Latest news with #ACIE
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
British journalist who disappeared in Brazil nearly four months ago is found in hostel
A British journalist who was reported missing nearly four months ago has reportedly been found. Rio de Janeiro police said on Monday that Charlotte Alice Peet, 32, was located in a Sao Paulo hostel and had been out of contact with her family voluntarily, the BBC has reported. The 32-year-old – who had worked as a freelance reporter in Brazil for British news outlets, including The Independent, and Al Jazeera – went missing in early February. She reportedly told a friend she was in Sao Paulo on 8 February but was planning to go to Rio de Janeiro before she then disappeared. Days later, Ms Peet's family reached out to her friend to say they had lost contact with her. Local authorities then launched an investigation into her disappearance. A missing person report was initially lodged at Rio de Janeiro's Tourist Attention Centre on 17 February before being passed on to Sao Paulo, where Ms Peet was supposed to have been before she went missing. The Brazilian Foreign Press Association (ACIE) released a statement at the time, expressing their 'concern' for Ms Peet after she vanished. The ACIE said that Ms Peet's family had provided information about her flight to Brazil as well as a passport photo to aid the investigation. However, upon finding her at the Sao Paulo hostel, police told the BBC on Monday that Ms Peet expressed her desire not to have contact with her family and the case had now been closed. Ms Peet described herself as fluent in Portuguese, with nine years of experience as a journalist, including four years of reporting abroad. According to her LinkedIn profile, she covered current affairs, economy, health, human rights, technology, and crime in Brazil.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
British journalist missing in Brazil found safe
A British journalist reported missing in Brazil since February has been found safe and well, police have said. Charlotte Alice Peet, 32, was reported missing to authorities by her UK-based family after losing contact with her in February. At time the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in Brazil (ACIE) released a statement "expressing concern over her disappearance". On Monday, Brazilian police told the BBC they had found Ms Peet in a hostel in São Paulo in March and she expressed a desire not to have contact with family members. "In view of this, the investigation of the disappearance was concluded," a spokesperson for Rio state's Civil Police said. At the time of her disappearance, Ms Peet was understood to have last contacted a friend on 8 February, saying she was in São Paulo and planned to travel to Rio de Janeiro. She had not been heard from since. Days later, her UK-based family told the friend they had lost contact with her and provided authorities with details of her flight and a copy of her passport to aid the search. According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms Peet has worked as a freelance journalist in Rio and London for organisations including Al Jazeera and The Times.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
British journalist missing in Brazil found safe
A British journalist reported missing in Brazil since February has been found safe and well, police have Alice Peet, 32, was reported missing to authorities by her UK-based family after losing contact with her in February. At time the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in Brazil (ACIE) released a statement "expressing concern over her disappearance".On Monday, Brazilian police told the BBC they had found Ms Peet in a hostel in São Paulo in March and she expressed a desire not to have contact with family members. "In view of this, the investigation of the disappearance was concluded," a spokesperson for Rio state's Civil Police said. At the time of her disappearance, Ms Peet was understood to have last contacted a friend on 8 February, saying she was in São Paulo and planned to travel to Rio de Janeiro. She had not been heard from since. Days later, her UK-based family told the friend they had lost contact with her and provided authorities with details of her flight and a copy of her passport to aid the to her LinkedIn profile, Ms Peet has worked as a freelance journalist in Rio and London for organisations including Al Jazeera and The Times.
