WASHINGTON (AP) _ Alexander Collins has two homes: a new one in the U.S. where he wants to stay and one in Africa he wants to leave for good.
Collins, 34, has lived in St. Paul, Minn. on a series of temporary extensions since coming to the U.S. from Liberia about eight years ago. Collins is among 3,600 Liberians granted temporary protected status to settle in the U.S. while civil war ravaged their homeland. The war has ended and a fledgling democracy is taking hold. So President George W. Bush granted a final 18-month extension, which ends March 31. ...

(NNPA) - The NAACP is accusing Wells Fargo and HSBC of forcing Blacks into subprime mortgages while Whites with identical qualifications got lower rates.
Class-action lawsuits were filed against the banks on Friday Mar. 13 in federal court in Los Angeles, said Austin Tighe, co-lead counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
A statement released by the civil rights organization says, "These lawsuits allege systematic, institutionalized racism in sub-prime home mortgage lending." ...

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- President Robert Mugabe and longtime political rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai sat side by side Saturday at a state funeral that was seen as a symbolic step for their parties' month-old coalition.
The funeral was for former defense forces commander and Mugabe loyalist Gen. Vitalis Zvinavashe and was Tsvangirai's first formal attendance at a shrine for fallen guerrillas and political leaders.

The Obama administration announced Monday that the 21 largest banks receiving government money must report monthly on how much lending they do to small businesses. All other banks getting taxpayer help are being asked to report quarterly on small business loans. Even banks that are not taking government funds are being told by the administration to "make an extra effort'' to increase small business lending. . . .

Nykita Hurt holds a photo of her daughter Brandi who became a child prostitute at the age of 14. Experts say more than 300,000 children are being sexually exploited in the United States. . . .

Seattle City Council members announced today a timeline to develop a publicly financed elections program for local campaigns in the city of Seattle. The plan proposes development of a proposal over 2009 and early 2010 with a possible ballot measure placed before voters in 2010. If voters approve a measure, candidates could participate in a program as early as the 2011 election cycle. 
Public financing, sometimes called "voter-owned" elections, allows a candidate to qualify for public funds to run an electoral campaign if he or she is able to demonstrate a broad base of community support. . . .

Black kids and White kids in the Portland metro area are basically achieving academically at the same rate – but the high rates of gentrification that push poorer families away from their neighborhoods are disproportionately disrupting African American children's ability to learn.
Those are a few of the findings of a new report commissioned by the Black Parent Initiative and the Chalkboard Project, and conducted by EcoNorthwest.
The study, while examining why African American students lag behind White students in academic achievement, found that Black students are more likely to switch schools at every stage of their school careers. . . .

A Black September terrorist convicted of placing three powerful car bombs in New York City in 1973 has been sent to Sudan after completing his sentence and being deported by the U.S. government. Khalid Al-Jawary, 63, was flown out of Denver International Airport on Thursday and arrived Tuesday in Khartoum, said Carl Rusnok, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman.. Al-Jawary ended up in Sudan after Algeria initially agreed to accept him but then reversed course, setting off a scramble to find a country that would take the aging terrorist. It's unclear why Algeria ultimately decided against taking Al-Jawary. Al-Jawary wanted to be deported to Jordan, where his family lives, but the country apparently would not allow him entry. Federal officials said he had dual citizenship with Jordan and Iraq. . . .

Federal prosecutors say two White supremacists accused of plotting to kill President Barack Obama and dozens of other Black people were armed and dangerous when West Tennessee authorities swooped down on them. Eighteen-year-old Paul Schlesselman of Helena-West Helena, Ark., and 20-year-old Daniel Cowart of Bells, Tenn., were arrested in October -- while Obama was still a candidate -- and are in custody without bond . . .

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Obama administration's housing plan is intended to help 9 million struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, but it leaves out tens of thousands of borrowers in the most battered housing markets who won't qualify because their homes have lost too much value. ...