. I have to say that nearly a century after women in the United States got the right to vote and decades after the women's liberation movement here, neither of which I was alive for, plus the ongoing injustices women around the world continue to face (particularly in the Middle East), it warms my heart to see women take their place on a national and international scale.
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. When I initially heard of Arizona's new state law, allowing law enforcers to ask anyone for proof of legal US residency, I thought it was utterly ridiculous.
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. Happy New Year BBN readers! What a way to jumpstart the big 2010 Census push with a "Negro" option under the race category.
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I sat in a roundtable with New York Governor David Paterson recently and other members of the city's Caribbean media. The meeting was called to grab the Governor's ears on a few items including the Immigration Bill being drafted in Washington.
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I had the worst restaurant experience ever this weekend and I can't help but feeling that my husband and I may have been treated the way we were because we were Black. How can you tell?

Famished and tired on Saturday night, we decided to eat at the Gaslight Restaurant & Brewery in South Orange, NJ.
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I often wonder if the state of affairs in the region I love so much will ever improve. Will Haiti ever reach up out of the stifling grips of poverty? It's the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
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Sure. The Sonia Sotomayor Hearings airing on a C-Span or CNN near you is not exactly must-see TV.
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. The Michael Jackson phenomenon didn't start in my family with my red leather jacket with a million zippers and a white t-shirt of Michael's amazing feet while on the tip of his toes.
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I love to travel. My list is long of the nations I'm dying to see.
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I believe in voodoo. Or rather good and evil spirits people of many faiths believe in.
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(star) They embody the elements of modern-day success — young, urban, educated and loaded. Mixed-race couples have been on the rise in Canada since early 1990s and according to a new Statistics Canada study released Tuesday, they are doing better socioeconomically than those who marry within their own race. Based on 2006 Census data, mixed couples, with a median family income of $74,670 a year, made $5,000 more than non-mixed couples, who earned $69,830. While those who marry within the same visible minority group earned just $53,710, the lowest of all groups, the highest earners, making $76,150, were couples in which a visible minority was married to a Caucasian. Mixed-race couples are also more highly educated.  More...

(cbc) The British government has refused to allow an Iroquois lacrosse team to travel to England using passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy. A British Consulate spokeswoman says the team would be able to travel only with documents the United Kingdom considers valid. Tonya Gonnella Frichner, a member of the Onondaga Nation who works with the team, says it was told by British officials that members would have to use U. S. or Canadian passports to travel to Britain.  More...

(hupo) The oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is a final onslaught launched from the grave of colonialism, perpetrated by a corporation that can compete with Goldman Sachs when it comes to creating misery around the world. One of the most pivotal moments in world and United States history came in 1953 when the CIA and British intelligence forces staged a coup in Iran, overthrowing the democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh, a national Iranian hero who was named Time's Man of the Year in 1952. That coup led directly to the Iranian revolution of 1979, which launched an era of Middle East anti-Americanism whose repercussions have since been felt in deadly ways. Mossadegh earned the adoration of his people and the scorn of Britain for nationalizing the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which controlled Iran's oil reserves, shared little of the revenue and kept its workers in slave-like conditions. Anglo-Iranian became British Petroleum.  More...

(nyt) For years, Allison Ross rubbed in skin-lightening creams with names like Hyprogel and Fair & White. She said she wanted to even out and brighten the tone of her face, neck and hands. Mrs. Ross, 45, who lives in Brooklyn, also said that she used the lightening creams “to be more accepted in society. ” After months of twice-a-day applications, her skin was not only fairer, it had become so thin that a touch would bruise her face.  More...

Lebanese singer sparks Nubian anger One of the Arab world's best known pop stars has sparked fury among Egypt's Nubians by releasing a song that refers to them as "monkeys". Haifa Wehbe, a Lebanese singer, has since apologised for the song, saying it was written by an Egyptian songwriter and that she was unaware of the racial connotations of the lyrics. But Nubian lawyers have called for the song to be banned and filed a complaint against with Egypt's public prosecutor. The Lebanese singer now faces a possible lawsuit over her song "Where's Daddy", in which a child sings to her: "Where is my teddy bear and the Nubian monkey?" The UK's Guardian newspaper quoted Adul Raouf Mohammed, a Nubian store manager, as saying the song's reference was "insulting in any culture". "She has denigrated an entire community of people, and now some of our children are afraid to go into school because they know they will be called monkeys in the playground," the paper quoted him as saying.  More...

(bbc) Nearly 60% of black and African people living in Russia's capital Moscow have been physically assaulted in racially motivated attacks, says a new study. Africans working or studying in the city live in constant fear of attack, according to the report by the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy. A quarter of 200 people surveyed said they had been assaulted more than once. Some 80% had been verbally abused. But the number of assaults was down from the MPC's last survey in 2002.  More...

