International

Brazil police open investigation of Indigenous ‘genocide’

Foto: Actualidad RT

January 24 | By AFP |

Brazilian federal police are investigating a “genocide” against the Yanomami people after it emerged that nearly a hundred children from the Indigenous group had died, the Justice Ministry said Tuesday.

The announcement came after a government report revealed Saturday that 99 Yanomami children living on Brazil’s largest Indigenous reservation — all under the age of five — died last year from malnutrition, pneumonia and malaria.

“I decided yesterday to open a new police investigation to find out (if there has been) a genocide,” Justice Minister Flavio Dino told CNN Brasil.

“We are considering that there are very strong indications of neglecting nutritional and health assistance for these Indigenous populations, there was intention,” he added.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

The probe will consider the actions — and failures to act — by authorities and public health officials on Yanomami land, including possible environmental crimes.

Authorities also found several more cases of children with serious malnutrition, malaria, respiratory infections and other health complications during a visit last week, the ministry said.

Newly inaugurated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described an “inhumane” scene after himself visiting the community in the northern Amazonian state of Roraima.

According to Dino, the aid infrastructure for the Yanomami is “very precarious.”

Yanomami territory, home to more than 30,000 Indigenous people, stretches 37,000 square miles (96,000 square kilometers) between Roraima and Amazonas states.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Lula’s government has set up a department to address the community’s concerns, in a pivot from far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who maintained a hostile relationship with Brazil’s Indigenous peoples.

Before the genocide investigation announcement, a health crisis had already been declared in the are.

Conditions on the Yanomami reservation have become increasingly violent, with illegal miners regularly killing Indigenous residents, sexually abusing women and children and contaminating the area’s rivers with the mercury used to separate gold from sediment, according to complaints from Indigenous organizations.

And the increase of illegal mining in the Amazon has driven the spread of diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and Covid-19, according to experts.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.