Australia: Worldwide Live Earth concerts kick off

The Live Earth global concert series kicked off Saturday with a didgeridoo-backed Aboriginal group dancing and singing a traditional welcome at the first venue in Sydney. Tribal leaders with white-painted bodies and shaking eucalyptus fronds were the first of more than 150 performers at the eight-concert, 24-hour series to raise awareness about climate change. The performance was immediately followed by a video greeting from former US Vice President Al Gore, whose campaign to force global warming onto the international political agenda inspired the event.