- Bottega Veneta holds investors' aces as Madonna pops into D&G
- Beirut digs for victims at building flattened in Israeli strike
- Verstappen stages protest over 'ridiculous' swearing punishment
- Bayern boss Kompany lauds 'special talent' Olise
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Spurs bounce back
- Heavy fire over Israel-Lebanon border after deadly Beirut strike
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win despite Hogg scuffle
- Myanmar flood death toll jumps to 384
- Chelsea owners 'happy' with win at West Ham amid rift report
- Kane and Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win
- Norris pips Verstappen to dramatic Singapore pole after Sainz crash
- Carey takes Australia to 270 in 2nd ODI against England after collapse
- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
Illegal mining, abuses surge on Brazil indigenous land: report
Illegal gold mining surged by a record amount last year on Brazil's biggest indigenous reservation, said a report published Monday, which carried chilling accounts of abuses by miners, including extorting sex from women and girls.
The area scarred by "garimpo," or wildcat gold mining, on the Yanomami reservation in the Amazon rainforest increased by 46 percent in 2021, to 3,272 hectares (8,085 acres), the biggest annual increase since monitoring began in 2018, said the report by the Hutukara Yanomami Association (HAY).
"This is the worst moment of invasion since the reservation was established 30 years ago," said the indigenous-rights group, in a report based on satellite images and interviews with inhabitants.
"In addition to deforesting our lands and destroying our waters, illegal mining for gold and cassiterite (a key tin ingredient) on Yanomami territory has brought an explosion of malaria and other infectious diseases... and a frightening surge of violence against indigenous people."
Illegal mining has soared in the Amazon as gold prices have surged in recent years.
Mining destroyed a record 125 square kilometers (nearly 50 square miles) of the Brazilian Amazon last year, according to official figures.
Illegal miners with links to organized crime are accused of numerous abuses in indigenous communities, including poisoning rivers with the mercury used to separate gold from sediment and sometimes deadly attacks on residents.
The report comes as far-right President Jair Bolsonaro pushes legislation to legalize mining on native lands, drawing protests from indigenous groups and environmentalists.
The Yanomami, one of the Amazon's most iconic indigenous groups, related a harrowing series of abuses.
They included miners giving Yanomami alcohol and drugs, then sexually abusing and raping women and girls.
The Yanomami said miners often demanded sex in exchange for food. One miner reportedly demanded an arranged "marriage" with an adolescent girl in exchange for "merchandise" he never delivered.
"Indigenous women see the miners as a terrible threat," said HAY, condemning "a climate of terror and permanent fear."
The Yanomami reservation spans 9.7 million hectares in northern Brazil, with around 29,000 inhabitants, including the Yanomami, the Ye'kwana and six isolated groups who have almost no contact with the outside world.
Brazilian environmental and indigenous authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
H.Seidel--BTB