Shakira to lobby on child welfare

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - Latin pop star Shakira, showing she can move more than her hips, will lobby Latin American presidents this week to start a regional project to pump money into children's health and education.

The singer will address a summit in El Salvador of Ibero-American leaders, including the presidents of Brazil and her native Colombia, over the need to feed and educate poor children, especially amid a global economic slowdown.

"There are difficult times coming in Latin America. Thousands and thousands of children will die if governments do not organize ways to distribute food during this crisis," Shakira told Reuters.

"I grew up in the developing world and I have witnessed the lack of opportunities that children have to live with," she added, speaking by telephone from Miami.

"In a country like mine, when a child is born poor, people die poor. But I'm fascinated by the fact that through education you can transform lives, you can end this cycle of poverty."

Some 35 million children live in poverty in Latin America with little or no access to proper food and education, Shakira said. Investing in a year of primary education can increase a person's adult income by up to 20 percent, she added.

Shakira's hip-swivelling dances and catchy ballads have earned her a huge global following and a string of Grammy awards. She began getting into social issues just a few years into her pop career, starting a Colombian children's charity called the Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet) Foundation in 1997, named after her breakthrough hit album released a year before.

While celebrities like Bono and Angelina Jolie have focused on Africa, Shakira uses her fame to make headlines on Latin America, where stubbornly high poverty levels can get overlooked because of healthier overall economic indicators.

Shakira helped launch the Fundacion ALAS (Latin America in Solidarity Action), which is behind the new initiative, and has lobbied British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the U.S. Congress on the need to educate children in poor countries.

"My heart is committed to this cause and it has been there for a long time, since I was 18," said Shakira, now 31, who has sold some 50 million albums around the world.

"I like to think that I can use my public profile to bring attention to more important issues than my own."

Her new project will seek funding from organizations like the World Bank and would monitor governments' efforts closely, although the golden-tressed singer regretted she would not have time to get involved in inspection efforts on the ground.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/peopleNews

Shakira: Pretty in Paris

Getting some fresh air in the City of Lights, Shakira was spotted on her way out of Le Hotel Meurice in downtown Paris, France earlier today (October 17).
The “Hips Don’t Lie” songstress looked cute and casual in a purple v-neck sweater teamed with a pair of vintage wash jeans and some black high-heeled boots.


Source:http://www.infosjeunes.com/Shakira-Pretty-in-Paris_a130680.html

Lorraine's best and worst guests

TV presenter Lorraine Kelly has revealed that the most difficult guest she has ever had to interview was Harrison Ford.

Lorraine, who presents LK Today, spoke to Star magazine about her most difficult guests: "Harrison Ford. I felt disappointed because I loved Blade Runner and was really looking forward to meeting him. It wasn't so much that he was rude, but he was a bit grumpy. I think he was bored and made it very clear that he did not want to be there.

"Bruce Willis also made for strange viewing. He was pleasant, but just took ages to answer a question."

The Scottish presenter added: "We had Shakira on and she was adorable, but the people around her were a pain.

"Her people kept saying to us: 'Shakira needs special water.' What rubbish. Shakira doesn't need special water, but these people need to justify their existence and make silly demands. You think: 'Oh, for goodness' sake."

But Lorraine admitted to Star that her favourite guests have been George Clooney and Will Smith - whom she describes as "adorable".

She said: "I remember saying to Will after I'd interviewed him: 'Thank you so much. I wish every A-lister was like you.' I honestly could have kissed him because I thought he had such a brilliant attitude."

Source: http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/showbiz/

Shakira sings for hostages' freedom

Shakira led the way for her compatriots as Colombians came out to demonstrate for the freedom of the remaining hostages held by leftist rebels. Well over a million Colombians, clad in white and shouting 'No more kidnapping', marked their independence day with marches and concerts demanding freedom for the remaining detainees.

Demonstrators chanted Libertad! - the Spanish word for freedom - in rallies across the Andean nation and in some 40 cities abroad, including Paris, London, Miami, Beijing, Sydney and New York. It was the second nationwide mobilisation this year against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

In the jungle border city of Leticia, native daughter Shakira performed after singing the national anthem at a military parade presided over by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, with the presidents of Brazil and Peru attending.

news source : http://ukpress.google.com/

Shakira meets Betancourt in Paris

Shakira is currently recording her new album in London and Betancourt is in Paris recovering after being held in the Colombian jungle by the FARC for six years.

Both women will be involved coming Sunday in a worldwide protest against the FARC. Betancourt, together with Colombian pop star Juanes, will head the march held in Paris. Shakira will hold a concert on the Colombian border with Peru and Brazil.

news source : http://colombiareports.com/

Shakira, other Latin pop stars vow to fight on for hostages

Shakira, other Latin pop stars vow to fight on for hostages BOGOTA (AFP) — Colombian singing sensation Shakira and nine other Latin music stars vowed Monday to keep fighting for the release of hostages held by Colombian rebels after 15 captives were freed last week.

The musicians, from Spanish singers Alejandro Sanz and Miguel Bose to Colombian pop stars Juanes and Carlos Vives, made their pledge in a letter to the 15 ex-hostages, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. "We will continue until we see all of them free," the letter says. "Our eyes and lips will not rest until we see and kiss those who remain captives of those without conscience."

The letter is also signed by David Bisbal, Juan Fernando Velasco, Ricardo Montaner, Paulina Rubio and Juan Luis Guerra. The same group of artists had promoted a peace concert at the Colombian-Venezuelan in March amid fears of a regional conflict pitting Colombia against Venezuela and Ecuador. Last Wednesday, the Colombian military rescued Betancourt, three US nationals and 11 Colombians who had been held hostages by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for years.

The guerrilla group still holds an estimated 700 hostages for ransom as well as 24 high-profile captives whom the FARC considers "political prisoners," a group that Betancourt and the Americans used to belong to.

news source : http://afp.google.com/

Vedder to play Massey Hall

Eddie Vedder, the lead singer for Pearl Jam, will be at Toronto's Massey Hall on Aug. 12 and 13 and in Montreal on Aug. 9 for the second leg of his solo tour. Tickets, from $75, go on sale July 11 through Ticketmaster. The '70s rock troupe Bad Company will reunite for a one-off show on Aug. 8 at the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., the group's first performance since 1999. Shakira is joining Madonna and others in signing a contract with promotion giant Live Nation, worth an estimated $70 million to $100 million.

Sacha Baron Cohen will star as Sherlock Holmes and Will Ferrell as his assistant Watson in a film comedy inspired by tales of the fictional English sleuth, Columbia Pictures said. Actor Wesley Snipes will be allowed to leave the U.S. for London and Bangkok to work on two movies while his lawyers appeal his tax convictions, a judge ruled yesterday. Rap star DMX was arrested for failing to appear in court, failure to pay fines and driving without a licence at a Phoenix airport yesterday, adding to legal woes that include drug possession and animal cruelty charges. The show will go on. The Actors' Equity Association and the Broadway League, which represents New York producers and theatre owners, reached a tentative agreement yesterday, averting the possibility of a strike. The 39-month contract would increase compensation for actors by 11 1/4 per cent.

news source : http://www.thestar.com/