World

Authorities combing a remote corner of the Amazon for a missing British journalist and Brazilian indigenous expert are investigating possible human remains and a spot where something appears to have been buried, officials said Friday.

Fears have been mounting over the fate of Dom Phillips, 57, a veteran contributor to The Guardian newspaper, and Bruno Pereira, 41, a respected specialist in indigenous peoples, since they disappeared Sunday after receiving threats during a research trip to Brazil’s Javari Valley, a far-flung jungle region that has seen a surge of illegal fishing, logging, mining and drug trafficking.

Authorities have arrested a suspect named as 41-year-old Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, nicknamed “Pelado,” who witnesses say pursued the men upriver. A blood spot found on a tarp in his boat has been sent for analysis at the crime lab in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state.

Emergency official Geonivan Maciel said investigators now had a new lead in the case: a suspicious site with “overturned earth” in a community called Cachoeira, on a bank of the Itaquai river, where the men were last seen.

“It’s as if someone had dug something at the site, buried something there,” Maciel told journalists accompanying the search.

“We’re going to carry out a scan of the bottom to verify… We can’t say there’s definite evidence, but we’re going to see if there’s something there that could identify something about the two missing men.”

Federal police later said in a statement investigators had found “apparently human organic material” during their search.

It was unclear whether it came from the same site.

Investigators collected genetic material from Phillips’s and Pereira’s homes for comparison, the statement said.

– Bolsonaro under fire –

President Jair Bolsonaro’s government has faced accusations of failing to scale up the search operation fast enough.

And Bolsonaro himself came in for criticism when he appeared to blame the men, saying they had gone on an “unadvisable adventure.”

The government faces mounting pressure over the case from high-profile media organizations, rights groups and celebrities including football legend Pele and iconic singer Caetano Veloso.

Environmental group Greenpeace fired a new salvo Friday, calling the men’s disappearance “the tip of the iceberg of the policy of extermination pushed by the current administration.”

Bolsonaro, who has pushed to open protected indigenous lands to mining, has presided over a surge of destruction in the Amazon, a key resource in the race to curb climate change.

Since the far-right president took office in 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has risen by 75 percent from the previous decade.

“The extreme violence and insecurity in the Javari Valley is a reflection of the absence of competent and effective action by the Brazilian government across the Amazon,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

– Drugs, ammunition –

Police have said they are hopeful of finding the pair alive but are not ruling out any possibility, including homicide.

Witnesses say they saw “Pelado” trailing Phillips and Pereira’s boat as the pair made their way back to the small city of Atalaia do Norte after a research trip to an area known as Jaburu lake.

The suspect was arrested with drugs and unlicensed ammunition of a caliber often used in assault rifles.

Local indigenous activists say Phillips and Pereira received threats last week while working in the region.

Pereira, a highly regarded expert on the region currently on leave from Brazilian indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, has been a target of death threats for his work fighting illegal invasions of indigenous lands.

Phillips was accompanying him for a book project on sustainable development in the Amazon.

Ukraine tried to push back Russian troops in the east and south on Friday as France offered to help ensure access to the port of Odessa and ease a global grain crisis.

The United Nations and Western countries meanwhile raised fresh concerns over death sentences handed by pro-Russian separatists to two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine. 

Kyiv said Friday it had launched new air strikes on Russian positions in the captured southern region of Kherson, one of the first areas to be taken by Russia after the February 24 invasion.

Fierce fighting continued in the eastern Donbas region, where President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces were “holding on” despite Moscow concentrating its firepower there.

The fiercest fighting remains around the eastern industrial city of Severodonetsk, a battle that Zelensky has said is pivotal for the fate of the Donbas region.

Local governor Sergiy Gaiday said on Friday that Russian forces had destroyed a major sports centre, adding: “One of the symbols of Severodonetsk was destroyed. The Ice Palace burned down.”

People in the town of Lysychansk, which is located just across a river from Severodonetsk, spoke to AFP about the stark choices the war has forced on them: either stay and brave the shelling, or flee and abandon their homes. 

Yevhen Zhyryada, 39, said the only way to access water was by heading to a water distribution site in the town.

“We have to go there under shelling, and under fire,” he said. “This is how we survive.”

– ‘Victory for Ukraine’ –

With the world still facing shockwaves from the war, an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron said France was ready to assist in an operation to allow safe access to Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa.

The port has been subject to a de facto blockade by Russia, and grain is waiting to be exported amid mounting fears of global food shortages, especially in developing countries.

