Independent Publishes Special Issue To Launch Partnership With Product RED

London's Independent on Tuesday published a special issue -- including numerous articles on global HIV/AIDS issues -- to launch its partnership with Product RED, the Independent reports (Vallely, Independent, 5/15). The newspaper earlier this month announced that it would become the first media outlet to sign on as a partner in the project, which was launched in January by Irish musician Bono to donate a portion of profits from a range of branded products to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. American Express, Converse, Giorgio Armani and Gap were the initial partners in the program and are distributing credit cards and selling tennis shoes, sunglasses and T-shirts, respectively, carrying the Product RED label. The four partner companies have committed to the brand for five years and have pledged to give an average of 40% of profits from the products to the Global Fund. Product RED hopes to partner with more companies (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/8). The Independent plans to donate 50% of the proceeds from sales of its RED issue -- which was edited by Bono -- to the Global Fund (Independent, 5/15). Some headlines appear below.

• "Bono, Guest Editor: I am a Witness. What Can I Do?" (Bono, Independent, 5/16).
  
• "Not a Burden, But a Land of Opportunity" (Fitzgerald, Independent 5/16).
  
• "Bob Geldof: Aid isn't the Answer. Africa Must be Allowed to Trade Its Way Out of Poverty" (Geldof, Independent, 5/16).
  
• "Africa's Medicine Man" (Laurance[1], Independent, 5/16).
  
• "Why RED Can Boost Global Fund and Its War on HIV" (Laurance[2], Independent, 5/16).
• "We Are Grateful for the Work Being Done by Product (RED)" (Mandela, Independent, 5/16).
  
• "These Children Have Seen Things That No Child Should Ever See or Experience" (Milmo, Independent, 5/16).
  
• "AIDS and a Lost Generation: Children Raising Children" (Penketh, Independent, 5/16).
  
• "The Big Question: Can Rock Stars Change the World?" (Vallely, Independent, 5/16).
  

Motorola To Become Partner in Product RED
Motorola will become the fifth major corporate partner in Product RED, the Chicago Tribune reports (Hughlett, Chicago Tribune, 5/15). The announcement came on Monday (Product RED release, 5/15). Motorola, the second-largest cell phone company worldwide, will market a Product RED version of its Slvr phone. The phone is expected to be sold initially in Europe and then in North America, according to a source close to the company (Chicago Tribune, 5/15). "Motorola has been doing business in Africa for more than 30 years, and our support of the global fund is one way that we're able to give back to the region," Ron Garriques, president of Motorola Mobile Devices, said (Product RED release, 5/15).