Estadio nilton santos, Multi-purpose stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

"Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest - the lungs which produces 20 per cent of our planet's oxygen - is on fire. It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let's discuss this emergency first order in two days," Macron, the host of this weekend's G7 summit of some of the world's most advanced economies, tweeted on Thursday night.Satellite data published by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) has shown an increase of 85 per cent this year in fires across Brazil, most of them in the Amazon region, the BBC reported.The figures and satellite images showing most of the state of Roraima, in northern Brazil, covered by smoke have shocked many Brazil and triggered a global Twitter trend under the hashtag #prayforamazonia.The figures suggest that there have been more than 75,000 fires so far this year for the whole of Brazil, compared with just over 40,000 over the same period in 2018.Meanwhile, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro responded to Macron's tweet saying that the French leader was using the issue for "political gain".Bolsonaro, who has been blamed by conservationists for the Amazon's plight, saying that he has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land, added that he was open to dialogue about the fires if it was "based on objective data and mutual respect", but hit out at the calls for it to be discussed at the G7 summit, which Brazil is not participating in."The French President's suggestion that Amazonian issues be discussed at the G7 without the participation of the countries of the region evokes a misplaced colonialist mindset, which does not belong in the 21st century," he wrote on social media.Earlier on Thursday, Bolsonaro had said that the country was not equipped to fight the fires, reports the BBC."The Amazon is bigger than Europe, how will you fight criminal fires in such an area?," he asked reporters as he left the presidential residence on Thursday. "We do not have the resources for that."The President has suggested that NGOs might have started fires as revenge for his government slashing their funding.( With inputs from IANS )

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Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Brazil where they chanted "Burn Bolsonaro and not the Amazon", in protest against President Jair Bolsonaro's inaction in the face of massive wildfires that were devastating the world's largest tr ...

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has ordered the armed forces to help fight a record number of forest fires in the Amazon. ...

United States President Donald Trump called Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday (local time) and offered assistance, if needed, to tackle the raging wildfires in the Amazon rainforest. ...

Under increasing international pressure to contain the record numbers of fires in the Amazon, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday (local time) said he might send the military to battle the blazes. ...

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro "lied" about his commitments to climate change, the media reported on Friday, quoting a statement released by the leader's office here. ...

Terming fires in the Amazon an "international crises", French President Emmanuel Macron has said the arsons will be top of the agenda at the G7 Summit. ...

Terming fires in the Amazon an "international crises", French President Emmanuel Macron has said the arsons will be top of the agenda at the G7 Summit. ...

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the record number of fires in the Amazon rainforest is an "international crisis" that needs to be on the top of the agenda at the upcoming G7 summit, the media reported on Friday. ...