“We are at the disposal of the parties to put in place an operation which would allow access in complete safety to the port of Odessa, in other words for boats to pass through despite the fact that the sea is mined,” said the advisor, who asked not to be named.

Macron will travel to Ukraine’s neighbours Moldova and Romania next week but no date had been set for him to visit Kyiv, the advisor said.

France wants “victory for Ukraine”, the advisor added, after Macron sparked controversy by suggesting Russia should not be humiliated.

Russia’s invasion has put European countries on edge, and nine of them urged NATO on Friday to beef up its eastern flank.

The meeting of the leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia was held in the Romanian capital Bucharest less than three weeks ahead of a NATO summit meeting in Madrid.

“In view of the increased security risks in Romania and the Black Sea, consolidating NATO on its eastern flank… becomes all the more urgent and crucial,” said Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

– ‘Shocking’ death sentences –

Western countries reacted with fresh outrage after the separatist authorities in the Donetsk region of the Donbas on Thursday ordered the death penalty for Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Brahim Saadun.

Germany’s foreign ministry said the “shocking” sentences show “once more Russia’s complete disregard for international humanitarian law”.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said he was “appalled”, as London pressed the case with Kyiv. Ukraine’s prosecutor general said she was probing the issue.

The United Nations warned that unfair trials of prisoners of war amounted to war crimes.

Zelensky separately praised British leadership and its support for Kyiv’s fight against Russia during an unannounced visit from UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

“Words turn into actions. That’s the difference between Ukraine’s relationship with Great Britain and other countries,” Zelensky said in a video statement. “Weapons, finance, sanctions — on these three issues, Britain shows leadership.”

Kyiv has been critical of countries including Germany and France for the slow delivery of aid and for giving too much credence to negotiations with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

– ‘Take back and strengthen’ –

Russia has repeatedly warned the West against getting involved, with some officials warning of the risk of nuclear war.

The world’s chemical weapons watchdog said Friday it was keeping a close eye on Ukraine to monitor “threats of use of toxic chemicals as weapons”.

Putin, who has said that what Russia calls its special military operation is meant to “de-Nazify” Ukraine, appeared to compare himself to Peter the Great’s 18th century war against Sweden, in remarks on Thursday.

After visiting an exhibition in Moscow dedicated to the 350th birthday of the tsar, Putin said “you get the impression that by fighting Sweden he was grabbing something. He wasn’t taking anything, he was taking it back”.

In an apparent reference to Ukraine, Putin added: “It is our responsibility also to take back and strengthen.”

Moscow on Friday officially announced its withdrawal from the United Nations World Tourism Organization, which suspended Russia in April over the invasion.

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Bob Marley famously sang “Africa Unite” but on Friday he was bringing unity to an Americas summit that was marked by disputes.

Taking the podium at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados quoted the late reggae legend as she said, “There is so much trouble in the world.”

Mottley explained that she was not “an apostle of Bob” but shared his message of action.

“He reminds us of the day-to-day reality of our people and of our citizens,” she said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was chairing the session and is known for his love of music, replied with an impromptu medley of Marley lyrics.

“In the words of Bob, no woman, no cry,” Blinken said with a smile. 

“Don’t shed no tears. Let’s act. We can sing a redemption song together.”

Marley sang frequently of political unity and is credited by some with helping quell a low-level civil war in his native Jamaica through his 1978 “One Love Peace” concert.

The Summit of the Americas was led by US President Joe Biden who has sought greater economic ties and cooperation on migration.

But he also faced open criticism and a boycott from Mexico’s president over his refusal to invite the leftist leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela on the grounds that they are authoritarian.

The United States on Friday promised to do more to manage migration and hoped for growing consensus around the Americas at a summit in Los Angeles that was beset from the start by disputes.

The Summit of the Americas wound down with words of praise from the top diplomat of neighboring Mexico, whose leader marred the week-long event with a boycott in protest over President Joe Biden’s invitation list.

Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said he saw “some results of the summit which are very positive in our view,” pointing to Biden’s calls for economic cooperation and a “regional approach on migration.”

US officials said that the summit would produce the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection that will formalize many of the arrangements already in place.

The countries will agree to reinforce systems to process claims for asylum on their soil and also to share costs with nations that have been on the frontlines of taking in migrants, officials said.

“Each one of our countries has been impacted by unprecedented migration, and I believe it’s our shared responsibility to meet this challenge,” Biden told the summit on Thursday.

Countries across the Americas will seek to boost “safe and orderly migration” and to “coordinate specific, concrete actions to secure our borders,” Biden said.

