In today’s top news, Sherri Shepherd fulfills her dream of playing a prostitute, there’s no end in sight to Drake’s and Common’s beef and Black leaders respond to the State of the Union address.

Sherri Shepherd says her latest role as a prostitute was on her dream board. [BET]

Common, Drake beef rages on. [BET]

Black leaders respond to the State of the Union address. [BET]

Bill Gates still believes in Africa aid. [Allafrica.com]

Black murder rate in Missouri is the highest in the nation. [VPC]

South Sudan strikes an oil pipeline deal with Kenya. [AFP]

Ice-T says Obama will win 2012 election, followed by a Hillary Clinton administration. [AP]

USDA calls for healthier school lunches. [MSNBC]

Sundance documentary examines rape in the U.S. military. [AP]

Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle working on tour collaboration. [MTV]

(Photo: Mark Boster-Pool/Getty Images)

In today’s top news, Nigeria moves forward with its anti-gay law, Occupy protesters in L.A. and Philly get the boot and central banks take a stab at the debt crisis.

Conrad Murray gets four years in prison. [Reuters]

Black man in “whiteface” takes to the streets. [DailyMail]

Nigeria approves anti-gay bill. [AP]

Police in L.A., Philly move in on local Occupy encampments. [AP]

Father of N.J. two-year-old charged with girl’s murder. [BET]

Smithsonian accepts Klan robes for new Black history museum. [AP]

NBA facilities open to players on Thursday. [BET]

British workers strike over retirement benefits. [CNN]

Dangerous levels of arsenic found in fruit juice. [MSNBC]

Central banks band together on debt crisis. [NYT]

(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

In today’s top news, Tyler Perry reaches out to the whistleblower Penn State abuse victim, Wyclef Jean is back in the spotlight over his charity’s spending and Occupy L.A. tries to flex its muscle against an evacuation deadline.

Black atheists face stigma at home. [NYT]

Tyler Perry writes open letter to Penn State victim. [Daily Beast]

N.J. Tea Party blames Obama for Black unemployment. [Star-Ledger]

Black Kentucky twins seek opera fame. [Kernel]

Legendary Black photographer Teenie Harris honored in new exhibit. [BET]

Wyclef Jean is back in hot water over charity spending. [BET]

Eqypt pulls off first election since uprising. [MSNBC]

Occupy L.A. refuses to heed deadline. [LATimes]

FDA allows manufacturers to reuse wayward food. [MSNBC]

Illegal immigrant laws affect citizens too. [Hattiesburg American]

Congressional Democrats drop child health bill. Congressional Democrats have scrapped plans for another vote on expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The move spares Republicans from a politically difficult vote just weeks before elections this fall, the Washington Post reports. Before the summer recess, Democrats had vowed repeatedly to force another vote on the popular program. But Democrats say they have shifted course, after concluding that President Bush would not sign their legislation and that they didn’t have the votes to override a veto. Mr. Bush vetoed two earlier versions of the legislation, which he denounced as a dangerous step toward “government-run health care for every American,” and the House sustained those vetoes.  The move effectively shelves the legislation, which was aimed at expanding state health care coverage for  poor and middle-income families, is effectively dead for now. “We are not going to change any votes on the children’s health insurance bill. We still don’t have enough to override a veto,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “Those who opposed this bill can face the voters and explain why they believe 10 million kids should not get health coverage.” 

