Police: Suspect confessed to shooting journalist, expert
A police investigator said Wednesday night a suspect confessed to fatally shooting an Indigenous expert and a journalist in a remote part of the Amazon and took officers to where the bodies were buried.
Police said at a news conference in the Amazon city of Manaus that the prime suspect in the case confessed Tuesday night and detailed what happened to the pair who went missing June 5.
The federal investigator, Eduardo Alexandre Fontes, said Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, 41, nicknamed Pelado, told officers he used a firearm to kill Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, of Brazil, and freelance reporter Dom Phillips of Britain.
Guilherme Torres, of the Amazonas state police, said Mr. Pelado took police to a spot Wednesday where they recovered human remains. The remains had not yet been positively identified, Mr. Torres said.
Britain vows more deportation flights
The British government vowed Wednesday to organize more flights to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda after a last-minute court judgment grounded the first plane due to take off under the contentious policy.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said ”preparation for the next flight begins now” despite legal rulings that none of the migrants earmarked for deportation could be sent to the East African country.
Under a deal signed in April between Britain and Rwanda, the U.K. government plans to send some migrants who arrive in the U.K. as stowaways or in small boats to Rwanda, where their asylum claims will be processed. If successful, they will stay in the African country rather than returning to Britain.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government says the plan is a way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that send migrants on risky journeys across the English Channel.
Gaza aid worker guilty in terrorism case
An Israeli court on Wednesday found a Gaza aid worker guilty of several terrorism charges in a high-profile case in which his employer, independent auditors and the Australian government say they have found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Mohammed el-Halabi, the Gaza director for the international Christian charity World Vision, was arrested in 2016 and accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars to the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules the territory. The trial, and his prolonged detention, have further strained relations between Israel and humanitarian organizations that provide aid to Palestinians.
Both he and World Vision have denied the allegations and an independent audit in 2017 also found no evidence of support for Hamas. His lawyer has said el-Halabi turned down several plea bargain offers on principle that would have allowed him to walk free.
El-Halabi has not been sentenced. World Vision said he would appeal the ruling, which was based on classified information.