UK Chancellor Gordon Brown has said the G8 summit is a chance “to bring the whole of the world together” as leaders set off for Gleneagles. The summit, attended by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US, will discuss a variety of topics including climate change, global trade, aid for Africa and debt relief.
Some of the almost 100 people arrested after violent clashes with police in Edinburgh on Monday arrived at court hearings in the city. It is unclear who caused the trouble and while the police have been accused of using “heavy-handed” tactics, they insist their response was “proportionate”. Anti-poverty campaigners criticised the violence. Alison Marshall, from the aid organisation Cafod, said: “The Make Poverty History coalition supports the right to protest but absolutely opposes violent protest, just as we oppose the violence of extreme poverty that we see across our world.”
Meanwhile, Live8 organiser Bob Geldof says he is confident world leaders will heed calls for more action to tackle global poverty. He said that the Live8 day of concerts and protests had been “full of hope and possibility and life”. Shows were held in 10 cities, including London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rome and Moscow. More than 140 TV channels showed the events, along with some 400 radio stations, and Internet streams. Organisers estimated that 85 per cent of the world’s population would have been able to tune into the event. In London, the concert was watched by 205,000 music fans who came to hear acts including Madonna, U2, Coldplay, Sir Elton John and Sting and Sir Paul McCartney and Bono.
