White Band Day

St Paul's cathedral, making
history with a white band.
Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA
One of many events taking place around the world to coincide with next week's G8 summit in Gleneagles is today's White Band Day. World landmarks are being adorned with huge white bands to kick off a week of global action to call on the leaders of the world's most industrialised nations to honour their promises on more and better aid, trade justice and debt cancellation.

Buildings around the world being given the white band treatment include a group of houses in Soweto; the cotton tree planted by freed slaves in Freetown, Sierra Leone, when the nation was founded; the European Commission HQ in Brussels and world famous landmarks including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Coliseum in Rome, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Rallies and festivals are being held in cities around the world, and the anti-poverty coalition is calling on people to wear white wristbands, armbands and headbands and wrap their schools, homes and places of worship in white cloths. There's a comprehensive list of events here.