SHAKIRA'S VISIT TO OXFORD UNIVERSITY

Her speech about Barefoot Foundation seems to have gone down a storm with the UK media. Click here to read a report from the Oxford Mail. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

PICTURES FROM THE JINGLE BELL BALL

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Shakira went down a storm at Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball in London yesterday - and Capital have now put a bunch of pictures on their website from the performance. Click here to check out more pictures.

SHAKIRA'S SANTA BABY COVER

Check out Shakira's amazing cover of the classic 'Santa Baby' which she performed at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at New York's Rockefeller Center.

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

We're very pleased to report that, at yesterday's XX Ibero-American Summit in Portugal, ALAS received the suppport of the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández, who will chair the XX Ibero-American Summit on 2010, to include Early Childhood Development in the Agenda of this diplomatic event. In a press conference, the President accepted Shakira’s petition to contribute to change the history and destiny of the children of the region, by setting the topic of children between 0 and 6 and the one of early education as the core topic of her forthcoming Summit.

“Early education is to human life what a foundation is to a building; if the foundations are not built strong enough, we will be always repairing it," declared Shakira, who is founder and activist of ALAS together with fellow Latin American artists such as Alejandro Sanz and Fernando Olvera from the Mexican group Maná, among others. "This is how for decades the Governments in Latin America have been spending billions, rather than investing, repairing and finding temporary solutions to foundation problems. Why not invest since now in the foundation of our future: our children in their first 6 years of life, which is when their brain and basic functions develop."

The Mexican President Felipe Calderón ratified his country’s support to ALAS Foundation and assured, modifying a popular Mexican saying that “Every child should come with a medical insurance under his arm”. Álvaro Uribe, President of Colombia, also spoke about his country’s efforts towards early childhood through the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare and the Community Mothers Program.

The President of Chile Michelle Bachelet concluded by saying, “I am convinced that investing in our children is fundamental from the ethical, social, and even economical point of view. Every resource invested in our children is what will allow us to make a difference”.


In front of an audience of international media, ALAS and the Secretary general of Iberoamerican Secretariat, Enrique Iglesias, signed the agreement to promote the early childhood component of the program “Educational Goals 2021: the Education we want for the Generation of the Bicentenaries”, which seeks to achieve universal coverage in education by 2021. It was a momentous day, in which Early Childhood Development gained prominence among the Latin American Presidents, and constitutes a promise for the region’s human, social and economical development.

SHAKIRA ON UGLY BETTY ON FRIDAY!!

Shakira has two big US TV appearances coming up this week. On Friday (Dec 4th) at 9pm EST on ABC, you can see Shakira appear, as herself, on the new episode of Ugly Betty! Check out the trailer below:

Also, tonight (Dec 2nd) at 8pm EST on NBC you'll be able to watch Shakira performing at the tree-lighting ceremony at New York's Rockefeller Center. Here's a sneak preview from that:

SHAKIRA'S MYSPACE KARAOKE CONTEST

If you're in the US or Canada you have until 12th December to record your version of some of Shakira's most famous songs on MySpace Karaoke, for the chance to win two tickets to a Shakira show, plus travel and accommodation. Click here to strut your vocal stuff.