Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Belongings of missing British reporter and companion found in Amazon -police

The two men were on a reporting trip in the remote jungle area near the border with Peru and Colombia that is home to the world’s largest number of uncontacted indigenous people

Belongings of missing British reporter and companion found in Amazon -police

Brazilian police said on Sunday search teams have discovered belongings of missing British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira who went missing in the Amazon rainforest a week ago.

A police statement said clothing belonging to Pereira had been found, including a health identification card in his name, and a backpack with clothes belonging to Phillips, along with the boots of both men.

A fireman leading a search team told reporters that the Equinox backpack, containing clothes and a laptop, was found tied to a half-sunken tree trunk in the area that the two men were last seen on Sunday.

Earlier, Elizeu Mayaruna, who works for indigenous agency Funai, told Reuters that, while searching the forest along the Itacoai river on Saturday, he found clothes, a tarp and a bottle of motor oil.

Mayaruna and two other members of an indigenous search team acquainted with Pereira, a former Funai official, said they recognized a shirt and pants that belonged to him.

Witnesses said they saw Pereira and Phillips, a freelance reporter who has written for the Guardian and the Washington Post, traveling down that river last Sunday.

The two men were on a reporting trip in the remote jungle area near the border with Peru and Colombia that is home to the world's largest number of uncontacted indigenous people. The wild and lawless region has lured cocaine-smuggling gangs, along with illegal loggers, miners and hunters.

News of the pair's disappearance has resonated globally, with Brazilian icons from soccer great Pele to singer Caetano Veloso joining politicians, environmentalists and human rights activists in urging President Jair Bolsonaro to step up the search.

Reuters witnesses saw the stretch of riverbank where Mayaruna discovered the clothing cordoned off by police on Sunday morning as investigators scoured the area, with a half dozen boats ferrying police, soldiers and firefighters back and forth.

Divers also discovered on Sunday afternoon a large, black Equinox-branded backpack with books, a laptop and clothing inside, according to a report by newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo, which cited an Amazonas state firefighter spokesperson.

There was no immediate comment from the Brazilian government on the search findings.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who last year faced tough questioning from Phillips at news conferences about weakening environmental law enforcement in Brazil, said last week that the two men "were on an adventure that is not recommended" and suggested that they could have been executed.

State police detectives involved in the investigation have told Reuters they are focusing on poachers and illegal fisherman in the area, who clashed often with Pereira as he organized indigenous patrols of the local reservation.

Police have arrested one fisherman, Amarildo da Costa, known as "Pelado," on a weapons charge and are keeping him in custody as they investigate whether he is involved in the men's disappearance.

Costa's lawyers and family have said he fished legally on the river and denied he had any role in the men's disappearance.

Some 150 soldiers had been deployed via riverboats to hunt for the missing men and interview locals, joining indigenous search teams who have been looking for the pair for a week.

(Reuters)

More For You

Streeting hails India’s global role as Labour backs bilateral relations

Wes Streeting addresses the Republic Day reception at the Guildhall in London last Tuesday (28),joined by Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Vikram Doraiswami

Streeting hails India’s global role as Labour backs bilateral relations

WES STREETING spoke of the priority prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour government attach to relations with India when he addressed a Republic Day reception at the Guildhall in London last Tuesday (28).

But the secretary of state for health and social care won over the large Indian crowd by paying an unexpected tribute to Rishi Sunak.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sri Lanka seeks to negotiate with Adani over renewable energy plants

Gautam Adani

Sri Lanka seeks to negotiate with Adani over renewable energy plants

SRI LANKA’S government started talks with India’s Adani Group to lower the cost of power from two wind power projects the group will build in the island nation’s northern province, the cabinet spokesman said last Tuesday (28).

Sri Lanka has been reviewing the group’s local projects after US authorities in November accused billionaire founder Gautam Adani and other executives of being part of a scheme to pay bribes to secure Indian power supply contracts. Adani has denied the allegations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Badenoch proposes stricter citizenship rules for all migrants

Kemi Badenoch delivers speech on January 16, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Badenoch proposes stricter citizenship rules for all migrants

CONSERVATIVE PARTY on Thursday (6) proposed a clampdown on all migrants by tightening citizenship rules and barring social benefit claimants from residency rights.

Kemi Badenoch, who took over from Rishi Sunak in November last year, outlined her first major policy agenda as Tory leader in a move seen as an attempt to win back the support of Conservative voters drawn to the far-right anti-immigrant Reform party.

Keep ReadingShow less
New body led by Sir Sajid Javid aims to amplify ‘unheard’ voices
Sajid Javid

New body led by Sir Sajid Javid aims to amplify ‘unheard’ voices

A NEW independent commission to improve cohesion would engage across all nations and regions of the UK by moving beyond Westminster-centric discussions and include more diverse voices, the director of British Future thinktank has said.

Sunder Katwala said building confidence across different groups will be a priority, as economic pressures and tensions due to Middle East conflict have polarised communities in the UK.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pakistan court gives unusual punishment to Youtuber Rajab Butt for owning lion cub

Pakistani zookeeper Mohammad Amir holds the confiscated lion cub at Lahore’s safari zoo last Tuesday (28)

Pakistan court gives unusual punishment to Youtuber Rajab Butt for owning lion cub

A PAKISTANI YouTube star who was gifted a lion cub on his wedding day avoided jail after promising a judge to upload animal rights videos for a year.

Rajab Butt has one of the largest online followings in south Asia, and his week-long nuptials in December were plastered over celebrity gossip websites.

Keep ReadingShow less