(Photo: AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

In today’s top news, President Obama visited the West Bank stressing the need for direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians, Rev. Al Sharpton will lead an anti-violence rally in Harlem and Vice President Biden will meet with New York City Mayor Bloomberg to discuss new federal gun laws.

President Obama visited the West Bank on Thursday, stressing the need for direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians. [NBC News]

Rev. Al Sharpton will lead an anti-violence rally today in Harlem. [DNAinfo]

Vice President Biden will meet with NYC Mayor Bloomberg today to discuss the need for new federal gun laws. [NBC New York]

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed the “Anti-Bloomberg” bill preventing any limits on soda sizes. [CNN]

Fashion retailer H&M debuts new Beyoncé campaign. [Black Voices]

Miami’s winning streak increased to 24 wins as they beat Cleveland last night. [ESPN]

Seven people were shot at a Chicago nightclub during a rap CD release party last night. [ABC Chicago]

Christian hip hop artist Amisho “Sho Baraka” Lewis is stirring controversy with raw lyrics about racism. [CNN]

South Korea has traced a cyber-attack that paralyzed more than 30,000 computers on Wednesday to a Chinese Internet address. [NPR]

North Korea said it would attack U.S. military bases on Japan and the Pacific island of Guam if provoked. [Reuters]

(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In today’s top news, Vice President Joe Biden says President Obama will act on gun violence soon; Denzel Washington and Django Unchained nab Oscar nominations; and Illinois has three sitting lawmakers currently facing criminal charges.

Vice President Joe Biden says President Obama will act on gun violence soon. [CNN]

Denzel Washington and Django Unchained nab Oscar nominations. [BET]

Illinois has three sitting lawmakers currently facing criminal charges. [BET]

A study revealed NFL player Junior Seau had a degenerative brain disease when he committed suicide last May. [AP]

A Virginia teen pleads guilty to setting fire to a church because of the congregation’s race. [MB]

Nas talks about his four Grammy nominations. [AP]

Rihanna will perform at the 2013 Grammy Awards. [BET]

Common says we need to “restructure the Black family.” [MSNBC]

South African police arrested 50 in farm protests. [AP]

Iraqi former inmates of Abu Ghraib prison received a $5 million settlement from a U.S. defense contractor accused of torture. [AJE]

(Photo: Nadav Kander for TIME Magazine)

In today’s top news, TIME magazine names Barack Obama Person of the Year, Vice President Joe Biden will take the lead on working to reduce gun violence and reports say President Obama is eyeing American Express’s Black CEO to serve as treasury secretary.

TIME magazine names Barack Obama Person of the Year. [TIME]

Vice President Joe Biden will take the lead on working to reduce gun violence. [Reuters]

Reports say President Obama is eyeing American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault to serve as treasury secretary. [Bloomberg]

A Utah boy who said he feared for his life following the Newtown school shooting was charged with bringing a gun to school. [Reuters]

Evelyn Lozada drops the restraining order she had against ex-husband Chad Johnson. [BET]

Kendrick Lamar makes a personal appeal to Janet Jackson, asking her to appear in his “Poetic Justice” video. [BET]

Singer Mike Posner pens a song for Sandy Hook victims. [BET]

Marion Barry says D.C. police need to go to the gym and get on a diet. [Grio]

Doctors are in no hurry to send Nelson Mandela home from the hospital. [BBC]

China has detained over 500 members of a religious group for spreading rumors about doomsday. [AP]

In today’s top news, doubts remain after police release re-enactment of Chavis Carter’s alleged suicide, FAMU is attempting to settle out of court with the family of  Robert Champion, and Russell Simmons backs Vice President Joe Biden’s “chains” remark.

The police re-enactment of Chavis Carter’s alleged suicide has done little to quell doubts about his death. [NYT]

FAMU is attempting to settle out of court with the family of slain drum major Robert Champion. [BET]

Russell Simmons backs Vice President Joe Biden’s “chains” remark. [BET]

R&B crooners Trey Songz and R. Kelly end their three-year beef. [BET]

Ziggy Marley says his father, Bob Marley, wished more Black Americans were fans of his music. [ABC]

Texas officials are trying to stop the spread of West Nile virus in the state. [NBC]

Scientists say they are one step closer to creating a birth control pill for men. [BBC]

Over 30 people were killed when South African police opened fire on protesting miners. [CNN]

Ugandan gay rights activists hacked the website of the country’s prime minister and posted pro gay-rights messages. [BBC]

The Russian capital of Moscow has banned gay pride parades for the next 100 years. [BBC]

In today’s top news, Evelyn Lozada has filed for divorce from Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, Vice President Joe Biden said Mitt Romney’s policies would “put y’all back in chains” and George Zimmerman won’t rely on a “Stand Your Ground” defense at trial.

