"We will, I promise you, tilt this world a little bit on its side."
So says Bob Geldof this morning as the text-based scramble for tickets to the Live 8 London concert began. We'll bring you the latest from Geldof's latest press conference on the events highlighting the issue of global poverty and debt, timed to coincide with next month's G8. There was some debate about John Harris's piece in the Observer who made this persuasive point:
... if its list of artists is anything to go by, rock's relationship with the developing world has yet to move away from what might be termed the missionary position. The Senegalese star Youssou N'Dour is booked to play the Paris concert, but as far as African musicians are concerned, that's it. There will be no appearances by such globally renowned figures as Salif Keita, Baaba Maal or Femi Kuti. Juxtapose their omission with the slots granted to such faded Eighties acts as A-Ha and Duran Duran, and it's clear that something is not quite right.
Our man at the Hay festival, Tom Happold, blogged about Bob Geldof's riposte to such criticism yesterday.
Speaking of the G8, Tony Blair is off to the US today to meet George Bush: he needs to make a deal with the US president over his plans for alleviating poverty. Meanwhile back in the UK Jack Straw is expected to give the bloodied corpse of the EU constitution another kick by announcing that Britain's plans to hold a referendum on the treaty are on hold.
We'll also bring you the International Olympic Committee's latest report on London's 2012 bid and keep a weather eye on Santa Maria where jurors are due to continue deliberating the fate of Michael Jackson later today.
Finally, can I point you in the direction of our first foray into audioblogging as Georgina Turner relays the atmosphere from England's opening game last night at Euro 2005.
