The song and video to We Are the World 25 debuted during broadcast of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. It featured a galaxy of stars who came together to update We Are the World, the Michael Jackson/Lionel Richie penned Africa awareness song/video of 25 years ago.

The video contains footage of the late Michael Jackson, played next to video of his sister Janet Jackson singing the revamped version. All proceeds will benefit earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti.

We Are The World 25 for Haiti was recorded on February 1st, 2010 in Kenny Rogers’ Lion Share Recording Studio, on Beverly Boulevard in California, the same studio as the original 25 years earlier.

Around 80 artists participated and/or featured on the song/video. These were:-

1. Michael Jackson
2. 3T (Michael Jackson’s nephews Taryll, Taj & TJ Jackson)
3. A.R. Rahman
4. Adam Levine
5. Akon
6. Al Jardine
7. Anthony Hamilton
8. Barbra Streisand
9. BeBe Winans
10. Bizzy Bone
11. Brandy
12. Brian Wilson
13. Busta Rhymes
14. Carlos Santana
15. Celine Dion
16. Drake Hussle
17. Earth Wind & Fire
18. Enrique Iglesias
19. Ethan Bortnick
20. Faith Evans
21. Fergie
22. Fray’s Isaac Slade
23. Freda Payne
24. Gladys Knight
25. Harry Connick Jnr
26. Heart’s Ann & Nancy Wilson
27. India Arie
28. Jamie Foxx
29. Janet Jackson
30. Jason Mraz
31. Jeff Bridges
32. Jimmy Jean-Louis
33. Joel & Benji Madden
34. Jordin Sparks
35. Josh Groban
36. Julianne Hough
37. Justin Bieber
38. Jennifer Hudson
39. Kanye West
40. Katharine McPhee
41. Keri Hilson
42. Kid Cudi
43. Lil Wayne
44. Lionel Richie
45. LL Cool J
46. Maroon 5’s Adam Levine
47. Mary J. Blige
48. Mary Mary
49. Melanie Fiona
50. Miley Cyrus
51. Musiq Soulchild
52. Mya
53. Natalie Cole
54. Nick Jonas
55. Nicole Richie
56. Nicole Scherzinger
57. Nipsey Hussle
58. Orianthi
59. Patti Austin
60. Pink
61. Quincy Jones
62. Randy Jackson
63. Raphael Saadiq
64. Rashida Jones
65. Rob Thomas
66. Robin Thicke
67. Sean Garrett
68. Snoop Dogg
69. Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles
70. Swizz Beatz
71. T-Pain
72. Toni Braxton
73. Tony Bennett
74. Trey Songz
75. Tyrese
76. Usher
77. Vince Vaughn
78. Will.i.am
79. Wyclef Jean
80. Zac Brown

The social-networking website Facebook has launched in Swahili, targeting more than 110m speakers of the language.

A group of Swahili scholars launched the new version with the permission of the California-based internet firm.

Facebook use has spread over the past five years in East and Central Africa, where most Swahili-speakers live.

Analysts say a Hausa version could be launched next in West Africa and Zulu for southern Africa. Facebook already exists in Afrikaans.

Symon Wonda, one of the project’s initiators, said they wanted to launch a Swahili version to safeguard the future of the language.

“The youth, the future generation, if you look at the biggest percentage of users on Facebook, they are the youth,” he told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.

“They can easily navigate through when it’s maybe a language they understand, which makes it easier to use the Swahili than to use the English.”

The BBC’s Ruth Nesoba, in Nairobi, says the Swahili site has already been on trial for some time and word has spread quickly.

The bulk of Swahili-speakers live in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, parts of the Horn of Africa, Malawi, Mozambique and the Indian Ocean islands.

Facebook already exists in some 50 language versions.

After extensive study, British scientists have concluded that all human beings originate from Africa. They made the announcement after studying 6,000 human skulls from academic collections around the globe.

The study apparently proves conclusively that humanity originated from a single point in Africa. This disproves the opposing theory that the roots of humanity began in different areas of the planet.

