Six months have passed since the murders of journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira in a remote region of the Amazon, a crime that shocked the world. Brazil’s incoming environment minister has said the new government will seek to honour the memory of the rainforest martyrs with action to protect the Amazon. But, as Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips reports for our big story, Indigenous and environmental defenders in the area remain in extreme danger. From Rio de Janeiro, Constance Malleret weighs up the environmental challenges facing Brazil’s new government, while Guardian columnist George Monbiot asks why, from the Amazon to Antarctica, the planet’s most destructive industries continue to be funded by governments.
Don’t miss two outstanding longer-read features in this week’s edition. First, Anuj Chopra lifts the lid on the palace coup that brought Mohammed bin Salman to power in Saudi Arabia. Then, from the Observer, there’s an interview with the artist Nan Goldin, who explains to Sean O’Hagan how she came to take on the billionaires who fuelled America’s opioid epidemic.
