Weekly News Headlines

Arts & Entertainment

Mandela bans Naomi Campbell from event

Nelson Mandela intervened personally to ensure Naomi Campbell does not appear on stage at his 90th birthday concert. He told organisers to take her off the line-up for Friday's Hyde Park charity event. (Daily Mail)

Russell Simmons' child support bill

TMZ has obtained documents in the Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons divorce case. The docs, filed yesterday in LA Superior Court, say the hip-hip pioneer has to shell out $20k a month -- per daughter!!! -- in child support to Kimora. (TMZ)

Obama-mania sweeps BET Awards

Music and movie stars at last night's BET awards celebrated their achievements and enthusiastically expressed their support for Obama. Although Obama was not physically at the event, he was mentioned by several celebrities in their speeches and in comments made to the press. (TDV)

Janet and Jermaine ready for a baby

Janet Jackson might feel "allergic to marriage," but the pop star is ready to have a baby, says longtime boyfriend Jermaine Dupri. (People)

Jill Scott's new bra and music  

Jill Scott dreamed up a bra design that would transfer the weight of her bust from her shoulders to the center of her back. The Butterfly Bra - so named for the winglike pattern of the closure - does just this, and pads the shoulder straps and cups with comfortable gel. (NYDN)

George Carlin dead at 71

"Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs, dirty words and the demise of humanity, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday. He was 71." (Reuters)

'Get Smart' wins at box office

"Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway's 'Get Smart,' the Warner Bros. big screen update of the 1960s spy sitcom, raked in $39.2 million to debut as the No. 1 weekend movie, according to studio estimates Sunday." (CNN)

Janet Jackson gets own reality show

Janet Jackson is developing a music competition reality television show in which Jackson will serve as mentor to up-and-coming singers and dancers. (AJC)

Business

Stocks plunge to lowest level of year

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 358 points, its steepest decline in nearly three weeks. The blue-chip index closed at 11,453.42, its lowest since September 2006. One longtime member of the Dow industrials, the General Motors Corporation, plunged to its lowest since 1974. (NYT)

Facebook dethrones Myspace

"In April, Facebook caught up to MySpace in worldwide unique visitors (actually nudging past it with 116.4 million unique visitors versus 115.7 million for MySpace). Now the worldwide comScore numbers are out for May and Facebook continues to blow past MySpace with 123.9 million uniques (up 6 percent), versus 114.6 million for MySpace (down 1 percent). Facebook also boasted more pageviews worldwide (50.7 billion versus 45.4 billion). Maybe MySpace's redesign which just went live this week will pick things up for them again." (WP)

Mortgage crisis stings blacks

"The subprime mortgage fiasco is sending tremors through Wall Street and has brought the U.S. economy near (if not into) recession. For African Americans and Latinos -- the primary victims of the debacle -- the mortgage meltdown may widen the considerable gap in wealth that already exists between whites and people of color. Even worse, some proposals to fix the problem of limited access to credit may end up doing more harm than good." (WP)

Politics

Clinton, Obama hold unity rally

Declaring this election one of the most important in American history, Senator Hillary Clinton on Friday stood on stage with her former rival Barack Obama and pledged to do all she could to help elect him as president. (TDV)

Clinton, Obama to campaign together Friday

Senator Hillary Clinton will campaign with Senator Barack Obama in Unity, New Hampshire on Friday, just as Obama begins reaching out to female voters. (WP)

McCain adviser says terror attack would help

A top adviser to Senator John McCain said that a terrorist attack in the United States would be a political benefit to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, a comment that was immediately disputed by the candidate and denounced by his Democratic rival. (WP)

Nader says Obama trying to talk white

Ralph Nader has accused Senator Barack Obama of trying to talk white. In a media interview, Nader suggested Obama was afraid to alienate white voters or to take on serious issues that affect African Americans or inner city communities. (TDV)

Supreme Court rules on gun rights

The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the District of Columbia handgun law, ruling that individuals have a personal right to bear arms. (TDV) 

DC mayor disappointed in gun case

Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty swiftly responded to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Thursday striking down his city's 32-year-old gun ban.

Pfleger is back, and defiant

Rev. Michael Pfleger, the controversial Catholic priest who mocked Hillary Clinton in Barack Obama's former church last month, said Thursday he does not "aplogize for being passionate," or for "being free." (CNN)

Obama covers Rolling Stone

Shortly after Barack Obama claimed victory in the fight for the Democratic nomination, writer Jann Wenner joined him aboard his chartered 757 campaign plane as a member of the press corps on a trip from Chicago to Appleton, Wisconsin. (RS)

Obama criticized for 'presidential' seal

The Obama campaign's recent use of a presidential-like seal has raised some eyebrows among critics who think the candidate may be getting ahead of himself before he's been elected. (NYDN)

Brokaw to take over 'Meet the Press'

"Tom Brokaw will moderate 'Meet the Press' in Tim Russert's place through the 2008 presidential election in November, NBC announced Sunday morning." (NYT)

Obama woos black voters, carefully

"As they ponder a political map that has spelled defeat for Democrats in the last two presidential elections, Barack Obama's campaign strategists are quietly laying plans to draw African American voters to the polls in unprecedented numbers by capitalizing on the excitement over the prospect of electing the nation's first black president." (LAT)

