(Photo: Ethan Miller/AP Photo, Pool)

In today’s news, O.J. Simpson speaks in court in an effort to seek a new trial; Roy Roberts, the head of Detroit’s public schools, says he will stay on the job longer than expected; and a whites-only scholarship at Columbia University is being challenged.

Seeking retrial, O.J. Simpson speaks in court, unbowed. [NYTimes]

Detroit schools chief will not step down yet. [Detroit Free Press]

Whites-only scholarship at Columbia challenged. [USA Today]

Los Angeles buildings emptied after devices found. [ABC]

Republicans say they will continue to investigate IRS after resignation. [Fox]

Nigeria declares a “massive” campaign to combat militants. [BBC]

African groups to hold forum on immigration. [LA Wave]

Judge throws out indictment of NYPD cop in Ramarley Graham case. [BET]

Black science student will not be prosecuted. [BET]

Six dead and 18 injured in Rwanda building collapse. [BBC]

(Photo: Simon Burchell/Getty Images)

In today’s top news, Dr. Dre was named the highest paid musician of 2012; a  GOP state senator says he is in favor of “dissolving Detroit”; and Congress is considering getting rid of the $1 bill in favor of coins.

Dr. Dre was named the highest paid musician of 2012. [BET]

A GOP state senator says he is in favor of  ”dissolving Detroit.” [Grio]

Congress is considering getting rid of the $1 bill in favor of coins. [AP]

Country singer Trace Adkins defended the Confederate flag earpiece he wore at the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting. [CBSNews]

A man dressed as Madea tried to rob a bank in Mississippi. [WREGMemphis]

A mother is petitioning to have her dead don’s student loans forgiven. [Grio]

Joe Jackson reportedly suffered a minor stroke. [BET]

Bobbi Kristina’s boyfriend, Nick Gordon, was arrested for reckless driving.  [BET]

The U.N. General Assembly votes to elevate the status of Palestine to a non-member observer state. [NYT]

The U.K. has halted aid payments to Rwanda over the country’s alleged involvement with supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [BBC]

In today’s top news, President Obama is scheduled to visit hurricane ravaged New Jersey today, experts say Hurricane Sandy is unlikely to stall the election and Stacey Dash tweets a photo of her and Paul Ryan.

President Obama is scheduled to visit hurricane ravaged New Jersey today. [MSNBC]

Experts say Hurricane Sandy is unlikely to stall the election. [NBC]

Stacey Dash tweets a photo of her and Paul Ryan. [USWeekly]

Queen Latifah’s daytime talk show is set to debut in fall 2013. [BET]

Toni Braxton says Oprah was mean to her in a 1998 interview. [BET]

Toni Braxton has been accused of transferring money to avoid paying creditors. [TMZ]

A study shows teens with smartphones may be more sexually active. [NBCNews]

Iranian warships leave the coast of Sudan after a four-day post. [Reuters]

Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire was sentenced to eight years in jail on charges stemming from the 1994 genocide. [AP]

(Photo: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

In today’s top news, President Obama and Mitt Romney squared off in last night’s presidential debate, Beyoncé will headline this year’s Super Bowl halftime show and Louisiana gets its first Black chief justice.

President Obama and Mitt Romney tackled a range of issues and almost tackled each other in last night’s presidential debate. [CNN]

Beyoncé will headline this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. [BET]

Louisiana gets its first Black chief justice. [AP]

A “Puppet March” is scheduled to take place in D.C. to defend PBS funding. [AP]

Groundbreaking on new homes in September reached its fastest pace in four years. [Reuters]

Comedian Mike Epps has been cast as Richard Pryor in the forthcoming Nina Simone biopic. [BET]

Keyshia Cole denies a Gucci Mane lyric claiming she was romantically involved with Diddy. [BET]

New study shows that ancient Malian king Mansa Musa I was the richest man in all of human history. [Independent]

A U.N. report accuses Rwanda of leading rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [BBC]

Pirates capture seven European crew members from a ship off the coast of Nigeria. [BBC]

In today’s top news, a coalition of Black fraternities and sororities launch an anti-hazing campaign, John Edwards found guilty of campaign fraud and Walmart drops its alliance with conservative advocacy group ALEC over its voting rights stance.

A coalition of Black fraternities and sororities launch an anti-hazing campaign. [USATODAY]

John Edwards found not guilty of campaign fraud. [BET]

Walmart drops its alliance with conservative advocacy group ALEC over its voting rights stance. [LATimes]

New drugs give autism patients hope for recovery. [Reuters]

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is scheduled to surrender for his three-month jail sentence for his domestic battery charge. [NYDN]

Some critics say Diddy’s son Justin should return the $54,000 scholarship he received from UCLA. [BET]

Kanye’s Nike Air Yeezy II to debut in June. [BET]

Police say drug dealer unknowingly sent text messages to officer in an attempt to sell methamphetamines. [AP]

Rwandan youth minister Callixte Nzabonimana received a life sentence for planning 1994 genocide. [BET]

U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay warned that Syria risks descending into a full civil war. [TIME]

(Photo: AP Photo)

In today’s top news, Black experts address community myths on World AIDS Day, Rwanda is deemed corruption free, and Oprah’s first class of South African ‘dreamgirls’ celebrate graduation.

