A Live Stream to Save Lives: Alicia Keys and YouTube Team Up to Fight AIDS

It's no secret that AIDS is one of the deadliest diseases facing our world today. Since the beginning of the epidemic, almost 60 million people have been infected with HIV and 25 million people have died of HIV-related causes. But did you know that some of those hardest hit by AIDS are children? The disease has killed over 2 million children, and in sub-Saharan Africa it has orphaned close to 15 million.

That's why, today, on World AIDS Day, we're partnering with Alicia Keys and her organization, Keep a Child Alive, to present a live-streamed benefit concert at 8 p.m. (ET). We're also encouraging everyone to donate $5 to provide the life-saving medication, support, and orphan care to keep these children alive. Learn more from Alicia herself about this important effort:



You can make a difference today. Please tune in here at 8 p.m (ET) to watch Alicia Keys and donate to help save the lives of millions of children living with HIV/AIDS.

Michele Flannery, Music Manager, and Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits Manager, recently watched "The Lazarus Effect."

Join Morgan Freeman to Bring Human Rights Work to Light

YouTube can be a powerful tool championing the rights of individuals and promoting free expression. This month, during International Human Rights Day, we're partnering with Morgan Freeman and Amnesty International to encourage you to become advocates for equality and justice, through Video Volunteers.

Here's how you can help. Create a video about the nonprofit of your choice working on a human rights issue that you care about -- it could be genocide, human trafficking, refugee protection, gender equality or something else -- and submit it to the Video Volunteers channel by December 21. Amnesty International and Freeman, who plays legendary crusader Nelson Mandela in the upcoming movie Invictus, will select three videos to appear on the YouTube homepage at the end of the month. Hear more from Morgan about the importance of taking up this cause:



This is your chance to help citizens around the world who often can't help themselves and to bring the vital work of human rights organizations to light. Join Morgan Freeman to protect the rights of these individuals at www.youtube.com/videovolunteers.

Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits & Activism Manager, recently favorited "To Protect & Serve: Police Brutality in India."

Spaghetti Western Viewing Party Tonight

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who watch Spaghetti Westerns by themselves and those who watch them with their YouTube buddies.

If the latter sounds like fun, join us for a live viewing party of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" at 6pm PT in the Screening Room. To the right of the player, you'll see a Twitter feed collecting real-time tweets from other fans watching the film.  If you want to contribute to the conversation, just log in to your Twitter account through the gadget and send your tweets, being sure to use the default hashtag, #screeningroom.

We'll be right there with you, sharing our own thoughts on one of the best westerns of all time. See you there!

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Entertainment, recently watched "Lego Matrix Trinity Help."

YouTube Community Gives Thanks to Those That Help the Hungry

Earlier this month, as part of YouTube Video Volunteers, we asked you to create a short video for the nonprofit organization of your choice tackling the issue of hunger in America. Today, we're featuring the top three submissions, chosen by our partner Feeding America and curator David Arquette, on the YouTube homepage in honor of Thanksgiving, to recognize the important work that is being done to feed those in need.

We were surprised and excited by the range of videos submitted. For example, partner bigedude33 penned an original song about the Food Bank of Central New York, while HavilahTower lent her voice to the Capital Area Food Bank in Texas:



Filmmakers like CassieJaye and nsmith345 powerfully depicted the faces of American citizens being helped by their local food pantries, while vlogger Shawn Ahmed went inside the L.A. Regional Food Bank to demonstrate exactly how they provide support to the Los Angeles community:



To view all Video Volunteer submissions for this month, please visit www.youtube.com/videovolunteers. And be sure to check the channel again next week when we kick off another Video Volunteers round, focusing on human rights, with curator Morgan Freeman.

Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits & Activism, recently watched "Charter for Compassion"

Giving Thanks

Last week, ABC News' Good Morning America asked you to share videos about what you're thankful for. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, many of you have answered their call and invited others on YouTube to create their own "thankful for" lists.

You're thankful for lots of stuff, including your families, your good health, and the everyday things in your life that often go unnoticed. Some of you even shared deeply personal stories about why you're grateful.

We're running a special spotlight on the homepage today to showcase some of these videos, and this morning, Good Morning America featured a selection on television in honor of today's holiday. Take a look here.

Happy Holidays -- with thanks.

Olivia Ma, YouTube News & Politics, recently watched "Thankful'" sung by 'SAT'

Alicia Keys Live! on YouTube

If you were one of the millions who tuned in to watch U2 perform live on YouTube last month or if you just love music, you should put this in your calendar: On December 1, R&B superstar Alicia Keys will be performing at an intimate theater in New York City in honor of World AIDS Day. We'll be live-streaming the event worldwide and encouraging viewers to donate to Alicia's charity of choice, Keep a Child Alive.

Here's Alicia's special message about the concert and what it hopes to achieve:



This show, presented by American Express, will start at 8 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday, December 1. Tune in here to watch Alicia live and help raise funds for children with HIV/AIDS.

Michele Flannery, Music Manager, recently watched "Song of Mable" by Matryomin Ensemble Mable

Iraqi Government on YouTube

Governments, heads of state, and leaders from around the world are on YouTube, including the Pope, the Royal Family, and Queen Rania, and presidents from the United States to France, South Korea to Estonia. Today we're especially pleased to announce that the Iraqi Government has launched a dedicated YouTube channel, at youtube.com/iraqigov. Learn more from Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki:

Earlier this year, I visited Baghdad as a guest of the U.S. State Department to engage in conversations about the role of technology in Iraq. In discussions with elected officials, private companies and NGOs, I routinely heard the desire to connect with fellow citizens, Iraqis outside the country's borders, and cultures across the world. But it wasn't just the Iraqi Government who expressed an interest in YouTube — I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of awareness from a wide variety of Iraqis. One young student told us she uses YouTube to understand what is really happening in her country based on the variety of opinions, citizen journalism and news reports uploaded to the site. There was little difference between her examples and those we often hear in other countries, which speaks to both the global community on YouTube and the universality of the video experience.

Just this past week, our CEO Eric Schmidt traveled to Iraq to meet with government officials there about the challenge and opportunities they face. While in Iraq, Eric shot this video for Citizentube:

We hope that by launching on YouTube, the Iraqi Government and their citizens will also find it easy to use YouTube to engage in such conversations, and bring their proceedings, policies and ideas to a larger audience around the world.

Hunter Walk, Director of Product Management