At least four are confirmed dead; more than 20 still missing and many others are injured…Answers are being sought
Emergency workers resumed the frantic search early Thursday to recover people still missing from the collapse of a major freeway bridge in Minneapolis early Wednesday evening that sent as many as 100 cars plummeting into the Mississippi River. So far, nine people are reported dead and at least 60 were taken to area hospitals, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. “We have determined that this will be a very tragic night when this is over,” Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said shortly after the disaster. Officials said they expected the death toll to rise. Some may even still be inside of crushed vehicles that moments before the collapse had been locked in Minneapolis’ rush-hour traffic. At least three sections of the bridge collapsed, and officials with the Army Corps of Engineers were trying to determine whether a fourth might follow as well as the cause of the disaster, CNN reported. At least a couple dozen people were injured.

Thousands of Katrina victims scrambled to get their compensation applications in, just under the wire
Thousands of Louisiana homeowners scrambled Tuesday to get their applications in for government compensation from hurricanes Katrina and Rita ahead of the midnight deadline. Last week, Louisiana’s Road Home project, which compensates residents for damages not covered in their insurance policies, announced that July 31 was the cut-off date for applications. Some 1,850 new applications were filed on the Road Home Web site by early afternoon, Gentry Brann, a spokeswoman for a private firm that administers the assistance program, told Reuters News Agency. “We’ve had a tremendous surge,” she said. Road Home was established a year after the Killer Katrina washed out most of New Orleans. Two years after the massive floods and destruction, only half of the city’s 480,000 people have returned, and the federal government has been criticized for dragging its feet in recover efforts. Officials at Road Home say they expect that the number of homeowners seeking grants will surpass 175,000, according to Reuters. Brann said that by Monday, the program had processed 38,835 property claims, with an average settlement of about $70,000. By the end of 2007, Road Home should have closed on 90,000 claims, she said.

The Civil rights organization says the Atlanta quarterback deserves his day in court
NAACP has added its voice to the public debate about the fate of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, in light of his not guilty plea on criminal charges and reported ties to illegal dog-fighting. After Vick claimed his innocence of accusations that he helped organize and run the Virginia dog-fighting and betting operation known as “Bad Newz Kennelz,” a co-defendant, Tony Taylor, struck a plea bargain this week, agreeing to cooperate in Vick’s prosecution. R.L. White, president of Atlanta’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, says Vick’s vilification in the public is unfair. “Be restrained in your premature judgment until the legal process is completed,” he pleads. The Rev. Al Sharpton has also expressed the same sentiment, following his recent comments that dog-fighting is despicable.

Lawyer Gloria Allred has announced that movie star Eddie Murphy will be sued by his ex Melanie Brown. Allred held a news conference on Brown’s behalf Wednesday, saying that Murphy’s paternity of Brown’s daughter has been established, “but paternity has not been legally acknowledged.” A DNA test recently proved Murphy’s paternity of the four-month-old, after he denied impregnating Brown, a former member of the Spice Girls pop group.

A pioneering brain pacemaker shows promise
A 30-year-old man, who received an experimental brain stimulation implant, is now talking, can feed himself and has told his mother, “I love you Mommy.” The man had been barely responsive – only blinking to voice commands - following a horrific assault in 1999 in which his scull was crushed and he was left for dead, reports Healthday News. His dramatic recovery came after doctors from Cornell Medical College stimulated deep parts of his brain with electrodes from a pacemaker. Over the six months that the unidentified man received Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), the researchers say, the man continued to improve even when the electrodes were not stimulating his brain. He is still severely impaired, they say. However, “his quality of life has improved” and their findings showed that DBS can “promote significant late functional recovery from severe traumatic brain injury,” the researchers said. “Our observations, years after the injury occurred, challenge the existing practice of early treatment discontinuation for patients with only inconsistent interactive behaviors and motivate further research to develop therapeutic interventions.” The doctors warn families of other brain trauma patients not to expect the treatment to work the same in everybody. A report on the treatment and results is published in the early online edition of the journal Nature . The team that worked on the case included Nicholas Schiff from New York’s Weill Cornell Medical College, and first author of the study.

Connecticut NAACP seeks solutions to the state’s race problem
Hoping to figure out why there’s such a wide racial divide in Connecticut, the NAACP has announced a series community meetings throughout the state to discuss education, crime and justice, and minority health concerns. African Americans have been outspoken in their criticism of Gov. M. Jodi Rell, saying that the Republican leader has done a poor job of finding Blacks to serve in her administration and on the state bench. The recent state police scandal, involving the distribution of racist emails and allegations of discriminatory hiring and promotion policies, has sparked outrage among Black leaders. The NAACP has asked for a federal civil rights investigation. In addition to the town meetings, the group’s leadership says it will join forces with the African-American Affairs Commission, the Black and Hispanic Caucus and the Connecticut Minority Supplier Development Council to establish a “talent bank” as a ready pool of qualified African-American applicants.

Officers flooded a south LA community, arresting 43 reputed gang members
A swarm of more than 400 police officers blanketed a South Los Angeles neighborhood late Tuesday, arresting 43 people and seizing thousands in crack cocaine, marijuana, assault weapons, rifles and handguns. Fifteen youths were swept up right along with the contraband, according to police, who say they’ve been turned over to child protective services and the supervising adult charged with endangering the lives of minors. The joint police effort is the result of a six-month investigation into illegal activities in a 12-block area known as “Ghost Town,” which authorities say is ruled by the Eastside Pain Bloods. Police say their investigation focused on nine families they believe ran the gang. “Today A.T.F. [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] is reinforcing the message that we will not put up with armed gang violence and the drug trade that fuels it,” John A. Torres, special agent in charge of the bureau in Los Angeles, told The New York Times. “We are warning all gang members that if they don’t stop terrorizing our neighborhoods and cities, the combined weight of federal, state and local law enforcement will come after them.”

