Bono has every right to bash Brexit onstage – rock is meant to provoke debate

by Neil McCormick

Bono performing with U2 at the O2 Arena, London

It seems fair to assume Bono is a Remainer.
“For us, this is more than a gold star falling off a blue flag,” the Irish rock superstar told London’s O2 Arena this week. “It’s a loss of shared dreams.”
Bono and his band mates in U2 were standing in front of a humongous European flag, in which one of the 12 stars had been filled with a Union Jack, enclosed in a red heart.
 “We’ve been touring across Europe,” he said, “and all we hear is that people love the UK and don’t want you to leave.” To drive the point home, U2 played One, written and recorded in a Berlin studio in 1990, with 20,000 British fans taking up its freshly politicised refrain:
“We are one, but we are not the same / We get to carry each other.”
 This was a fiercer, rockier U2 than I have seen in decades. It was also the band at their most nakedly political. A lot of people are put off by Bono’s relentless campaigning for various causes – mainly the charities he has supported and founded.
 It is the source of the most pervasive criticism of U2, a band who seem to be loathed as much as they are loved. Some people think politics has no place in pop music at all – presumably the same people who thought John Lennon should have stuck to singing love songs, and Bob Marley would have been better served rhapsodising ganja.
 For those people, U2’s latest tour will be their most provocative yet. Brexit is not a global humanitarian issue on which all people of sensitive natures can broadly agree, like the Make Poverty History campaign. It is much more narrowly focussed and locally divisive than that. But if you take political positions, you court division. You have to come off the fence where most entertainers delicately balance.

U2 performing their Innocence + Experience show in London

Having watched this group all my life, from their very first show in a Dublin school in 1976, I have seen how flexible they can be in adapting each show to its audience.
But while other bands might tone things down to avoid offending local sensitivities, U2 do the opposite.
 The Experience + Innocence tour that U2 brought to the UK was almost entirely different from the production that launched in America six months ago.
 On its debut in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the visual imagery touched on Mexican immigration, gun control and the rise of the US alt-right. In London, there was footage of ruined European cities at the end of World War II, the implication being that the European Union was born from these ashes.
When the band reach their home town of Dublin for four concerts next week, the staging and message will undoubtedly change again.
 In Tulsa this May, when U2 showed footage of the Charlottesville Unite The Right rally from 2017 (in which a counter-protestor was killed) a section of the audience cheered the sight of American neo-Nazis waving swastikas. It was proof that U2 aren’t always playing to the converted.

It reminded me of a gig in Chile in 1998, when U2 played Mothers of the Disappeared – a song implicitly critical of former dictator General Augusto Pinochet – and a section of the crowd started booing the band. “It’s proof to me that a rock ‘n’ roll audience are not lemmings,” Bono later said to me.

“They’re not going to just follow you off the cliff, they’re not going to vote how you tell them to vote. If they don’t agree with you, they will let you know. That doesn’t mean they’re not fans. I was flattered that we weren’t just playing to people who agreed with us.”

Personally, I think it is one of the things rock and roll is built for: to challenge you, to make you feel, to make you think, to make you want to act.



www.telegraph.co.uk

Bono adds voice to Irish UN Security Council bid

The Irish government has formally launched the country's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

U2 frontman Bono added his voice to Ireland's bid to secure a two-year term on the council in 2021.

He said "compromise is a word that the Irish people understand very, very well". The band staged a concert for diplomats on Monday night.

Irish PM (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar said Ireland would bring hard-won insights and practical lessons to the table.

He said Ireland understood the need to listen and the importance of respecting differences.

Bono warned that "we live in a time when institutions as vital to human progress as the United Nations are under attack".

He said the UN needed "storytellers" because words mattered and one word mattered in particular.

"The word is compromise because that's how you achieve peace and compromise is a word that the Irish people understand very, very well," he said.

"It is part of our story, our recent story, and we are storytellers.

"So you honourable peace activists, if you need some storytellers to describe what's really important about this place… let us tell the story."

Mr Varadkar said that in the past 60 years, the Irish military, police and civilian personnel had served in dozens of countries around the globe, including Lebanon, Cyprus, the Balkans, East Timor, Liberia and the Congo.

"Since the first Irish troops first were deployed on UN peacekeeping operations in 1958, not a single day has passed without Irish participation in UN peace support operations," he said .

