Dead body was covered in ice. The man whose feet and ankles were photographed upside down – with the rest of his body covered in ice – died of drug use. Wayne County investigators report that Johnny Redding, a middle-aged Michigan drifter, overdosed on cocaine before he was found frozen in the elevator shaft of an abandoned building. Redding’s Reebok gym shoes and sock-covered ankles were the only visible parts of his body in the thick ice that had formed over him. Homeless people used the building to keep warm, though Redding’s family claims he wasn’t homeless. Investigators still don’t know what Redding was doing at the time of his death that caused him to be found submerged in the ice.

At least 300 die in political fighting in Nigeria. Fighting has calmed in Jos, Nigeria, after days of clashes between supporters of political parties left hundreds dead, reports CNN. Crowds of people, upset that the results of a local election (the first in Jos in over 10 years) were not posted yet gathered Thursday near ballot collation centers. Riots hit the area the next morning and after local leaders made pleas for peace on Saturday, the streets were mostly clear by that afternoon. At least 300 dead bodies were brought to the local mosque for burial, according to the imam, and it’s likely the final death toll will be a lot higher since many Christians are believed to have died during the clashes as well. Police arrested hundreds of people since the riots started, they say. Fighting between the groups of supporters fell along religious and ethnic lines and the country is no stranger to religious violence. Clashes between Muslims and Christians in 2004 led to 700 people being killed in Plateau State and rioting in Jos in 2001 killed more than 1,000.  In a country where Muslims live in the north and Christians in the south, the city of Jos lies in the middle of the nation and in many areas Muslims and Christians live side by side. After the streets were calmed, hundreds of women and children set out in search of water while thousands took shelter in schools and army barracks.

Zimbabwe drought leaves hundreds dead. Zimbabwe’s capital city, Harare, is suffering from an extreme water shortage, reports the BBC. This comes as the nation is suffering from an outbreak of cholera, which has killed 425 people in the last few months. The disease has also infected 11,000 people in the nation since August. Cholera is spread by water that is contaminated and a lack of water purification chemicals is the reason behind the water shortage, local authorities said. The nation’s Health Minister David Parirenyatwa suggested citizens stop shaking hands to stop the spread. “I want to stress the issue shaking hands. Although it’s part of our tradition to shake hands, it’s high time people stopped shaking hands,” he said.

Ex-NFL defensive lineman found dead

. Chris Mims, a former defensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers, was found dead in his downtown apartment Wednesday. He was 38. Authorities said there was no evidence of foul play. Mims was discovered shortly before 9:30 a.m. by police officers conducting a welfare check, police said. The coroner’s office declined to comment because Mims’ relatives had not yet been notified. Mims, who had been plagued by legal problems, played eight seasons in the NFL, seven with the Chargers and one with the Washington Redskins. He retired in 2000, finishing with 42 sacks and 10 forced fumbles in 104 games. Mims was a first-round draft pick out of Tennessee in 1992. He had a career-high 11 sacks when the Chargers won the AFC in 1994. The Chargers released him in 1997. A year later, Mims was convicted of refusing to take a blood-alcohol test after being pulled over for suspicion of drunken driving. His driver’s license was suspended for a year. A judge had previously found Mims innocent of driving under the influence because prosecutors failed to prove their case. In 1999, Mims was accused of attacking a man outside a fast-food restaurant for stealing his tacos. Tennessee Vols Coach Phillip Fulmer, who was offensive coordinator at the time Mims was a player, recalled how Mims and his teammates helped turn around a struggling defense in the early ’90s. “I had to coach against him every day in practice, and that was no fun,” Fulmer told The Associated Press Thursday. “That’s really a sad thing, a very young person to be passing away at that age.”

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.

Spanish airplane crash investigated

 In Spain, investigators continue to look into what might have caused a passenger jet to crash during takeoff killing 153 people. The jet, Spanair Flight JK5022, was carrying 172 people when it crashed at Barajas Airport in Madrid Wednesday afternoon. “The government will do all it can to support the families in this difficult situation. The whole government, logically, is affected, very affected, as are all Spanish citizens, by this tragedy,” said Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Nineteen people, including two infants, survived the crash, according to Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez. According to survivors, passengers could hear an explosion as the plane was taking off. “They were about 200 meters [600 feet] in the air, and then they were landing but not crashing. They were landing, like, little by little; it was not like they [fell] down suddenly,” a reporter told CNN. One of the aircraft’s engines caught on fire, according to local officials. Since the jet’s engine was made in America, the United States National Transportation Safety Board will send an investigation team to look into crash causes, a spokesman said.

Algeria suffers two deadly car bomb attacks. Algerians are mourning the deaths of 50 people after car bomb attacks on consecutive days, reports CNN. On Tuesday, an explosion near a military school killed 43 people and wounded 38 in what’s being labeled a “terrorist attack,” said the nation’s interior ministry. Then on Wednesday, a car bomb attack outside of a hotel killed 11 people. No group has taken responsibility for the attacks yet, although the group al-Qaeda Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for two recent blasts.

