Agence France-Presse: Clearing the Amazon rainforest for soy or cattle does not bring long-term social or economic benefit to local communities and threatens the environment, according to a study published Friday. Huge swaths of the Brazilian rainforest are cut down, burnt or cleared each year, at an average rate of 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) — about the size of Kuwait — because the land is worth more when deforested. Deforestation is moving at a sobering rate of over four football …