Evelyn Lozada has filed for divorce from Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. [BET]

Vice President Joe Biden said Mitt Romney’s policies would “put y’all back in chains.” [CNN]

George Zimmerman’s attorney says he won’t rely on a “Stand Your Ground” defense in his upcoming murder trial. [FOX]

Condoleezza Rice is hitting the campaign trail on behalf of rising GOP star Mia Love. [BET]

The oldest Black church in the U.S. celebrates 225 years. [BET]

Four million Bumbo Baby infant seats have been recalled amid reports of infant skull fractures. [AP]

The U.S. government is considering the use of battlefield blimps along the Mexican border. [MSNBC]

Starting today, undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children may now apply for work without danger of deportation. [CNN]

Olympic athletes from Ivory Coast and Guinea have been added to the roster of those gone AWOL in London. [ThisDay]

IBM plans to open a research lab in Kenya to help combat staggering traffic jams. [BBC]

Maybe Rep. Joe Wilson’s apology for calling President Obama a liar on national TV didn’t feel that sincere, but President Obama accepted it anyway. Obama, choosing to focus on getting a health care reform bill passed by Congress, said that he was pleased that Wilson, an avowed anti-Obamaist, had apologized “quickly and without equivocation.” It was during the president’s address to the joint session of Congress that Wilson shouted “You Lie!” as Obama explained that his proposal would not cover those in the United States illegally. Even members of Wilson’s own Republican Party expressed embarrassment over the outburst, and several of them prompted the four-term South Carolina representative to say he was sorry. “This evening I let my emotions get the best of me,” he said in a statement. “While I disagree with the president’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility.” But then, a seemingly not-so-sorry Wilson noted that his comments were “spontaneous.” Offered Wilson, “It was when he (Obama) stated, as he did, about not (health care insurance) not covering illegal aliens … We need to discuss the issues and I’m happy to do that.” But Obama chose to focus on health care, saying, “We all make mistakes.” The president’s decision to let the matter go is perhaps what led to fellow Democrats in Congress dropping the issue. “It’s time for us to talk about health care, not Mr. Wilson,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. It remains to be seen whether his “spontaneous” remarks will cost him politically. Already, his Web site crashed, following the quip, and both Republicans and Democrats Twittered him to a pulp about what they deemed objectionable behavior. “I was embarrassed for the chamber and a Congress I love,” Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “It demeaned the institution.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor officially joined the U.S. Supreme Court in a special ceremony Tuesday attended by President Obama; Vice President Joe Biden; her mother, Celina, and brother, Juan; entertainer Ricky Martin, retired Justice David Souter, the man she replaced; members of Congress; federal judges and former top Justice Department officials. The nation’s first Hispanic and third woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court took the oath of office again during Tuesday’s event. Actually, the rest of the court does not return for real work until today, when the justices hear arguments in a case involving campaign finance law. Attorney General Eric Holder presented Sotomayor’s ivory-colored commission from Obama. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office, after which Sotomayor took her seat at the end of the bench to Roberts’ left, next to Justice Stephen Breyer. All her colleagues were in attendance.

Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday the nation has never been closer to substantial health care overhaul despite “all the shouting and all the political turmoil” of recent weeks, The Associated Press reports. Biden said restraining costs and insuring more people should unite fiscal conservatives and advocates for the poor behind the Obama administration’s efforts to fix what Biden called a broken system. If he wanted to hear about troubles in health care, he and Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius came to the right place. They got an earful from doctors and nurses attending a round-table discussion at a struggling nonprofit hospital serving the urban poor on Chicago’s West Side. A nurse said she worries about violent emergency room patients who throw bedpans and spit at her. A doctor from another hospital said she can’t refer patients to dietitians to prevent diabetes because insurance won’t pay for it. And a health researcher said Black Chicagoans die needlessly because they are disadvantaged and uninsured. Biden announced nearly $1.2 billion in grants to help the nation’s hospitals and doctors put electronic health records to use. The grants will be funded by the $787 billion economic stimulus plan. Storing patient data electronically can improve efficiency and prevent medical errors, Biden said, adding he’s tired of being handed paper forms to fill out every time he goes to the doctor. “I get handed one more clipboard I feel like clanging somebody on the head,” Biden said, prompting laughter from about 60 health care professionals in the audience. “How many times do I have to fill out, yeah, I had asthma, yeah, I had two craniotomies?” Biden made only passing reference to foes who’ve challenged supporters of overhaul with charges of a government takeover. “With all the shouting and all the political turmoil on this issue, I don’t think we’ve ever been closer to being able to do something substantial” to improve health care, Biden said. President Barack Obama has made expanding insurance coverage and restraining health care costs his top domestic priority. But he’s lost ground on the issue in opinion polls and Democrats in Congress are preparing to go it alone on legislation although bipartisan talks continue in the Senate.