New fires rage in Amazon as Brazil military planes battle flames

Aerial picture showing smoke from a two-kilometer-long stretch of fire billowing from the Amazon rainforest about 65 km from Porto Velho, in northern Brazil.

Hundreds of new fires have flared up in the Amazon in Brazil, data showed Monday, even as military aircraft dumped water over hard-hit areas and G7 nations pledged to help combat the blazes.

Smoke choked Porto Velho city and forced the closure of the airport for nearly two hours as fires raged in the northwestern state of Rondonia where fire-fighting efforts are concentrated, amid a growing global uproar and a diplomatic spat between France and Brazil.