South America

"The BR-319 runs through a largely untouched stretch of the rainforest. A new initiative to pave it could put the Amazon and the global climate at risk."

"A new cat has been discovered in Bolivia, the first time in more than a century that scientists have confirmed a new feline species in the world."

Trump donor Harold Hamm’s oil company Continental Resources announced a deal Wednesday to drill in Venezuela.

"Every three days someone is killed for defending nature."

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s push for minerals and militarization raises fears about the violence more mining could inflict on local communities and critical ecosystems."

"The Trump administration has rolled out several programs intended to pacify consumers frustrated with high beef prices and ranchers angered by beef imports."

"The Trump administration’s highly unusual deal to develop Venezuela’s vast oil resources would have the U.S. government collaborate with an influential and polarizing Venezuelan businessman."

"The Trump administration announced an agreement with the Venezuelan government on Friday to develop a vast amount of Venezuela's oil reserves.

The U.S. government says it is entering into a joint venture with a private Venezuelan company, according to an official who spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. The Trump administration says the U.S. would get 55% of the oil from the joint venture. That's equivalent to about 65 billion barrels of oil that's under the ground.

"Many Venezuelans suspected that there was going to be a price to pay for President Trump’s brazen capture of their autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, who was arrested by U.S. forces in January. On Friday, that cost became clear when Mr. Trump announced that the U.S. would be taking majority control of a vast part of Venezuela’s oil reserves — national resources long considered by many in the country to be a birthright."

"Ebola virus, hantavirus and the pathogen that causes Covid-19 likely jumped from animals to humans. So do these viruses — and scientists say climate change is speeding their spread." "By the time colleagues called Dr. Matías Lahitte, an Argentine infectious disease specialist, it was too late."