President Obama would aim the brunt of U.S. weapons on Pakistan and Afghanistan, instead of Iraq
Obama’s talking tough on terrorism. After a solid week of getting slammed on foreign policy by his closest rival in the race for the White House, Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday that if elected president he would train U.S. weapons on Pakistan and Afghanistan. “When I am president, we will wage the war that has to be won, with a comprehensive strategy with five elements: getting out of Iraq and on the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan; developing the capabilities and partnerships we need to take out the terrorists and the world’s most deadly weapons; engaging the world to dry up support for terror and extremism; restoring our values; and securing a more resilient homeland,” the Illinois Democrat said in a speech. Bush has left the United States more vulnerable to terrorism by invading Iraq, Obama said. “The president would have us believe that every bomb in Baghdad is part of al Qaeda’s war against us, not an Iraqi civil war. He elevates al Qaeda in Iraq — which didn’t exist before our invasion — and overlooks the people who hit us on 9/11, who are training recruits in Pakistan.” The senator’s comments run in stark contrast to those he offered during the recent You Tube Democratic debate when he touted diplomacy over war and said he would sit down even with America’s staunchest enemies. At the time, his comments drew barbs from Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), who called his words “irresponsible” and “naïve,” and said Obama was only setting himself up to be used in a propaganda war.

Whoopi Goldberg joins “The View” line up
Whoopi Goldberg has been introduced as “The View’s” newest co-host. The award-winning celebrity joins Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on the ABC show. Goldberg, 51, replaces Rosie O’Donnell.

“Diff’rent Strokes” star is called disorderly in Utah
Television’s Gary Coleman, of “Different Strokes” fame, has had a stroke of bad luck with the law. Coleman, 39, was cited and charged with disorderly conduct after arguing with a woman in a Provo, Utah, parking lot. Witnesses say he banged on the steering wheel of the vehicle where they sat and, at one point, got out of the car screaming. Police say Coleman, who moved to Utah in 2005, could be fined $750 and may face up to three months in jail, if he’s convicted. This isn’t his first costly temper tantrum. In November 2000, he was charged with assault for punching a woman bus driver who had asked for his autograph at a California mall while Coleman was shopping for a bullet-proof vest. A judge ordered him to pay Tracy Fields $1,665 for hospital bills.

Michael Strahan’s contract won’t be negotiated, the NFL team owner says.
The New York Giants won’t negotiate seven-time Pro Bowler Michael Strahan’s $4 million contract, team owner John Mara says. Strahan, a 35-year-old defensive end, has held out for almost a week. Mara says he thinks Strahan will return for another season, but the team is prepared to play without him. During the holdout, he reportedly is trying to decide whether to retire.

Libya becomes the U.N.’s new racism police
Libya is all set to pin on the badge as the U.N.’s racism police, but some say that tapping Libya for the post is like asking Mike Tyson to escort your daughter to the prom. “Libya is not known for its respect for human rights, including respect for conventions against racism,” said Antoine Madelin of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues. “There is persecution of Black minorities who come to work in Libya ….” Another human rights organization, Amnesty International, also accused Libya of mistreating those from other nations. “Foreigners arrested on suspicion of being irregular migrants reportedly often suffered abuse in detention, such as beatings, and were collectively deported without access to a lawyer or an assessment of their individual cases,” it said in its 2007 report. As leader of the 20-nation anti-racism committee, Libya has the responsibility of organizing the next international conference against racism for 2009. The new conference will assess progress since the last conference on racism, xenophobia and intolerance held in Durban, South Africa six years ago. Libya will head its first of three commission meetings in late August. Despite the criticism, Libya was the unanimous choice by member nations to lead the group. Three years ago, there were similar protests from Israel, the United States and some European nations when Libya was nominated to head the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which has since been replaced by the Human Rights Council.

Central African Republic children are dying in droves
Central African Republic child refugees, who have been fleeing their war-torn country for neighboring Cameroon and southern Chad for over a year, are dying in droves from malnutrition, according to the international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders. More than a tenth of the refugee children, ages 6 months to 5 years old, suffer from malnutrition. Of the older children, between 5 and 10 years old, a solid fifth of them show moderate to severe signs of malnutrition, according to the physicians group, which provides emergency medical care in underdeveloped countries. Last year alone, some 17,150 infants died due to lack of vaccinations, proper nutrition or safe drinking water, according to the United Nations. “Mortality rates are between three and seven deaths per 10,000 people per day, which is three to seven times higher than the emergency threshold,” says Doctors Without Borders, which is being assisted by Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health. The children’s dire circumstances are a result of extreme poverty and more than a decade of armed conflict, including a full year of bloody civil war. In Central African Republic, one of the world’s poorest nations, about two-thirds of the population live on less than $1 a day.

The U.S. embassy says stay away from a Dominican club.
The U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic has barred its staff from a nightclub that discriminates against Black Americans. The latest incident at the “Loft” club involves a Black woman who on July 22 was told by the doorman that she couldn’t enter because her hair was in cornrows. “This happens repeatedly and it happens to the African-American members of our staff,” said acting embassy spokesman Rex Moser. “It was time to act.” The club’s owner, Ray Santos, said he fired the doorman this week, although his employee’s decision was not race-motivated. “We have no preference for [skin] color inside the club,” Santos told The Associated Press. He said doormen have been told to to limit the crowd’s size following a shooting in May that left three people dead. Two years ago, U.S. officials met with Santo Domingo club owners to address similar allegations of discrimination, the BBC reports.