
A night for historic 'firsts' for big wins at Emmy Awards
Gay performers shined at the Emmy Awards on Sunday with wins in several categories, including best actor in a drama series, which went to “Pose” star Billy Porter.

Baby Archie is christened
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the 2-month-old son of Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, was christened last Saturday in a small, private ceremony at Windsor Castle.

R. Kelly pleads not guilty to sexually assaulting teens, posts $100,000 bail
Grammy-winning R&B star R. Kelly pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he sexually assaulted three teenage girls and a woman in alleged incidents dating back to 1998, weeks after a television documentary leveled new accusations against him.

Rap scores Grammy breakthrough while girl power rules awards show
“This is America,” Childish Gambino’s searing indictment of police brutality and racism, scored a breakthrough for rap on Sunday at the Grammy Awards by winning both record and song of the year and becoming the first hip-hop track to win either of the top Grammy categories in 61 years.

Bump stocks banned
The Trump administration on Tuesday banned the high-power gun attachments of the type used in last year’s Las Vegas shooting massacre of 58 people, giving the owners of “bump stocks” 90 days to turn in or destroy the devices and blocking owners from being able to register them.

Gillum concedes in Fla. gov.’s race
Democrat Andrew Gillum, who had sought to become Florida’s first African-American governor, conceded last Saturday after a recount showed he had no way of catching his Republican rival Ron DeSantis, an ally of President Donald Trump.

President Trump fires Attorney General Jeff Sessions
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was fired on Wednesday after receiving unrelenting criticism from President Trump for recusing himself from an investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential race.

Harvard admissions lawsuit may impact race, affirmative action in college admissions
Harvard University discriminates against Asian-American applicants in order to limit how many it admits, a lawyer for a group suing the school said on Monday at the start of a trial that could have wider implications for the role of race in U.S. college admissions.

First Lady Melania Trump lays wreath at slave castle in Ghana
First Lady Melania Trump laid a wreath at a 17th century slave fortress in Ghana on Wednesday, vowing never to forget where Africans were held before being shipped away into further hardship, most across the Atlantic.

Minority doctors in residency programs routinely face racism
Minority doctors in training routinely deal with bias, sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle, a new study suggests. Researchers found that resident physicians from racial and ethnic minorities face a daily barrage of microaggressions as well as overt prejudice, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open.

Major cracks begin to show in Trump White House
Senior officials in President Trump’s administration have been working from within to frustrate parts of his agenda to protect the country from his worst impulses, an anonymous Trump official wrote in a column published by the New York Times on Wednesday.

Thousands pay final respects to Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin’s body lay in repose on Tuesday while her soaring voice poured from loudspeakers outside a Detroit museum, stirring fans to sway and sing along and others to weep as they lined up for a last glimpse of the “Queen of Soul.”

Nobel winner Kofi Annan, the first black African to lead the United Nations, dies at 80
Former U.N. Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan died on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, his foundation said, after decades of championing efforts to try to end protracted conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Kanye West sounds off on slavery, his opioid addiction and Trump
Rapper Kanye West on Tuesday described slavery as a choice, praised President Trump for doing “the impossible” by becoming president, and attributed his 2016 mental breakdown to opioid addiction.

Life likely to change for Bill Cosby after conviction
Bill Cosby, used to the high life as one of America’s biggest stars, likely will see his entourage of aides replaced by an inmate paid pennies to help the legally blind comedian navigate life behind bars after he is sentenced for sexual assault.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar wins Pulitzer for music
California rapper Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for music Monday for his album “DAMN.,” organizers announced. Mr. Lamar, 30, is the first rapper to win the prestigious award. The Pulitzer follows the five Grammy awards won by Mr. Lamar in January for the album.

Starbucks to close 8,000 U.S. stores for racial bias training
Starbucks Corp. will close 8,000 company-owned U.S. cafés for the afternoon on Tuesday, May 29, to train nearly 175,000 to prevent racial discrimination in its stores.

