High school student develops soap to treat skin cancer

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A 14-year high school student won a major award for developing a soap that treats skin cancer, which affects all people, including Blacks. Heman Bekele, a freshman at Woodson High School in Northern Virginia, spent his summer break working to cure skin cancer. Bekele was named “America’s Top Young Scientist†for creating a bar of soap…

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Blue Wall of silence begins to cave

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Tyree Nicholas, 29, was kicked and beaten by five Black Memphis police officers following a January arrest involving a traffic stop during which cops charged him with speeding and reckless driving. As a result of being beaten, Nicholas suffered brain injuries and cuts and bruises to his head, face, and other parts of his body,…

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Black unemployment remains high

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The jobless rate in October for Black men and Black women was 5.8 percent, the highest among all other groups surveyed. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 150,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Job gains occurred in health care, government,…

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Africa’s population is booming with young people

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Africa has the fastest-growing population and youngest population of any continent.  In 1950, Africans made up 8 percent of the world’s population, and by 2050, they will account for one-third of the world’s population, according to the United Nations. In Africa, the median age is 19. In India, it is 28, and in the U.S.…

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Rwanda opens its borders

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Rwandan President Paul Kagame has introduced visa-free travel for all Africans, making Rwanda the fourth African country to do so, according to the BBC. “Let there be no mistake about it. Any African can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever they wish and will not pay a thing to enter our country,†President Kagame…

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Untreated syphilis among Black men is now a digitized record

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Untreated syphilis in Black men from a 1932 study by the U. S. Health Service is now available as a digitized collection through the National Library of Medicine.  The study found the effects of untreated syphilis on Black men in Alabama. Many of the men, who were sharecroppers, lined up to participate because they thought they would…

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Earthquake kills 157 people in Nepal

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More than 157 people have been killed in an earthquake that struck a remote part of northwestern Nepal overnight on Friday and toppled multiple buildings. The quake measured a magnitude 5.6, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and hit about 26 miles from Jumla, Nepal, in Karnali province.  It struck at a comparatively…

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New York Times reporter resigns in reaction to coverage of the war in the Middle East

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A New York Times writer has “resigned†after signing a letter accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinian people — and denouncing her own paper’s coverage of the country’s war against Hamas.  Jazmine Hughes, a staff writer for New York Times Magazine, left the publication Friday, the paper told staffers in an email obtained by…

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