"Over the past sixty years, tens of thousands of Irish women and men have worn the blue helmets on UN peacekeeping operations. We are as proud of the blue helmet as we are of the harp or the shamrock.

"Every village, town and neighbourhood in our small country has sent men and women to serve on United Nations peacekeeping missions.

"Everyone knows someone who has served in the UN, if not several. Peacekeeping has become a part of our national identity.

www.bbc.com
video:/www.irishmirror.ie

Bono talks Texas, why he's saluting George W. Bush and the foreign aid argument we're missing

Over the last two decades, Bono has become known almost in equal measure as the frontman of U2, one of the most successful rock bands of all time, and for his humanitarian efforts. It’s for the latter that he’s set to receive the George W. Bush Medal For Distinguished Leadership.

Ahead of his trip to Dallas to receive the award, he talked with The Dallas Morning News. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.


What does good leadership look like to you? What does it mean to be a good leader?

Off the top of my head, I've always thought you're as good as the arguments you get, really. That's probably why I'm in a band and why I'm still married. [Chuckles.] I'm not just in U2. I'm in a lot of band.

I see the One campaign as a band. I see (Red) as a band. I've just started this impact fund called Rise — that's kind of a band with [co-founders Jeff Skoll and Bill McGlashan]. I just always want to be around the right arguments, I suppose, and having people who are smarter than me around. That's just what I've tried to do. And to listen. I'm a talker — sometimes I talk to try and understand subjects, but actually listening. Especially in development work, in any work, but in development work it's critical.

President [Lyndon B.] Johnson was from Texas, right?

Oh yeah, he's a big Texas guy.

Was he the one who said, “If you're talking, you're not learning?”

I'll have to look that up, but it sounds like something he would've said.

Yeah, [imitates Johnson's voice] “You're not learnin' anything if you're talking!”

I was hoping you could talk to me about your approach to activism and humanitarianism and how it's evolved over the years. I'm curious about the differences in strategy between the (Red) campaign and the One campaign.

I always saw (Red) as the sort of gateway drug to the kind of activism that the One campaign does. You know, I think it was [former Senator from Tennessee] Bill Frist ... he's a physician, and he was saying to me, if you want to make this stuff relevant to politicians, then you're going to have to bring it back to the pig roast, bring it back to the people where they live — not just the Capitol. Not just to the media. That was really where (Red) began.

We look at Bank of America and their support of (Red). It's critical in terms of their cash contributions in saving lives, but the amount of neon, of — let's call it, yeah, the neon, the amount of signage in all their branches ... You can't move without seeing the statistics about what America is doing and reminding people that it's a political imperative, using the creativity of corporate America. The creative departments of corporate America — the advertising, the marketing people, we needed particularly in the fight against HIV/AIDS, we needed everybody onboard.

Apple is our most generous contributor. Strange enough, they're most quiet in terms of the neon because they're all very modest. I'm always saying to [Apple CEO Tim Cook], please take a bow here, because we've got to half a billion dollars with (Red) and Apple deserves to take some applause. But also, we need you to make more noise, because as we're discovering, there can be some compassion fatigue.


And we've got budget cuts being pushed by this administration that would decimate not just lives, but all the work we've done. If I can remember it's over 20 million lives would be lost over the next 15 years or so. It's like getting three-quarters of the way to the moon and turning back — it's this great moonshot by America, and it is so close. I think it's the greatest single health intervention in the history of medicine, fighting a single disease and these cuts threaten to destroy it. We need heat to keep the pressure up ...

The government money is obviously doing the heavy lifting. The Global Fund and the stuff that (Red) brings in is really important, but the big numbers [are from government]. That’s why I'm coming to salute President [George W. Bush, whose administration started the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR]. Because in this, the U.S. leads the world, and he brought us there. There were a lot of people encouraging him to do it, I was one of them — it took all kinds of we sort of punk rockers and priests, we of all kinds, gathered in that movement. But he had to show leadership there. And he really did.

With proposed cuts to PEPFAR funding, there's this sense now — and getting back to what you were saying about Bill Frist — how do you bring this back to American taxpayers?  


We're really grateful for the United States for the role that you play in the world, in terms of defense. But if you ask the military men and women, they will tell you that [foreign aid, like PEPFAR] is defense. I went into the Oval office to visit President Bush and I had three pills in my hand and I said, 'Paint them red, white and blue, Mr. President, because these [life-saving medications] are the best advertisements for the United States.' And he laughed.