Darren “Bo” Taylor gave up his life with the Crips to foster harmony
Darren “Bo” Taylor, a one-time gang-banger who survived the mean streets of Los Angeles to bring about peace between rival gangs following the 1992 L.A. riots, lost a battle with cancer on Monday. He was 42. The former Crips member was perhaps the most unlikely peace activist. “Through his UNITY One organization, Taylor worked painstakingly to reduce street violence and to teach life skills to inmates. You don’t find many in the gang-intervention world who can be effective in the street, effective in the courtroom, effective at City Hall and effective in the prisons,” civil rights attorney Connie Rice told The Associated Press. “He could calm everyone down and make us work together.” Survivors include his wife, Marlene Oglesby-Taylor, and mother, Charlene Taylor. (Photo/ Los Angeles Times).

Don’t count on Jesse or Colin in Denver.

Secretary of State Colin Powell downplayed reports that he’d be standing next to Sen. Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention in Denver later this month. During the primaries, Powell had kind words for Obama, stoking speculation that the first African-American secretary of State might throw his support behind potentially the first African-American president. Go to BET.com/News for more..

Second noose is found on Tennessee construction site. For the second time this month construction workers at the BlueCross BlueShield building site in Tennessee Thursday found a noose at the worksite in Cameron Hill. It was constructed of plastic building material, FBI Agent in Charge Ed Galloway told The Chattanooga Times Free Press. He said his office is investigating. Skanska, the company in charge of the construction project, is offering diversity and sensitivity training, the newspaper reports. “We’ve added a tremendous amount of security at the site,” John Reyhan, general manager for the project, Reyhan said. “And at our job-wide meeting every morning we are encouraging anyone to come forward with any reports of intimidation.” The first noose was found last week.

About 200,000 miners reportedly work in illegal gold mines there

A mudslide at an illegal gold mine in the west African nation of Burkina Faso has left 31 miners dead, reports the BBC. At the scene of the slide, the village of Boussoukoula, other miners and rescue teams are making their way through the mud, trying to find survivors. However, the prospect of finding anyone alive looks grim. Since the slide, there has been flooding due to the rain. In June, the Burkina Faso government ordered all of the country’s illegal mines to close until the end of the rainy season (September 30) because poorly built tunnels have a greater chance of being destroyed by rain during that time. The BBC estimates that about 200,000 miners work in illegal gold mines in the nation.

Men on top of camels attack Sudanese civilians. In Sudan’s Darfur region, men riding camels launched an attack on civilians, killing six people, reports BBC. Twenty-eight people were wounded as a result of the attack, according to the United Nations. The civilian convoy was traveling between Nyala and Fasher. The international charity, UNAMID, took victims of the attack to the hospital by helicopter. The attackers are reportedly a part of the infamous Janjaweed militia, who have been connected to many atrocious war crimes in the country since the violence began in 2003. Contrary to several reports, the Sudanese government denies any connection to the Janjaweed, who are accused of trying to exterminate the Black Africans in the nation. Overall, 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million more have been made homeless since the Darfur conflict.

The young mother dialed 911 the day before her son was shot to death.
The day before Stephanie Thompson’s 4-year-old boy was shot to death, she called police to say that there was a man riding a bicycle around her Camden , N.J. , neighborhood with a machine gun. When police finally did show up, Brandon Thompson lay dead on the sidewalk in a pool of blood. He had been shot in the head. “I watched my baby get shot,” Stephanie Thompson, 21, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I couldn’t get to him fast enough. I called 911 and told them. He was just riding around. It wasn’t like he was hidin’ it. This could have been avoided if they had done their job. Police acknowledge that Stephanie Thompson had called police about the man with the machine gun, but they are questioning whether that was the weapon used to kill Brandon , the Inquirer reports. Police also say that the boy ran into crossfire and was killed. Stephanie says that her son was playing in the street when the alleged shooter, Donald Lindsey, showed up with his machine gun. Stephanie Thompson told authorities that she heard a series of short, staccato blasts and ran to find her son. As she rounded the corner, she saw Brandon running toward her on the sidewalk, the Inquirer reports. The man on the bicycle saw him, took aim and shot him down, according to Stephanie Thompson. “I went to go pick him up and he had blood coming from everywhere. I just held him and told him to get up,” she said. “But he wouldn’t get up. He was only 4. And he was trying to run to his mommy. I couldn’t get there in time.” Camden arrived a few minutes too late. “The cops came and took my baby to the hospital and we wasn’t even there 5 minutes and he died,” she said. “He (Lindsey) looked me dead in my face when my son got shot. He knew he shot my son and he looked at me,” she said.