Life & Style | Fund backed by DiCaprio pledges $5M to Amazon amid fires

A new environmental foundation backed by Leonardo DiCaprio is pledging $5 million in aid to the Amazon, which has been swept by wildfires.

Earth Alliance was created last month by DiCaprio and philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth. On Sunday, it launched the Amazon Forest Fund in an announcement on their website. The alliance is also seeking donations to help repair the Brazilian rainforest, called the “lungs of the planet.”

Brazilian federal experts reported a record number of wildfires across the country this year, up 84% over the same period in 2018.

The funds will be distributed to five local groups working to combat the problem: Instituto Associacao Floresta Protegida, Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, Instituto Kabu, Instituto Raoni, and Instituto Socioambiental.

‘Angel Has Fallen’ tops box office with $21.3 million debut

Angel Has Fallen” easily topped the box office with a $21.3 million debut, according to studio estimates yesterday [Macau time], as the action sequel became the latest mid-budget release to find modest success in the often quiet late summer.

The Lionsgate film beat expectations going into the weekend, opening similarly to the previous 2016 installment “London Has Fallen.”

The film series stars Gerard Butler as a Secret Service agent protecting the U.S. president played by Morgan Freeman. In “Angel Has Fallen,” Butler’s agent is wrongly accused of trying to assassinate the president.

Going back to 2013’s “Olympus Has Fallen,” the franchise has been a quietly consistent performer, taking in roughly $200 million worldwide each time. “Angel Has Fallen,” produced for about $40 million by Millennium Films, is poised for a similar course, opening just shy of the $21.6 million “London Has Fallen” debut.

Spain’s ex-king Juan Carlos I recovers after heart surgery

Doctors at the hospital where Spain’s former monarch Juan Carlos I underwent heart surgery say he is making a satisfactory recovery almost 24 hours after the operation.

Lucía Alonso, the managing director of Madrid’s Quironsalud University Hospital, said Sunday the 81-year-old king emeritus is awake and breathing without support.

Alonso says in a statement that Juan Carlos is sitting up in bed and “is in good spirits.”

The triple bypass procedure Saturday was scheduled after the former king had a checkup two months ago. The hospital said the operation was successful and without complications.

Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 in favor of Felipe, ending a near 39-year reign. He retired from public duties last May.