But actually it's turned out to be true. People love President Bush all over Africa and this is a continent that will be the most powerful player. This demographic bulge will either turn out to be a dividend or a very big problem. For Europe, for the world. I think it's going to be a very great dividend. In fashion, and music and business, I really believe in Africa. But whatever you think about Africa, it is critical that we are with these new African countries that are trying to tackle corruption and put their people first. We need them to succeed.


So, development, alongside diplomacy and defense, I think, was an early Bush doctrine. Whatever you feel about the war in Iraq, [the HIV/AIDs fight] is a monumental achievement by the people of the United States. It is akin, honestly, to the heroism of Omaha Beach or the intervention in the Second World War. I think off the top of my head, it's something like 23 million lives saved through PEPFAR [and the Global Fund] — and think about that!  That is a moonshot, and the only thing I'm sad about is that I don't think Americans know that they've done this. Americans are great at beating yourselves up about stuff, but actually you're really getting this right!

Unless there's a pratfall now, Congress — Republican and Democratic heroes in the House and the Senate — people like [Fort Worth Rep.] Kay Granger, there in Texas, they are not letting this administration screw this up. But I think the best way to ensure that it's not screwed up is if the American people take a bow, and say, wow, we really got this right. That’s why I'm coming to the Bush Center: I feel that I have a duty to report back on what's been achieved, a hell of a lot — a heaven of a lot.



You've obviously done a lot of development work over the last 15, 20 years in Africa and it's not a monolith, obviously, but is there one thing you've learned doing work there that you wish you could go back and tell yourself at the outset, when you were starting out with (Red)?



A Senegalese man in a meeting, he very gently introduced me to a proverb, which was: “If you want to cut a man's hair, be sure he's in the room.” And I felt, you know, gently scolded. We’ve got to watch with this. A messianic complex is a great thing for the lead singer of a rock band, but it doesn't work in development. You have to listen and listen again, you've got to learn from communities what they want.


What year do you think that was?


Probably early — like 2001, 2002, around that time. The One organization has 3 million members in Africa. I think we should've been called a Half, really up until that moment. Though we've had some brutish behavior down there from the leadership that went wrong in the South Africa office, but I'm still sure that we are right to be investing in our African leadership, and I think their voices will drown out ours pretty soon. It's up to 9 million members [total]. Hopefully we can be wind at the back of people who make courageous decisions in Congress, but also we can listen better and learn. We're mostly deployed on the continent of Africa, but I think it's a very exciting place and the best navigation is by Africans. Not by Irish singers.

I wanted to ask you specifically about working with George W. Bush. On its face, that could be an odd pairing, but your goals have sort of aligned over the years. Do you remember the first time you met him and was there anything where you sort of thought, "Huh, really did not see that coming," in interacting with him?


In terms of our bases, our relationship didn't look well on either of us. [Laughs.] I don't think he had much interest in meeting me — and why should he? You know, he'd just taken the Oval Office and he was a busy guy.

The first thing we did together was something that became known as the Millennium Challenge Corp. It was a new approach to development, it was if a country was tackling corruption and could prove the fiduciary quality of a particular investment, whether it be infrastructure, like roads or something, then the United States would invest. And it was a sort of pro-growth strategy and it was — it's not written about a lot. The Millennium Challenge Corp. — it's really innovative, and I think that other leaders are now looking at that in dealing with the problem that we're having now with un-managed migration in Europe. Leaders are seeing the need to invest in African success stories, and so this concept of partnering with people who are ready to be clear and transparent and have a really good plan and strategy, to back that — that was the first thing we did together. It was very practical.

I suppose the thing that surprised me was his sense of humor. It's not new to Texans. I wasn't expecting to belly laugh with this president. I remember riding in his motorcade with him and people were waving, and I said, "Oh, Mr. President, you're very popular, clearly," and he just goes, totally deadpan, "When I first came here, the people used to wave at me with one finger," and that made me laugh. I get it. You know, I might've been one of them.

In my teens even, I'm a protester by nature, and the undoing of my black-and-white view of things as a young man, were things like when people just didn't behave as the caricatures I had been told they were. I just had a lot of surprises. People whom I thought would be total [jerks] turned out to have a humanity and people I thought would be very inspirational let me down.

