There is a lot of confusing information flying around about the Amazon rainforest fires. Within Brazil, some of that has concerned the types of fires involved. Jayalaxshmi Mistry claims the country’s government and its agribusiness allies are deliberately conflating small, sustainable fires lit by Indigenous people, with much larger fires associated with industrial deforestation. But fire can be used sustainably, she writes – even in the Amazon. Meanwhile, Brazil’s far right president Jair Bolsonaro is facing a growing backlash, says Anthony Pereira, as 96% of the country say he should do more to protect the rainforest.

Outside of Brazil, some have compared the Amazon fires to Africa’s more numerous (but not as environmentally worrying) savannah fires, while others are talking about quitting meat, beef, soy or boycotting corporations that work in the rainforest. Doug Specht looks at eight things you can do that will actually help.

Elsewhere, a century-old trade dispute between Japan and South Korea has flared up again and could threaten the world’s supply of smartphones. And in the UK, Boris Johnson’s prorogation strategy shows “disdain for the core idea of democracy on which the UK constitution is based”, says a professor of constitutional law.

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