The European Union Council president Donald Tusk said it was hard to imagine the bloc ratifying its trade pact with Mercosur as long as Brazil fails to curb the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest. The EU stands by the EU-Mercosur agreement, Tusk told reporters at a G7 meeting in Biarritz in southern France.
Hundreds of new fires are raging in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, official data showed, as thousands of troops were made available to help fight the worst blazes in years following a global outcry. Multiple fires billowing huge plumes of smoke into the air were seen across a vast area of the northwestern state of Rondonia.
Pope Francis on Sunday called for a global commitment to put out the fires in the Amazon, saying the area was essential for the health of the planet. “We are all worried about the vast fires that have developed in the Amazon. Let us pray so that, with the commitment of all, they can be put out soon.”
G7 leaders gathering in France this weekend plan to hammer out “concrete measures” in response to the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest, putting them on a collision course with Brazil's rightwing leader.
Wildfires in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil have ignited a firestorm on social media, with President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday suggesting green groups started the blazes. Images of fires purportedly devouring sections of the world's largest rainforest have gone viral on Twitter.