Agence France-Presse: Deforestation in Brazil's storied Amazon basin region skyrocketed more than 450 percent in October from a year earlier, a non-governmental group warned Monday. The alarming loss was the equivalent of 24,000 football pitches, said Imazon, which works to support sustainable development in the massive and unique ecosystem. The group's Deforestation Alert System found that clearcutting in Brazil's nine Amazon basin states hit 244 square kilometers (94 square miles) for October. In October 2013 the...