I started to be suspicious of clear political lines. I came from the left, that's where I grew up on the left, but I would consider myself, I'm interested in the radical center, which is just problem-solving. When it came to working with the world's poorest, the cartooning of people on the right as being totally unconcerned with what the Bible calls the least of these — I think we're misunderstanding the American people and we're misunderstanding conservatives. People laughed openly when we arrived on Capitol Hill to talk about a historic AIDS initiative with a Republican administration. People laughed at us — they really did — they got it wrong. And they underestimated this president.

I think that sort of pragmatism is interesting, especially in the social enterprise space, where you’re saying, hey, this is an opportunity to invest, do some good and if you're investing in infrastructure, make some money — it doesn't have to be either/or all the time.

Well, it's tricky. We’re trying to get rid of what's called tied aid, which is you buy our products and we will help, will feed your starving people. I don't think it should be so binary. I do think it's OK to see Africa — and Africans demand this — as a place to do commerce. And I can tell you that the rise of China did a hell of a lot for Europe and America in buying American products. I remember asking [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, where would the German economy be without the rise of China?


When I'm speaking in the U.K. with people who are suspicious of development assistance and suggesting that we should take these small percentages and keep them for our own problems, I always try to remind them that this is their next door neighbor continent, and their problems will become yours if you're not careful. Also, there's an enormous opportunity here for your financial services, for your engineering, for your manufacturing sector.

We've got to stop seeing this through the old lens, which is very patronizing. You're investing in lives and those lives are important to you. They're important to America, for compassion reasons and also commercial reasons. If I'd heard myself say that in my 20s I might've thrown up, but I'll tell you who wouldn't throw up is my African friends. They see the dignity of trade as a way of making a relationship that was vertical into a horizontal one.


If I could switch it up real quickly, do you have a favorite thing to do in Dallas or in Texas more broadly?


It's funny because for a musician, you think of Austin, Texas, and I think of Willie Nelson. I think of more romantic pursuits like music, but the last time I was out with the Bushes, I went out into the landscape, and I really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed the country life. My missus would slap me around the head for saying that because she's been trying to get me to do more hiking and that kind of thing. But I would like to spend time on trails and I'd like to ride. The Joshua Tree Tour was great, and we played Dallas. That was pretty special.

I enjoyed the president's paintings when I was out there. That made an impression on me, too.


They're something else, huh?


I don't think there could be a more alchemical bond between the subjects and the paint in the hand of this painter. I found some of them quite overwhelming. I loved the attempt to portray these [veterans] as ordinary lives, with the sort of clear fact that they're actually extraordinary lives just under the surface. I liked that. Where do you think I should go? Tell me.


I like Deep Ellum. But that might be crazy on weekend nights. Fort Worth is nice, too. The president probably has better recommendations.


In Fort Worth they have a [painting by Mark] Rothko. And I know that Sean Scully, who's a sort of Anglo Irish giant in painting, I'm pretty sure he's in one of the great museums there. I've got to go to South By Southwest. I've never been, I'm embarrassed.



Jill Cowan,Jill Cowan, Economy Writer

www.dallasnews.com

March for Our Lives

The "March for Our Lives" rallies that took place in cities across the country on Saturday underscored the momentum of a political movement that emerged following a deadly mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school last month. The marches featured students delivering impassioned calls for Congress to pass stricter gun control measures, and drew hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of large cities and small towns alike. In Washington, the epicenter of the protests, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the Feb. 14 shooting took place, sought to galvanize support for the movement they started more than a month ago.

Many celebrities and important people were seen in the rally. Paul Mc Cartney, who said he came to the march because he had a dear friend shot (John Lennon, of course), Martin Luther King's 9-year-old granddaughter,George Clooney and singers Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus.

U2 was not present but their presence was felt:

 David Hogg, a student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and one of the strongest voices demanding change, tweeted,
"This is what happens when I listen to U2 and tweet lol."

That caught the attention of U2, who posted this response on Twitter:

Glad our songs were of some use to you at this time…. love and respect - U2 

Naomi Wadler, an 11-year-old elementary school student, also spoke at the event in Washington, D.C. She said,
"I am here today to acknowledge and represent the African American girls whose stories don't make the front page of every national newspaper, whose stories don't lead on the evening news ... I represent the African American women who are victims of gun violence, who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls full of potential."

Bono was moved to dedicate lyrics from "13 (There Is A Light)" to her on Instagram:

www.atu2.com

Adam Clayton on Donald Trump

Bono meets German Development Minister

German Development Minister Gerd Mueller meets with Bono at the German Ministry of Development on September 23, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.





http://www.gettyimages.com/

Ireland bailed out by Irish people, not troika, says Bono

Europe urged to rediscover ‘its soul’ and spread its values of peace and prosperity to its neighbours

Ireland was bailed out by the sacrifices of the Irish people themselves and not the EU- ECB-IMF troika, U2 singer Bono has told European leaders.

Addressing the European People’s Party election congress in Dublin, he urged Europe to rediscover “its soul” and spread its values of peace and prosperity to its neighbours, particularly Africa.

He also told the conference, which included EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and German chancellor Angela Merkel, that Europe should discover the Irish concept of “meitheal” or neighbourliness.

He instanced the Irish development aid budgets, which “have roughly stayed the course” throughout the country’s economic difficulties, a factor he said made him “very, very proud to be Irish”.

Referring to the influence of Ireland in the world, which he said was part-imagined, he said: “We genuinely believe the United State of America is our colony.”

Kenny ‘preferred Springsteen’

He paid tribute to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who was also present along with a number of European prime ministers. Bono said Mr Kenny was personally modest, an attribute he admired in the man. But he said he had never been able to say this directly to Mr Kenny as the Taoiseach “preferred Bruce Springsteen to U2”.

He said while he admired Mr Kenny’s modesty, “the Irish people were screwed” in the recent economic collapse. It was not, he said, the troika that had rescued the country’s finances: “The Irish people bailed out the Irish people.”

He said the “rise of extreme nationalism, the ugly kind” was “an equal-opportunity hater” that promoted hatred towards migrants, Roma and gays and should not be welcome.

Explaining the village cooperative ethos of meitheal, he told the EU leaders: “Our principles will not fail us, but we must not fail our principles.”


“There’s a transparency revolution happening, and Europe is at the forefront of it. Call it daylight. Without it, you can’t fight the corruption that keeps the poor poor, and you can’t fight the secrecy that keeps the corrupt rich.” Watch the full speech:

http://www.irishtimes.com/

Bono to address EPP summit on Europe’s role in world

U2 singer invited to speak by Taoiseach Enda Kenny

U2 singer Bono will address centre-right leaders including German chancellor Angela Merkel at today’s summit in Dublin of the European People’s Party, Fine Gael’s European affiliate.

Bono will attend the event on foot of an invitation from Taoiseach Enda Kenny and speak on Europe’s role in the world. He will stress that his engagement with EPP leaders is non-partisan politically and part of his ongoing dialogue with global leaders.

“For all this progress, for all these achievements, nearly 60 years after the Treaty of Rome, Europe is an economic entity that still needs to become a social entity,” he will say. “Europe is a thought that needs to become a feeling.”

Bono will attend as a representative of the One campaign against extreme poverty, a group which argues that it is crucial for European leaders to introduce measures to make it more difficult to move money secretly around the world.

The One campaign believes money secretly moved from sub-Saharan Africa through the financial system amounts to some €38.6bn per year, greater than the €29.8 billion the region receives in developmental aid from wealthy western countries.

Bono will call at the EPP meeting for action in European law to introduce public registers of the ownership of “phantom firms” and off-shore companies and trusts.

“Right now your ministers . . . and your members of the European Parliament. are working on another law that could help transform the lives for the poor, and the rest of us, too,” he will say.

“It’s a law to inject daylight into the financial system to stop corrupt monies vanishing to ‘safe’ havens and combat money laundering.”

He’s also expected to praise recent initiatives to foster transparency in the trading of minerals, and say that the European politicians did something remarkable last year by passing laws which mean that “wealth under the ground” is more likely to benefit citizens of countries which are resource rich yet economically poor.

“Legislation that requires oil, gas, and mining companies to tell us how much money they pay to governments in countries – mostly poor countries – where they operate,” he will say.

“The values bound up in the legislation are justice, fairness and responsibility to stop playing our part in this corruption.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/

http://www.one.org

ACTIONS.SPEAK.LOUDER.

"A Message for Iran"

In a message sent to Bono, Amir Hossein Jahanshahi, founder of Green Wave, expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the continued support that Bono and his group have given the Iranian nation's struggle for the liberation of their country.

This message was sent following the launch of a new music video for U2, which is now available for the Iranian public via Facebook, Twitter and Youtube of Amir Hossein Jahanshahi. In his message to Bono, Jahanshahi says:

"While I express my thanks to you as a great international artist who has always supported  the causes of the struggle of the people and freedom movements everywhere, I'm sure your moral support  to the Iranian nation will serve as a important drive to further enhance its efforts to the establishment of a civilized order in line with the aspirations of all Iranians. Yourr support comes at the time when Iranians ,more than ever,are  in need of support and international solidarity to prepare to confront the dictatorial regime prevailing in our country today. Bono and U2 once again have shown their support and solidarity with the love of freedom for the people of Iran and  the regional search for democratic change. "


http://noticierou2.blogspot.com.ar/

Bono: We all belong on the cover of 'Time', not Enda

INFLUENTIAL rock star Bono believes that the people of Ireland -- not Taoiseach Enda Kenny -- should have featured on the cover of Time magazine.

"They are the ones who have taken all the pain," he told the Sunday Independent last week.

The international weekly news magazine featured Mr Kenny on the cover of the European edition above the headline 'The Celtic Comeback'.

"I heard the Taoiseach said -- and I think it's right -- that the real people who should have been on the front cover were the Irish people. If it's true he said that, then that says a lot about the man. Because it's the people who have taken all the pain."

The author of the article, Time Europe editor Catherine Mayer, is also a friend of Bono's.

They met over 15 years ago through her husband, guitarist Andy Gill of post-punk band Gang of Four.

In a piece for the Telegraph newspaper for the 10th anniversary of the INXS star's death, Mr Gill recalls how his then girlfriend Catherine and he used to fly to the South of France and spend time partying with Bono, Michael Hutchenceand Paula Yates.

As Gill recalled: "The first time I took Catherine to Bono's house, she and Michael and Bono took a naked midnight swim.

"While they were treading water, Bono asked her what she did for a living. When she told him she was a journalist, he ducked under the surface, came up spluttering and said: "Well, please write that mine is bigger than Michael's."

Mr Kenny gave the interview in Government Buildings to the international weekly, which said he was "leading Ireland's fight to recover from the bust".

Bono met Enda at Christmas time last year to discuss affairs of state.

The duo had a two-hour meeting in the Taoiseach's office, during which the U2 singer's offer to act as an ambassador for Ireland was discussed, the Sunday Independent revealed.

Meanwhile, Bono has also told the Sunday Independent that he is humbled that the Irish people are still intent on giving to the Third World, despite their own financial turmoil.

"The Irish people are amazing. What's so incredible about the Irish people is that if you poll them -- I think it's over 62 per cent -- even though they are hurting and there's a lot of pain in the country, they don't want to cut the aid budget. That just humbles me," he said.

- NIAMH HORAN EXCLUSIVE

http://www.independent.ie/

Bono Welcomes Aung San Suu Kyi in Norway

She wore red roses in her hair, he donned his huge orange sunglasses - Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday met one of her biggest fans, U2 frontman and activist rock star Bono. 
'I'm star-struck,' admitted the Irish singer, who has long supported her freedom struggle and dedicated the song Walk On to her, when they met at a peace forum in Oslo, Ms Suu Kyi's latest stop on a five-nation Europe tour. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ms Suu Kyi has herself received superstar treatment and been cheered by crowds of many thousands as she visited Norway on her first Europe trip in a quarter-century after years of house arrest. Long isolated, threatened and vilified by one of the world's must repressive dictatorships, she has recently rejoined mainstream politics in a changing country, while many of her party members have been freed from prison.


Both of them participated in The Oslo Forum  which gathered around 100 peace brokers and key players in peace processes around the world. Bono himself was there to speak about the peace process and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, before escorting Suu Kyi to Dublin Monday afternoon for a major concert sponsored by Amnesty International in Dublin Monday night. Bono told reporters he hoped he wouldn’t be too nervous to sing, with Suu Kyi in the audience.


