RDAY JULY 21 2001 Seven-star luxury for help-the-poor summit BY ADAM SHERWIN THE world’s first seven-star hotel will play host to some of the world’s most influential figures in a unique attempt to thrash out a solution to global poverty.

World leaders, scientific pioneers, billionaires and music superstars have answered the call from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, to join him at a luxurious summit by the Arabian Sea.

Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela will make opening speeches at the Burj al-Arab hotel, where diners take a submarine to the restaurant and suites cost £5,000 a night.

Michael Jackson and Rod Stewart will perform at the October gathering as an added incentive for the dignitaries, which it is hoped will include Tony Blair and President Bush, to lift billions of children from poverty.

British royalty will be represented by Prince Michael of Kent. However, Prince William and Prince Harry have also been invited to join a celebrity polo match, riding Sheikh Mohammed’s finest thoroughbreds. The Business Leaders Forum is supporting the event and an invitation has been extended to the Prince of Wales, its president.

The organisers hope to raise millions of pounds for Unicef and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund by broadcasting the all-star concert, on a stage on Jumeirah beach, on satellite and the Internet.

Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, is expected to sit at the top table with James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, and Michael Moore, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. Richard Holbrooke, the American diplomat who masterminded the Bosnian peace accord, will be on hand to steer the participants through any tricky negotiations at the three-day event.

The actress Mia Farrow will offer her perspective on development issues. Madonna and Ringo Starr are also in discussions to perform.

Saving the world does not mean slumming it though. Guests will be offered a ten-course gourmet meal and a round of golf with Bill Clinton (who has waived his £150,000 fee) on top of a minimum five-star accommodation and first-class return travel courtesy of the Emirates airline.

Mr Clinton said that he was expecting “a summit that will bring together governments, artists and other interested people to a single event to celebrate the impact of technology on all our lives over the last 20 years.”

The guest list shows how the power in the world has shifted. Politicians are much less influential than the chief executive officers of entertainment conglomerates and high-tech IT firms such as Cisco Systems, Dell and Microsoft. Some names still carry cachet. The organisers of the Science, Technology & Arts Royal Summit (STARS 2001) hope Baroness Thatcher will accept her invitation, although she may find herself sitting next to the President of the Bundesbank.

With so many eminent figures, competition will be great for the Burj al-Arab’s two royal suites. Each has its own cinema, butler and a lift linking the two private floors. The spillover will be catered for in the only slightly less luxurious Jumeirah Beach Hotel, where suites enjoy a panoramic view over the Arabian Gulf. The event will end with an award ceremony in which millions of Internet users will be invited to vote for the greatest contributions to science, the arts and “human life” over the past 20 years. Nominations include David Bowieand the Human Genome Project. Robert Davies, chief executive of the Business Leaders Forum, said: “This event marks the 20th anniversary of the birth of the personal computer and also the discovery of the HIV virus. We hope it will raise money for projects in Africa and show the contribution the IT industry can make to socially responsible development.”

The summit’s ultimate goal is to create an entire community in an underdeveloped country, including a school, built using environmentally friendly material.

Kenny Jones, the former drummer with The Who whose Small Faces Charitable Trust for handicapped children will be one of the beneficiaries, is calling upon some famous friends to perform.

Mr Jones said: “I expect I will be doing a few numbers with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. But this event isn’t about the stars, it’s for all these influential people to get together and raise awareness. We are also hoping to raise $100 million (£70 million) from the concert and corporate sponsorship.”

He has experience of the Burj al-Arab hotel from his rock’n’roll days. “I had to tell the butler to get lost — it would have been all right if it was a female butler, but he was cramping our style,” he said.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2001

Answers

This makes me as sick as listening to Barbra Streisand harp about energy conservation. What a bunch of hypocrites these wealthy dudes are. Been watching the same thing for years here in the US. Don't you just love it when some Kennedy starts spouting off about social responsibility to the poor, share the wealth, etc? They never start by putting down a million dollars of their own money though.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2001

The test is--where do their kids go to school? How many of the Kennedy kids went to public schools? You know Chelsea went to a private school. And, lemme tell ya, Oxford ain't no school for the underprivileged! We have a lot of yuppie liberals around here and their kids all go to the Friends (Quaker) School.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2001

Right, Old Git, absolutely right on target. I forgot about that clue.

-- Anonymous, July 21, 2001

As we were saying. . .

NYPost

‘PRINCESS' CHELSEA EYES OXFORD DIGS

By CLEMENTE LISI

July 22, 2001 -- Chelsea Clinton may live like a princess when she arrives at Oxford University next fall.

Several friends of Bill Clinton have been looking for a suitable place for Chelsea to stay when she begins her studies in international relations in October - and have come up with a posh manor called Chiselhampton House, London's Mail on Sunday reports.

The picturesque 18th-century home, which includes 100 acres of private grounds, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a private landing strip, is owned by Rory McCarthy, a venture capitalist and friend of the former president.

"We've been approached by someone representing the family who said they would be interested in Chelsea moving into Chiselhampton House," McCarthy said.

"It would be a big decision for us. The security we would have would be incredible."

Bill Clinton, a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford during the 1960s, has said the experience was one of the happiest in his life.

"I don't think Mr. Clinton would come and stay with her [Chelsea], but he would be welcome in the main house whenever he wanted," McCarthy said.

-- Anonymous, July 22, 2001

Do you guys/gals really think bad of me cause I want my son to go to a better school? I couldn't afford a week at a 7-star, but I can afford for him to get a better education than what they have that passes for public schools in this state.

-- Anonymous, July 22, 2001

Not at all, Sheeps. People should send their kids to the best school they can afford. However--and it's a big however--people like the Kennedys, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, the Clintons and the yuppie liberals in my neighborhood hypocritically declaim about the virtues of public education, blind environmental protection, energy conservation, and so on, while blatantly not practicing what they preach.

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2001

Sheeple,

Sending your child to a private school is just fine, and I certainly wouldn't consider that negative about you. What I was getting at here is that some very wealthy or famous people constantly harp about how we are not doing enough for the poor, or not being smart about how we use our resources, while at the same time are spending money in lavish ways themself. That's not you, I'm sure, so don't even think there was anything personal in this particular post.

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2001