Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
• Without offering proof, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday said actor
Leonardo DiCaprio had funded nonprofit groups that he claimed are partly responsible for fires in the Amazon this year. “DiCaprio is a cool guy, isn’t he? Giving money to set the Amazon on fire,” the president said to supporters in Brasilia. DiCaprio’s environmental organization Earth Alliance has pledged $5 million to help protect the Amazon after a surge in fires destroyed large parts of the rain forest in July and August. The actor and committed environmentalist said in a statement Friday that his group had not funded any of the nonprofits named by investigators so far. “While worthy of support, we did not fund the organizations targeted,” the statement read. “The future of these irreplaceable ecosystems is at stake and I am proud to stand with the groups protecting them.” Bolsonaro and Environment Minister Ricardo Salles are promoting development in some protected natural areas, even as intentional fires and deforestation in the Amazon have reached levels not seen in a decade. The criticism of DiCaprio and environmental activists follows a police raid at the headquarters of two nonprofit groups in the Amazonian state of Para earlier this week. Federal prosecutors say their investigations point to land-grabbers as primary suspects for fires in the area, not nonprofits. Cattle ranchers, farmers and illegal loggers have long used fire to clear land in the Amazon.
• Rod Stewart is adding a new element to his image: serious model railroad builder. The former frontman of the Faces who has hits dating back to the 1960s has put the finishing touch on a 23-year project that has landed him on the cover of Britain’s Railway Modeller magazine. It’s a far cry from Rolling Stone, whose cover he has graced many times. The model is an ambitious portrayal of a gritty American city in 1945, representing a combination of New York and Chicago. It’s an artistic success, one that Stewart designed and constructed from start to finish, with some help with the electrical and computer connections. “It’s the detail that I’m proud of,” Stewart said in an interview. He grew up in London across the street from a railroad line and has been fascinated by trains ever since, taking mental notes on his extensive world travels. When he got around to building a house in Beverly Hills, he added a room at the top for his oversize model railroad. He would typically go up there for three or four hours at a time, quietly stepping away from his family and his musical responsibilities. “It wasn’t a whim, it took a bit of planning, and 23 years later it’s finished,” Stewart said.