South America

"The Trump administration has completed its first Venezuelan oil sale, valued at $500 million, an administration official confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. "

"Chevron met with Trump and spent millions lobbying him to let it continue operating in Venezuela. Now it is uniquely positioned to profit from the country’s vast oil reserves."

"A court invoked Ecuador’s rights of nature laws in halting a highway project to protect the Jambato harlequin toad, requiring the government to prove construction won’t drive the species to extinction."

"Given Venezuela’s murky political future, few analysts expect a rush to invest the billions needed to pump more oil from the world’s largest reserves."

"Some of the world's largest soybean traders are preparing to break their agreement to curb deforestation of the Amazon rainforest to preserve tax benefits in Brazil's top farm state, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters."

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he had spoken to 'all' of the oil firms before the raid took place, without specifying what these conversations involved.

"Stingless bees from the Amazon have become the first insects to be granted legal rights anywhere in the world, in a breakthrough supporters hope will be a catalyst for similar moves to protect bees elsewhere."

"The government of the oil-rich nation took control of its petroleum industry in 1976, nationalizing hundreds of private businesses and foreign-owned assets."

"President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro."