Updated: Tuesday, Dec. 10, 7:20 a.m. ET: While it’s likely that much will be made of the president’s handshake with Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother, during the memorial to late South African President Nelson Mandela, it is best to put the exchange into context. Obama was greeting all of the speakers who were seated…

On Monday, retail executives and civil rights leaders met to hash out a shopper’s “bill of rights,” New York’s Daily News reports. The list of rules—created after a rash of racial-profiling incidents in which black shoppers claimed that they were arrested, accosted or both after making purchases at Barneys New York and Macy’s—was created to…

The face and name of Nelson Mandela are powerful branding tools that can help sell everything from sweatshirts to kitchen aprons. With the recent death of the former South African president and national treasure, there is a scramble as to who gets to control the Mandela brand and legacy, which are potent commercial and political…

Herbie Hancock, who discovered jazz in high school and would later join Miles Davis’ band and single-handedly revolutionize the early hip-hop landscape, received the nation’s highest tribute for influencing American culture through arts, the Associated Press reports. Hancock joined Carlos Santana, Billy Joel, opera star Martina Arroyo and actress Shirley MacLaine in receiving the Kennedy…

A 1936 Olympics gold medal won by Jesse Owens sold for $1,466,574 early Sunday morning, the highest price ever paid for a piece of Olympics memorabilia, ESPN reports. Owens won the gold medal at the games in Berlin and later gifted it to his good friend, entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, who died in 1949. The…

How do you say goodbye to a man whose life has had a profound impact on just about every world leader, sports hero, politician, college student, professor and Hollywood star? How do you capture the impact of that life in a ceremony? How do you memorialize a man who spent almost a third of his…

Former South African President and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, known for his relentless stance against apartheid, has died at his Johannesburg home from a prolonged lung infection. He was 95. “Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father,” South African President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday in a nationally televised…

No charges will be filed against Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, who was alleged to have sexually assaulted a former student, state attorney William Meggs said Thursday at a press conference that was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. but started seven minutes earlier after ESPN scooped the press conference. Jeff Cameron of 97.9 ESPN Tallahassee…

The colossally egocentric self-proclaimed genius who subjects concertgoers to his “visionary stream of consciousness” rants during his performances may be wearing his audience thin. On Tuesday, Kanye West’s roadside attraction of a hip-hop concert played to fewer than 4,500 people at the Sprint Center in Kanas City, a venue that holds 19,000. It’s a paltry…