Click here to watch the Forum where Aung San Suu Kyi   and Bono participated.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (left) welcoming Bono to the hotel and conference center Losby Gods in Oslo on Monday. PHOTO: Kjetil Elsebutangen/Utenriksdepartemente

Ahead of her visit, Bono met up with Nobel Prize-winning poet Heaney, who was taking part in a reading as part of the "Dalkey book festival" founded by Sian Smyth and David McWilliams. Thousands of supporters are expected to turn out to honour Ms Suu Kyi today when she will be presented with Amnesty International’s prestigious Ambassador of Conscience award.

Bono with poet Seamus Heaney &  Sian Smyth

http://www.straitstimes.com/http://www.newsinenglish.no/http://www.thesun.co.uk

Bono and Enda: whiskey and waffle

WHEN Bono met Enda (Kenny, Head of the Irish government) the rock star presented the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) with a bottle of Mayo whiskey as the advisers were sent away and the pair discussed affairs of state.




The duo had a two-hour private meeting in the Taoiseach's office last Wednesday during which the U2 singer's offer to act as an ambassador for Ireland was discussed, the Sunday Independent can reveal.
Bono presented the bottle of whiskey, believed to be the niche Inish Turk Beg, to the Taoiseach as a Christmas gift.
A Government spokesman last night confirmed that the meeting had been tentatively agreed at the Global Irish Economic Forum at Dublin Castle in October. At the forum, Bono said he was willing to "hit the road again", not on a U2 world tour, but to resurrect the reputation of Ireland abroad.


The U2 singer told delegates at the forum that he was willing to work for the country in whatever role was asked of him.
Last night the Taoiseach's spokesman said a "wide range of issues" were discussed by the two men during what turned out to be an extended meeting. Mr Kenny asked all staff to vacate the room while he and Bono discussed national and international events.
The meeting, which took place ahead of the U2 Christmas party in Dublin, is the first known occasion in recent years that Bono has had a one-to-one meeting with a Taoiseach. In the late Eighties, the rock star, who is from Glasnevin in Dublin, established a close relationship with the late Fine Gael leader Garret FitzGerald. Bono was also a member of Young Fine Gael in that decade.

ONE´s voices resonated around Paris

The “F-word” resonated loudly last night in Paris as anti-poverty campaign group ONE teamed up with the City of Paris to send a shocking message to G20 leaders, who are meeting later this week in Cannes. The square of the Paris Town Hall was plunged in complete darkness while ONE’s “F-Famine” and “A future without famine” videos were projected onto the wall of the Town Hall.

On the eve of the G20 summit in Cannes, hundreds of members of ONE, along with a few celebrities including Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Friedreric Diefenthal, gathered on the steps of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris to recall on world leaders that if the drought is an act of nature, famine is man-made.

With the exceptional support of the City of Paris, the latest clips of ONE, called “F-Word: Famine is the real obscenity” and “A future without famine” were projected onto the walls of City Hall, first in their French version and the English version.

Read more: The ONE blog.

ACT NOW!!! I hope you’ll take a few minutes to sign ONE’s petition to help break the cycle of famine and ensure that people are hungry no more: 

http://act.one.org/sign/hungry_no_more/?referring_akid=.1756964.FNemhG 

www.one.org

Governor Scioli: "U2 Makes Use of Rock to Raise Awareness, Commitment and Action"

Daniel Scioli, Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, thanked Bono and U2 for choosing Estadio Unico of La Plata for their shows in Argentina. Mr Scioli and his wife ,ex-model Karina Rabolini, met the band   before the show started at the stadium. The governor said U2 singer praised the stadium  especially its  prospects  for future events.
Three hours later, Bono thanked the stadium  for the support.

Jack Berry, production director, said that "the band likes trying new venues and they are very happy of being the first ones to play in this new stadium."


www.estadiolp.gba.gov.ar//www.vosregional.com

What did Bono and the Argentinian President Talk about?

The Argentinian President  Cristina Fernández de Kirchner met Bono yesterday in the Pink House (The Government House)  .Bono asked the leader to support ,in the next G-20 meeting, the fact that the companies and governments  publish their accounts so they can be well known all over the world.

Bono arrived at 7.30 pm with five people of his entourage and left the Governmet House after 8.30.

According to presidential spokesperson,Alfredo Scoccimarro, the singer and activist in defence of the developing countries  asked the President to propose three topics to be developed in the next G-20 meeting.

