DADENA BEACH, Florida: For Hendrick Motorsports' 40th anniversary, team owner Rick Hendrick had even more reason to rejoice thanks to William Byron. Lap 197 of the Daytona 500 saw a chaotic restart, and just minutes before Ross Chastain spun crazily through the infield grass off Austin Cindric's Ford's bumper, NASCAR called the fifth caution of the race. Byron arrived at the start/finish line and took the white flag. In the period of caution, Alex Bowman finished just behind his teammate, giving Hendrick a 1-2 finish and the organization's first win in the "Great American Race" since Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s victory in 2014. In the "Great American Race," it was the first Hendrick 1-2 since Jimmie Johnson defeated Earnhardt to the finish line in 2013. With this victory, Hendrick tied Petty Enterprises for the most in the history of the most prestigious race in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was also Hendrick's eighth Daytona 500 triumph. The weekend...
Seven Amazonian countries on Friday signed a pact to protect
the world's largest tropical forest via disaster response coordination and
satellite monitoring, amid recent fires that torched thousands of square miles
of the jungle. The presidents of Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, the
vice-president of Suriname and the natural resource minister of Guyana attended
the one-day summit in the jungle city of Leticia in southern Colombia. Brazilian
President Jair Bolsonaro participated by video link, while his foreign
minister, Ernesto Araujo, attended in person."This meeting will live on as
a coordination mechanism for the presidents that share this treasure - the
Amazon," Colombian President Ivan Duque said at the signing, adding the
countries will meet again at the United Nations Climate Change conference in
December."Goodwill alone is not enough anymore," Peruvian President
Martin Vizcarra added.
The countries will create a natural disaster network so they
can better cooperate in the face of events like large-scale fires, the pact
said. The group will also work on reforestation initiatives, increase efforts
to monitor deforestation activity via satellite, develop education initiatives
and increase the role of indigenous communities in sustainable development, it
added. The countries also agreed to share information on activities like
illegal mining that hurt conservation, the pact said.
The group will "work together to strengthen the
programs and financial mechanisms, reiterate the commitments made by countries
in these scenarios, mobilize public and private resources, including the
multilateral banks, as appropriate, for the implementation of this pact." Bolsonaro
said in his remarks during the meeting that the pact was an affirmation of each
country's sovereignty. Meanwhile, Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno opened by
singing "Padre," a song by Spanish singer Joan Manuel Serrat about
environmental destruction. Forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon have surged in
number by 83% this year, according to government data, destroying vast swathes
of a vital bulwark against global climate change. Some 60% of the forest is
located in Brazil. The Amazon is also home to around 1 million people who are
members of 500 indigenous groups. Fires have also raged in recent weeks in
Bolivia.
Bolsonaro initially accused nongovernmental organizations of
setting the fires, without providing any evidence, while environmentalists have
warned his plans for more agriculture and mining in the region will speed up
deforestation.
The far-right firebrand engaged in a public war of words
with French President Emmanuel Macron, who called for more to be done to combat
the fires.
Reuters, Colombia
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