African-American News

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States spent blood and treasure on an Iraq invasion critics said was for oil, but U.S. oil majors were largely absent from an Iraqi auction of oil deals snapped up instead by Russian, Chinese and other firms.

Iraqi officials said this proved their independence from U.S. control, and that their two bidding rounds for deals to tap Iraq's vast oil reserves -- the world's third largest -- were free of foreign political interference.

The Oil Ministry on Saturday ended its second bidding round after awarding seven of the oilfields offered for development -- adding to deals from a first auction in June that could together take Iraq up to a capacity to pump 12 million barrels per day.

"For us in Iraq, it shows the government is fully free from outside influence. Neither Russia nor America could put pressure on anyone in Iraq -- it is a pure commercial, transparent competition," said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

Better-than-expected reports on retail sales and consumer sentiment lifted big blue chip stocks Friday, but gains were limited by weakness in technology and the strength of the U.S. dollar.

A federal jury has awarded more than $200,000 to an Albuquerque man who claimed police violated his civil rights when they locked him in a police car for hours because he refused to answer their questions. Even after they had already caught the suspect they were looking for!

The Mecklenburg County Health Department now has enough H1N1 vaccine to give it to anyone who wants it, but health officials are concerned not enough people are getting it.

Why Import Workers Now? December 8th, 2009 At last week's Job Summit, there was talk of a second stimulus package, of tax credits for small businesses that hire new workers, of an Infrastructure Bank to select national priority pubic works projects like the Hoover Dam and TVA of yesteryear.

This week, Rush Limbaugh made a sickening comment in his attempt to interpret the words of Rev. Jackson, when he said that the “black frame of mind” is “terrible” and that “Tiger Woods choice of women sure didn’t help it.” When three Republican U.S. Senators and half a dozen evangelical preachers do it, why isn’t he saying it depresses the white race? Limbaugh’s bringing in Tiger’s infidelity as if it’s related to black culture goes back to an old and deeply evil racist connection of black men and sexual promiscuity. To use the image of the black man as the sexual predator is THE oldest form of race baiting, dating back to Emmit Till and before that, the slaves on the plantation. Moreover, Rush is using Tiger as an Obama surrogate, using Tiger as a way to say that these men cannot be trusted. Rush knows exactly what he is doing by being the first to link the plight of the black man to the sorrows of Tiger Woods.

"When I was fined the 92K, I asked to see if I could donate some of it to different schools, and programs I'm involved in. My request was denied. So, I decided to match the fine by raising money and donating an additional 92K to my 2nd school that I am opening up in Africa, as well as to schools that I am helping here in the United States. I also want to educate women about what I learned from this whole experience. How we as women are still treated as less than equal. I am going to turn this 92K into a positive!!! And I have decided to call it Serena's 92K mission!!! Go to Serenawilliams.com to learn more about my 92K mission."

The government yesterday reiterated its opposition to homosexuality and said donors were free to withdraw their funding if they wish. Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo was responding to a Daily Monitor story that Sweden had joined other countries that are pressuring the government to discard a proposed law that would severely punish homosexuality in the country.

“Homosexuality will not be promoted, encouraged or supported in Uganda,” Mr Buturo added.

Mr Buturo told journalists at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala that: “We should remind them (the donors) that there is integrity to be defended and threats are not the way to go. If one chooses to withdraw their aid, they are free because Ugandans do not want to engage in anal sex. We do not care.”

Life imprisonment is the minimum punishment for anyone convicted of having gay sex, under an anti-homosexuality Bill currently before Uganda’s parliament He said Ugandans are sober people who consider homosesuality abnormal.

The Justice Department is refusing to back a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson, the black heavyweight boxing champion who was imprisoned nearly a century ago because of his romantic ties with a white woman. In a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, the department's pardon attorney, Ronald L. Rodgers, told Rep. Peter King that the Justice Department's general policy is not to process posthumous pardon requests. In cases like Johnson's, given the time that has passed and the historical record that would need to be scoured, the department's resources for pardon requests are best used on behalf of people "who can truly benefit" from them, Rodgers wrote.

Former Georgia state Sen. Kasim Reed is Atlanta's next mayor. His election extends a decades-long line of African-American mayors in the mostly black city.

One in five HIV sufferers in Africa was infected by medical staff using dirty needles and clinical equipment, new research has found.

I think that this movie was somewhat negative, though, because all the saviors in this movie were light-skinned, which is not always the case in life. I personally think that young women turn to different things to make them feel better while undergoing abuse, but to each is their own. This movie to me made the message clear: love yourself, and love conquers all, no matter what the conditions are.

