NEW YORK: Pop-folk legend Paul Simon and hard-edged guitarist Tom Morello on Thursday led a drive by musicians to fight poverty, bringing promises of greater action to help the world’s most vulnerable.

The two headlined a first night of the Global Citizen Festival, which will culminate with a live-broadcast concert on Saturday from New York’s Central Park featuring Rihanna and Metallica.

The five-year-old festival, which distributes tickets for free to fans who lobby leaders to support international development, held the more intimate first concert to highlight the causes at stake.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte of The Netherlands, a country with a long history of fighting floods, announced $50 million for the UN’s Water Supply and Sanitation Collaboration Council.

Published in Dawn September 24th, 2016