Brazil

Gold prices are soaring. Cue the gold rush, and with it, more challenges for Brazil and efforts to protect the world's largest tropical forest, write Robert Muggah and Mac Margolis.

Police raided former President Jair Bolsonaro's home, investigating claims of suspected efforts to falsify vaccination records to travel to the U.S. He denies any role in allegedly forging documents.

The far-right leader went to Florida after losing his bid for re-election, days before his rival was inaugurated. While in Florida, Bolsonaro frequently met with supporters and conservative groups.

The cities of Sao Sebastiao, Ubatuba, Ilhabela and Bertioga, some of the hardest hit and now under state of calamity, canceled their Carnival festivities as rescue teams struggle to find the missing.

The illegal miners have polluted rivers and land in the reserve, leading to widespread hunger and disease.

The ex-president left Brazil for Florida a week before his supporters rioted in Brasilia. Analysts say his special diplomatic visa expired Tuesday, leaving U.S. authorities to decide his legal status.

Jair Bolsonaro, who lost his presidential re-election bid late last year, has been staying in an Orlando suburb since Dec. 30. Some supporters have traveled from Brazil in hopes of seeing him.

The similarities are deep: In addition to aiming to subvert an election, some of the same U.S. voices that amplify former President Donald Trump are echoing Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazilian authorities arrested over 1,500 people following Sunday's assault on top government buildings by supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, who's taken temporary residence in the U.S.

Supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who are calling on the military to take control of the country, broke into three government buildings in Brazil's capital on Sunday.