The White House announced Tuesday that Lawrence H. Summers will step down as director of the National Economic Council after the November elections and return to a teaching post at Harvard University. Summers is President Obama’s top economic adviser. It is unclear whether Summers, 55, volunteered to leave his post or whether he was asked…

Efforts to repeal the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy suffered a major setback on Tuesday as senators failed to end debate on the annual defense-policy bill by a vote of 56 to 43. This vote does not end efforts to lift the military’s 17-year ban on gays serving openly in uniform, but it does…

With signs that read, “The First Afro-Latino in History,” Carlos Allen is running for mayor of Washington, D.C., allegedly as an independent. The lesser-known third of the three people who crashed the White House state dinner is officially running for mayor. The man who could not produce evidence of an invitation to the state dinner…

Eddie Franklin, the son of music legend Aretha Franklin, was attacked at a gas station in Detroit. Police do not have a motive for the attack, but it appears that he was beaten by at least three men. Detroit police spokeswoman Eren Stephens said a female acquaintance was with Franklin just before the beating took place.…

Reggae star Buju Banton’s drug trial has started. Banton, 37, whose real name is Mark Myrie, is accused of trying to further an already established drug trade by conspiring to gain new contacts. According to the article, Banton asked a government informant, “Do you have any contacts where I can get cocaine?” in a recorded…

Somalia’s prime minister, Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, has resigned. According to CNN, Shamarke told reporters, “After considering the political crisis within the government and the worsening security in Somalia, I have decided to resign from my post as prime minister.” He made the statement from inside Villa Somalia, the residence of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. The resignation…

Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley has been found dead. McKinley, 23, was found in the master bedroom of his home with what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. McKinley was a second-year pro who was on the team’s injured reserve list with a leg injury. He played in eight games as a rookie in…

The 14th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, announced the winners of the narrative feature, documentary feature, narrative short, documentary short, screenplay, teleplay and audience award categories. The five-day festival, held Sept. 15-19 in New York City, concluded with an awards brunch, hosted by TV-radio personality FREE and Vibe editorial director Datwon Thomas,…

This is a correction to an earlier story that erroneously reported that ESPN is launching an HBCU sports network. We regret the error. Curtis Symonds, former head of affiliate sales and marketing at BET, is launching an HBCU Network that will feature sports, entertainment and educational programming. According to Symonds, he has a “programming alliance” with ESPN…