC ACU full details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in corrupt conduct under the ICC Code and obstructing the ACU’s investigation into possible corrupt conduct by concealing and/or tampering with information that may have been relevant to the investigation.

In a subsequent statement, the ICC said additional persons were expected to be charged.

‘These charges are part of a wider investigation which is likely to result in further charges being issued against other participants in due course.

‘Jones has been provisionally suspended from all cricket with immediate effect and has 14 days from January 28, 2026, to respond to the charges,’ the statement said.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Tuesday said that a woman has been granted TT$10,000 (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) bail after she allegedly issued two cheques to purchase tickets for carnival fetes.

The police said that the cheques totalling TT$45,500 were not honoured by the bank and that as a result the woman appeared before the San Fernando High Court on charges of obtaining goods by false pretences.

The TTPS said that the women, Satie Samaroo was charged with obtaining goods valued at TT$34,500 by false pretences and obtaining goods valued at TT$11,000 by false pretences, when she appeared before the court on Monday.

She was granted bail and the matter postponed to June 24, this year for a status hearing.

The police said that the operations manager at a San Fernando company on the southwestern coast of the country, reported that in July 2025, that during the period January 23 and January 24 that year, a woman purchased two packages valued at TT$34,500 and 15 party tickets valued at TT$11,000 for a Carnival event.

‘Payment was allegedly effected by two cheques, which were accepted as good and valid and the packages and tickets handed over to the woman. The cheques were deposited into the company’s bank account but both were returned dishonoured with the notation – ‘Account closed since 2021’. ‘

The police said that several attempts by the company to have the woman honour the payment proved futile and a report was subsequently made to the police. They said that following investigations, an exercise was conducted on January 22 this year leading to the arrest of Samaroo.

‘The Fraud Squad is reminding business owners and vendors to verify the authenticity of cheques with their bankers before parting with their goods, or consider switching to electronic forms of payment, if the person writing the cheque is not known to you or not a regular customer,’ the TTPS said in a statement.

The mother and sister of two Trinidadian nationals killed last year in a United States military strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs Tuesday filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the US government.

The case is being brought under the Death on the High Seas Act, which allows for redress for wrongful deaths at sea, and the Alien Tort Statute, which allows foreigners to file suit in US courts for rights violations. In what has been described as the first such case to be brought against the Donald Trump administration, the suit, filed in a federal court in Massachusetts, is being brought by the families of Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, who were among six people killed in an October 14 strike in the Caribbean.

The US campaign of missile strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have left at least 125 people dead since September and has been received the support of the Trinidad and Tobago government, whose Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is on record as saying that those involved in the illegal drugs trade should be ‘killed violently’.

President Trump alleged at the time that ‘six male narcoterrorists’ were killed in a boat allegedly ferrying drugs from Venezuela to the United States. But Washington is yet to release any evidence supporting the claims that the targeted boats have links to drug cartels designated by Trump as terrorist organisations.

The Trump administration has told members of Congress that the US is in a non-international armed conflict with drug cartels, citing that as justification for using lethal military force against alleged drug boats.

The lawsuit challenges that justification. It says that there is no armed conflict and that therefore the laws of war do not apply.

According to the lawsuit, the ‘United States’ unlawful killings of persons at sea, including Mr Joseph and Mr Samaroo, constitute wrongful deaths and extrajudicial killings.

‘These premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification. Thus, they were simply murders, ordered by individuals at the highest levels of government and obeyed by military officers in the chain of command.’

The plaintiffs in the case are Lenore Burnley, Joseph’s mother, and Sallycar Korasingh, Samaroo’s sister, and they are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

The family members are seeking punitive damages, the amount of which would be determined at trial.

‘These are lawless killings in cold blood; killings for sport and killings for theatre,’ CCR legal director Baher Azmy said, adding that the suit is ‘a critical step in ensuring accountability, while the individuals responsible may ultimately be answerable criminally for murder and war crimes’.

In a statement, Korasingh said her brother, who had spent 15 years in prison for participation in a homicide, ‘was a hardworking man who paid his debt to society and was just trying to get back on his feet again.

‘If the US government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged, and detained him, not murdered him,’ she said.

According to the lawsuit, neither man was affiliated with drug cartels, and they were simply hitching a ride back to Trinidad from Venezuela, where they had been engaged in fishing and farm work.

