3 July 2005 10:03 am
Massive music concerts took place around the world 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 are expected to attend concerts in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, Canada, South Africa and Russia.
The events are being broadcast to a potential audience of five and a half billion people world-wide. 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 by a Beatle. 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.
This story is based on a story on Wikinews which also contains other information including the artists performing, which you can find here.
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