Researchers: Toddler cured of HIV

A 2-year-old Mississippi girl is the first child to be "functionally cured" of HIV, researchers announced Sunday.

Researchers said they believe early intervention – in this case within 30 hours of birth – with three anti-viral drugs was key to the outcome.

A "functional cure" is when the presence of the virus is so small, lifelong treatment is not necessary and standard clinical tests cannot detect the virus in the blood.

Rosa Parks: ‘Larger than life’

WASHINGTON – Had it not been for Rosa Parks and others of her era, President Barack Obama said he wouldn't be unveiling a bronze statue of the civil rights icon in the U.S. Capitol.

"We can do no greater honor ... than to carry forward her principle of courage born of conviction," President Obama said at a ceremony on Wednesday.

Fifty-eight years after she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Ala., Parks became the first African-American woman to be honored with a full length statue in National Statuary Hall.

First lady on ‘breaking out’ of the White House

WASHINGTON – Imagine the headline: "First Lady Goes Rogue, Breaks Out of White House."

Michelle Obama jokingly teased the idea of a first lady missing in action during an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" released Tuesday.

"Going to Target for me is like a dream, you know? That one time I went, you noticed it created a stir," the first lady told ABC's Robin Roberts, apparently referring to an incognito excursion to a Washington-area Target in 2011 where she shopped unnoticed for a while.

Boy scares off lions with flashy invention

Richard Turere, 13, doesn't like lions. In fact, he hates them. Yet this bright Maasai boy has devised an innovative solution that's helping the survival of these magnificent beasts – by keeping them away from humans.

Living on the edge of Nairobi National Park, in Kenya, Turere first became responsible for herding and safeguarding his family's cattle when he was just nine. But often, his valuable livestock would be raided by the lions roaming the park's sweet savannah grasses, leaving him to count the losses.

"I grew up hating lions very much," says Turere, who is from Kitengela, just south of the capital Nairobi. "They used to come at night and feed on our cattle when we were sleeping."

Trayvon Martin did not die in vain

In the age of short attention spans and mass media hopping from one story to the next, it is fairly remarkable that the shooting death of Trayvon Martin one year ago Tuesday continues to resonate among the consciousness of many Americans.

Most of this is because a dedicated group of activists, bloggers, social media afficionadios and members of the media – mostly the black press – have been diligent in ensuring that what took place on a cool, rainy night in Sanford, Fla., deserves to be brought out into the open and not to become a drive-by media story.

And no doubt the vigilance of Trayvon's parents – Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin – has made it hard for people to forget. Since Trayvon was shot and killed after an altercation with George Zimmerman, a one-man neighborhood watch guy, Fulton and Martin have attended many high-profile events like the Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Weekend and the NAACP Image Awards, walking red carpets and telling anyone who would listen that their son should not have died and there was no justice.

Voters’ rights & the Supreme Court hurdle

Kilmichael, a small town in northern Mississippi, is known to blues aficionados as the place where blues artist B.B. King first began his love affair with the guitar. To voting rights advocates, it's a place that helps spotlight the ongoing need for Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), now facing a challenge to its constitutionality in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court.

The Court will hear oral arguments on the merits of Shelby County v. Holder on Wednesday. A decision will most likely be rendered in June before the court's summer recess.

"When the 2000 Census revealed that the town had become majority black for the first time, the town's all-white board of aldermen responded by simply trying to cancel all elections in order to prevent African Americans from being elected to office," explained Dale Ho, assistant counsel of the political participation group, NAACP LDF.

Five wellness tips for dads

Fathers playing an active role in their children's lives, including their health and safety, can make a positive difference. According to the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC), setting a good example is the most important way to teach children healthy behaviors.

Even if you don't share a home with your children, following healthy habits when you are together encourages them to do the same. Resources available on the NRFC website (www.fatherhood.gov) confirm that healthy fathers are more available to emotionally and financially support their children and families.

With fathers in mind, here are five wellness tips:

The Zimmerman saga: 5 things you may have missed

February 26, 2012

That was the day two strangers – Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager walking back with Skittles and an iced tea he'd picked up at 7-Eleven, and George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida – met for the first and only time.

It's been nearly a year since Zimmerman shot Martin to death. The incident generated huge outrage across the country for months and led to a wide-ranging conversation about the state of U.S. race relations.

Slavery lessons in elementary math class sparks outcry

By Laura Ly Special to CNN

(CNN) -- A math homework assignment that asked fourth grade students to tally the number of slaves on a ship has sparked outrage among parents and administrators in Manhattan. The assignment was devised by another group of students, after they apparently expressed interest in the transatlantic slave trade. It required fourth graders to calculate the remainder of those not killed by a mutiny aboard the vessel, and to determine the number of times slaves were beaten in one month.

"This is really inappropriate," student teacher Aziza Harding told CNN affiliate NY1 on Friday. "It should not be a homework assignment, and I did not want to make copies of this." Harding was asked to photocopy the assignment by another teacher, but refused because the questions made her uncomfortable and she thought it desensitized students to the horrors of slavery. The first question read: "In a slave ship, there are 3,799 slaves. One day, the slaves took over the ship. 1,897 slaves are dead. How many slaves are alive?" The second question read: "One slave got whipped five times a day. How many times did he get whipped in a month (31 days)? Another slave got whipped nine times a day. How many times did he get whipped in a month? How many times did the two slaves get whipped together in one month?"

The worksheet was created earlier this year by another teacher whose students were studying the history of slavery in their social studies class. During a math lesson, they were asked to create word problems on the same topic. Another teacher borrowed the worksheet before leaving for vacation, according to a statement by New York school officials.

Conrad Murray ordered to meet with Katherine Jackson’s lawyers

LOS ANGELES – A judge has ordered Dr. Conrad Murray to meet with Katherine Jackson's lawyers next month for a deposition in her wrongful death lawsuit against concert promoter AEG Live.

The lawsuit, which is set for trial in April, accuses AEG Live of causing the death of Katherine Jackson's son, Michael Jackson, by pressuring him to prepare for his 2009 comeback concerts while he was in fragile health.

The suit, filed on behalf of Michael Jackson's mother and three children, says that AEG Live executives hired and supervised Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death.

Jesse Jackson Jr., wife plead guilty to campaign-funds abuse

WASHINGTON – With moist eyes and soft voices, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife pleaded guilty to federal charges on Wednesday related to years of using campaign funds for personal expenses that included purchases of Michael Jackson memorabilia and a Rolex watch.

"Guilty, your honor," Jackson responded to U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins while dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief after he looked back at family members in the courtroom, including his father, civil rights icon the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Police reach out to dead man’s mom on Facebook

An Atlanta-area woman is angry after she says police used a little-known messaging feature on Facebook to contact her after her son was killed.

Anna Lamb-Creasey says it took several weeks to find a message from Clayton County police telling her to call them. The news was that her son, 30-year-old Rickie Lamb, had died after being hit by a car January 24.