International
The Brazilian Amazon relives the drama of drought: empty channels and isolated communities
The Brazilian Amazon is once again suffering an extreme drought that threatens to worsen in the coming months.
In Manaquiri, near Manaus, there are already dry riverbeds, cornered fish and about twenty isolated rural communities.
After a dramatic 2023, Brazil faces the worst drought since 1950 this year and one of the most affected parts of the country is the Amazon region, according to the National Center for Surveillance and Alert of Natural Disasters data.
In the state of Amazonas, the Government has decreed an “emergency situation” in its 62 municipalities due to drought and forest fires. The meteorological specialists had already anticipated it and it has been confirmed.
“Everything indicates that we will have a very serious drought. The rivers will go down like never before,” warned the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima.
The Negro River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon, today has a level four meters lower than in the same period last year. Throughout Amazonas, the Brazilian state with the largest number of indigenous population, the drought already directly affects about 80,000 families, according to the Civil Defense.
Several hundred of them are in Manaquiri, where from the end of August you can walk along the dry bed of the river that bathes this town (Paraná Manaquiri).
The footprints are marked on the sandbanks, once covered with fresh water and today naked in the sunlight. Where boats loaded with goods used to sail and today you can ride a horse.
Hundreds of herons take advantage of the drought to feed on fish that are restricted to the little river left.
Meanwhile, Ednaldo Freitas, 35, is busy connecting all the hoses he had at home and thus be able to reach the part where there is still water, according to EFE.
That’s not his only problem. Their children have to walk several kilometers these days to get to school, because the boat that transported them no longer arrives because there is no river.
To go to Manaus, the regional capital, it is still possible to go by another tributary, although it takes an hour longer than usual, which hinders the transport of medicines, food, etc., and harms the local economy.
And with the severe drought, fires have multiplied. This Sunday there were 3,640 active foci throughout Brazil, half of them in the Amazon, the largest tropical forest on the planet. In the state of Amazonas alone there were 237.
In other areas of the country, the flames are also advancing. A fire has burned in four days about 10,000 hectares of the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, near the Federal District of Brasilia, which this Sunday was again shrouded in smoke.
São Paulo and Minas Gerais, the two most populous states in Brazil, have also mobilized a large number of troops to fight forest fires in their territories, on which there are suspicions that many of them have been caused.
International
U.S. Sanctions Network Linked to Fentanyl Trafficking Across India, Guatemala and Mexico
The United States Department of State announced sanctions on Thursday against 23 individuals and companies allegedly linked to an international fentanyl production and smuggling network operating in India, Guatemala and Mexico.
According to the State Department, the network supplied precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel, which the United States has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Washington declared fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, a weapon of mass destruction last year due to its role in the ongoing overdose crisis in the United States.
“By targeting the entire supply chain — from chemical suppliers in Asia to logistical intermediaries in Central America and cartel-linked networks in Mexico — the Trump Administration is dismantling networks that destabilize governance across our hemisphere and threaten U.S. security,” the State Department said.
In a separate statement, the Office of Foreign Assets Control detailed sanctions against three Indian chemical and pharmaceutical companies: Sutaria, Agrat and SR Chemicals, along with a sales executive accused of supplying precursor chemicals to contacts in Guatemala and Mexico.
In Guatemala, authorities sanctioned J and C Import and Central Logística de Servicios, as well as intermediary Jaime Augusto Barrientos.
The OFAC also designated several intermediaries and import companies operating in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
As part of the investigation, U.S. authorities identified Ramiro Baltazar Félix as a member of Los Mayos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Alejandro Reynoso, accused of operating clandestine drug laboratories in Guadalajara.
International
Pope Leo XIV Says Countries Have Border Rights but Migrants Deserve Respect
Pope Leo XIV said Thursday that migrants must be treated with dignity as he addressed the global migration crisis during a press conference aboard the plane returning from his tour of Africa.
The pontiff answered questions from journalists regarding his upcoming trip to Spain, which will include a visit to the Canary Islands, a region heavily affected by migration flows and growing political polarization surrounding the issue.
“Obviously, migration is a very complex issue and affects many countries — not only Spain, not only Europe, but also the United States. It is a global phenomenon,” the pope said.
Pope Leo XIV also questioned the role of developed nations in addressing the crisis.
“My response begins with a question: What is the Global North doing to help the Global South and those countries where young people no longer see a future and dream of going north, even when the North sometimes has no answers to offer?” he asked.
While acknowledging that “a state has the right to establish rules for its borders,” the pope insisted that the debate must go beyond border control and address the structural causes that force people to leave their home countries.
International
Authorities Say Teotihuacán Gunman Was Obsessed With Mass Shootings and Extremist Symbolism
Julio César Jasso Ramírez, identified by authorities as the gunman behind the armed attack at the archaeological site of Teotihuacán, had allegedly spent years building a personal narrative shaped by an obsession with historical mass shootings, extremist symbolism, and an increasing detachment from reality.
According to preliminary findings from the Fiscalía General de Justicia del Estado de México, the 27-year-old suspect, originally from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, acted alone and appeared to have carefully planned the attack.
Investigators also pointed to signs of a severe psychological or psychiatric disorder. One official involved in the case stated that the suspect seemed to live in “his own reality,” disconnected from the world around him.
“I would not speak of a motive; I would speak of psychopathy, a condition, an illness,” the official said while discussing the ongoing investigation.
Authorities reported that Jasso Ramírez was allegedly fixated on mass violence incidents that occurred outside Mexico, particularly in the United States.
Among the items found in his possession were writings, images, and materials reportedly linked to the Columbine High School massacre, the school shooting that took place on April 20, 1999.
The investigation remains ongoing as authorities continue analyzing evidence connected to the suspect’s background and mental state.
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