International
Indigenous farewell for expert killed in Amazon
AFP
Bruno Pereira, the Brazilian Indigenous expert murdered in the Amazon with British journalist Dom Phillips, was given a moving sendoff Friday by members of one of the tribes he had spent his life and work defending.
Dressed in straw and feather loincloths and headgear, members of the Xukuru Indigenous group chanted funeral hymns and mourned at a solemn ceremony near Recife, where Pereira was born, in the northeastern Pernambuco state.
A photograph of 41-year-old Pereira was perched on his coffin, also draped with the flag of his favorite football team, Sport Recife.
“It is a great loss not only for us but for all of Brazil, for those who fight to defend Mother Nature, which is to defend life,” chief Marcos Xukuru told AFP.
Pereira and veteran correspondent Phillips, 57, went missing on June 5 in a remote part of the rainforest rife with illegal mining, fishing and logging, as well as drug trafficking.
– ‘Destroyers of the forest’ –
Philips was the author of dozens of articles on the Amazon and a long-time contributor to The Guardian newspaper and other major news organizations.
He was traveling to the Javari Valley as part of research for a book with Pereira as his guide, when they were ambushed.
Police say the men were shot, Indigenous groups claim in retaliation for exposing illegal fishers in the region.
Pereira, an expert at Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, had received multiple threats from criminals with their eye on isolated Indigenous resources.
The men’s bodies were handed over to their families on Thursday.
“Today, the land where he was born welcomes him. His body finds the clay, the roots of plants, the water and the heat of the soil,” the Observatory for Human Rights of Isolated Indigenous Peoples, with whom Pereira had worked, said in a statement.
Pereira was killed, it added “by the destroyers of the forest.”
“This crime is the tip of the iceberg of the critical situation in Brazil today, caused by the way the state treats indigenous issues,” Vania Fialho, a 56-year-old anthropologist who attended the wake, told AFP.
Pereira was married and had three children.
His body was to be cremated after Friday’s ceremony, while Phillips’ family will hold a wake and cremation on Sunday in Niteroi, near Rio de Janeiro.
Four people have been arrested for the crime to date.
International
7 in 10 mexicans born poor stay poor, new report finds
Seven out of ten Mexicans born into poverty remain poor throughout their lives, highlighting an urgent need for public policies focused on promoting social mobility through equal opportunity, according to civil society organizations.
The 2025 Social Mobility Report in Mexico, published by the Espinosa Yglesias Center for Studies (CEEY), reveals that 73% of individuals born into the bottom 20% of income households in Mexico — Latin America’s second-largest economy — continue to live in poverty based on income.
The report signals a worrisome stagnation in social mobility, defined as the ability of individuals to improve their socioeconomic standing compared to that of their parents. This lack of upward movement indicates that one’s economic origins are largely inherited, according to CEEY.
Geographically, disparities are stark:
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In northern Mexico, 37% of those born in poverty remain there.
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In the south, that number rises dramatically to 64%.
Gender gaps are also evident. Among those born in wealthier households, women experience less upward mobility, with a rate of 47% compared to 53% for men.
The report also notes that 48% of economic inequality in Mexico stems from inequality of opportunity — placing Mexico among the top ten countries with the highest opportunity inequality across 50 nations analyzed globally.
International
Spain hits record 46°C in June amid scorching heatwave
Spain registered a record-breaking temperature of 46°C (114.8°F) on Saturday, June 28, in El Granado, Huelva — a southern town near the Portuguese border — marking the highest temperature ever recorded in June in the country, according to Spain’s national meteorological agency, Aemet.
The temperature was officially recorded at 4:40 p.m. local time, surpassing the previous June record of 45.2°C (113.4°F)set in Seville back in 1965, also in the Andalusia region.
Like many parts of Southern Europe, Spain is experiencing a severe heatwave, with large areas of the country facing temperatures above 40°C even though summer has just begun.
As one of Europe’s countries most vulnerable to climate change, Spain has endured its three hottest years on recordfrom 2022 to 2024, marked by repeated heatwaves and temperature extremes.
Climate scientists have long warned that global warming is amplifying the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events such as heatwaves and droughts — trends now evident across the Iberian Peninsula and the broader Mediterranean region.
International
Trump administration sues Los Angeles over sanctuary city policies
The Republican administration of Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday against Los Angeles officials, challenging the city’s sanctuary policies as illegal amid an intensifying federal immigration crackdown.
The Department of Justice accused the Democratic-led city of interfering with federal immigration enforcement, arguing that its sanctuary policies have contributed to “violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement” recently seen in Los Angeles.
“The sanctuary city policies were the cause of violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in an official statement.
The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, names Mayor Karen Bass, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and the entire City Council as defendants.
While Los Angeles had long been considered a sanctuary city for immigrants, the City Council officially adopted the designation through a municipal ordinance in November last year, following Trump’s election to the presidency.
The legal action seeks to limit local authorities’ cooperation with federal immigration agents under Trump’s policies.
With over one-third of its population being immigrants, Los Angeles has become a flashpoint in the battle against Trump’s anti-immigration agenda, which began with his campaign promise to deport millions.
Tensions in the city escalated earlier this month after an increase in workplace immigration raids, sparking mass protests downtown. The situation further intensified when Trump overrode California Governor Gavin Newsom and ordered the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to the area.
7 in 10 mexicans born poor stay poor, new report finds
Spain hits record 46°C in June amid scorching heatwave
Trump administration sues Los Angeles over sanctuary city policies
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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