World's pop stars go global against poverty

A galaxy of rock stars staged the world's biggest live concert yesterday to pressure rich nations into doing more for the poor.

People power rose up across four continents as Irish rocker Bob Geldof urged music fans at Live 8 gigs around the globe to cry "No more excuses" to the G8 leaders of the world's leading industrialised nations.

"Mahatma Gandhi freed a continent, Martin Luther King freed a people, Nelson Mandela freed a country. It does work. They will listen," Geldof said.

Geldof, mastermind behind the 1985 Live Aid concert that raised $100 million for the starving in Ethiopia, was trying to feed the world back then. This time he wants to change it by political pressure alone, including a hoped for two billion people tuning in to watch the concerts.

U2 frontman Bono, another key celebrity campaigner, summed up their message:"We're not asking you to put your hand in your pockets but we are asking people to put their fist in the air."

Bono fired up 200,000 fans in London's Hyde Park by joining Paul McCartney to launch the show with "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Hollywood star Brad Pitt told the crowd: "Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold."

Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised nations meet near Edinburgh from Wednesday to Friday, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair has Africa and poverty high on the agenda. In Edinburgh, 200,000 demonstrators wearing white marched through the city to back the Make Poverty History campaign.

Tokyo kicked off Live 8 with Icelandic star Bjork headlining at a 10,000-capacity venue. The diminutive star expressed the sense of helplessness she felt in the face of Africa's extreme poverty.

Live 8 was also staged in the Circus Maximus in Rome and before a crowd of 150,000 in Berlin where most Germans felt it was a good idea even if they had doubts about its impact.

Stonemason Bernd Oppermann said: "I think every little thing helps to raise awareness about poverty no matter how small, and hey, this is the greatest rock concert in the world."

In Philadelphia, actor Will Smith told a crowd estimated at about 1 million people: "This is the biggest event that has ever taken place on this planet."