(lat) Two imprisoned American TV journalists have been pardoned by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the Associated Press has reported, and they have been ordered released during the current visit of former U. S. President Bill Clinton. The "special pardon," which news agencies said was announced by North Korean media, came after Clinton negotiated with North Korean officials in Pyongyang. Citing unidentified sources in the South Korean government, Yonhap news agency said Clinton may head back to Washington less than a day after arriving in Pyongyang.  More...

(bbc) Western mineral firms are fuelling violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo by failing to check where their raw materials come from, activists say. Global Witness says companies sourcing minerals used in electronic gadgets are buying them from traders who finance rebel and government troops. It calls for the UK-based Amalgamated Metal Corporation (AMC) and others to have assets frozen over the issue. AMC, whose subsidiary Thaisarco sources tin from DR Congo, denies the claims. The Global Witness report focuses on the troubled region of eastern DR Congo, where various rebel groups and government troops control large parts of the trade in minerals including coltan, cassiterite and gold.  More...

(Comment from a BBN reader) Russia’s energy giant Gazprom has signed a $2. 5bn deal with Nigeria’s state operated NNPC, to invest in a new joint venture called. . . Nigaz.  More...

(timesofindia) Are fake drugs manufactured in China being pushed into various African countries with the `Made in India' tag? The Indian government has long suspected this to be the case, but it now has definite evidence for the first time. Last week, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria issued a press release stating that a large consignment of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals labelled `Made in India' were, in fact, found to have been produced in China. New Delhi has registered ``strong protest'' with the Chinese mission and China's foreign trade ministry, according to sources in the commerce ministry. India's High Commissioner in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, Mahesh Sachdev, had earlier written to then commerce secretary GSK Pillai, alerting him to the large seizure: ``While this is a case of a Chinese company exporting fake `Made in India' labelled medicines which has been accidentally exposed, it is unlikely to be an isolated incident. Indeed there is no reason for Nigeria to be the only country to be receiving such consignments.  More...

(lat) William I. Robinson, a professor of sociology at UC Santa Barbara, probably shouldn't have been surprised when he found himself in the news earlier this month. He had, after all, forwarded an e-mail to his students that juxtaposed images of Palestinians caught up in Israel's recent Gaza Strip offensive with Jewish victims of the Nazis. The e-mail included graphic photographs of dead Jewish children from the 1940s alongside similar photos from Gaza. In a cover note, Robinson called the images "parallel" and compared Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto.  More...

(afp) Canadian court found a Rwandan militia leader guilty Friday of crimes against humanity in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in Canada's first war crimes trial. Desire Munyaneza, 42, was found guilty of seven counts of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity for the rape, murder and torture of dozens of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in southern Rwanda from April to July 1994. Quebec Superior Court judge Andre Denis said in his ruling that Munyaneza "specifically intended to destroy the Tutsi ethnic group in Butare and in the surrounding communes. "To that end, he intentionally killed Tutsi, seriously wounded others, caused them serious physical and mental harm, sexually assaulted many Tutsi women and generally treated Tutsi inhumanely and degradingly. "In doing so, he committed the crime of genocide" according to Canadian law.  More...

(bbc) As national security adviser, Ms Rice consented to the harsh interrogation of al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah, the Senate Intelligence Committee found. Memos released last week show that he and another key detainee were subjected to waterboarding 266 times. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney has said the techniques produced results. The latest details were revealed in a timeline of the CIA's interrogation programme produced by the US Senate Intelligence Committee. It shows Ms Rice and other top Bush administration officials were first briefed about "alternative interrogation methods, including waterboarding", in May 2002.  More...

(Reuters) - French unions staged a nationwide day of action on Thursday to denounce the government's economic policies and call for more measures to help consumers. The global financial crisis has sparked protests in many parts of Europe this year: BOSNIA -- Bosnia's Muslim-Croat parliament cancelled a session on Feb. 26 rather than confront protesters complaining about plans to cut benefits to narrow a big budget gap. BRITAIN -- British workers held a series of protests at power plants against the use of foreign contractors on critical energy sites. They voted to end strikes on Feb.  More...

(hupo) I have a mini-confession to make: I wrote the Tao of Dating books specifically for really smart people. The writing of the books was precipitated by the endemic dating woes on the Harvard campus, as I observed them as an advisor and earlier, indulged in them as a student. Those kids graduate and pretty much continue to have the same dating woes -- only now with fewer single people around who happen to live in the same building and share meals with them every day. So if they had challenges then, it gets about 1000 times worse once they're tossed from the warm womb of their alma mater. From my observations, the following dating challenges seem to be common to most smart people.  More...