Free drug samples could cost uninsured more. Free drug samples provided to physicians by pharmaceutical companies could actually be costing uninsured patients more in the long run, according to a study done by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues. The retrospective study looked at the prescribing habits of more than 70 physicians in a university-affiliated internal medicine practice in the months immediately before and after the closing of their drug sample closet. The results indicate that the availability of free samples from pharmaceutical companies greatly impacts whether an uninsured patient is given a prescription for a generic or a brand-name drug. The complete findings can be found in the September issue of Southern Medical Journal. “It’s true that samples can save patients money in the short-run,” said David P. Miller, M.D., lead researcher and internal medicine physician at Wake Forest Baptist. “But our study shows that they may end up paying more in the long run when they are given prescriptions for brand-name only drugs.” After looking at 2,000 cases, researchers found that, for uninsured patients, the percentage of medications prescribed as generics rose from 12 percent to 30 percent after the clinic closed its drug sample closet. For Medicaid patients, however, there was no significant change in generic prescribing.
Natural label is no guarantee. The word “natural” on a food label sounds like it might mean the food is better for you, but a University of Missouri nutritionist says that isn’t necessarily the case. “The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sets standards for the nutrition information and health claims that can be made on a food label,” said Tammy Roberts, nutrition and health education specialist with University of Missouri Extension. “Claims made on food labels are to be truthful and not misleading. Still, it’s easy for some claims to be confusing.” The three terms that many people are confused about are “natural,” “healthy” and “organic,” Roberts said. “Many people think they all mean about the same thing, but there are different specific meanings for all of these terms,” Roberts told U.S. News & World Report. When a food is labeled as “natural,” it means that the product does not contain any synthetic or artificial ingredients or is minimally processed. According to Roberts, the food label should explain how the producer is using terms such as “no added colorings” or “no added artificial ingredients” along with the “natural” claim. For a food to be labeled as “healthy,” it must meet certain criteria for the amount of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and have specific minimum amounts of vitamins, minerals or other beneficial nutrients. If a food is labeled as “organic,” it must meet standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the way the food is grown or produced. “It is important to note that USDA makes no claims that organically grown food is more nutritious or safer than other non-organically produced food,” said Roberts.

HIV  increase in New York is three times the national rate. The virus that causes AIDS is spreading in New York City at three times the national rate, according to a study released on Wednesday by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The study, reports The New York Times, shows that in New York there are 72 new cases of HIV infections for every 100,000 people, compared with 23 per 100,000 nationally. The findings, based on a new formula developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated that 4,762 New Yorkers contracted HIV in 2006, the most precise estimate the city has ever offered. But city officials stress that because the method of estimating infections was new, it could not be said definitively whether the number of new infections in the city had increased or decreased from previous years. Blacks, and men who have sex with other men, are the groups at greatest risk of contracting HIV, the study found. Blacks made up 46 percent of the newly infected; Hispanics, 32 percent; and Whites, 21 percent. Men accounted for 76 percent of new HIV infections and women for 25 percent. (The figures exceed 100 percent because of rounding.) Sex between men was the main cause in 50 percent of new infections; high-risk heterosexual sex in 22 percent; intravenous drug use in 8 percent; and unknown or uncertain causes in 18 percent. Over all, the study found some interesting differences between national and local rates of new HIV infections. Nearly two-thirds of the city’s new infections occurred in people 30 to 50 years old. Nationally, people under 30 accounted for 41 percent of new infections, compared with 28 percent in New York City. Also, within New York City, Whites were infected at four times the national rate, Hispanics at three times the national rate, and Blacks at almost twice the national rate.  
The number of uninsured Americans drops. The number of Americans without health insurance dropped by more than 1 million people in 2007, the first yearly decline in seven years, U.S. Census Bureau officials announced Tuesday. The drop was driven largely by an increase in the number of children covered by government-funded programs. The overall number of uninsured dropped from 47 million in 2006 to 45.7 million in 2007, David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau’s Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, said during a morning teleconference. The number of children with health insurance increased to 8.7 million in 2007, up from 8.1 million in 2006. “The number of children covered by government health insurance programs increased to 31 percent from 29.8 percent in 2006,” Johnson said. “This is the main reason for the fall in the uninsured rates in children and for the fall in uninsured rates in the general population,” he said. Among Blacks, the number of uninsured dipped from 20.5 percent in 2006 to 19.5 percent in 2007. The number of people with private health insurance did not change. However, the number of people covered by government health insurance such as Medicaid increased from 80.3 million in 2006 to 83 million in 2007. People getting their health insurance through Medicaid increased from 38.3 million in 2006 to 39.6 million in 2007. Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that seeks to promote a high-performing health care system for all Americans, thinks that the drop in the number of uninsured supports the argument for government-sponsored health insurance programs. “When you look at what’s really going on, the number of uninsured dropped by 1.3 million, and the increase in coverage under Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) went up by 1.3 million,” she said. This shows the importance of government-funded safety nets, she said.