Target settles claims it screened black people, Hispanics out of jobs
Target Corp. has agreed to review its policies for screening job applicants and pay $3.74 million to settle a lawsuit claiming its use of criminal background checks kept thousands of African-Americans and Hispanics from obtaining employment.

‘Mother of South Africa’ dies at 81
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who emerged as a combative anti-apartheid campaigner during her former husband Nelson Mandela’s decades in jail but whose reputation was later tarnished by allegations of violence, died on Monday, April 2, 2018, at the age of 81.

Mars has star power winning 6 Grammys
R&B artist Bruno Mars won the top prize at the Grammy Awards on Sunday in another victory for pop-driven music over rap, now the most popular genre in the nation.

‘Get Out’ surprises at Oscar nominations
This year’s Oscar surprises include four nominations — including best picture and best actor for Daniel Kaluuya — for Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” in which an African-American man finds himself trapped at his white girlfriend’s house with her strange family.

Obesity, poverty help explain higher diabetes risk for black Americans
Even though African-American adults are more likely to develop diabetes than white adults, the increased risk is largely due to obesity and other risk factors that may be possible to change, a new study suggests.

Former Trump official pleads guilty in special prosecutor’s probe
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty last Friday to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia, and he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors delving into the actions of President Trump’s inner circle before he took office.

Wedding bells for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
It looks like a fairy tale ending for Meghan Markle, the American actress best known for her role in the television legal drama “Suits.” Ms. Markle and Britain’s Prince Harry announced on Monday they are getting married next year, saying their relationship had blossomed “incredibly quickly” after meeting on a blind date.

Venus breaks down at Wimbledon despite win
Tennis star Venus Williams broke down in tears during her post-match news conference at Wimbledon on Monday when asked about a recent car accident she was involved in, which led to the death of a 78-year-old Florida man.

Congressman, others wounded in shooting in Va.
Lawmakers of all parties are decrying the heinous act of a gunman who opened fire on Wednesday on Republican lawmakers who were practicing near Washington for a charity baseball game.

Sessions denies any collusion with Russia during Trump campaign
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday denounced as a “detestable lie” the idea he colluded with Russians meddling in the 2016 election, and he clashed with Democratic lawmakers over his refusal to detail his conversations with President Trump.

Tiger Woods blames medication for his DUI arrest
Former world No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods said an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications was to blame for his early-morning DUI arrest near his Jupiter Island home in Florida on Monday.

Gorsuch sworn in to high court
President Trump reveled in the biggest political victory of his presidency at a White House ceremony on Monday in which his U.S. Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch was sworn in, poised to make an instant impact on a court once again dominated by conservatives.

Serena, 35, wins title 23, pursuing 24
Serena Williams reigned supreme in tennis’ great sibling rivalry, edging an emotion-charged clash with sister Venus to claim her seventh Australian Open last Saturday.

Republicans make repealing Obamacare ‘first order of business’
President Obama exhorted fellow Democrats on Wednesday to preserve his legacy-defining health care law as Republicans moved ahead with their long-desired bid to scrap it in what Vice President-elect Mike Pence called the “first order of business” of the incoming Donald Trump administration. The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate brushed aside unified opposition by Democrats and voted to open debate on a resolution setting in motion the Republican drive to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which has helped upwards of 20 million previously uninsured Americans obtain health insurance. As early as 2018, the millions of people who gained insurance under the law could see their coverage in jeopardy — especially if Congress fails to find a replacement to the law beforehand.

August Wilson’s ‘Fences’ now on big screen
Denzel Washington is excited. Not so much because he is an Oscar front-runner for his role in “Fences,” but because bringing the award-winning stage play about blue collar African-Americans to the big screen has been a long-held dream.

Under scrutiny, Trump announces plans to dissolve his foundation
President-elect Donald Trump said he intends to dissolve his charitable foundation, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which has been under investigation by the New York attorney general. The president-elect gave no timeline for winding down the foundation, but said in a statement released on Dec. 24 that he wanted “to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president.”

