Tens of thousands of people turned out yesterday to hear local and international stars at two Australian concerts to raise funds for victims of wildfires that killed hundreds of people.
British supergroup Coldplay started off the “Sound Relief” concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground with their hit Yellow, while local band Jet opened the show in Australia’s second biggest city Melbourne.
US group Kings of Leon were also due to perform before a crowd of 80,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before specially reunited Australian protest rockers Midnight Oil close the concert.
Midnight Oil’s frontman is Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who told a news conference he had no problems swapping his formal role for the chance to rock and roll again.
“We didn’t have to convince the prime minister [Kevin Rudd] or anyone else about us playing,” he said. “Naturally, I consulted with my colleagues because I’ve got responsibilities but I think everybody recognizes that it was just a really extraordinary situation and occasion that had come about.”
Garrett, 55, and Midnight Oil rose to fame with worldwide hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Beds are Burning and Blue Sky Mine, before splitting in 2002. The minister said the Victorian bushfires had been an “extraordinary and at times traumatic experience” for the state’s people.
“The music industry coming together to put its hands in its pockets and get itself out on the stage and perform in an arena like the Melbourne Cricket Ground is a very, very special day for us,” he said.
The two concerts are expected to raise about A$5 million (US$3.25 million) to help victims of the worst wildfires in the nation’s history.
At least 210 people were killed and more than 2,000 homes destroyed as fires fanned by record high temperatures and strong winds swept through drought-stricken southern Victoria state last month.
Ironically, rain fell in the state capital Melbourne as the concert got under way, but it failed to deter fans, while in Sydney a thunderstorm halted proceedings.
Sensitivities about the fires gave some of the stars pause for thought, though, with Kings of Leon declining to play one of their biggest songs, Sex on Fire. It was also seen as unlikely that Garrett and Midnight Oil would perform their hit Beds are Burning.
“I think that you can look at lyrics out of any songs and clearly, there are going to be lines there that pertain to any human situation,” he told the news conference. “But the songs stand in their own right and in their own time.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese