Daily News Feed 8.5.2009/Vocab: brio

Chris Brown to Be Sentenced for Assault
Chris Brown has pleaded guilty and publicly apologized for beating Rihanna, but after Wednesday afternoon, plenty more hard work lies ahead. The 20-year-old R&B singer is scheduled to be sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community labor. A judge has said she wants Brown, who will likely be allowed to serve his probation in his home state of Virginia, to do work that is comparable to graffiti removal or roadside cleanup. The “Run It!” singer pleaded guilty in late June to felony assault before a preliminary hearing in which Rihanna was likely to testify. The former couple never faced each other at that hearing. As Brown left through one door, Rihanna entered the courtroom from a private entrance. (Continue Reading…)

Gates: I’d Do Exactly the Same Thing
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., said he wants to do a PBS special on racial profiling from the perspective of people who have been victims of racial profiling and from the point of view of the police. Gates, appearing on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” to set the record straight about his arrest last month, said, “I’m hoping to use this not for any retribution or recrimination,” but to illustrate how easily things can get out of hand. “I was in jail for four hours,” he said, “but what about all those other brothers in jail for four days, four weeks, four years?” (Continue Reading…)

Dubai World Scales Back Africa Project Plans
State-owned conglomerate Dubai World said on Wednesday it has put on hold several of its projects in Africa, the latest delays from the firm as it restructures due to the global economic downturn. The ports and property group faces challenges to revamp operations and finances before the end of the year when a $3.5 billion Islamic bond for its subsidiary Nakheel matures. In June, it hired AlixPartners, the turnaround experts who are advising on the General Motors (GM.N) bankruptcy, to help restructure its business. “Dubai World has put on hold a number of projects until the market improves, including some tourism projects in Africa and elsewhere,” a company spokesman said in an e-mailed statement, without giving further details. (Continue Reading…)