NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS EARTH DAY TO BE OBSERVED 20 MARCH, CEREMONY AVAILABLE LIVE ONLINE

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS EARTH DAY TO BE OBSERVED 20 MARCH, CEREMONY AVAILABLE LIVE ONLINE

The President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail (Malaysia), will ring the Peace Bell to herald the spring equinox at 8:55 a.m. (EST) on Earth Day, Thursday, 20 March 1997. The ceremony, held annually, will include presentations by the United Nations Staff Recreation Council Singers, the Saint Marks School Choir and a new "World Anthem" sung by composer Yvonne James.

This year, for the first time, the event will be made available via a live webcast. United Nations Television will provide a special feed for the live webcast on the World Wide Web. The webcast begins at 8:35 a.m. and Internet users will be able to watch and hear the ceremony, which will also remain archived for one month for on-demand viewing.

The United Nations Home Page (http://www.un.org) will provide a special connection to the webcast through the Audio-visual Services button. This first webcast of the Earth Day ceremony can be viewed using a standard 28.8 modem with low frame-rate and broadcast-quality sound. Users are advised to visit the site beginning Wednesday, to ensure that the necessary software is installed on their computers to view the new medium.

The actual webcast will be hosted by the Internet Broadcast Centre, as a courtesy service.

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