A food allergy action plan helps protect children.  Parents, teachers and school staff need to take measures to ensure the safety of the more than 2.2 million American students with food allergies, says the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. “Open and frequent communication between parents and school staff is a key ingredient to keeping food-allergic students out of harm,” Dr. Michael Pistiner, a member of the Academy’s  Adverse Reactions to Foods Committee, said in an academy news release. “It takes a partnership to establish effective avoidance strategies and emergency plans.” The academy’s sample action plan and checklist of safety tips:  Inform the school cafeteria, teachers and other staff of what foods your child must avoid. Pack bag lunches. Your child should avoid classroom snacks and refrain from sharing food with friends. When there’s a classroom party, provide your child with safe snacks he or she can eat during the party. And push for “no-eating” policies on buses and in other settings where there’s no supervision of children. “Parents should be aware of expiration dates and keep in contact with their allergist to insure that all medication, especially self-injectable epinephrine, is replaced prior to expiration,” adds Pistiner, whose own nut-allergic son enters kindergarten this fall. Visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology for more on food allergies and their management.

Togo gets its first Olympic medal ever

Togo, a country in West Africa, recently won its first medal ever in an Olympic event, reports the BBC. Benjamin Boukpeti (above) took home the bronze medal in the men’s single kayak slalom in Beijing. He was so excited about the win that he broke his paddle in half. “I can hardly believe it, but I’m not surprised,” he said. Aside from earning his nation’s first Olympic medal, Boukpeti also became the first male kayaker to win an Olympic slalom medal who is not European. After the race he hugged and kissed his parents (his mother is French, his father Togolese). Alexander Grimm, from Germany, won gold and France’s Fabien Lefevre – who was originally picked to win it all – won silver. But the day belonged to Boukpeti. “This is unexpected; it is a good surprise for Togo. It is more than a beautiful surprise because many Togolese are not aware of this sport’s discipline,” said Cornelius Aidam, Togo’s minister for communication, culture and civic education.

Food shortage is affecting thousands in northern Kenya. A critical food shortage in northern Kenya is leaving tens of thousands at risk, reports the Integrated Regional Information Networks. Affected are areas in Baringo and East Pokot, which are in Kenya’s north Rift, according to a charity official. “There is an acute food shortage and the situation has been rated as alarming,” said Anthony Mwangi, the public relations manager with Kenya’s Red Cross Society (KRCS). Skyrocketing food prices, as well as a lack of rain leading, are to blame for the food crisis. In addition, the nation’s livestock is not selling as well as it used to due to the poor health of the animals. “The livestock are in poor condition and are fetching low prices in the markets,” he said. The shortage is affecting almost 100,000 thousand people in total (at least 64,000 in East Pokot and 32,000 in Baringo). During the shortage many youths (at least 5 percent) have been missing school. “They are staying behind to support their parents,” Mwangi said. Some starving residents have had to eat wild fruits and rodents. The Kenya Red Cross Society has stepped in to help, distributing 1,246 tons of food and food materials to those affected, Mwangi said.

Cigarette legislation clears the house.

Legislation that gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration broad authority to regulate cigarettes and other forms of tobacco cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. The White House issued a statement voicing “serious concerns” about the bill and said advisers would recommend a presidential veto. Backers, including public health groups and many Democrats, said the measure would help curtail youth smoking, prevent heart disease and reduce rising health-care costs. “With this legislation, we will place sharp and sorely needed limits on access to tobacco products and on tobacco advertising and marketing,” said Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The White House, however, said the legislation would “put an enormous burden on the FDA” that could detract from other public health responsibilities. Requiring the FDA to oversee tobacco products also “could be perceived by the public as an endorsement that these products are safe, resulting in more people smoking,” the White House said. The bill, which cleared the House in a 326-102 vote, would authorize the FDA to police cigarette labeling and recall tobacco products seen as unreasonably harmful. The FDA also would have to approve all new cigarettes and other tobacco products, and set standards for so-called reduced-risk products. The agency would not be empowered to ban cigarettes or require nicotine levels of zero.

The World Lens: Indian police break up fuel protests; food woes get worse in Ethiopia ; and soccer players get acrobatic. See the photos here.

Chinese in South Africa are Black?Chinese South Africans will soon be classified as Black, so they too can benefit from certain affirmative-action-like government programs. About 200,000 ethnic Chinese live in the African nation, and they claim they have long been the target of discrimination, reports the BBC. For this reason, the Chinese Association of South Africa filed suit against the government because Chinese were being classified as White. This caused them to miss out on business contracts and job promotions as part of the Broad-Based Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity Acts meant to abolish the country’s apartheid tradition. Under that act people classified as Black, Indian or of mixed race benefited. Chinese originally were placed in the mixed-race category, but today they are generally looked at and classified as being White. In court, the association brought up various incidences were Chinese people were denied opportunities because they were not cared for under the act. Years after apartheid, White South Africans still earn about 450 percent more than Blacks in the nation.

