Sting attends World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates...

Sting attended the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates at the Julius Caesar Hall of the Campidoglio in Rome on November 24 where Bob Geldof received the Man of Peace award.

Bob Geldof called for fair trade at the event that recognised his anti-poverty efforts. "Africa must be allowed to trade itself out of poverty," he said as he received the Man of Peace award from the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The Live 8 organiser said the situation in Africa was "not only intellectually absurd but also morally repulsive".

The ceremony on Rome's Capitoline Hill marked the opening of this year's World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.

Dressed in a striped suit, the former Boomtown Rats member called on the European Union to take the initiative at next month's World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong.

"The EU must break the deadlock and as of today it has failed to do so," he said.

"We live in a broken world which has never been healthier or wealthier, but some 500 kilometres south of here they die of want."

Previous recipients of the Man for Peace award include Italian actor-director Roberto Benigni and the singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens.

Last month Geldof said receiving the award was "more than an honour, it's almost ridiculous."

"It's almost too big, all the Nobel Peace Prize winners voting for you as their Man of Peace," he said.

(BBC News)