TransNews Annex

Live 8 Fails to Catch on in Japan

Live 8 Fails to Catch on in Japan
- By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, July 2, 2005

Bjork performs on the stage during the Live 8 Japan concert at Makuhari Messe in Makuhari on the outskirts of Tokyo, Saturday. Associated Press photo by Katsumi Kasahara

Rock group Good Charlotte performs on the stage during the Live 8 Japan concert at Makuhari Messe in Makuhari on the outskirts of Tokyo, Saturday. Associated Press photo by Katsumi Kasahara

(07-02) 08:29 PDT MAKUHARI, Japan (AP) --

Live 8 got off to an anticlimactic start in Japan on Saturday, as Bjork and Good Charlotte joined local bands in a concert to promote awareness of poverty in Africa that failed to generate much interest in Asia's only G-8 nation.

Added to the list of worldwide concerts at the last minute, the concert in Japan drew only about 10,000 people, all of whom were selected in a lottery. The venue in this Tokyo suburb normally holds about 20,000.

Even so, given less than a month to prepare in a country where charity events are still something of a rarity, organizers said they were happy with the turnout of about 10,000 people in this Tokyo suburb.

"There's no precedent for this," said Lily Sobhani, one of the event's coordinators. "This was done mega-quick. It's absolutely amazing that this is happening in Japan."

Live 8 aims to push aid for Africa high on the agenda of the Group of Eight major industrial nations when they hold their annual summit in Scotland next week.

Performers said they were glad to be part of the larger event.

"It's a good event for Africa, a good event for the world," said Jesse, the lead singer for Rize, a Japanese hard rock/rap band. "We'd play even if it was just for one person."

"It's encouraging they got something together," Joel Madden, Good Charlotte's lead vocalist, told The Associated Press. "Maybe next time they'll get twice as many people."

Japan became the kickoff point because it is in an earlier time zone than the other host cities around the world. Organizers say Live 8 will bring 100 artists on stage in nine countries and reach an audience of more than 5.5 billion people.

"People are willing to go out of their way, because we believe passionately in what this is about," said Icelandic singer Bjork, who was making her first live performance in two years. "Just the acknowledgment of the problem is an important step."

It failed to create much of a buzz here, however.

Japan's lineup, announced just a week ago, was a far cry from U2, Madonna and Paul McCartney, who will be performing in London, or Stevie Wonder and Destiny's Child, who will be among the stars on stage in Philadelphia.

But organizers said the inclusion of Tokyo was significant because Japan is the only Asian country hosting Live 8, and is also the only Asian country in the G-8. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will be traveling to Scotland next week to attend the summit.

"Japan is an economic powerhouse," said Claire Lewis, of the British development and relief agency Oxfam which is helping organize the event. "We feel Japan should be represented and there should be a voice from Japan saying we want to have an end to poverty."

The other Live 8 concerts will be held in Britain, France, Germany, Canada, the United States, Russia, South Africa and Italy.

"So many people are going to be watching it on their televisions — that's what really matters," said Harry Judd, of the British band McFly.

AIDS boss warns of PNG epidemic - AP

AIDS boss warns of PNG epidemic
Sunday, July 3, 2005 Posted: 0717 GMT (1517 HKT)


(Photo) Asia has the second-largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world after sub-Saharan Africa.


KOBE, Japan (AP) -- Papua New Guinea is at risk of an African-level HIV/AIDS epidemic, but other Asia-Pacific nations like Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar are also worrisome as the number of infections there continue to rise, the head of the U.N. AIDS agency has said.

The epidemic is as vast and diverse as the region itself with sex and injecting drug use the main engines driving the epidemic.

But there's simply not enough data to create a clear picture of the situation in many areas where other factors -- such as men who have sex with men -- could be contributing to rising numbers in cities and local communities, Dr. Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a regional AIDS conference Sunday.

Asia has the second-largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world after sub-Saharan Africa. An additional 12 million people could be infected in the region over the next five years if nothing is done to slow the pace of the epidemic, UNAIDS has said.

The impoverished Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea is facing the biggest problem because the disease appears to have moved into the general population, and an estimated 1.7 percent of the country's adults were living with HIV last year, according to a UNAIDS report.

It's "the one that I would see that could have an African-type of epidemic," Piot said during the Seventh International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific held in Kobe, Japan. "That's the one country, I would say I think is really getting out of hand."

He said the epidemic there is heterosexually driven and largely connected to gender inequality and violence, along with unemployment and a lack of stability.

In places like Vietnam and Malaysia, injecting drug users are a major force behind rising numbers.

Piot said top leadership must get actively involved to make a difference and countries should move away from incarcerating drug users and sex workers, instead arming them with education and treatment, including offering clean needles and methadone to injecting drug users, he said.

Malaysia has recently announced it will move in that direction and China is also taking a more proactive approach, moves Piot says he hopes other Asian countries will follow.

In places like military-run Myanmar, the problems are more challenging because the country is heavily isolated from the rest of the world due to the political situation making surveillance and outreach difficult.

An epidemic, driven largely by injecting drug use, is raging there with about 1.2 percent of the adult population and an estimated 330,000 total people living with HIV/AIDS.

"We always have Myanmar -- Burma -- where I'm not totally sure what's going on," Piot said. "It certainly has a bad epidemic. There's no more doubt about it."

Countries also need to keep a close eye on other populations that may not have traditionally been problem groups.

He said more young people are having casual sex in places like Bangkok and Tokyo and that now, more than ever, women are having sex with more partners at younger ages. Migrating populations, including migrant workers, are another group that cannot be ignored.

And while the region has recently confronted other diseases like SARS and bird flu, leaders and citizens must understand that HIV/AIDS is on a whole other scale, Piot said.

"Let's assume there's an avian flu epidemic, that's going to be like a shock, a bomb," he said. "Maybe millions of people will die suddenly but when it's over, it's over and we will have another flu epidemic maybe 30 years later whereas with AIDS, it just builds up across generations."

An estimated 8.2 million people were living with the virus in the Asia-Pacific region last year. About 1.2 million were newly infected in 2004, second only to sub-Saharan Africa.

Sex workers on frontline of Asia's AIDS battle - Reuters

Sex workers on frontline of Asia's AIDS battle
03 Jul 2005 06:49:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Elaine Lies

KOBE, Japan, July 3 - Former sex worker Tonette says people like her are some of the best fighters against AIDS in Asia but that they are being ignored by governments and international agencies even as an explosion of the deadly disease looms.

One in four new infections occurs in Asia, home to more than half the world's people, and 1,500 die in the region each day. The disease has spread to all provinces in China, while the number of Indian HIV/AIDS patients are second only to South Africa.

Tonette Lopez, a 30-year-old who worked in bars in her native Philippines for three years and has founded an NGO for sex workers, accused major international agencies of being out of touch with the very communities they were trying to reach.

"Sometimes because they are the funders, they think they know what's best for us, when in fact it should be the other way around," she told Reuters on the sidelines of an international AIDS conference in the western Japanese city of Kobe.

"We're the ones in contact with the community, not them," she added. "They're only in their offices, sitting down and waiting for their reports. And sometimes reports are not true."

Though she acknowledged that agencies can provide a badly needed structure for prevention efforts, she urged them to make more of an effort to include the sex workers, who as peers are able to reach out to their communities most effectively.

"There should be greater participation from us -- and they should put us first."

The UN estimates 8.2 million people are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Asia, about 5.1 million of them in India. The Chinese government says there are 840,000 patients in China.

Worldwide, about 39 million people have HIV/AIDS, including 25 million in sub-Saharan Africa.

Commercial sex is one of the main forces behind the spread of HIV in many countries in Asia, where the United Nations says that 12 million people could be newly infected in the next five years if prevention programmes are not intensified.

HUGE NUMBERS

Though the infection rates of AIDS are highest among injecting drug users in Asia, the huge numbers of people involved in buying and selling sex makes it a critical concern.

"How we deal with the sex trade will have a decisive effect on HIV epidemics in Asia and the Pacific," Cheryl Overs, an activist with International HIV/AIDS Alliance, told a session of the conference, which lasts until July 5. "The effort must be massive in scale and as diverse as the region itself."

Prevention efforts face new challenges, however, as the sex industry changes in response to modernisation.

The spread of karaoke bars, where sex workers can often make more money than in brothels, and widening use of mobile phones that mean sex workers no longer congregate in specific "red light" areas, make it harder to target specific prevention programmes to the people who need them most.

While women still make up the overwhelming number of sex workers, there is also a need to reach other groups, such as men who sell sex to other men, and transgenders such as Tonette, who tend to be ignored altogether.

The conference is stressing the importance of condoms, whose use varies widely according to the nation and the situation.

One survey conducted last year in East Timor, Asia's newest nation, found that four out of 10 sex workers did not recognise a condom when shown one.

Even when condoms are available and their effectiveness known, decisions on using them can be highly arbitrary. Young men in Laos often base their choice on the woman's body temperature and whether she seems "promiscuous," researcher Soutchay Pheualavong said.

Thailand and Cambodia have had noted successes with education and condom outreach programmes among sex workers and other vulnerable communities. In Thailand, annual new HIV infections fell from nearly 143,000 in 1991 to 21,260 at the end of 2003.

For the greatest success, such outreach programmes should involve other sex workers, Tonette said.

"You have the experience, you know how it is, you know how it feels -- and you can get through the message to everyone." (HEALTH-AIDS, reporting by Elaine Lies, editing by Jason Szep; Reuters Messaging: elaine.lies@reuters.com@reuters.net; +81-3 3432 8485))

London declares: 'Make Prejudice History' - Independent

London declares: 'Make Prejudice History'
Despite clashing with the biggest event on the planet, there was a mood of celebration about this year's parade
By Sholto Byrnes
Published: 03 July 2005 - Independent

Stars of Britain's gay community, including Sir Ian McKellen (below), Stephen Fry and Chris Smith, led 30,000 people in the annual Gay Pride march in London yesterday.

Grey skies and the Live8 event combined to produce a smaller turnout than normal for the 35th Pride march.

But there was a mood of celebration over the landmark civil partnerships legislation passed earlier this year, which means same sex couples can be legally recognised for the first time.

The march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square featured the traditional exotic mix, with feather boas, scantily clad dancers, drag Britney Spears characters (right), a pink tank and a group who described themselves as "Gay, Muslim and Unveiled".

Bob Geldof took time out from Live8 to address the London Pride march and call on the gay community to think about the plight of Africa, saying: "We are going to stop one vast oppression of a vast minority - that's what we are going to do today."

Stephen Fry declared the day to be "a celebration, but also a memorial, because, if you're of my generation, so many people you know have died of Aids". He also warned that despite the successes of the previous years - gaining an equal age of consent, and the passing of the Civil Partnerships Act - there were still "highly organised groups of right-wing people who want to sweep us into the fires of hell".

A decade ago, Gay Pride was attracting hundreds of thousands of participants. Despite the reduced turnout, the veteran rights campaigner Peter Tatchell described it as a sign of progress: "It's still a big change from the 700 who were on the first march in 1972," he said.

But he was critical of the decision to stage Live8 yesterday. "Gay Pride has always been held on this weekend," he said. "It's a pity that the Live8 organisers couldn't have done it on another weekend. We do support their campaign, but we also want to make homophobia history."

The TV mogul Waheed Ali said: "Eight years ago we were fighting about an equal age of consent, so look how far we've come. It's not just about changing the law, it's about winning hearts and minds. And they've even closed the centre of London for us."

Not all shared his enthusiasm. As two young men in strappy leather skirts left a newsagents by Westminster Tube station, the vendor shook his head disapprovingly. "We've made great strides," said Tatchell, "but there are still areas of inequality."

As if to prove his point, as the parade rounded Haymarket, a group displaying Christian Voice posters waved placards. "God gave them (sodomites; lesbians) over to a reprobate mind. Romans 1:28" read the words on one. A red-faced man pointed at the sign. "Bible," he shouted, "Bible," as a float carrying the choir of the Metropolitan Community Church passed by. Rainbow flags were much in evidence - but not above the shopfronts of London's "gay village" in Soho.