In the first place he considered that Argentina should support the development of technologies for the investigation, making and distribution of vaccines as he believes that if there is a worldwide vaccination system in ten years diseases like malaria will be a thing of the past.

Then Bono remarked the importance of sharing the know-how of agro-industrial technology with the rest of the world to increase food production and help in the fight against poverty and huger.

Finally he mentioned the need of asking in the G-20 meeting that "all the oil and mining companies" , and the President added "all companies" "communicate their accounts to the people so everybody knows how much they ear and how much tax they pay"

Bono Met Argentinian President Cristina F. de Kirchner

Argentinian President, Ms Cristina Fernández de Kirchner met Bono in her office at Casa Rosada (Pink House) some hours ago.

The meeting was said to be "private" and the Government spokesperson did not say what they talked about. Bono gave the President an i-Pod with  U2 songs. The President thanked him effusively. 
This is the second visit Bono makes to the Pink House. Five years ago, he met the ex-president (and Ms Kirchner´s husband) the late Nestor Kirchner.

Bono on his way to meet the Argentinian President 

www.cronista.com//www.elargentino.com/www.tn.com.ar

Bono in New York

A few days ago, Bono took the subway in New York to his various appointments on behalf of ONE...

He boards a subway in the Capitol in between meetings with Democratic and Republican senators to advocate for preserving federal aid for Africa on behalf of the ONE Campaign. 
Congresswoman Granger met with U2 lead singer Bono, and CEO of ONE Josh Bolten, to discuss the organization Bono co-founded. ONE raises public awareness on extreme poverty and preventable diseases.

More pics, here 

Bono met South African President, Jabob Zuma

Rock star Bono from the rock band U2, left, listen to South African President Jacob Zuma, right, after a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam) 

Bono met South African President, Jacob Zuma, in Cape Town on Thursday 17th. Bono said on Tuesday that technology is key to solving Africa´s problems and urged other stars  to come forward and promote good causes. 

President Zuma shows the NANO Ipod gift he received from Bono.

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma proudly holds up a tiny, red object and the assembled group of journalists strain to see what is in his hand.

The iPod was a gift from U2 singer Bono, Zuma explained.

Bono said it was an iPod nano from his own Product Red brand created to raise awareness and funds to combat HIV/Aids in Africa.

The statesman and frontman met yesterday morning in Cape Town at Genadendal, the president’s official residence.

After talking for some time inside the house, the pair strolled out to the gardens to greet journalists for a photo opportunity.

Bono said the meeting with Zuma had gone well and he was encouraged by Zuma’s work to eradicate “the scourge of HIV/Aids”.

Bono called Zuma’s efforts “remarkable”.

He had been involved with work on the African continent for some years and had fallen in love with it, Bono said.

Zuma said he was “very pleased indeed” to have had an opportunity to meet Bono, whom he described as a “star”.

He said Bono had raised some very serious issues and had shown he was concerned about the continent and passionate about Africa.

The singer said he had been impressed with Zuma’s warmth and had been made to feel so relaxed in his home.

And then, with a wave from Zuma and a peace sign from Bono, they were gone, with no time for questions permitted.

Bono has been surrounded by media scrutiny since arriving in South Africa.This intensified after an article appeared in the Sunday Times which said the singer supported ANCYL leader Ju-lius Malema’s singing of the controversial Shoot the Boer.

Bono has since cleared the air in an interview with Talk Radio 702’s Redi Tlhabi, saying it was irresponsible to use struggle songs to stir up hate.

Tonight, more than 72 000 people are set to make their way to the Cape Town Stadium and pack themselves into every available seat for the Irish super group’s concert.

The U2 360° Tour is an ongoing worldwide concert tour which started in Spain in June 2009 and is set to end in July this year.

Production director Jake Berry yesterday showed journalists around the stage built for U2 at Cape Town Stadium.

He explained how The Claw, a gigantic structure which allowed the massive stadium to feel intimate, was constructed there over the past week.

The City of Cape Town will be activating the 2010 World Cup “park-n-ride” and “park-n-rail” services, and these will be free for all U2 ticket holders.

The Fan Walk will also be open from 3.30pm.

More tickets are expected to become available today and will cost between R800 and R1 000.

The stadium’s doors open at 4.30pm. -

Picture gallery

michelle.jones@inl.co.za

http://es.noticias.yahoo.com//www.thepresidency.gov.za///www.iol.co.za