by Katarina Kratova CAIRO (AP)—Egypt displayed on Monday newly discovered tombs more than 4,000 years old and said they belonged to people who worked on the Great Pyramids of Giza, putting the discovery forth as more evidence that slaves did not build the ancient monuments. The series of modest nine-foot-deep shafts held a dozen skeletons of pyramid builders, perfectly preserved by dry desert sand along with jars that once contained beer and bread meant for the workers’ afterlife. NEWLY DISCOVERED TOMBS—In this undated photo released by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Jan. 10, newly-discovered tombs of workers are seen, with the Great Pyramid in background, in Giza, Egypt. The mud-brick tombs were uncovered last week in the backyard of the Giza pyramids, stretching beyond a burial site first discovered in the 1990s and dating to the 4th Dynasty (2575 B.C. to 2467 B.C.), when the great pyramids were built on the fringes of present-day Cairo.
PHILADELPHIA (NNPA)—When Islamic fascists piloted passenger jets into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, it was a moment that changed how many Americans perceived people of Middle Eastern ethnicity in general and Muslims in particular. Immediately there was a social backlash during which many American Muslims and Middle Eastern immigrants faced resentment where there had been none before. SPEAKING OUT—Lansara Koroma, right, founder and executive director of the International Forum for the Rights of Black People with shop owner Ishmael Donzo. After the attempted bombing of a passenger plane by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national, the question arises again within the African immigrant community. According to the U.S. Justice Department, Abdulmutallab, 23, was charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempting to destroy Northwest Airlines passenger flight 253.
by Jon GambrellAssociated Press Writer LAGOS, Nigeria (AP)—The Nigerian man accused of trying to bring down a U.S. airliner cut off contact with his relatives and disappeared from their lives until they awoke to news of the attempted Christmas Day attack, his family said Monday. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s father talked to Nigerian security agencies two months ago and a month later to foreign security agencies about his concerns that his son had disappeared and ceased contact with the family, the family said in a statement. U.S. authorities said that in November, Abdulmutallab’s father visited the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss his concerns about his son’s religious beliefs. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
(NNPA/GIN)—In a snap survey conducted by The Namibian newspaper, Barack Obama was cited as the top world newsmaker by most respondents. Human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe commended the U.S. president “for his leadership on matters such as global warming, ending nuclear proliferation, bringing to an end poorly regulated financial markets, and making more friends than enemies for the U.S., for showing what presidents must do [and not do].”
VATICAN CITY (AP)—The Vatican says it has stripped charismatic African Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo of his priestly duties because he defiantly continues to ordain bishops despite already being excommunicated. DEFROCKED—In this Jan. 29 file photo, Zambian prelate Emmanuel Milingo takes part in a TV show in Milan, Italy. A Vatican spokesman, Rev. Ciro Benedettini, says last Thursday’s announcement of the defrocking means any future ordinations by the Zambian prelate will be considered invalid by the Catholic Church.
by Celean Jacobson JOHANNESBURG (AP)—South Africa’s former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who gained notoriety for her dogged promotion of lemons, garlic and olive oil to treat AIDS, has died. She was 69. The ruling African National Congress said Tshabalala-Msimang died in a Johannesburg hospital Dec. 16 from complications related to a 2007 liver transplant. TSHABALALA-MSIMANG Tshabalala-Msimang’s disastrous HIV policies during her nine years in office made her the most unpopular government minister in post-apartheid South Africa. She was ridiculed locally and internationally and nicknamed “Dr. Beetroot”—another one of her suggested AIDS remedies—and “Dr. Garlic.”
by Donna BrysonAssociated Press Writer JOHANNESBURG (AP)—South Africans say a new Hollywood film about sport, race and Nelson Mandela will tell the world about the country’s history of struggle and triumph despite some criticism that the lead roles are played by American actors. Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” depicts Mandela, South Africa’s first Black president, as a strategist for racial reconciliation, working to bring Whites and Blacks together after the end of apartheid by supporting the country’s mostly White national rugby team. PORTRAYS MANDELA—Actor Morgan Freeman arrives for a local premiere of the film “Invictus” in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dec. 8.
by Will Weissert HAVANA (AP)—Cuba hit back Dec. 3 at 60 prominent U.S. Black leaders who challenged its race record, with island writers, artists and official journalists calling the criticism an attack on their country’s national identity. The five-page signed statement, distributed by Cuban government press officials in an e-mail, defended Cuba’s progress in providing social and personal opportunities for Blacks and people of mixed race. CORNEL WEST, SUSAN TAYLOR and JEREMIAH WRIGHT But it focused more on Cuba’s past than the racial inequalities of contemporary Cuban society that came under criticism from Americans such as Princeton University professor Cornel West; Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of President Barack Obama’s Chicago church and Susan Taylor, former editor of Essence magazine.
by Tom Odula NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)— The mistaken belief that albino body parts have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa’s albinos into hiding, fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set. Mary Owido, who lacks pigment that gives color to skin, eyes and hair, says she is only comfortable when at work or at home with her husband and children. LIVING IN FEAR—Mary Owido sits with her children Steven, left, Stella, and Brayan, at their home in western Kenyan town of Ahero, Nov. 24. Owido, who lacks pigment that gives color to skin, eyes and hair, says she is only comfortable when at work or at home with her husband and children. “Wherever I go people start talking about me, saying that my legs and hands can fetch a fortune in Tanzania,” said Owido, 36, a mother of six. “This kind of talk scares me. I am afraid of going out alone.”
by Donna Bryson JOHANNESBURG (AP)—An African has taken over as director of Greenpeace, bringing experience honed as a teenage opponent of White rule in South Africa and a network of powerful contacts to the battle against global warming. ENVIRONMENTAL EXEC— Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International’s new executive director who took up his post on Nov. 16, speaks during an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 12. Greenpeace was founded 38 years ago by environmental activists who wanted to stop the United States from conducting underground nuclear tests in a region off Alaska that harbored endangered sea otters. Kumi Naidoo, the new director, said he still had much to learn about the group’s current agenda, from protecting whales and forests to stopping nuclear tests and toxic dumping. But he has already grasped the issues around global warming, an increasingly overriding concern of Greenpeace and other environmental groups.