“We have combined our genetic data with new measurements of a large sample of skulls to show definitively that modern humans originated from a single area in Sub-Saharan Africa,” says Andrea Manica, a researcher from the University of Cambridge’s Zoology Department.

In her team’s article in the Nature journal, they claimed that their study showed a decrease in variations to a skull’s size and shape the further it got from that point in Africa.

Scientists agree that the team’s findings are important for in confirming the theory that humanity’s current diversity came from one source rather than multiple locations.

Furthermore, breeding with other early human groups like Neanderthals were found to be either non-existent or insignificant to affect the evolution of man.

The findings reflect that only a few number of our ancestors left Africa, effectively creating “bottlenecks” in diversity.

Imagine the scene:-

The Queen, Prince Philip, Tony and Cherie Blair, John and Pauline Prescott, Gordon and Sarah Brown and the Archbishop of Canterbury, all sat in a prominent central London church service to commemorate the (alleged) end of slavery in the British Empire 200 years ago. Suddenly, the proceeding is interupted by an African man to protest the hypocrisy and sheer affrontry of it all!

Step forward that man: Toyin Agbetu of the African rights organisation Ligali, who was only a dozen feet from all of them, with apparently no security guards to block him.

It took seven guards and two ushers to evnetually accost Toyin and usher him out of the building.

“Let go of me!” Toyin yelled, raising his arms like a suspect confronted by armed police. “I have no weapon! I have no weapon!”

The Queen, on a raised platform and out of Toyin’s immediate reach, watched with pursed lips. The Duke of Edinburgh frowned. Neither seemed frightened for their safety. In the pews, Mr Blair watched with dismay as if already preparing a speech about this “regrettable incident”. Mr Brown, whose eyes had been sleepy, was jolted awake. Kwame Kwei-Armah, the actor and writer, dressed in a glittering golden African robe, watched with sorrow in his eyes.

The more that the security men tried to manhandle Toyin, the more he resisted. Suddenly the interruption turned serious. There were pushes and shoves, even punches. Twice Agbetu and several bodies went crashing into the knees of appalled guests, who were wearing their smartest suits and dresses. All the while Toyin’s bellowing was drowning out the now superfluous service, which had tried to resume.

By now many guests and journalists around me were on their feet, straining to look. There was a sense of danger and drama. It was clear Mr Agbetu would not go quietly. Possibly not without a fight.

After what seemed an eternity, Toyin was shuffled towards the quire, in the direction of the exit. But he pointed at the Queen and yelled: “You, the Queen, should be ashamed!” The monarch did her national duty by remaining icy calm.

Toyin was now directly beneath the prime minister. He turned to face him and Mr Blair glared back. The thousands of guests watched in hushed anticipation, wondering what would come next, wondering if Toyin might even leap on him. Instead the protester screamed: “You should say sorry!”

Toyin continued walking and shuffling, still resisting the hands being placed on him, still shouting his dissent. Hundreds more guests in the nave got to witness the spectacle. The abbey’s ushers still looked unsure quite how to handle him. Finally, outside the building, Toyin was not bundled away as might be expected. Instead, he gave an impromptu press conference.

“I had always planned to make this demonstration,” he said. “The Queen has to say sorry. It was Elizabeth I. She commanded John Hawkins to take his ship. The monarch and the government and the church are all in there patting themselves on the back.”

Finally, two police officers took him away for questioning. The service continued to the end but the sepulchral calm had gone. When the guests emerged they were not talking about William Wilberforce.

The U.S. Justice Department said in Washington it is investigating the decades old killings of African-American men and women allegedly by white vigilantes.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller III said the Justice Department is teaming with civil rights groups to investigate 40 unsolved murder cases from the South, it has been reported.

The two officials said at a news conference February 27, 2007 that federal investigators decided to reopen the cases after multiple civil-rights-era killings were solved in recent years.

They said many of the killers are likely already dead.

“Many individuals have quite literally gotten away with murder,” Mueller said. However, he added a message for killers who are still living: “You’ve not gotten away with anything. We’re still on your trail.”

The cases referred to the Justice Department by the Southern Poverty Law Center include the 1954 beating death of Izell Henry, the 1958 castration and killing of Sylvester Maxwell, and the 1958 death of James Brazier, who was beaten to death in front of his family.