South African leader to meet with Zimbabwe president. Thabo Mbeki, South Africa ’s president, will visit Zimbabwe to meet with longtime leader Robert Mugabe, reports CNN. Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are embroiled in a fight for the presidency with run-off elections (following the disputed one in March) set to happen next week. Each side claims the other side is responsible for violence in the country; Mugabe supporters stand accused of intimidating his opponent’s supporters through beatings, kidnappings, arrests and murder, while Mugabe accuses Tsvangirai’s party (Movement for Democratic Change) of inciting violence as well. Mbeki has been tapped as a mediator with the Southern African Development Community. But the MDC believes Mbeki is biased toward Mugabe. “We don’t even know what [Mbeki]’s agenda is. We can’t attach expectations to an agenda we know nothing about,”an MDC spokesman, Ngobizitha Mlilo, told The Association Press. Tsvangirai has even asked that Mbeki step down from the position as mediator, reports the news service. Mbeki was appointed in 2007 and helped get the sides to agree to post election results outside of polling stations.

South Africans killed their own by mistake

The mobs of South Africans that went around attacking foreigners actually ended up killing natives, the government says. Out of the 62 people who died as a result of the riots, 21 were South Africans mistaken as being from other parts of Africa . Language might have contributed to the mistaken identity; for instance, people in the northern part of the nation speak Shangan, a language also commonly spoken in Mozambique . Looks could’ve also played a role, as one native South African who was attacked by mobs told the BBC. “Maybe because of the color pigmentation, one may say I’m from Zimbabwe or Mozambique . These people, they don’t even ask where you are from or what you are doing here – they just kick you, hit you,” he told the network. “They all carry guns; they all carry slash hammers and knives. They even took our cell phones, money and luggage.”

International organizations want Haiti ’s debt forgiven
As if being the poorest country in the western hemisphere isn’t enough, Haiti has to pay out millions each year to service its debt. For this reason, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are calling for some of the world’s wealthiest countries to cancel Haiti ’s debt so the nation can focus on feeding its citizens and provide them healthcare, among other services. The NGOs, representing organizations in Canada , Europe and the United States , say that while Haitians are starving and rioting over food prices, the government is forced to pay $1 million every week to the World Bank and other organizations. They presented their plan to G-8 finance ministers before their scheduled meeting on Friday in Japan.

Mozambicans could revolt, says Mandela’s wife
An increase of attacks against foreigners living in South Africa sent thousands of them (including those from Mozambique) fleeing back to their homelands. As a result, Nelson Mandela’s wife (former Mozambican first lady), Graca Machel, believes that those that returned to Mozambique from South Africa might revolt against their government because of its inability to provide for them, reports the BBC. “For the first few weeks, they will cry on the shoulders of their families for having lost everything. Then they will go and cry to the government, and at the end they will revolt against the government and all who are around them,” she said at a conference on ethnic cleansing attended by delegates from Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. After the spike in deadly anti-foreigner attacks in South Africa, in which 27 Mozambicans were killed, 39,000 of them returned to the country. When they got back to Mozambique, most had to depend on others to survive. In South Africa, Machel said, the influx of foreigners put a lot of pressure on the country’s infrastructure, reports the news service. “Extreme poverty dehumanizes people and leads them to madness. That’s what happened in Rwanda over 10 years ago,” she said. Many South African attackers blamed foreigners for taking jobs and increasing to the nation’s crime rate.

Uganda’s president is “very happy” about the worldwide food crisis
People all over the world are suffering from high food prices, yet the president of an African nation says he’s happy about it. “Why? Because we produce a lot of food…we are stuck with food,” Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni told head government officials, reports the BBC. According to Museveni, milk production in the country was so high people had to pour it away, until Uganda set up a deal with an Indian plant where they now ship their extra milk to. “Our problem has been marketing…we produce 10 million metric tons of bananas and 40 percent of it rots because we have nowhere to sell it,” he also told officials. Museveni is hoping that trade barriers will be removed, resulting in Uganda and like nations gaining from their food production. But, not all Ugandans share their leader’s positive outlook on the food crisis, according to the BBC. In fact, many poor Ugandans (who only grow food for themselves to eat, not to export) are suffering while only large commercials farmers are benefiting, says the news service. However, Uganda’s food production is expected to increase 8.9 percent this year.