Gates, Bono: World Lags In Helping Poor

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Harsh words for the world’s elite from Bono and Bill Gates.

The two are part of a panel at the World Economic Forum examining humanitarian issues around the world.

Gates says world leaders need to do more to combat issues like poverty, AIDS and lack of education.

Bono says that the developing world needs to take the power elite to court. He says while previous generations have put men on the moon and fought fascism and injustice, this one has failed to put children in school and combat malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

The panel says nearly a billion people in the world live on less than a dollar a day, while 72 million children aren’t in school and a million people die each year of malaria. It also says AIDS continues to wreak havoc on poor nations.

It says there has been some progress since 2000, but that it’s been slow.

Another panelist, Queen Rania of Jordan, says just because some suffer in silence doesn’t mean action shouldn’t be taken.