(guardian) Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, expressed regret yesterday after he became embroiled in a four-letter-word spat with the head of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, over the American entrepreneur's claims that the British economy was in a spiral of decline. Mandelson was in New York to deliver a speech warning that EU member states faced a threat from competing bail-out programmes for different industrial sectors. But he became angered by Schultz disparaging the UK economy on a cable TV channel and was caught out swearing about the way the Starbucks founder dismissed the UK's economic fortunes. Schultz claimed that Britain was in an economic spiral and said: "The place that concerns us the most is western Europe, and specifically the UK. " He said it had taken between a year and 18 months from the beginning of the credit crunch for consumer confidence to fracture in the US, but the deterioration had happened far more quickly in Europe once financial cracks appeared.  More...

(australianews) POLICE are hunting down the arsonist believed to be responsible for lighting one of the worst of the Victoria fires. Police have confirmed that they believe they know the identity of the man who allegedly contributed to the Churchill-Jeeralang blaze in Gippsland. Twenty-one people have died in that region. But the Country Fire Authority said the firefront could have included towns further north, including Kinglake, St Andrews and Strathewen, where dozens more died in the firestorm. The fires killed 173 people according to the last official death toll.  More...

(hnews) The holiday, celebrated widely in the Hispanic culture, is as much a part of Christian heritage as Christmas. Three Kings Day, also known as The Epiphany, is celebrated on January 6, twelve days after Christmas. It is often viewed as the last day of the Christmas season (the end of the 12 days of Christmas). Three Kings Day commemorates the Magi — by tradition, wise men Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar — following a bright star to Bethlehem and presenting gifts to the newborn Jesus. "They did visit Jesus Christ when he was born and gave him presents," said Art Gonzales, 80, of Torrance, California.  More...

(FP) In the popular consciousness, “slavery” has come to be little more than just a metaphor for undue hardship. Investment bankers routinely refer to themselves as “high-paid wage slaves. ” Human rights activists may call $1-an-hour sweatshop laborers slaves, regardless of the fact that they are paid and can often walk away from the job. But the reality of slavery is far different. Slavery exists today on an unprecedented scale.  More...

(mailonline) British men and women are among the most promiscuous in the world, researchers have found. In an international index measuring one-night stands, total numbers of partners and attitudes to casual sex, Britain comes out ahead of America, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. The result has been linked to the decline of religious scruples, the growth of equal rights for women and a highly sexualised popular culture. Britain scored 40, placing it 11th overall, behind countries such as Latvia, Croatia and Slovenia - but it was highest among the major western industrial nations. The country with the highest rating was Finland, with an average of 51.  More...

(msnbc) Katy Phiri, who is in her 70s, picks up single corn kernels spilled from trucks that ferry the harvest to market. She says she hasn't eaten for three days. Rebecca Chipika, a child of 9, prods a stick into a termite mound to draw out insects. She sweeps them into a bag for her family's evening meal. These scenes from a food catastrophe are unfolding in Doma, a district of rural Zimbabwe where journalists rarely venture.  More...

(ajz) Five Afghan schoolgirls have been attacked with battery acid by suspected Taliban fighters in the southern city of Kandahar. The attack on Wednesday occurred when two men on motorbikes confronted the students outside the Mirwais Nika Girls High School. Two girls were seriously injured by what was discovered to be battery acid. School girls in Kandahar are easily identifiable by their uniform - black trousers, a white shirt, black coat and a headscarf. "We were on the way to school when two men on motorbikes stopped next to us.  More...

("Tell Me More"/NPR) Grammy-award winning song writer Norman Whitfield, known for co-writing such hits as "Papa was a Rolling Stone" and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" passed away yesterday at the age of 67. Host Michel Martin offers a remembrance of Whitfield, who had an expansive career churning out hit music. (AP). . .  More...

(ajz) Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, has said he will resign from his position, following months of pressure from the country's civilian government. The move, which came in a televised address to the nation on Monday, is intended to help him avoid impeachment charges drawn up by the ruling coalition. "After consultations with my legal advisers and close political friends, for the country and the nation today, I am deciding to resign from my office," Musharraf said. "I am leaving with the satisfaction that whatever I did for this country and the population, I did with honesty and commitment. "But I am also a human being," he said.  More...

(ajz) The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has called for the arrest of Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, for alleged war crimes in Darfur. Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement on Monday that al-Bashir had "masterminded and implemented" a campaign to wipe out three ethnic groups in Sudan. Moreno-Ocampo's call for an arrest warrant to be issued against al-Bashir is the first instance where the arrest of a serving head of a state has been requested at the ICC. The prosecutor "has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that [al-Bashir] bears criminal responsibility in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," the statement said. But Khartoum immediately dismissed the move against al-Bashir, saying the court had no jurisdiction over its citizens.  More...