They have been a source of controversy throughout the year thanks to a decision by Westminster council to clamp down on all flag flying. The row has generated ill-feeling not least because one of the premises keen to fly the flag is the Admiral Duncan pub, hit by a nail bomb in 1999. The flags, first designed in San Francisco, spread to gay and lesbian communities around the world as a symbol of pride.

Stars of Britain's gay community, including Sir Ian McKellen (below), Stephen Fry and Chris Smith, led 30,000 people in the annual Gay Pride march in London yesterday.

Grey skies and the Live8 event combined to produce a smaller turnout than normal for the 35th Pride march.

But there was a mood of celebration over the landmark civil partnerships legislation passed earlier this year, which means same sex couples can be legally recognised for the first time.

The march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square featured the traditional exotic mix, with feather boas, scantily clad dancers, drag Britney Spears characters (right), a pink tank and a group who described themselves as "Gay, Muslim and Unveiled".

Bob Geldof took time out from Live8 to address the London Pride march and call on the gay community to think about the plight of Africa, saying: "We are going to stop one vast oppression of a vast minority - that's what we are going to do today."

Stephen Fry declared the day to be "a celebration, but also a memorial, because, if you're of my generation, so many people you know have died of Aids". He also warned that despite the successes of the previous years - gaining an equal age of consent, and the passing of the Civil Partnerships Act - there were still "highly organised groups of right-wing people who want to sweep us into the fires of hell".

A decade ago, Gay Pride was attracting hundreds of thousands of participants. Despite the reduced turnout, the veteran rights campaigner Peter Tatchell described it as a sign of progress: "It's still a big change from the 700 who were on the first march in 1972," he said.
But he was critical of the decision to stage Live8 yesterday. "Gay Pride has always been held on this weekend," he said. "It's a pity that the Live8 organisers couldn't have done it on another weekend. We do support their campaign, but we also want to make homophobia history."

The TV mogul Waheed Ali said: "Eight years ago we were fighting about an equal age of consent, so look how far we've come. It's not just about changing the law, it's about winning hearts and minds. And they've even closed the centre of London for us."

Not all shared his enthusiasm. As two young men in strappy leather skirts left a newsagents by Westminster Tube station, the vendor shook his head disapprovingly. "We've made great strides," said Tatchell, "but there are still areas of inequality."

As if to prove his point, as the parade rounded Haymarket, a group displaying Christian Voice posters waved placards. "God gave them (sodomites; lesbians) over to a reprobate mind. Romans 1:28" read the words on one. A red-faced man pointed at the sign. "Bible," he shouted, "Bible," as a float carrying the choir of the Metropolitan Community Church passed by. Rainbow flags were much in evidence - but not above the shopfronts of London's "gay village" in Soho.

They have been a source of controversy throughout the year thanks to a decision by Westminster council to clamp down on all flag flying. The row has generated ill-feeling not least because one of the premises keen to fly the flag is the Admiral Duncan pub, hit by a nail bomb in 1999. The flags, first designed in San Francisco, spread to gay and lesbian communities around the world as a symbol of pride.

Bob Geldof urges London gay pride marchers to support Live 8

July 2, 2005 - 11:47
Bob Geldof urges London gay pride marchers to support Live 8

LONDON (AP) - Bob Geldof took time out Saturday from preparations for the Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park to urge gay pride marchers in the capital to support initiatives to end poverty.

"Between what you people are doing and the people in the park are doing and the people around the world, we are going to stop one vast oppression of a vast minority - that's what we are going to do today," Geldof told thousands of marchers gathered in London's Pall Mall.

"When you walk around London today, think of them, think of the people in Africa."

Geldof was introduced to the crowd by the actor Sir Ian McKellen, star of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Among those in the crowd was Tris Reid-Smith, 30, editor of the Pink Paper, a popular gay publication.

"I think it's really nice that as the gay community wins more of its own struggles, we can look beyond ourselves and try to think how we can help other people around the world, both gay and straight," he said.

London Pride 2005
http://www.pridelondon.org/

Live 8
http://live8live.com