Jahessye Shockley’s mother released from police without charges. [NYT]

Oprah’s South African school celebrates its first graduates. [AP]

Occupy camps cleared in L.A., Philly. [BET]

Al Sharpton’s MSNBC gig proves to be a ratings hit. [MSNBC]

Rwanda reportedly free of corruption. [Reuters]

Texas man gets 37 years in prison for bombing church. [Reuters]

Experts dispel Black myths on World AIDS Day. [BET]

Americans forfeit billions in vacation days each year. [CNN]

Apple defends against claims that its smartphone ‘assistant’ Siri is anti-abortion. [BBC]

Sheriff lands in the same jail that bears his name after meth scandal. [MSNBC]

Former Rwandan Official Arrested
Rwanda’s former deputy interior minister was sentenced to 30 years in jail for participating in the country’s 1994 genocide. Callixte Kalimanzira, 54, who was arrested in 2005, allegedly tricked thousands of Tutsis into going to Kabuye Hill where they thought they would receive food and shelter. Instead, they were murdered by militias, the BBC reports. Kalimanzira, who was tried by the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, also is accused of supervising massacres in the region of Butare. He pleaded not guilty at the time of his arrest. In 1994, 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered in a period of 100 days. The tribunal, created to bring the genocide leaders to justice, has entered 38 judgments in total, reports Reuters.

Haiti to Receive $120 Million in Grants
Haiti, one of the world’s poorest nations, is slated to receive $120 million in grants from the Inter-American Development Bank, reports the BBC. The grants, which will be disbursed in 2010, will assist the Caribbean nation with improving its transportation infrastructure and water services, among other projects. The IADB gave Haiti $100 million for 2009 and $50 million in 2007 and 2008.

The central African nation of Rwanda kicked off a week of events to remember one of the worst genocides in world history. On Monday, Rwanda held a candlelit vigil for the national mourning to mark 15 years since the genocide claimed the lives of 800,000 people. Ceremonies were held in the capital Kigali, and in Nyanza, where more than 5,000 people were slaughtered, BBC News reports. At a stadium in Kigali, thousands of candles spelled out the word “hope” in three languages. Ensuring that such a crisis never occurs again is the “collective responsibility” of the world, said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Only by meeting this challenge can we match the resolve of the survivors and truly honor the memory of those who died in Rwanda 15 years ago,” he said. “The resounding voices of survivors touch us in ways that no other words could. Yet the silence of the more 800,000 innocent victims still haunts our collective conscience.” President Barack Obama said the genocide was “so enormous, so daunting, that it runs the risk of becoming a statistic.” Everyone who died in this massacre had “their own story, their own family, and their own dreams” and that remembering such events deepened the commitment to prevent “future atrocities,” he said, taking time to praise the “courageous” survivors who “demonstrated remarkable strength and generosity in forgiving those who committed these heinous acts. … These individuals inspire us daily by working to restore trust and rebuild hope in Rwanda.”

The arrest of a Congolese rebel leader on Friday is encouraging news to both Rwandans and Congolese citizens. Tutsi Laurent Nkunda was captured, bringing hope to officials that their governments can work more effectively to end war. “We think this is a major development in the peace process,” says Madnodje Mounoubai, a United Nations Mission spokesman. “It is also amazing that the two governments are working together. Nkunda’s arrest, it’s hoped, will cause 1,500 soldiers still loyal to him to join in the peace effort. 

China will send ships to African waters to fight pirates. China will send ships to the waters near the Horn of Africa to monitor an area that has been prone to many pirate attacks, reports CNN. China hasn’t sent ships that far away from the country in centuries, but the recent surge of pirate attacks on China’s ships has pushed them into action. No word yet on how many ships the country plans to deploy, but officials did reveal that the operation would last three months. The waters have gone unmonitored, but the United Nation’s Security Council recently passed a resolution that would let an international coalition to go after pirates onto land (although China, a member of the council, hasn’t committed any forces yet). Just this year, almost 100 ships have been attacked by pirates in the waters near Somalia, with 40 of them being hijacked successfully, reports the news service. Pirates battled with crew members of a Chinese ship for four hours Wednesday before coalition helicopters and ships kept the attackers at bay.
Rwandan genocide mastermind is sentenced. The man behind the mass genocide in Rwanda during the ’90s has been given a life sentence by a United Nations tribunal, reports the BBC. Theoneste Bagosora and two co-defendants were found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Bagosora and former military commanders Anatole Nsegiyumya and Alloys Ntbakuze were found to have led a committee that planned the killing of ethnic Tutsis. More than 800,000 people were killed during in the nation’s genocide. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the sentences, a result of the first convictions of anyone involved with the genocide, a “major step in the fight against impunity.” The court rejected the argument from the defense that the mass killings were not organized and, therefore, could not be considered genocide, reports the BBC. Bagosora will appeal the verdict, according to his lawyer.  The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is based in Tanzania.