Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest this year reached its highest level since 2008, government data shows. The destruction comes as President Jair Bolsonaro continues to weaken environmental regulations.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 9.5 percent between August 2019 and July 2020 compared to the exact previous period, which is the second consecutive record in 12 years, according to official preliminary data. of 2020 fires in the Brazilian Amazon

France's privacy regulator Cnil has fined Google €100 million and Amazon €35 million over how they use tracking devices, known as cookies, on their French websites. In a statement, Cnil said the technology giants had downloaded cookies without seeking users' consent, or providing clear enough notice. Meanwhile in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission, along with 48 Attorneys General, has launched legal action against Facebook over its dominance in social media. The FTC is seeking a court order to force the company to sell off WhatsApp and Instagram.

Amazon has become the latest tech giant to clamp down on microblogging and social network service Parler, notifying it of plans to suspend its web hosting service on Sunday.

Bezos, who founded the firm almost 30 years ago, will be replaced by Andy Jassy. The 57-year-old Amazon CEO is worth almost $200 billion and wants to focus more on other projects, such as his media and space programs.

Jeff Bezos steps down as Amazon chief executive

The coronavirus has fueled sky-high company profits but Amazon workers say they are being pushed to the limit. The first strike of its kind in Italy includes suppliers and delivery drivers.

Senator Bernie Sanders joins the drive to unionize Amazon workers in Alabama as clashes intensified between lawmakers and the e-commerce giant ahead of a deadline for a vote that could lead to the first union on US soil at the massive tech company.

Employees at a warehouse in Alabama decided not to unionize. Labor representatives already have said they will challenge the vote alleging interference by the company.

Brazilian Pilot Antonio Sena is rescued from the middle of the Amazon jungle, where he spent 38 days stranded after he crashed his plane, until he stumbled across a family of nut pickers who gave him shelter and delivered him to the police. "I was emotionally devastated... I thought that I might not get out of there, that I might die there," he says back home in the capital Brasilia.

Dozens of companies are threatening to stop using Brazilian produce amid concerns that the proposed law could accelerate deforestation.

Brussels says it will "carefully study" whether to appeal to Europe's top court after Amazon won the annulment of a 2017 back-taxes ruling.