Massive music concerts are taking place around the planet under the Live 8 banner in an effort to put pressure on the leaders of the eight richest countries in the world to end global poverty.
All the concerts are timed to take place between 2pm and 10pm local
time, with over a million people expected to attend concerts in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, Canada, South Africa and Russia.
The largest concert is in the US in Philadelphia, where up to a million people are expected to watch Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Destiny's Child and 50 Cent among others.
In Hyde Park in London, 205,000 people will watch acts including Elton John, Madonna, Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Pink Floyd. The concert was opened by Sir Paul McCartney and U2 playing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - the first time the song has ever been performed live by a Beatle.
Bill Gates - founder of Microsoft
and the richest man in the world - also appeared on the London stage to
discuss the challenges facing the world, before introducing Dido. Later, Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the UN addressed the audience, thanking them for their support.
However, the first concert to open - in Japan - only drew a disappointing 10,000.
The concerts follow on 20 years after the Live Aid concert organised by Bob Geldof, which was created to raise money for famine victims in Ethopia.
By contrast, the aim of Live 8 - also organised by Geldof - is not
fund-raising but instead to apply pressure to the leaders of the G8 to
end world poverty, which claims the lives of 50,000 every day.
The Live 8 organisers are urging the G8 to:
- Double the aid sent to the world's poorest countries,
- Fully cancel their debts,
- Change the trade laws so that they can build their own future.
The Finance Ministers of the G8 agreed on a plan
last month to cancel the debt of 18 of the poorest countries, but are
requiring other countries to end political and financial corruption
before they become elegible for debt relief.
On Thursday the President of the United States, George Bush, announced that the US will double US aid to Africa
by 2010 - increasing to $8.6 billion a year. Bob Geldof welcomed the
news, saying "This is the first time we have heard this sort of
language."
"This is very, very positive indeed."
Source: Wikinews