(blackvoices) The leading edge of today's "black power" movement isn't at the front door of Barack Obama's campaign headquarters. It's a little further south, as in the countries of Central and South America. These days it's the Afro-descendientes (people of African descent) in Latin countries who are stepping up. The Afro-Latins are experiencing a newfound pride in their African heritage and demanding their fair share of recognition and rights from society and government. "Soy negro Y orgulloso, " "I'm black and proud" could be the anthem of this awakened constituency.  More...

(ap) Blacks will outnumber whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge, according to a government study released Tuesday. The government's Applied Institute of Economic Research said Brazil, which has the world's second-largest black population after Nigeria, is decades away from racial equality despite public policies aimed at decreasing the gap. Blacks generally earn 50 percent to 70 percent less than whites, and hold only 3. 5 percent of management positions at Brazil's 500 largest companies, according to the labor-union statistics institute Diesse. A 2004 study by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro found the income gap between whites and blacks in Brazil was wider than in apartheid-era South Africa.  More...

(boston. com) US Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the veteran lawmaker from Massachusetts who is the last surviving brother in the legendary Kennedy family, has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, his doctors said today. Specialists in Boston and around the country said the information released indicated that Kennedy has terminal cancer and might have only a limited time to live. Kennedy's doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital, who had been investigating the cause of a seizure that led to Kennedy's hospitalization this weekend, said that preliminary results from a brain biopsy indicated the seizure had been caused by a tumor in the top left portion of his brain.  More...

(Jamaica-gleaner) Since the start of April, Haiti has been experiencing protests over rising food prices. However, these protests became violent this past week. The protests have been triggered by rising food prices, both as a result of international factors such as oil price and grain price increases and the impact of bad weather on agriculture, creating shortages in production and consequently, an increase in agricultural and food prices. The price of rice in Haiti has doubled from US$35 to US$70 for a 120-pound pack. Gasolene has risen three times in the last two months.  More...

(ajz) What ever else the mind-numbing killing of Benazir Bhutto in Thursday’s suicide attack will mean for Pakistan’s future, there is little doubt that politics in this south Asian country will never be the same again. Bhutto's death was like a chronicle foretold. She had escaped a bigger suicide attack upon her return from exile in Karachi two months ago - a manifestation of the threat to her life, which extremists had pledged to carry out before her arrival. These threats emerged after much publicised talks of a power-sharing deal with General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, which would enable her to return home and participate in the elections in exchange for allowing the beleaguered general to get himself re-elected as president. While the opposition resigned en masse from the parliament to block Musharraf's re-election in a year that saw a rejuvenated judiciary challenge the president's authority, Bhutto’s Pakistan People's Party merely abstained from voting providing the general an easy run.  More...

(npr) Last week, French aid workers were arrested in Chad for attempting to remove more than 100 children for placement in Europe. Eleven of the workers remain in jail, facing accusations from Chad that kids they billed as orphans in fact had families that wanted them back. Officials with the French charity, Zoe's Ark, say they were trying to give the kids a better life. That doesn't sit right with Chadeans, who object to the idea that their African children would be better off in European homes. Lisa Marie Rollins, founder of Adopted and Fostered Adults of the African Diaspora, wrestles with so-called baby lifting and the impact of transracial adoption.  More...

(africannews. com) The horrifying sight which traumatized shoppers and office workers in the centre of Luxembourg City last week has now been labelled as a protest against racism. The Belgian woman of Congolese origin who set herself alight in the middle of Place d’Armes told witnesses that she was doing it to protest against racism, moments before she carried out the desperate act which has left her in hospital fighting for her life. Maggy Delvaux-Mufu, a mother of three in her forties, alerted several national newspapers late on Tuesday morning last week that she would be burning herself alive on place des Martyrs at 12. 45 am, before setting out accompanied by her husband to walk through the centre of town to her macabre rendezvous.  More...

(mediabistro) A cable insider tells TVNewser HOT (the largest cable operator in Israel) took CNN off the air from both their digital and analog platforms at 11:30am local time (5:30amET) this morning. It was replaced with FOX News Channel. (BBN Editor: There is a back-story on what led to the move. View source for the information. Israel joins Iran, North Korea and Myanmar as nations that don't carry CNN).  More...

(newsweek) America is quietly expanding its fight against terror on the African front. Two years ago the United States set up the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership with nine countries in central and western Africa. There is no permanent presence, but the hope is to generate support and suppress radicalism by both sharing U. S. weapons and tactics with friendly regimes and winning friends through a vast humanitarian program assembled by USAID, including well building and vocational training.  More...