Category: National News

New data from the U.S. Department of Education reveals that Black students continue to drop out of high school at a much higher rate than Whites, and nearly 40 percent fail to earn a high school diploma on time. According to the report, 234,121 White students in the United States dropped out of high school […]

Troubles continue to mount for the beleaguered former mayor of Detroit. In addition to being sent back to jail last month for violating terms of his probation, Kwame Kilpatrick now faces 19 federal charges that include mail and wire fraud, and income tax evasion. According to a June 23 indictment, which comes seven years into […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tens of thousands of pages worth of documents from Elena Kagan’s past have left President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee relatively unscathed and important details about her still a mystery heading into confirmation hearings for a lifetime job as a justice. Documents from Kagan’s service in the Clinton White House, including her […]

In what could be one step closer to his freedom, death row inmate Troy Davis returned to a Savannah, Ga. court June 23 to offer evidence he believes will negate his 1991 conviction for murder. Based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision last August, Davis’ lawyers will offer evidence – including recanted testimony – that […]

A funeral for former child actor Gary Coleman, whose body was cremated June 18, won’t take place for months, if one will be held at all, a Utah judge has ruled. His ashes will be safeguarded until a probate dispute between his ex-wife and a former business associate is resolved, the judge said. According to […]

The federal government reported that new home construction fell sharply in May, the first month after the federal homebuyer tax credit expired. “No doubt, a certain amount of building and buying activity that would have taken place in May was pulled forward to accommodate the program’s end date, which is why we have projected some […]

Through a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States Agency of International Development has created a $10 million banking fund to jumpstart financial services in mobile banking in Haiti. “Mobile Money” will provide the delivery of cash assistance to Haitians devastated by the earthquake and help lift them out of extreme […]

At first glance, you wouldn’t think much has changed in Haiti since an unprecedented tremor ravaged Port-au-Prince five months ago. “There are piles of rubble everywhere and some parts of Port-au-Prince look like Armageddon,” said American Red Cross spokeswoman Julie Sell with a heavy sigh. She added, “People who work in the humanitarian and disaster […]

Haiti is a paradox; a place where dueling forces of life and death exist at an impasse – a reality made even starker by the 7.0-magitude earthquake that shook the nation’s core and destroyed its capital. AFRO freelance photographer J.D. Howard said he felt compelled to capture the Caribbean nation’s story on camera. “I wanted […]

This time of year, most high school seniors are either on vacation or finalizing plans to attend a college in the fall. But due to a policy issue, Brittany Hemphill of Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta, Ga., is still waiting for her high school diploma. Hemphill, an honors student, was sent a notification […]

Controversy has arisen in South Carolina as Alvin M. Greene, an unemployed veteran facing felony charges, has won the state’s Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Greene’s win was improbable, as he’s never given a campaign speech, doesn’t have a Web site, has no campaign signs and only has $114 in his campaign bank account. Yet, […]

The sheriff of Louisiana’s St. Bernard Parish and federal officials have admitted to conducting an unlawful probe for illegal aliens working at clean-up stations for the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Sheriff Jack Stephens initially denied any involvement and federal authorities said they were conducting a training exercise, not a raid, according […]