Cleveland Browns wideout Donte Stallworth, who hit a pedestrian with his car earlier this month, is being investigated to determine whether alcohol played a role in the fatal accident. Stallworth has told Miami Police officers that the 59-year-old construction worker was rushing to catch a bus in the early morning hours of March 14 when he struck him with his Bentley. He had flashed his lights, but the incident occurred too fast for Stallworth to avoid hitting the man, the wide receiver said. But a report released by police on Tuesday refuted Stallworth’s account. The man was not in the crosswalk, the report says, citing comments from callers and an accident scene analysis. Stallworth was driving about 50 mph, 10 mph above the speed limit, and a police diagram shows that Reyes was hit in the far left lane of the six-lane MacArthur Causeway – not in a nearby crosswalk. The report says that Stallworth stopped a few feet away. No charges have been filed against Stallworth pending the outcome of blood tests to determine whether alcohol was a factor. Among the calls from people who dialed 911 that morning are a woman who said, “There’s a man laying in the middle of the road…He’s dead. He’s dead … He was just laying in the middle of the road. I think he’s dead.” Stallworth’s attorney said his client is cooperating with police. Stallworth, who was scheduled to receive a $4.75 million signing bonus the day before the accident, has said he is “grief-stricken” over the accident. He signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns before last season but was injured most of the year.

Suspect is sought in fatal N.J. church shooting. Police are looking for a New Jersey gunman who entered a Clifton church, fatally shot his wife and injured two other people. The gunman, who police identified as 27-year-old Joseph Pallipurath, drove from California to New Jersey and entered the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church about noon on Sunday, police say. Read more here. 

Poor Whites “shock” South African official
Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa’s African National Congress, said he’s shocked and embarrassed about poverty among Whites in his country, reports the BBC. The comments (which come ahead of an election year) came after he visited the town of Bethlehem, where many poor Whites do not have running water or electricity. “I am shocked and surprised by what I have seen here,” Zuma said. “The vast number of Black poverty does not mean that we must ignore White poverty, which is increasingly becoming an embarrassment to talk about.” He added that he saw the same problems in White areas that he saw in Black squatter camps. “This is not about politics; it’s about people who are poor, who are in need and want to be helped by government,” he said. The charity South Africa’s Helping Hand, a group that assists the nation’s poor White communities, said the number of homeless White people since 2002 went up by 58 percent. The country’s mostly White trade union, Solidarity, was pleased with Zuma’s visit and comments. “For a long time Whites have been seen as rich and Blacks poor. Talking about White poverty has been seen as politically incorrect,” the group’s secretary general told the AFP. As Zuma is reaching out to the White community, the nation’s predominately White main opposition party is also trying to strengthen ties with the Black community before the election’s next year, analysts say.

Nigerian explosion kills 12
A patrol tanker burst open and caught on fire in Lagos, Nigeria, killing at least 12, reports the BBC. The accident happened when the tanker’s driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a curb causing the big fire. Another tanker and a bus also got caught in the flames of the fire. A hospital official told the BBC that there were “massive” casualties and that the driver of the bus did not listen when he was told to stop before his vehicle caught on fire. The series of tanker accidents in the highly populated city have prompted authorities to ban heavy vehicles from parking on the street.

Millions sought for AIDS treatment in Africa
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have launched a campaign to raise $21 million to fund an AIDS treatment program in five African countries, HealthDay.com reports. The money would be used for a three-year program in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Nigeria. The program would reach 950,000 vulnerable people, including 49,000 people living with AIDS, 13,000 sex workers and 10,000 orphans, Agence France-Presse reported. Nearly 4.5 million people, including about 400,000 children younger than 14, are living with HIV in the five countries. In 2006, AIDS claimed the lives of 350,000 people in these countries, which form the Sahel region of west and central Africa. “Even though the impact may vary from one country to another, HIV is a major obstacle to development as it affects all key sectors: the economy, health, education and even food security,” said Abdourahmane Ndiaye, the Red Cross’ HIV program officer for the region, AFP reported.