CBC
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Why this Quebec city walked back its decision to ban religious events in municipal spaces
Overnight, religious groups in Sherbrooke, Que., went from having access to only a single municipal venue for large gatherings — to all of them. At a recent city council meeting, members struck down a 2012 policy forbidding the renting of indoor spaces owned by the city for religious purposes in the name of secularism. Those venues were limited to multi-purpose rooms, conference halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums and arenas. The news comes as a relief to the region's Muslim community, whose June holiday celebration plans became overshadowed by a large question mark when the convention centre they've relied on for years — the Centre de Foires de Sherbrooke — came under city management. Despite there being an exemption in the policy applying to the city's arena — which, at the time the policy was written, was rented by a Jehovah's Witness group for an annual convention — councillors voted against granting a similar exemption to the Centre de Foires de Sherbrooke at their April 22 meeting. The vote was narrow: eight to six. The outrage that ensued from the community was loud. At the following municipal council meeting on May 6, multiple community members spoke out during question period. Among them was Hafid Agourram, the president of the Association Culturelle Islamique de l'Estrie (ACIE). "We clarified to them this decision was foolish, it's no good and we testified that the only place we had to celebrate twice a year is the Centre de Foires," he said. The community, which is 9,000 strong in Sherbrooke alone, has outgrown the seating capacity of the city's two mosques. Earlier this year, one of those mosques hosted the end of Ramadan celebrations due to a scheduling issue with the Centre de Foires. Over 2,000 people showed up, said Agourram, and prayers had to be conducted in five different rotations. "It was a mess," he said. "Security problems, kids are going into the streets, cars, neighbours … not acceptable. But we had no choice." Amine Menadi, another member of the community, likened their celebrations to Christmas, saying the religious components are minimal. "Even if people pray, we pray really fast. It's really the party that we want. Don't stop them," he said. Inside the municipal debate There was a general feeling of discomfort among several city councillors as they faced the question of whether or not to create an exemption for the convention centre at their April 22 meeting. The question came with a caveat: whatever decision they made would be re-assessed once a working committee currently studying how to apply secularism at the municipal level releases its recommendations later this year. A lawyer was supposed to be present to answer any questions but was unable to come. "I find it unfortunate that we have to decide this today. It would have been interesting to wait to obtain the report, but it doesn't work with the timeline," said city councillor Christelle Lefèvre. She ended up voting for the exemption. Among the opposing voters, there was a consensus that the rules were the rules and needed to be followed as such. It's not because an exemption had been granted once that they were going to do it again, said Danielle Berthold. Sherbrooke Mayor Évelyne Beaudin, for her part, said the exemption granted to the arena always made her uncomfortable. She said the Centre de Foires received $15,000 from the religious events it hosts, so either the city would allow them to go forth or would essentially pay $15,000 for it to sit empty. After hearing from the community when the council reconvened on May 20, it struck down the policy altogether. There was only one dissident, councillor Hélène Dauphinais. "I would have preferred that we wait for the report from the provincial government because it's much easier to open doors than to close them," she said. Council president Laure Letarte-Lavoie said she found the first-hand accounts from community members touching. "These kinds of measures by the city, sometimes it's really administrative and we don't think about all that, but to not be able to hold gatherings in these venues in their own city, they experienced it as discrimination and rejection," she said. Councillor Fernanda Luz said that culture and religion are often intertwined. "When we include everybody, it's also a way to demonstrate our neutrality, there's no favouritism," she said. "We can either exclude everybody [or] include everybody."
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
British Journalist Charlotte Peet Missing in Brazil
Originally appeared on E! Online The search is on for Charlotte Peet, a British journalist who vanished in Brazil. The 32-year-old has been missing for 11 days, according to the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (ACIE) in the South American country. Peet was last heard from on Feb. 8, when she contacted a friend in Rio de Janeiro through WhatsApp asking for a place to stay, per a statement from the organization's president Edmar Figueiredo. She told the friend that she was in São Paulo and was planning to visit Rio, according to Figueiredo. "Days later, Charlotte's family in the United Kingdom contacted this friend saying they had lost contact with the journalist," Figueiredo shared. "The ACIE and its board appeal to the competent authorities to intensify the search to find the British journalist as soon as possible." The ACIE said Peet spent more than two years freelancing in Rio, and was in London last year before returning to Brazil in November. "I wouldn't say that it was normal," he told Sky News on Feb. 19. "There was something on her mind obviously, otherwise she would have let us know." The patriarch added the family learned Peet had returned to Brazil when they "traced" her to London's Gatwick Airport and found that she boarded a plane to São Paulo. "And then the trail went cold," he said. "I'm very concerned, but I just don't know what's going on. We're just trying to pick up the pieces." According Peet's LinkedIn profile, she has been freelancing for Brazil and London Freelance reporting on current affairs, economy, health, human rights, technology, and crime in Brazil. Writing both breaking news stories and long-form investigative features for print and online. More from E! Online OnlyFans Model Lily Phillips Announces Pregnancy After Having Sex With 100 Men in a Day Midair Aircraft Collison at Arizona Airport Leaves at Least 2 People Dead Nikki Garcia's Ex Artem Chigvintsev Says Domestic Violence Arrest 'Completely Ruined' His Life Peet's dad Derek Peet said the foreign correspondent did not tell family members about her latest trip to Brazil. "I wouldn't say that it was normal," he told Sky News on Feb. 19. "There was something on her mind obviously, otherwise she would have let us know." The patriarch added the family only learned Peet had returned to Brazil when they "traced" her to London's Gatwick Airport and found that she boarded a plane to São Paulo. "And then the trail went cold," he said. "I'm very concerned, but I just don't know what's going on. We're just trying to pick up the pieces." Per Peet's LinkedIn, she has freelanced for Al Jazeera, The Telegraph, The Evening Standard, The Times, The Independent and Meta. She has written "both breaking news stories and long-form investigative features for print and online," according to her profile, covering current affairs, economy, health, human rights, technology and crime in Brazil. "Fluent in Portuguese," Peet noted in the description. "I am a versatile journalist with over nine years of experience, four of which have been spent reporting abroad." For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
