Brian Boyd, The Irish Times

BONO, AFTER a few impatient months spent recuperating from back surgery, has resumed tour duties - and is also back bending politicians' ears and arguing the case of Africa's poor and the continuing scourge of HIV and Aids on the continent.

In Russia this week for a U2 show, the now 50-year-old singer took the time to meet the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev. Bono wasn't talking rock riffs with the music-loving leader: he was making the case for Russia to write off the money owed to it by poverty-stricken African countries, and explaining how 40 US cents a day could eliminate the transfer of HIV from mother to child by 2015.

Bono's humanitarian and advocacy work on behalf of the African continent has seen him nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded a knighthood in the British honours list. "Believe me, I know how absurd it is to have a rock star talk about the World Health Organisation or debt relief or HIV/Aids in Africa," he has said of his time strolling the corridors of power in his leather jacket and sunglasses.

WASHINGTON, PRNewswire-USNewswire -- NASA and U2 released a commemorative video highlighting a year's worth of collaboration in space and on the Irish rock band's 360 Degree tour.

U2 approached NASA in 2009 with an idea to include a dialogue between the band and the crew of the International Space Station during U2's world tour. The astronauts of Expedition 20, the crew then living aboard the space station, agreed to participate and spoke with U2 several times before recording a video segment the band incorporated into its concerts.

The space station crew members were Michael Barratt of NASA, Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency, Bob Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Gennady Padalka and Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Luke Harding, The Guardian

It had seemed like a relationship that was destined to be long and even meaningful, but now it appears to have gone wrong very quickly.

Against a balmy Black Sea backdrop, U2's frontman, Bono, and Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, had swapped views on poverty, ecology and music on Tuesday. Bono even made fun of Medvedev's devotion to Deep Purple. "I come here to cross the great divide between me, a Led Zeppelin fan and you, the Deep Purple fan," Bono joked, strolling next to Russia's leader at his summer residence.

A day later, U2's first concert in Russia ended in political controversy.

The Moscow authorities took a dim view when activists from Amnesty and Greenpeace put up tents at the concert venue and invited fans to sign petitions. Officials detained five Amnesty volunteers hours before the show started and ordered others to remove their Amnesty T-shirts and to tear down their headquarters.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Rights group Amnesty said five of its activists were detained while distributing flyers at a U2 concert in Moscow on Wednesday, which ended with a celebrated Kremlin critic joining the Irish rock stars on stage.

Police detained the five volunteers who were distributing leaflets and displaying banners for holding an unsanctioned protest at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, the head of Amnesty International in Russia Sergei Nikitin told the Interfax news agency.

"I am very sorry about what happened ... it overshadowed the concert," Nikitin said. He said the activists were later released without charge. Interfax quoted an unnamed police official as saying two activists were detained.

Russia (Reuters Life!) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed U2 frontman Bono to tea on Tuesday ahead of the group's first ever Russian concert, and the Irish musician asked for Russia's help in fighting AIDS.

"Taking care of people is not just what politicians do," self-proclaimed rock music lover Medvedev told Bono, adding that U2's music has united generations of people.

Their meeting on the sun-drenched veranda of Medvedev's summer residence on the Black Sea comes a day before U2 take to the Moscow stage for their first ever performance in Russia.

Earlier this month in Italy, U2 resumed their 360 Degree Tour following a two-month absence while Bono recovered from a back injury.

By Neil McCormick, The Telegraph UK

Bono's back. And so am I.

I've been on holiday and so (no doubt to the dismay of my personal Twitter parodist) missed the return of U2 to live action. I gather all is going well and that Bono's back problems have been sorted out: "rebuilt by German engineering" as the man himself said. Apparently his doctor told him he would "run further and faster in the future." Vorsprung Durch Technik and all that. I still say they could have saved a lot of money, disruption and heartache with the simple deployment of an ergonomic stool. It worked for Val Doonican.

Anyway, enough about the man who stands at the front of the U2 juggernaut. In the new issue of GQ, we hear from the man who stands behind it. Manager Paul McGuinness has written a fascinating article: How To Save The Music Industry.

By Paul McGuinness, GQ Magazine

Even after three decades managing the world's biggest rock band, I have a lifetime hero as far from the world of U2 as you could ever get. He was a feisty 19th-century composer of light orchestral music. His name was Ernest Bourget.

It was Bourget who in 1847, while enjoying a meal in a Paris restaurant, suddenly heard the orchestra playing one of his own compositions. He was startled - of course he had not been paid or asked permission for this. So he resolved the problem himself: he walked out of the restaurant without paying his bill.

Bourget's action was a milestone in the history of copyright law. The legal wrangling that followed led to the establishment of the first revenue-collection system for composers and musicians. The modern music industry has a lot to thank him for.

Bono admits he's started smoking cigarettes due to his back surgery. The rock legend blames his painful, often boring back surgery. Can Bono quit again?

Bono has restored his health since his recent back surgery that had him out of the music world for over two months. The U2 frontman missed out on their North American tour and Glastonbury Festival, but he's back and ready to rock.

'That's in the past now and I'm very much fit for the future. This band is like a family. I am the prodigal son. I would like to thank my brothers for their patience.'

With so much time on his hands, Bono not only took up smoking, but took time to write and enjoy delicious ice cream.

By the Daily Mail

If he's not careful, hard-bitten actor and director Sean Penn will earn himself a reuptation for being a lightweight.

He celebrated his 50th birthday with a lunch in Dublin with local boy Bono but skipped out of proceedings after a mere two hours.

However, in true Irish fashion, his U2 frontman friend felt able to carry on the revelries, emerging from the restaurant an impressive six hours later.

The duo were enjoying lunch together at Marco Pierre White's Steakhouse and Grill in Dublin, ahead of the actor's landmark birthday tomorrow.

However, when Penn emerged he didn't look like he was celebrating much at all, with his head down and a scowl on his face.

Bono was a different matter though.

When the U2 frontman left it was night time and he looked a little worse for wear as he clung onto a lamp post at one point for some much needed support.

by Jimmy A, TripleM Sydney

In a rare interview on U2.com, Adam Clayton, bass player for the legendary Irish rockers, has spoken about plans for new songs.

Talking backstage in Turin, Italy during rehearsals, Clayton said the band have been doing loads of recording and they have quite a few tunes in the can now they'll be wheeling out during the tour.

"We've been doing some rehearsing but mainly we've been doing recording," he said. "That was the one thing Bono was able to do during his recovery. We're gonna toss a few out into the show and see how they go down."

"If we can get four songs into the show it gives us a chance to get to know the songs and [see] how they play in front of a crowd. Then you know if you're communicating, so you can tweak them."