Norway told visiting Brazilian President Michel Temer that it would slash its payments to help safeguard the Amazon rainforest in 2017 by more than half, to about $35 million, because of a rise in forest destruction. Norway has invested more than $1.1 billion in an Amazon Fund since 2008 to help Brazil protect the forests, which are under threat from logging and their conversion to farmland. Temer said Brazil was working to protect the Amazon, for example by expanding national parks. Brazil's deforestation climbed to 8,000 square kilometres (3,088 square miles) in 2016. Norway's Environment Ministry said payments, under a performance-based plan to reward forest protection, were likely to be about $35 million in 2017, around $65 million less than the previous year when fewer forests were destroyed. For the full story see http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-norway-brazil-amazon-idUKKBN19E1R2