by Bradley Brooks

SAO PAULO (AP)—Brazil’s top court has backed sweeping affirmative action programs used in more than 1,000 universities across this nation, which has more Blacks than any country outside Africa yet where a severe gap in education equality between races persists.

STUDENTS TALK—In This photo taken May 2, students talk at Sao Paulo University in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The country’s top court has backed sweeping affirmative action programs used in more than 1,000 universities across the nation, which has more Blacks than nearly any other country, yet where a severe gap in education equality between races persists. The Supreme Court voted 7-1 late last Thursday to uphold a federal program that has provided scholarships to hundreds of thousands of Black and mixed-race students for university studies. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

The Supreme Court voted 7-1, May 3, to uphold a federal program that has provided scholarships to hundreds of thousands of Black and mixed-race students for university studies since 2005.

The court ruled in a separate case that it was constitutional for universities to use racial quotas in determining who is admitted.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)—As millions watched the sequin-clad samba dancers at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Carnival parade Feb. 19, at least a few eyes turned toward the stars, or at least toward the VIP boxes hosting celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Fergie. 

COLORFUL DANCERS—A dancer of Porto da Pedra samba school parades during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb. 20. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

by Diaa Hadid

DIMONA, Israel (AP)—For years, Israel’s array of African communities had little interaction, divided by religious, linguistic and cultural differences. That is changing.

They are facing a common situation in Israel—relegated to bottom rungs, partly because of discrimination over their skin color. That has brought some members of a wide range of communities together, including Jewish Ethiopians, nomadic Muslim Arabs and migrants from Eritrea and Sudan.

COMING TOGETHER—In this photo taken March 6, from right to left, Sheik Ayed al-Abed, Mohammed al-Masri and Khazrail Ben-Yehuda talk in a meeting room in the southern Israeli city of Dimona. (AP Photo/Diaa Hadid)

“What is said against me is said against my brother,” said Sheik Ayed al-Abed, referring to the derogatory names that he and other members of a newly formed advocacy group have been called.

by Abdi Guled

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP)—Journalist Mohamed Bashir Hashi’s voice broke with emotion as he read a death threat sent to his mobile phone: “If God wills it, you will be the next apostate to be killed.”

LIVING IN FEAR—Anchors at the Shabelle radio station broadcast a news bulletin in Mogadishu, Somalia Jan. 30. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

After gunmen killed Somali journalist Hassan Osman Abdi on Saturday, colleagues and friends said they were too scared to attend his funeral that day, since militants in Somalia have targeted such gatherings in the past. Abdi, a 29-year-old director of a radio station, was a father of three.