Queen Latifah, in New Orleans for the 15th annual Essence Music Festival, says she's excited about her latest project _ her first rap album in a decade that will be released in August.
Entitled "Persona,'' she says the release includes influences from rock, dance, reggae and "of course, plenty of straight up hip-hop. It's a rocker, it's a rocker for sure,'' she said Friday, the festival's first day. "I can't wait to put it out and perform for everybody and get in the minds of those who've come to know me only as an actor and to kind of deliver something to those who know me as a rapper, turned actress, turned entrepreneur.''  . . .

After nearly 18 years on death row for killing an off-duty Georgia police officer, Troy Davis got a break when the U.S. Supreme Court last week put the brakes on his execution. The Court postponed until September a decision on granting Davis a new trial. Davis has been spared three times since he was first scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in 2007. . . .

Outgoing U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe James D. McGee promised more United States support for the country's political and economic recovery Friday but said democratic reforms needed to be in place first . . .

One of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's potential presidential rivals said Sunday that her abrupt resignation won't help her dodge scrutiny. President George W. Bush's chief political adviser said her strategy is, at best, unclear. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Palin's announcement that she would not seek a second term -- and leave office before finishing her first -- simply doesn't make sense in a conventional political setting. Karl Rove, a longtime Bush counselor, said Palin has engaged in a "risky strategy.''  . . .

Beloved community leader Louis J. Boston has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 69. Boston was the president of the Boston Training and Marketing Group and a parishioner at St. Andrew Catholic Church. . . .

Born on Sept. 19, 1966, in Saint James, NY, Maria de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien is the fifth of sixth children born to Edward and Estrella, immigrants from Australia and Cuba, respectively. She and her siblings excelled academically, and all attended Harvard University. But while her brothers and sisters pursued postgraduate degrees in either medicine or the law, Soledad settled on a career in journalism.   
Ms. O'Brien bounced around the television dial for a few years, enjoying stints on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News and at MS-NBC before finally finding a home at CNN where she co-anchored American Morning from 2003 to 2007, often going on location to report such disasters as Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Thailand. . . .

In a recent interview, renowned Thriller producer Quincy Jones told Details Magazine that although he called Michael Jackson a close friend, he didn't believe Jackson had a disease that causes depigmitation of the skin. Instead, he insinuated that Jackson – who went from a chocolate brown child to a White-complexioned adult - had deep self-hatred issues ... It's ridiculous, man! Chemical peels and all of it. And I don't understand it. But he obviously didn't want to be Black . . .

While students are doing slightly better each year on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, the success rates of African-American, American Indian, Latino and Pacific Islander students shows Washington has a long way to go in improving school achievement for everyone. . .

Unresolved disputes concerning the Confederate flag have led the Atlantic Coast Conference to move three future baseball tournaments out of South Carolina. League officials said Monday that the ACC instead will hold its championship in Durham, N.C., in 2011 and '13 and in Greensboro in 2012. The ACC previously awarded the tournament to Myrtle Beach, S.C., from 2011-13, but that decision drew criticism from the NAACP, which has boycotted South Carolina for nearly a decade for flying and then displaying the Confederate flag on state capitol grounds. . . .

Prosecutors have dismissed murder charges against four alleged ex-members of the Black Liberation Army accused of killing a San Francisco police officer in 1971. The charges were dismissed Monday against Henry Jones, Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown and Harold Taylor in the killing of Sgt. John V. Young during an attack on San Francisco's Ingleside police station. Attorney General Jerry Brown's office, who took over the four decade old case, did not say why charges were dropped. . . .