Earlier this month, Trinidad and Tobago Attorney General, John Jeremie, said the US strikes were consistent with international law, based on advice he received from an international legal expert outside his office.

Jeremie said he sought external legal advice from an international expert outside the Office of the Attorney General before arriving at his conclusion.

‘My first look at it, and the advice I took, is the strikes were consistent with international law. That was the advice given to me by an international expert,’ said Jeremie, who refused to identify the international legal expert.

Police Commissioner Dr. Richard Rosado has confirmed that an investigation has been launched into the disappearance of a quantity of cocaine from a police station and that one police officer is assisting the investigations.

‘I can confirm that the Belize Police Department is investigating the reported disappearance of just over one gram of controlled drugs from the Orange Walk Police Station. One officer is currently being questioned,’ Rosado told Greater Belize Media (GBM) television.

The authorities said that the cocaine was confiscated from an individual during a police operation and that the arresting officer reportedly failed to submit the drugs to the station’s exhibit keepers, as required under police procedures.

Media reports said that the officer stored the cocaine in his personal locker at the station and that the discovery was made last Friday, when another officer who was on duty allegedly accessed that locker and stole the cocaine.

The Police Commissioner said that any officer found to have breached regulations or compromised evidence would face disciplinary action, including criminal prosecution where applicable.

The amunt of cocaine stolen has not been disclosed.

South Africa elected to field after winning the toss against West Indies in the first T20I here at Boland Park on Tuesday.

Roston Chase, in his 50th T20I, will lead the West Indies as regular captain Shai Hope has been rested.

TEAMS:

WEST INDIES:1 Brandon King, 2 Roston Chase (capt), 3 Johnson Charles (wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Matthew Forde, 10 Jayden Seales, 11 Akeal Hosein

SOUTH AFRICA:1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Lhuan-dre Pretorius, 3 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Rubin Hermann, 6 Jason Smith, 7 George Linde, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Kwena Maphaka

Umpires: Bongani Jele, Stephen Harris

TV Umpire: Arno Jacobs

Reserve Umpire: Lauren Agenbag

Match Referee: Shaid Wadvalla

Opposition Leader Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says he disagrees ‘profoundly’ with the decision of the Speaker, Ronnia Durham-Balcombe, regarding the ‘inadmissibility’ of three questions to government ministers at Thursday’s sitting of the Parliament.

Gonsalves said the questions were directed at Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday, his National Security Minister St. Clair Leacock and the Minister of Health and Wellness, Daniel Cummings.

In a January 25 letter sent to the Speaker, Gonsalves said the three questions were posed for oral answering and is requesting that she reconsiders her original decision which ‘ I disagree profoundly with.”In the alternative, I suggest that you permit the questions to be listed on the Order Paper and, in the interest of parliamentary democracy and an alive constitutionalism, you invite the honourable gentlemen to whom the questions are posed to answer or decline to answer; there is ample sound precedent in this regard going back in excess of 30 years in our House of Assembly,’ Gonsalves wrote.

Gonsalves said among the questions are those relating to the employment status of the son of Prime Minister Friday give that the ‘Prime Minister has publicly acknowledged that one of his sons has been, or is, his assistant or aide who receives no salary from the Government’.

Gonsalves, the only successful candidate of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) that lost the November 27 general elections last year after 25 years in office, wants to know ‘what are the specific role and duties’ of the prime minister’s son ‘in the public administration or governance of our country’.

Gonsalves, one of the longest serving head of government in the Caribbean, said the opposition also w ants to know ‘by what authority’ was the prime minister’s son ‘appointed and engaged’ and that has ‘his son been attending private or formal meetings touching and concerning the conduct of public affairs’.

Gonsalves also wants to know whether the prime minister’s son has ‘been privy to official documents touching and concerning the public administration or governance of our country, and has he taken the requisite Oath of Secrecy’ and whether ‘any stipend, allowance or in-kind benefit’ had been paid.

Gonsalves told the Speaker that while in any event, the Standing Orders of the House of Assembly affords her ‘the discretion that each question be ‘entered in the Order Book with such alterations as the Speaker may direct’; I thus suggest that you reflect on this option.

‘ If your directed alterations do not meet with my approval, I may choose, as the elected member for North Central Windward, to demur in posing the question(s) as altered,’ Gonsavles said, acknowledging that ‘the chief characteristics of the Speaker, as Presiding Officer of the House, are authority and impartiality’

He said the authority in the Chair is fortified by formal rules and conventions and that ‘confidence in the impartiality of the Speaker is an indispensable condition of the successful working of procedure, and many conventions exist which have as their object not only to ensure the impartiality of the Speaker but also to ensure that her impartiality is generally recognised’.