Black actors triumphed with two of the four main acting awards at the 79th Oscars which unfolded in Hollywood Sunday, February 25, 2007. But there were upsets too.

Topping the winners list was Forest Whitaker for his enthralling and charistic performance as Ugandan strongman Idi Amin. Former “American Idol” contestant Jennifer Hudson scored the best supporting actress award for her debut performance in the musical “Dreamgirls.”

“Receiving this honor tonight tells me that it’s possible, it is possible for a kid from East Texas, raised in South Central L.A. and Carson, who believes in his dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them and to have them happen,” Whitaker said as he accepted his award.

Eddie Murphy, co-star in “Dreamgirls”, was favoured to win, but lost out early to Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”). Leading up to the Oscars, some speculated that the recent release of Murphy’s low-brow, cross-dressing comedy “Norbit” would injure his Oscar prospects. And various anti-Murhpy white-media led campaigns opposing his Oscar nominatin, did not help Murhy either.

Other best supporting actor nominees included Will Smith for his role in “Pursuit of Happyness” and Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond.”

Good Year

This year’s event has been hailed one of the best for Black actors. “It’s a wonderful year to be an African-American actor,” Beyonce Knowles (who co-starred with Murphy and Hudson in “Dreamgirls”) said on the red carpet before the ceremony.

After a long history of the Academy Awards being a largely all-white affair (Chris Rock once called the Oscars a “million white man march”) this was the third year where multiple Black actors won Oscars.

Denzel Washington (“Training Day”) and Halle Berry (“Monster’s Ball”) memorably shattered the Oscars’ racial ceiling in 2002, the first time Blacks won both lead-acting prizes. In 2005, Jamie Foxx (“Ray”) and Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”) won Academy Awards, prompting Freeman to say: “It means that Hollywood is continuing to make history. We’re evolving with the rest of the world.”

British Black people of African/Caribbean descent who travel to their mother countries, are putting their lives at risk by not taking satisfactory precaustions, an official British government agency survey, reveals.

The initiative, called the Know Before You Go Campaign, and launched by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), hopes to sensitise Africans/Caribbeans to the dangers of inadequate preparation before travel.

The FCO estimates that just over 900,000 British citizens of African/Caribbean origin visiting Africa or the Caribbean each year, could be putting their safety at risk because they are not preparing for their trips.

The results of the study show that whilst African and Caribbean British nationals take precautions when they are travel to holiday destinations such as Europe and the USA, it is often not the case when it comes to visiting friends and family in their country of origin. Many travel without insurance, without having had the right vaccinations or even without ensuring they have the correct re-entry documents.

“It is important to realise that when travelling abroad, situations can arise that cannot be dealt with as easily as if you were at home”, urged Lord Triesman, Foreign Office Minister responsible for Consular Affairs. “British nationals of Asian origin, visiting their country of origin, should ensure they are fully prepared.”

As part of the Know Before You Go Campaign, the Foreign Office has issued advice to British citizens visiting friends and family in Africa or the Caribbean. This include:-

1. Always take out travel insurance
2. Ensure all documentation is correct
3. Know the personal import laws
4. Go to your GP to check whether you or your family need vaccinations
5. Know your nationality status
6. Update yourself on the area you’re travelling to

“Even if you feel at home in your destination accidents can still happen and medical expenses can be extortionate,” the FCO advises. “For example it can cost up to £35,000 to get transported by air ambulance back to the UK from the Caribbean.”

Other advice issued by the FCO include:-

• Travellers ensuring their name on the passport is the same one you give when booking flights and arranging other travel documentation
• A reminder that it is illegal to bring meat products and pickles, milk, dairy or other animal products (e.g. fish, eggs, honey), chestnuts, potatoes or potato seeds into the UK from any country outside the EU
• Ensuring that all required vaccinations are up-to-date.

Further information is available from the Foreign Office website.

A French newspaper has reported that Al Qa’ida leader Osama Bin Laden has died and has published confirmed documents from the French secret service to substantiate its claim.

