Richard Gere Condemned Over Bollywood Kiss

What was meant to be an innocent public display of affection between Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty, a major Bollywood actress, turned into a protest inside India's capital city. During an AIDS-awareness event in New Delhi, the "Pretty Woman" star spontaneously kissed Shetty of "Celebrity Big Brother" fame on the cheek, a public embrace that is largely perceived as taboo in India. The embrace, which lasted less than one minute, caused a huge outrage among members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena. The group beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks and set fire to glamorous shots of Shetty, known for her appearance on the British reality show. In a statement Monday, Shetty said she understands India's intense feelings toward the controversy, but she hopes this incident doesn't keep people from visiting India, reports The Associated Press. 

British Singer Apologizes for Nazi Comment

Bryan Ferry, the 61-year-old lead singer of the British group Roxy Music, apologized for a remark he made in an interview with a German newspaper in which he praised the Nazi films orchestrated by Adolf Hitler during the Holocaust as "just amazing" and "really beautiful." Jewish leaders in Britain demanded for an immediate apology from the singer. In a statement, Ferry said he was "deeply upset" about the negative publicity the interview triggered, expressing an apology toward his comment. "I apologize unreservedly for any offence caused by my comments on Nazi iconography," he said, "which were solely made from an art-history perspective. I, like every right-minded individual, find the Nazi regime, and all it stood for, evil and abhorrent", states Yahoonews.com.

Fewer Construction Jobs for Undocumented Workers

Fewer undocumented workers are working construction jobs, but not by choice. Not only are many of these undocumented workers forced into going back to working in farm labor, several are taking a significant pay cut. The construction-job boom offered workers the best job they ever had, more than $10 an hour as well as new skills and a shot at upward mobility. This was a step up from the backbreaking work reserved for those toiling without legal authorization such as pruning and picking fruit and vegetable fields. According to Pew Hispanic Center, Spanish-born Latinos took 60 percent of the million new construction jobs created from 2004 to 2006. Read more.

MAC Orders Cabbies to Pick Up All Riders

Customers report cab drivers for refusing travel services all the time, but there's been an increase in the number of customer complaints about Muslim cabbies refusing to drive anyone carrying alcohol. Members of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) voted 11-0 to crack down on drivers refusing service. Still, in situations where there's alcohol, many Muslim taxi drivers say it's an unfair new penalty that violates their religious beliefs. Starting May 11, any airport taxi drivers who refuse riders will face 30-day suspensions. Drivers will have their licenses revoked for two years for a second offense. Hassan A. Mohamud, an imam at the Islamic Da'wah Center in St. Paul, said, "We see this as a harsh penalty against fellow Americans only because they are practicing their faith. This does not reflect the American values of tolerance and accommodation", reports StarTribune.com.

State of Black America: Men in Crisis

The National Urban League plans to reveal its State of Black America 2007 report today, the league's yearly assessment of the condition of the black community. According to the report, black men are in the midst of a social crisis. They are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as white males while earning 74 percent as much per year. They are nearly seven times more likely to be incarcerated, with average jail sentences about 10 months longer than those of white men. The study also includes a foreword by Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama and features other thought-provoking essays and op-eds by prominent intellectuals and activists giving their stance on black America today. Marc H. Morial, president of the organization, is expected to unveil the report via a live web-cast on the National Urban League's web site today according to The Chicago Tribune.

D.C. Residents Demand Voting Rights

Despite the rain storm that hit a greater part of the Northeast, thousands of D.C. residents and officials marched to the U.S. Capitol, calling on Congress to pass a bill that would grant the District voting rights. More than 6,000 people signed up online to participate in the march. Organizers of the demonstration estimated only 5,000 people would turn out. Incidently, the march coincided with the District's Emancipation Day holiday, aimed at urging congressional support for a bill that would grant the District two seats, one in the House and an additional seat for the state of Utah. Read more. 
 

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