NUEVA VENECIA, Colombia (AP) – Leaning over the side of a small speedboat, Jhon Cantillo scoops up a thick clump of bright green vegetation, holding it up before gesturing toward the horizon, where the plant spreads across the waters as far as the eye can see.
SAO PAULO (AP) – The surge in gold prices in recent years has fueled a renewed mining rush in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, accelerating deforestation in protected areas and driving mercury contamination to hazardous levels, officials and experts say.