McCain quote causes trouble

Senator John McCain is coming under fire after MSNBC played video Thursday night of the Republican presidential candidate appearing to say that he did not love his country until he was a prisoner of war. (TDV)

Supreme Court ends death penalty for child rape

The death penalty is unconstitutional as a punishment for the rape of a child, a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. (NYT)

Obama holds big lead in new national poll

In a two-man race between the major-party candidates, registered voters chose Obama over McCain by 49 percent to 37 percent in a new national LA Times poll, conducted Thursday through Monday. (LAT)

Marion Barry running again

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) formally launched his reelection campaign Saturday. It was quite a production, complete with prayers and choirs and tributes to the 72-year-old politician. There was even a 45-minute biographical video about the city's mayor-for-life, who is facing an army of challengers for the September 9th election. (WP)

Sports

Derrick Rose is top NBA draft pick

Derrick Rose is going home, and a record crowd of freshmen are following him to the NBA. The Chicago Bulls selected Rose, who grew up on the city's South Side, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, choosing the Memphis guard over Kansas State forward Michael Beasley. (AP) 

Black swimmer Cullen Jones looks to Olympics 

When Cullen Jones competes for the 50- and 100-meter freestyle races, he feels as if he will also be swimming for millions of black children in the U.S. whose health and welfare are at stake. Mr. Jones, 24 years old, is a key figure in the effort to combat a longstanding problem: the high drowning rate among black children, which is more than three times the rate of white children. (WSJ)

Allyson Felix seeks 4 gold medals

At 22, Allyson Felix is trying to become her sport's dominant multi-event athlete. By the time the team is chosen after eight days of competition, Felix hopes to have qualified for the 100, the 200 and the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. (NYT)

Tiger Woods' surgery successful

Tiger Woods underwent reconstructive surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his left knee, an operation described as a success by his doctors. (Reuters)

The NBA's #1 draft pick is...

Before John Paxson, the Chicago Bulls' vice president of basketball operations, does what many around the league expect, and selects Memphis point guard and Chicago native Derrick Rose as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on Thursday, Michael Beasley would like to offer four words of advice that might make him reconsider. (WP)

Shaq attacks Kobe again

In a video released on TMZ.com, O'Neal is shown doing a freestyle rap in a New York City nightclub in which he takes several shots at his former Lakers teammate. (FoxSports)

Soccer player arrested for biting referee after 'bad call'

A soccer player in Delaware was arrested on Friday after he allegedly bit a referee who made a controversial call. (TDV)

Pele robbed in Brazil

"Brazilian former soccer star Pele was robbed by a gun- and knife-wielding gang of youths when his chauffeur-driven car got stuck in traffic near Sao Paulo, a report in the weekly Veja newsmagazine said." (AFP)

International

N. Korea to be removed from US terror list

President Bush announced Thursday that he was taking the country he once described as part of the "axis of evil" off the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism.  

Mugabe rival withdraws from elections

"An opposition leader to Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe withdrew from scheduled elections this week accusing Mugabe of attempting to intimidate political opponents with violence." (TDV)

UN Security Council warns Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe defied mounting pressure on Tuesday from both inside and outside Africa to call off Friday's presidential election, saying he had a legal obligation to go ahead. (Reuters)

Mandela condemns Mugabe 'failure'

Former South African leader Nelson Mandela has added his voice to the growing international condemnation of the political violence in Zimbabwe. In his first public comments about the crisis, he noted "the tragic failure of leadership" of President Robert Mugabe.  

Mugabe given 24 hour deadline

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai issued a 24-hour deadline to President Robert Mugabe on Thursday to negotiate or face being shunned as an illegitimate leader responsible for the killing of civilians.  

Iraq violence drops since surge

All major indicators of violence in Iraq have dropped by between 40 and 80 percent since February 2007, when President Bush committed an additional 30,000 troops to the war there, the Pentagon reported Monday. (CNN)

Other News

Don Imus in trouble again 

Don Imus is under fire again in a new controversy over allegedly racially insensitive remarks he made on the air on Monday. This morning the radio talk show host is set to explain just what he meant.

3 hurt in Juneteenth shooting

A volley of gunfire at the Juneteenth festivities in Minneapolis injured three people and sent thousands of festivalgoers fleeing and jolted Saturday's event to a premature halt.

HIV rates rise for young black gay men

Diagnoses of HIV and AIDS in men who have sex with men rose significantly between 2001 and 2006 while declining in other demographic groups, the federal Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday. The increase in diagnoses was especially high among males between the ages of 13 and 24, with an annual increase of 12.4 percent, compared to 1.5 percent for men overall. The annual increase was still higher among young African-American men who have sex with men, nearly 15 percent. (NYT) 

Study finds blacks diverse optimistic

The digital divide between blacks and whites is fast disappearing. The hip-hop generation, often portrayed as rebellious, has tremendous respect for its elders. Prejudice persists, but most blacks are optimistic about their future. (USA Today)

More Americans delay health care

About 20 percent of the respondents in a 2007 survey of 18,000 people said that they had put off or gone without needed medical treatment at some point in the year earlier, up from 14 percent in a 2003 survey. (WSJ)