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Flames continue to savage the Amazon and the Brazilian army could be deployed to help extinguish the vicious fires. More than 74,000 wildfires have been reported in the Amazon this year alone - and almost 10,000 of those just in the past week. French President Emmanuel Macron urged the G7 to pressure Brasil's president to take more action against the fires on Friday. The Brazilian army is ready to defend the Amazon rainforest, Edson Leal Pujol, head of the armed forces, has said amid increasing international pressure and calls for tough action to combat fires sweeping through the forest.

The Amazon rainforest is known as the “lungs of the world” and provides 20 per cent of all the world's oxygen.

The huge stretch of forest is currently experiencing the most intense blazes for almost a decade.

The sheer number of fires is the highest number since 2013 and compares with less than 40,000 in the same period in 2018.

But as the fires rage on, the rain has started to fall across some parts of the rainforest - with concerned citizens aros the globe pinning their hopes on rainfall helping to quell the spread of the blazing infernos.