Big increase recorded in Amazon fires

Official figures from Brazil have shown a big increase in the number of fires in the Amazon region in July compared with the same month last year, it was reported on Sunday.

Satellite images compiled by Brazil's National Space Agency revealed on Saturday that there were 6,803 - a rise of 28 per cent, the BBC reported.

The latest figures raise concerns about a repeat of the huge wildfires that shocked the world in August and September last year.

President Jair Bolsonaro has encouraged agricultural and mining activities in the Amazon.

But under pressure from international investors in early July his government banned starting fires in the region.

Bolsonaro has criticised Brazil's environmental enforcement agency, Ibama, for what he describes as excessive fines, and his first year in office saw a sharp drop in financial penalties being imposed for environmental violations.