Live 8, Brad Pitt, and an Army for Africa

Live 8: “No ticket for Live 8? Log on to our sister blog Culture Vulture from 1pm tomorrow to follow Caroline Sullivan’s coverage of the London concert live from the Culture Vulture sofa. We’ll also have audio reports from Alexis Petridis.” – From The Guardian‘s Newsblog.


On U.S. TV: Both VH1 and MTV will air the “Live 8” concert Sat., July 2, at 09:00am PDT. ABC affiliates are airing the Live 8 concert at 8PM PDT (check local schedules).


The Chicago Tribune has a guide to Live 8 programming. Billboard offers a guide to
Live 8 TV, Web, satellite, and mobile
options. Here’s a news story on the latest: Stages set for Live 8, the ‘greatest concert ever’

Brad: Watch the ONE video with Brad Pitt!


African Army: African leaders will propose Africa get its own standing army at the G8 next week, reports the BBC. “It should be ready to go to trouble spots at a moment’s notice, Nepad head Wiseman Nkuhlu said.” [Nepad stands for New Partnership for Africa’s Development.]


“[Nkuhlu] also said that a new $20bn fund is needed to speed up the distribution of cash … These two initiatives will be in addition to aid, debt and trade already on the agenda at the G8 summit.” African leaders are frustrated with the “excruciating slow pace” at which funds are released.

“The African Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Union, they sit on billions and billions of dollars that are supposed to be flowing to Africa. But they’re not flowing. And when you ask them, it has to do with procedures,” …


NEPAD’s site | G8 Gleneagles site | The ONE campaign

Of note: The BBC has a concise G8 backgrounder.

G8 protestors are arriving in Edinburgh.

“Has Bush Tripled Aid to Africa?,” Mother Jones

–> Send a letter to Pres. Bush to end poverty.