Extreme poverty, rising violence and natural disasters worsened by climate change have triggered to a sharp rise in Central Americans and Haitians seeking to enter the United States.

Former president Donald Trump’s Republican Party has seized on the issue ahead of congressional elections, denouncing migrants from developing countries and accusing Biden of failing to act effectively.

In an announcement timed for the summit, the State Department said the United States would resettle 20,000 verified refugees from the Americas over the next two years — a three-fold increase but a far cry from the 100,000 Ukrainian refugees that Biden, mostly with Republican support, has pledged to take in.

The United States also announced $314 million in new funding to support some of the more than six million Venezuelans who have fled their country, whose economy has been in freefall.

– Friction over invitations –

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, known for his love of music, put Biden’s message in more colorful language while chairing the summit as he replied to the prime minister of Barbados, who quoted Bob Marley in saying “there is so much trouble in the world.”

“In the words of Bob, no woman, no cry,” Blinken said. “Don’t shed no tears, let’s act. We can sing a ‘Redemption Song’ together.”

But the summit was also marked by discord, largely over Biden’s refusal to invite the leftist leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela on the grounds that they are authoritarians.

The prime minister of tiny Belize directly criticized Biden on the invitations and pointedly asked him if he will follow up on lofty promises, pointing to the $40 billion package from the United States to support Ukraine in its war.

“We know that money is not the problem,” Prime Minister John Briceno told him.

Biden, who applauded politely and greeted each leader, returned to the podium to say that his agenda was on track.

“Notwithstanding some of the disagreements relating to participation, on the substantive matters, what I heard was almost unity and uniformity,” the US president said.

Biden called the summit in the face of rising Chinese influence in a region that the United States has long considered its home turf.

But the Biden administration has steered clear of big-dollar announcements and instead focused on broad declarations and pledged to work out specifics later.

The administration promised earlier in the summit to help train 500,000 health workers in the Americas and unveiled $1.9 billion in private funding for Central America to create jobs and stem some of the factors motivating migration.

Biden also met at the summit with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a first encounter with a far-right leader who has questioned not only the legitimacy of upcoming elections at home but also of the US polls in which Biden defeated Trump.

Bolsonaro, who was one of Trump’s closest international allies, told the summit that his meeting with Biden was “simply fantastic.”

A British judge on Friday rejected an emergency bid to block deportation flights of asylum-seekers to Rwanda set to start next week under an agreement with the east African country, ruling politicians must manage immigration policy.

The UK government intends to fly the first planeload of claimants to Rwanda on June 14, after agreeing the plan with Kigali in a bid to deter illegal migrants from undertaking perilous crossings of the Channel by boat.

Refugee rights groups and a trade union representing UK Border Force personnel challenged the plan in London’s High Court, seeking an injunction against Tuesday’s inaugural flight and any beyond then.

They argue that the plan violates asylum seekers’ human rights, and say the government cannot justify its claim that Rwanda is a safe destination.

But delivering his decision after a one-day hearing, judge Jonathan Swift said it was in the “public interest” for Interior Minister Priti Patel “to be able to implement immigration control decisions”.

However, Swift gave permission for his ruling to be appealed, suggesting Court of Appeal judges would hear the case on Monday, whilst also setting the date for a fuller two-day High Court hearing next month.

– ‘Ashamed’ –

Patel welcomed the move, saying the government “will not be deterred in breaking the deadly people smuggling trade and ultimately saving lives”.

“Rwanda is a safe country and has previously been recognised for providing a safe haven for refugees,” she added.

But rights groups bidding to block the policy said they were “disappointed”, while one faith leader said it left her feeling “deeply ashamed to be British”

“It feels inhumane,” the Bishop of Dover Rose Hudson-Wilkin told Times Radio of the planned deportations.

Enver Soloman, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said it was “extremely worrying that despite these legal challenges and widespread concern, the government remain determined to press ahead”.

Noting the numbers of migrants crossing the Channel had risen since the policy was unveiled earlier this year, he urged ministers to “reflect on the initial failures of this plan, and rethink”.

Earlier, the UN refugee agency had accused the British government of dishonesty over its plan, after lawyers for the claimants said Patel’s interior ministry had claimed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) endorsed it.

The UN agency’s lawyer Laura Dubinsky said it “in no way endorses the UK-Rwandan arrangement”.

“UNHCR is not involved in the UK-Rwanda arrangement, despite assertions to the contrary made by the secretary of state,” she told the court.

Dubinsky said the would-be refugees were at risk of “serious, irreparable harm” if sent to Rwanda, and that the UN had “serious concerns about Rwandan capacity”.