Maulana Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa, appeared at Brookdale Community College Friday night to discuss the tenets of Kwanzaa and the meaning behind the cultural holiday.

*Before we update you on Tiger Woods' mistresses count, RadarOnline.com is reporting that the golfer's wife, Elin Nordegren, has moved out of their$2.6 million Windermere (Florida) home. Sources say she is living nearby in another house. For more, go here.

*Now, back to the mistresses. At press time, the amount of women rumored to have had affairs with Tiger had grown to nine, according to a British tabloid, TMZ.com, and New York's Post and Daily News publications.

One is rumored to be Holly Sampson, described by People as "a porn star with titles like 'Cheating Housewives 6' and 'OMG, Stop Tickling Me' to her name." She has yet to confirm or deny the rumors, according to Britain's Sun tabloid.

The Sun also claims that ...

The Adamic people, or White race has been given power, authority and influence over most of the planet, however, their rule has not been a rule that God would be pleased with even though he permitted it, the Minister said. The White race was also given an extension of time to rule, to allow time for Black people to rise and do something for themselves, and to allow White people to repent for their evil. “This is not God's way that we are living. You are of the righteous but you are not living a righteous life,” said Min. Farrakhan. “It's not because we don't want to, it's because we live in a society where evil is so pervasive. It is so effective that it is pulling us into behavior that we ourselves are shocked at what we do.” “It is the time of the setting of the sun on the Western world, the setting of the sun on White supremacy, the setting of the sun on colonialism in all its forms, the setting of the sun on sexism, the setting of the sun on racism.” “Your rise into the knowledge and power of your own nature will negate his power to deceive! So he won't exist when you rise into Islam!”

(CBS) For years, educators have tried and failed to get poor kids from the inner city to do just as well in school as kids from America's more affluent suburbs. Black kids still routinely score well below white kids on national standardized tests.

But a man named Geoffrey Canada may have figured out a way to close that racial achievement gap. What he's doing has been called one of the most ambitious social experiments to alleviate poverty of our lifetime. His laboratory is a 97-block neighborhood in Harlem, which he has flooded with a wide array of social, medical and educational services available for free to the 10,000 children who live there. It is called the "Harlem Children's Zone."

Ed Bradley first reported on Canada three and a half years ago, but back then there was no way to tell if his Children's Zone was working.

Today, however, results are in and they are nothing short of stunning, so much so that the White House is now taking notice.

For Geoffrey Canada however, it is just a start.

"You grow up in America and you're told from day one, 'This is the land of opportunity.' That everybody has an equal chance to make it in this country. And then you look at places like Harlem, and you say, 'That is absolutely a lie,'" Canada told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

"So you're trying to level the playing field between kids here in Harlem and middle class kids in a suburb?" Cooper asked.

"That's exactly what we think we have to do," Canada said. "You know, if you grow up in a community where your schools are inferior, where the sounds of gunshots are a common thing, where you spend your time and energy not thinking about algebra or geometry, but about how not to get beat up, or not to get shot, or not to get raped, when you grow up like that, you don't have the same opportunity as other children growing up. And we're trying to change those odds."

Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- Family members of Meredith Kercher said Saturday they were satisfied with the verdict that found American Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, guilty of the fatal knifing of the British student.

"Ultimately we are pleased with the decision," said Lyle Kercher, Meredith Kercher's brother. "But it was not a moment of celebration. We are here because our sister was brutally murdered."

The victim's sister, Stephanie Kercher, talked Friday about her family's grief.

"Our lives have been on hold, really. You can't really carry on as normal," she said. "You have to take each day as it comes. It's not ever going to be the same without [Meredith]."

Knox and Sollecito were found guilty of murder Friday after a lengthy, sensational trial. Knox was given a 26-year sentence; Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. Both will appeal, attorneys said.

United Nations (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

In a written statement, Ban praised Obama's aim to "balance military and civilian efforts" and focus on strengthening institutions and security forces in Afghanistan, noting that it would be a long-term but essential process.

Obama's decision will bring the total number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to nearly 100,000. In part, the new 18-month initiative against the Taliban seeks to accelerate the training of Afghan national security forces. As early as July 2011, troops would begin transferring responsibility to Afghan authorities.

However, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice indicated "it is not the expectation" that all required Afghan security forces "will be trained within 18 months."

She explained that the addition of U.S. troops augmented by NATO forces will "create space and time for the Afghan authorities to enhance their governance."