Michigan officials face charges in Flint water crisis
Michigan prosecutors on Tuesday charged four former government officials in Flint, including two city emergency managers, with conspiring to violate safety rules in connection with the city’s water crisis that exposed residents to dangerous levels of lead.

Painful testimony from 72-year-old survivor of S.C. church massacre
A 72-year-old retired nurse recounted for jurors on Wednesday how she cowered under a table while Dylann Roof killed nine of her fellow worshippers at a historic black church but spared her so she could tell the story of what he had done.

‘The Birth of a Nation’ opens nationwide Friday amid controversy
The film “The Birth of a Nation” premieres nationwide Friday, Oct. 7, amid a firestorm of controversy surrounding its director, co-producer, co-writer and star, actor Nate Parker.

Trump, accompanied by Steve Parson, met by protesters, half-filled pews at Detroit church
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stepped up his bid to win over minority voters by addressing a largely black church in Detroit last Saturday and calling for a new civil rights agenda to support African-Americans.

Bill Cosby to go on trial in June 2017
Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial in Pennsylvania has been scheduled for June. And if prosecutors have their way, more than a dozen accusers will take the stand to detail what they claim is a decades-long pattern of attacks.

Shields brims with confidence even before winning historic second gold
Claressa Shields brought one gold medal to the ring with her and left with two hanging around her neck after retaining her Olympic middleweight title and making U.S. boxing history last Sunday.

Biles ties record with 4 golds
Simone Biles showed off her sassy moves and explosive tumbles on the floor exercise to win a record-equaling fourth gold at the Olympics on Tuesday.

Sanders gives Clinton the nod
Portsmouth, N.H. Democrat Bernie Sanders endorsed former rival Hillary Clinton for president in a display of party unity Tuesday, describing her as the best candidate to fix the nation’s problems and beat Republican Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Louisiana man killed by police
The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it will investigate the killing of a black man pinned to the ground and shot in the chest by two white police of- ficers outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La. Captured on at least two videos, graphic images of the shooting of Alton Sterling, 37, early Tuesday stirred protests and so- cial media outcry over the latest case of alleged police brutality against an African- American in cities from Ferguson, Mo., to Baltimore and New York.

Whew!
FBI finds Hillary Clinton careless, but not criminal in use of private email server
The FBI recommended Tuesday that no criminal charges be filed over Hillary Clinton’s use of private email servers while she was secretary of state, but rebuked the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate for “extremely careless” handling of classified information.

LeBron delivers promise, leads Cavs to NBA title
LeBron James powered the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 93-89 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday in an electrifying Game 7 to complete an improbable comeback unlike any seen before and capture their first NBA championship.

Trump calls profiling Muslims ‘common sense’
Republican Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States should consider more racial profiling in response to a question about whether he supported greater law enforcement scrutiny of Muslim Americans after the Orlando mass shooting.

Brothers awaiting Olympic trials after injuries
Noah Lyles has bigger fish to fry than Virginia’s 6A Track and Field Championships.

Serena screams to a halt in French Open
The real Serena Williams finally turned up at the French Open last Saturday in pursuit of a 22nd grand slam singles title. But it was to no avail.

Cosby to stand trial on sexual assault charge
A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday ordered comedian Bill Cosby to stand trial on accusations of sexual assault, the most serious setback so far for a man who epitomized the all-American dad on the 1980s sitcom “The Cosby Show.” Judge Elizabeth McHugh found that prosecutors presented enough evidence to support allegations that he drugged and assaulted a woman in 2004. The judge rejected arguments from Mr. Cosby’s defense lawyers that the case should be thrown out.

Gun used to kill Trayvon Martin auctioned; is bid real?
Online bidding for the gun used by George Zimmerman to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., in 2012 ended on Wednesday, although it was not clear whether the final offer of $138,900 was legitimate.

New police chief takes helm in Ferguson
Ferguson, Mo., the site of violent protests after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in 2014, swore in an African-American police chief Monday.
Prev Next