International

Signs of something ‘buried’ in Amazon disappearance of journalist, expert

AFP

Authorities combing a remote corner of the Amazon for signs of a missing British journalist and Brazilian indigenous expert are investigating a patch of earth 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, who have arrested a suspect witnesses say pursued the men upriver and found blood on a tarp in his boat, told journalists accompanying the search operation they had a new lead in the case: a suspicious site with “overturned earth” near the area where the men were last seen, said emergency official Geonivan Maciel.

“It’s as if someone had dug something at the site, buried something there,” Maciel said.

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“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.”

President Jair Bolsonaro’s government has faced criticism of failing to scale up the search operation fast enough, and mounting pressure from high-profile media organizations, rights groups and celebrities including football legend Pele and iconic singer Caetano Veloso.

Bolsonaro appeared to blame the men, saying they had gone on an “unadvisable adventure.”

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

Witnesses say they saw the arrested man 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.

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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.

International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.