In Brazil, the murder of an Amazon environmental activist and his wife is being investigated as a possible assassination. José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo da Silva, were shot to death late Monday in a rural area of the Amazonian state of Para. While details remain unclear, local police say the killings bear the signs of a murder for hire. A leader on a rural, sustainable reserve, Claudio Ribeiro da Silva was an outspoken and celebrated critic of illegal logging in the Amazon.