The Amazon rainforest is the world’s large tropical rainforest, covering roughly 2.7 million square miles. It comprises more than half of the world’s remaining rainforests. It is crisscrossed by thousands of rivers, including the huge Amazon River, and is famed for its biodiversity. It is comparable in size to the United States and extends into nine South American countries. Most of it is in Brazil. Colombia contains only a small fraction of the Amazon rainforest – roughly 6% of it – but the rainforest there makes up 40% of the country.

The governor responded this week to Republicans' calling her proposal a political stunt, saying: "Clearly, these are not areas that tend to vote Democrat, where there's farms. Let's just put that out there.”

The federal agency for protecting workers' civil rights revealed Wednesday that it is investigating sportswear giant Nike for allegedly discriminating against white employees.