The French regional daily paper, l’Est Republicain, on Saturday, September 23, 2006 claimed that Bin Laden, public enemy number of America’s so-called War on Terrorism, died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.

The chief of al-Qa’ida “was a victim of a severe typhoid crisis while in Pakistan on 23 August, 2006″, the paper said. Bin Laden’s geographical isolation meant that medical assistance was impossible, and his lower limbs were said to have paralysed, it added.

France and the United States said they could not confirm the report in L’Est Republicain which quoted France’s DGSE foreign intelligence service as saying the Saudi secret services were convinced the al Qaeda leader had died of typhoid in Pakistan in late August.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington, however, issued a statement saying: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no evidence to support recent media reports that Osama bin Laden is dead. Information that has been reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be independently verified.”

However, this has not stopped a wave of international speculation, followed by a stream of deanials.

President Jacques Chirac of France, where the report originated, said it was in “in no way whatsoever confirmed”, and officials from Washington to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, said there was no information to back it.

Meanwhile, critics are sceptical saying that if there was any truth in this news then American secret service would have known about it first, since their country’s war on terror team are dedicated to finding Bin Laden dead or alive.

The Saudi-born bin Laden was based in Afghanistan until its Taliban government was overthrown by U.S.-backed forces after al Qaeda’s September 11 attacks on the United States.

Since then, U.S. and Pakistani officials have regularly said they believe bin Laden is hiding somewhere on the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Bin Laden is rumoured to have been suffering from kidney ailments and receiving dialysis treatment. His last videotaped message was released in late 2004 but several low-quality audio tapes have been released this year.

Torture is rampant in Iraqi prisons and police detention centres, and may be worse than under Saddam Hussein’s rule, a UN human rights investigator said.

“The situation as far as torture is concerned in Iraq is now completely out of hand,” Manfred Nowak, the UN special rapporteur on torture and cruelty, told reporters in Geneva.

“The situation is so bad that many people say that it is worse than in the times of Saddam Hussein,” he said.

Nowak said he had credible reports of torture in facilities run by Iraqi forces, as well as by the militias and insurgents who have kidnapped and killed hundreds of people since Saddam’s overthrow in 2003.

“The situation as such is extremely serious, but it is not just torture by the government,” Nowak said.

He also cited reports of inhumane treatment in US- and foreign-run detention centres, but said conditions there seemed to have improved since an international furore over mistreatment of prisoners by US forces at the Abu Ghraib prison. Abu Ghraib was handed over to Iraqi control three weeks ago.

The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq has urged the Iraqi government to invite Nowak to come and look into allegations of torture in prisons run by the US-led multinational force as well as by the Interior and Defence ministries and by militias.

Bodies found in the Baghdad morgue “often bear signs of severe torture including acid-induced injuries and burns caused by chemical substances, missing skin, broken bones – back, hands and legs – missing eyes, missing teeth and wounds caused by power drills or nails,” the mission said.

Nowak, who was in Geneva to address the UN Human Rights Council, said he had held talks with Iraqi authorities in June about a fact-finding mission, but had not yet received an invitation.

An angry group of Black music lovers are set to demonstrate outside the venue of tonight’s Music of Black Origin (MOBO) awards being held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The group have been galvanised into action following MOBO organisers decision to axe the Jazz music category from the annual awards show.

Critics accuse MOBO organisers of once again putting commercial interests first, ahead of the music with its decision, a charge MOBO has denied.

MOBO’s mission statement claims to be concerned with identifying, showcasing and celebrating music derived from black heritage, seeking “to promote the history of music of black origin”. But, critics accuse the awards organisers of ignoring this ideal by dropping jazz from the show, a move they sees as counterproductive.

Janine Irons, managing director of jazz label Dune records said: “Whatever people want to say about it, jazz is of course music of black origin and is to be celebrated, not least because just about all forms of black popular music derive from this genre.”

MOBO has come under fire from the Black community practically every year with its awarding criteria or decision on which artists to invite to the ceremony.

Some music industry aficianadi question the preference the organisers seem to to show towards American Black artists over British ones or of apparently siding with their commercial interests.