RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian officials say the Amazon is being deforested more than twice as fast as last year. They blame higher global food prices for a sharp increase in illegal logging as soy farmers and cattle ranchers clear rain forest for crops and grazing land. Authorities say 756 square kilometers (292 square miles) of Amazon was destroyed in August. That’s a 228 percent increase over August of last year. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research uses satellites to track the destruction.