Bono, U2 lead singer and co-founder of ONE Campaign founding partner DATA (debt AIDS trade Africa) joined philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates in being named Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year for2005. Time calls the trio “The Good Samaritans” and in bestowing the honour declares: “For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are TIME’sS Persons of the Year.”

REACTION FROM BONO, U2 LEAD SINGER AND CO-FOUNDER OF DATA:
“I’m flattered, but it’s the millions of campaigners across America, Europe, and abova all, Africa who really deserve this award. They have made this a great year of promise-making to the poor by political leaders, and it is they who, whith back up vocals from the likes of Bill, Melinda and I, will ensure polititians keep their promises.
There’s much more to do, but last year we had no promise of $25 billion in more effective aid for Africa, no commitments to get AIDS drugs to all who need thm, to beat back malaria and put every child in school. The checks have been signed but to cash them it’s going to take a worldwide movement of people who make a priority of the poor. Every generation has its defining struggle its shot at greatness. This is ours.”

Check out today’s Business Week
article, EU,
U.S. push aid to
help poor nations to learn more about what is happening in trade talks at the
WTO meetings this week.

With trade talks mired in a stalemate, the United
States and EU on Tuesday sought to highlight a
positive initiative by urging trading partners to help the world’s poorest
nations with money to strengthen their trading capabilities.
The EU announced
it would boost its annual contribution for so-called “Aid-for-Trade” by euro1
billion (US$1.18 billion) by the year 2010, bringing its total to euro2 billion
(US$2.4 billion) a year.
U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman was also to
unveil additional U.S. measures Wednesday as part of an
effort by the World Trade Organization to provide money for poor countries to
build trade infrastructure and other services to help them better compete in
world markets.
Developing countries say they need rich-world aid so they can
strengthen their ports, roads, schools and bridges. It would also help them
implement new WTO rules, which are often expensive, and help compensate for the
loss of the preferential trade access of their products into rich world
markets.

Click here
to read the full article

Cities of ONE and States of ONE have joined the growing list of individuals and communities committed to ONE’s campaign to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty.

“Today, more than 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day and 300 million of them live in Africa,” said Mayor Tom Potter of Portland, Oregon. “We live in a big country, with a big heart. From our city of Portland, Oregon all the way to Portland, Maine, Americans are working together across the country to make a difference in the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty around the world.”
States of ONE include: Iowa, Connecticut, Maine and Illinois.
Cities of ONE include: Birmingham, AL; Boston, MA; Cambridge, MA ;Chattanooga, TN; Cleveland, OH; Columbus, OH; DeKalb, IL; Elgin, IL; Evansville, IN; Farmington Hills, MI; Frankfort, KY; Ft.Wayne, IN; Gary, IN; Green Bay, WI; Greenville, SC; Hartford, CT; Hollywood, FL; Indianapolis, IN; Jackson, TN; Johnson City, TN; Knoxville, TN; Lexington, KY; Madison, WI; Muncie, IN; Nashville, TN; New Haven, CT; Portland, ME; Portland, OR; Providence, RI; Redlands, CA; Richmond, IN; Salt Lake City, UT; San Francisco, CA; Sarasota, FL; Seattle, WA; Virginia Beach, VA; Wooster, OH.

Alicia Keys and Bono have made a beautiful duet together: click here to listen and watch the accompanying photo essay. The song is available today for download on iTunes
with proceeds going to Alicia Key’s organization Keep A Child Alive
which helps to support African children living with AIDS by putting
them and their families on live saving antiretroviral drugs. Enjoy the
song!

Today is World AIDS Day and ONE and our partners have some extraordinary things going:

• Our first podcast, or ONECast radio show available on www.one.org
  and fully downloadable on your iTunes! The new ONECast features ONE
  news, Bono of U2, Nelson Mandela and cool new music. Also thanks to msn.com for promoting it on their homepage today!
• Alicia Keys and Bono released a new duet today “Don’t Give Up (Africa)” Listen before you can download it on www.keepachildalive.org
• Local ONE Events around the country from Portland, OR to Portland, ME
• Click here for some interesting articles on AIDS in Africa
• World Vision has a great AIDS quiz – take the quiz
• Save the Children and ONE have put out a photo journal of Ethiopian teens living with AIDS in their community