London (ANI): A host of Latin celebrities including the likes of Shakira and Ricky Martin are doing their share of charity by performing at two fund raising concerts to highlight the plight of some 32m Latin American children living in poverty. The concerts will be held in the two Buenos Aires and Mexico City and will be attended by many thousands of viewers.
The proceeds of the two events, being held simultaneously in Argentina and Mexico, will be going to the Latin America in Solidarity Action (Alas) charity. Earlier Shakira revealed that she had managed to get 200m dollars in donations from Mexican and US tycoons Carlos Slim and Howard Buffett and said that the eradication of poverty was "doable."
While Slim is the telecommunications magnate, Howard Buffet is the eldest son of the US investment guru, Warren Buffett. "Imagine what Latin America could achieve if we invest in developing the potential of these children," BBC quoted Shakira, as saying earlier this week. She added: "The funny thing is that Latin America produces three times what it needs to feed its population. So, it is doable, we can really eradicate poverty." It was in 2006 that Alas was launched for dealing with poverty that kills an estimated 350,000 children each year in Latin America.
The Robin Hood Foundation's annual gala last night in New York raised $56.5 million, a drop of more than $15 million from the 2007 event as subprime mortgage losses and job reductions reverberated at Wall Street's biggest charity event. About 3,700 executives from Wall Street banks, hedge funds and private-equity companies were moved away from the problems of Bear Stearns Cos. and the credit crunch with serenades by Shakira, John Legend and Sheryl Crow. With 2007's gala raising $72 million, last night's take represents about a 21.5 percent decline.
``I'm pleased and surprised that the total raised was as high as it was because I thought it would have been lower,'' John Whitehead, the former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs & Co. and a philanthropist, said in a phone interview today. ``It still shows a fabulous generosity in the Wall Street community at a time when business is much worse than it was a year ago.'' The dip in donations came amid global economic weakening as financial companies around the world cut more than 83,000 jobs since last July. Banks and brokerages, which employ many of Robin Hood's donors, have taken $383 billion in write downs and credit losses. The festivities at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center attracted Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. co-founder Henry Kravis and Pequot Capital Management Inc. Chairman Arthur Samberg.
David Saltzman, Robin Hood's executive director, said in an interview at the Javits Center that the estimated total could be higher after all donations are counted as early as today. He said the evening's tally, at a time that banks are laying off staff, still showed an ``extraordinary'' display of generosity.
Tough Times
``Despite what's going on in the economy, people who are in a position to help others step up, and during tough times they step up even more,'' Saltzman said. High finance mixed with the world of entertainment as Conan O'Brien of NBC's ``Late Night'' program hosted the event. Celebrities in attendance included the rapper Jay-Z, Rush Communications Chairman Russell Simmons and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. Musician David Byrne, who attended the gala with his girlfriend Cindy Sherman, said the gala bustling with entertainment and finance-industry stars was ``quite a scene.'' ``The bids are probably going to be outside of my tax bracket,'' Byrne said in an interview about the event's auction while waiting outside the Javits Center.
Hip-Twitching
After a dinner of filet of beef, grilled chicken and bow-tie pasta, the attendees listened to live music performed by Shakira, the hip-twitching Colombian pop singer, and rock star Crow, who made a surprise appearance and took the stage for a rendition of ``Lean on Me.'' The Robin Hood gala has become one of New York's largest philanthropic events with its huge annual tally and donor list. It's also a symbolic gesture in which Wall Street's richest extend a hand for a night to the city's poorest. One of out every five New Yorkers lives in poverty and about 300,000 people receive food from a soup kitchen or food pantry weekly, the foundation points out on its Web site. The $1.9 trillion hedge-fund industry is off to its worst start in almost two decades as some firms have been forced to liquidate or sell their holdings this year. Saltzman said individual donations ranged from $1 to ``millions of dollars.'' In 2007, John Paulson, founder of the New York-based Paulson & Co., led all hedge-fund managers with an estimated $3.7 billion in pay, according to Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine.
London (ANI): A host of Latin celebrities including the likes of Shakira and Ricky Martin are doing their share of charity by performing at two fund raising concerts to highlight the plight of some 32m Latin American children living in poverty. The concerts will be held in the two Buenos Aires and Mexico City and will be attended by many thousands of viewers.
The proceeds of the two events, being held simultaneously in Argentina and Mexico, will be going to the Latin America in Solidarity Action (Alas) charity. Earlier Shakira revealed that she had managed to get 200m dollars in donations from Mexican and US tycoons Carlos Slim and Howard Buffett and said that the eradication of poverty was "doable."
While Slim is the telecommunications magnate, Howard Buffet is the eldest son of the US investment guru, Warren Buffett. "Imagine what Latin America could achieve if we invest in developing the potential of these children," BBC quoted Shakira, as saying earlier this week. She added: "The funny thing is that Latin America produces three times what it needs to feed its population. So, it is doable, we can really eradicate poverty." It was in 2006 that Alas was launched for dealing with poverty that kills an estimated 350,000 children each year in Latin America.
Mexico City.– Colombian singer Shakira announced Thursday that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and American Howard Buffett will donate US$200 million to a foundation that helps poor children in Latin America. Slim, Mexico's richest man, will donate US$110 million and his business expertise. Buffett, son of investment guru Warren Buffett, will give US$85 million. The other US$5 million will be donated by people throughout Latin America.
«Imagine what Latin America could achieve if we invest in developing the potential of these children,» Shakira said. The Latin America in Solidarity Action –whose Spanish acronym is ALAS, or «wings» – was launched in 2006 with a promise to tackle poverty that kills an estimated 350,000 children each year in the region. Conceived by Shakira, the foundation is also backed by Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Spanish singers Miguel Bose and Alejandro Sanz.
ALAS will host two massive, simultaneous concerts Saturday in Buenos Aires and Mexico City to raise awareness about 32 million children living in poverty Latin America. The concerts will include Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin, the Mexican norteno group Los Tigres and Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra among others.
The members of Los Angeles band The Little Ones, who play Saturday at Kilby Court, choose to live their lives using Uncle Lee's Rule of Feet. "It was a turning point in our songwriting process," said Ian Moreno, guitarist and percussionist, about discovering the rule. And what is Uncle Lee's Rule of Feet? "It makes you want to shoot your booty," Moreno said. "It's finding that groove and finding that 'Eureka' moment. It pretty much applies to our [entire] catalog." "Shakira stole it from us," said singer and guitarist Edward Reyes. "I compare it to Shakira's 'Hips Don't Lie,' " Moreno said. "But we're not as good-looking as Shakira."
The rule is named after Lee LaDouceur, keyboardist and bassist for the pop-rock band, though neither Moreno nor Reyes could say if LaDouceur was an uncle to anyone. (Moreno hopes not, because LaDouceur dates his younger sister.) But moving your feet to the music is a must for the band, and the audience. The band explains it on its Web site: "The rule stated that a song was deemed appropriate if, and only if, each of the Little Ones' feet could shuffle. Once they adopted this new rule, they began to realize what they had right in front of them." Influenced by the Beach Boys and the 1960s British Invasion, the Little Ones formed in 2005 after Reyes and Moreno were in a cult band called Sunday's Best. Sunday's Best was formed inside the studio of Loyola. Marymount University's college radio station, where the two worked. Soaking up the music of the Kinks and the Zombies, the duo found a shared love of rock music that snapped, crackled and, most important, popped.
It is a spirit that infuses the band's full-length album, "Morning Tide," which will drop this summer. "[The album] is more fitting for summer," Moreno said. "In general, that's our music. The imagery and overall vibe is more of a summer album. It's not a winter album." The band talked to The Salt Lake Tribune as its tour bus pulled into Chicago on a tour stop. Moreno was asked if Lee was in fact shuffling his feet in the bus. "Our stomach is full of Chipotle," Moreno said. "Lee would dance, but he's stuffed with burritos."
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Shakira is trying to shake things up to provide a basic education to every child in the world. The pop singer met with U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey Tuesday to discuss The Education for All Act. The Democrat is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that oversees U.S. foreign assistance programs and also is co-sponsor of the proposed bill.
"I was delighted to meet an advocate who has repeatedly said that she prefers to use the light that is shone on her to shine it on the causes that are truly important, like basic education for children around the world," Menendez said. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined a telephone conference Monday with the Grammy-winning singer famed for her hit "Hips Don't Lie." Shakira is working to highlight the cause of education advocacy group the Global Campaign for Education.
It’s not ever day that one has the opportunity to put pictures of pop star Shakira into a political. But she was in Washington recently to raise awareness for her favorite issue, universal education, the effort to provide millions of children around the globe who are now denied even a basic education the chance at one. She’s a spokesperson for the Campaign for Global Education. A very worthy goal, indeed. But let’s face it, that’s not why the House hearing room was packed recently with gawkers. It was all about Shakira, whose hips weren’t lying on Capitol Hill.
Hillary Clinton appeared on the “Today Show” a few days ago. I watched the whole “Today Show” appearance (so you don’t have to unless you’re feeling masochistic), but you might want to watch it to hear her complain about how it’s harder for a woman to run for president. It takes her longer to get ready in the morning, and, of course, there’s all that discrimination against women. I also got a giggle when she said “you don’t know what kind of problem is going to walk in the door or the Oval Office.” I really think she’d be well-advised to keep him out of the Oval Office.
London (ANI): A host of Latin celebrities including the likes of Shakira and Ricky Martin are doing their share of charity by performing at two fund raising concerts to highlight the plight of some 32m Latin American children living in poverty. The concerts will be held in the two Buenos Aires and Mexico City and will be attended by many thousands of viewers.