The UNHCR’s concerns include a lack of legal redress in Rwanda and potential discrimination against gay claimants. 

“These are concerns that have been communicated to the UK authorities and yet the secretary of state’s position… is that the UNHCR has given this plan a green light,” the claimants’ lawyer Raza Husain said.

“That is a false claim.”

– ‘Right approach’ –

Lawyers for the ministry later addressed the court, which heard there were 31 people expected to be on Tuesday’s scheduled flight.

“The Home Office does intend to make arrangements for a further flight or flights to Rwanda this year,” its lawyer Mathew Gullick said.

He urged the judge to consider the impact of blocking the flights, noting “even a pause of six weeks creates a period of time in which people may rush to cross (the Channel)”.

“There are potentially hundreds of people who can cross in a single day,” he added.

The government remains committed to the policy, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman had told reporters.

The plan remained “the right approach, not least to tackle the criminal gangs who exploit migrants on the coast of France and quite often force them into unseaworthy vessels to make what is an incredibly dangerous crossing to the UK”, he said. 

More than 10,000 migrants have made the journey so far this year, a huge increase on prior years. The one-way flights are intended to deter others from entering Britain by illegal routes, and offer those who do try a new life in Rwanda instead.

The United States on Friday promised to do more to manage migration and looked for consensus around the Americas as it wound down a summit in Los Angeles that has been beset from the start by disputes.

The leaders of Mexico, which shares a 3,145-kilometer (1,954-mile) border with the United States, and of three Central American nations that have seen a spike in people fleeing declined to attend the week-long Summit of the Americas.

But lower-level officials attended, and President Joe Biden insisted that he largely saw common purpose on migration — a heated political issue at home.

US officials said that the summit would produce the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection that will formalize many of the arrangements already in place.

The countries will agree to reinforce systems to process claims for asylum on their soil and also to share costs with nations that have been on the frontlines of taking in migrants, officials said.

“Each one of our countries has been impacted by unprecedented migration, and I believe it’s our shared responsibility to meet this challenge,” US President Joe Biden told the summit on Thursday.

Countries across the Americas will seek to boost “safe and orderly migration” and to “coordinate specific, concrete actions to secure our borders,” Biden said.

Extreme poverty, rising violence and natural disasters worsened by climate change have triggered to a sharp rise in Central Americans and Haitians seeking to enter the United States.

Former president Donald Trump’s Republican Party has seized on the issue ahead of congressional elections, denouncing migrants from developing countries and accusing Biden of failing to act effectively.

In announcement timed for the summit, the State Department said the United States would resettle 20,000 verified refugees from the Americas over the next two years — a three-fold increase but a far cry from the 100,000 Ukrainian refugees that Biden, mostly with Republican support, has pledged to take in.

The United States also announced $317 million in new funding to support some of the more than six million Venezuelans who have fled their country, whose economy has been in freefall.

– Friction over invitations –

The Summit of the Americas was hit by discord even before it began, as Biden refused to invite the leftist leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela on the grounds that they are authoritarians.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador boycotted the summit to protest the exclusions, and leaders criticized the decision to Biden’s face in a plenary session on Thursday.

“Being the host country of the summit doesn’t grant the ability to impose a right of admission on member countries of the continent,” said Argentina’s center-left president, Alberto Fernandez, who attended after a personal appeal by Biden.

The prime minister of tiny Belize directly criticized Biden on Cuba and Venezuela and pointedly asked him if he will follow lofty up on lofty promises, pointing to the $40 billion package from the United States to support Ukraine in its war.

“We know that money is not the problem,” Prime Minister John Briceno told him.

Biden, who applauded politely and greeted each leader, returned to the podium to say that his agenda was on track.

“Notwithstanding some of the disagreements relating to participation, on the substantive matters, what I heard was almost unity and uniformity,” the US president said.

Biden called the summit in the face of rising Chinese influence in a region that the United States has long considered its home turf.

But the Biden administration has steered clear of big-dollar announcements and instead focused on broad declarations and pledged to work out specifics later.

The administration promised earlier in the summit to help train 500,000 health workers in the Americas and unveiled $1.9 billion in private funding for Central America to create jobs and stem some of the factors motivating migration.

Biden also met at the summit with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a first encounter with a far-right leader who has questioned not only the legitimacy of upcoming elections at home but also of the US polls in which Biden defeated Trump.

Bolsonaro, who was one of Trump’s closest international allies, is trailing in polls ahead of October elections.

But he said that he was pleasantly surprised by his meeting Thursday with Biden and looked forward to further talks.