Saving the amazon leaders from eight south american countries gather to thrash out an urgent plan to protect the rainforest. a warning from washington about the wagner mercenary group taking advantage of the coup in niger. the us secretary of state speaks to the bbc. every single place that this group, wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. applause. thousands turn out in ireland for the funeral of the singer sinead o connor. the uk s elections watchdog reveals it has been the victim of a complex cyber attack potentially affecting millions of voters. hello, i m matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking
Wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. insecurity has gone up, not down. it has not been a response to the needs of the countries in question for greater security. i think what happened and what continues to happen in niger was not instigated by russia or by wagner but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it and we see a repeat of what has happened in other countries where they ve brought nothing but bad things in their wake, that wouldn t be good. the wagner leader, yevgeny prigozhin, has released an audio message referring to the coup in niger. the recording emerged on telegram, though the date and location can t be independently verified. mr prigozhin had this message apparently for the coup leaders. translation: we are always on the side of goodness, - justice and on the side of those who fight for sovereignty and for the rights of their people. call us any time. and more on this from our security correspondent, frank gardner.