He said that one of the principal means of holding a government to account in a parliamentary democracy is ‘question time’ exercised by the parliamentary opposition and that during the tenure of his administration ‘ was fully recognised’.

Gonsalves said in a House of Assembly with a lopsided majority for the government ‘a Speaker who comes from an activist NDP (ruling New Democratic Party) stable ought to be alert to the real possibility that an overly-restrictive interpretation of ‘the general rules’ would inevitably engender a not unreasonable impression, in the public sphere, whether correct or not, that the Speaker’s ‘impartiality’ is at least suspect’.

Gonsalves wrote that whether or not the Speaker accedes to his requests, suggestions, and representations, ‘these matters will be ventilated fully in and out of the House of Assembly in one form or another

‘Finally, I ask you to consider this: What would the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth, the United Nations, and most of all the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines think about any attempt to muzzle the lone opposition Representative in the Parliament of our country through your adverse rulings which I have respectfully addressed?’

The following is the CANANews and SPORTS Schedule for Tuesday, January 27, 2026.

GEORGETOWN – The Guyana government Monday night outlined a raft of socio-economic policies that it said are geared towards prioritising investments that directly promote economic growth, accelerate the transformation of the country, enhance human capital, and improve social wellbeing.

BRIDGETOWN – The Anglican Bishop of Barbados, the Right Reverend Michael Maxwell, is calling on candidates contesting the February 11 general election to conduct their campaigns in a manner that ‘honours God and respects the dignity of every citizen, including those of the opposing political parties’.

PORT OF SPAIN – Police Commissioner, Allister Guevarro, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) remains ‘committed to accountability’ as controversy continues over the shooting death of Joshua Samaroo by police.

PORT AU PRINCE – The National Civil Aviation Office (OFNAC) and the National Airport Authority (AAN) have confirmed that two aircraft had been hit by bullets when landing at the at Toussaint Louverture International Airport on Sunday

KINGSTOWN – Opposition Leader Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says he disagrees ‘profoundly’ with the decision of the Speaker, Ronnia Durham-Balcombe, regarding the ‘inadmissibility’ of three questions to government ministers at Thursday’s sitting of the Parliament.

SPORTS:

PAARL – South Africa elected to field after winning the toss against West Indies in the first T20I here at Boland Park on Tuesday.

President Jennifer Greelings-Simons has held emergency talks with representatives of the Suriname Air Traffic Controllers Association (SATCA) after a Suriname Airways (SLM) flight was unable to land at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport and had to be diverted to neighbouring Guyana.

The acting SATCA chair, Lorenzo Soepar, described the meeting as ‘productive’ with the head of state appointing officials to address the bottlenecks identified during the talks. Union officials said that the cause of the crisis at the airport was due to the low number of qualified controllers and that last week, an SLM aircraft arriving from Belém was unable to land at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport.

They said that this was due to an unmanned control tower caused by a shortage of personnel following SATCA’s decision to immediately halt substitute shifts.

During Monday’s meeting, fundamental problems within the sector were discussed, ranging from pay to air traffic safety.

Soepar said that the union has been raising the issue since 2023 and that Suriname currently has only 25 qualified air traffic controllers, while at least 80 are needed to safely provide services at the Zorg en Hoop, Zanderij, and Area Control towers.

‘Simple math tells us that one air traffic controller does the work of three people,’ he said, adding that the high workload and lack of sufficient rest pose a safety risk.

‘If you come from a night shift and they call you after midnight for a cover shift, you’re not properly rested,’ he said, noting that it’s irresponsible for employees to have to cover shifts under these circumstances.

Besides the staffing shortages, the department is struggling with outdated equipment that is in dire need of replacement.

Soepar said that he will discuss the outcome of the meeting with his members to determine whether they are willing to temporarily resume substitute services pending concrete steps.

The advisor on aviation and maritime affairs in the presidential office, Faizel Baarn, said that an inventory of outstanding overtime payments will be conducted shortly and that the promise of a new round of staff pay reviews will be kept.

On the issue of understaffing, agreements have been regarding new employees and air traffic controller training will resume on February 6.

The government is also exploring additional options to strengthen staffing in the short term.