BBC World Service concert to span four continents

Radio veteran John Peel is to be the MC for a live concert spanning four continents to celebrate 70 years of the BBC World Service.

Stars such as Mercury Music Prize winner Ms Dynamite will take part in the show next month which will see five cities linking up.

Afghan musicians who once feared for their lives under Taliban rule will perform from Kabul during the three-hour concert.

Peel and fellow Radio 1 DJ Emma B will anchor the concert from the World Service HQ at Bush House in London.

Other countries hosting sections of the World Service Global Party concert are Senegal, where renowned singer Baaba Maal will perform, India and Mexico.

Speaking about the show, World Service director for English networks Phil Harding said: “It’s an example of the way BBC World Service, which now has a global audience of 150 million and an Internet presence in 43 languages, continues to stretch itself and to embrace the future.”

A fortnight of celebration programmes kicks off with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan delivering a World Service 70th Birthday Lecture from the United Nations building in New York on December 11.

And on the actual birthday, December 19, World Service programmes will be presented live from Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.