Funeral services for Bishop Hamel Hartford Brookins, a former pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, will be held June 1 at the church, his family and church officials have announced. The services for Brookins, who also was a civil rights leader and political power broker for Democratic politicians, will be held that Friday at 11 a.m. at First AME Church, 2270 S. Harvard Blvd., in Los Angeles. The 86-year-old died Tuesday after a long illness. Brookins was a longtime mentor to former Mayor Tom Bradley, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, former U.S. Rep. Diane Watson and many others. Interment at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood will follow the funeral. ALSO: 210 Freeway reopened in Sylmar after fatal ... Continue reading →

Even before he announced his support for same-sex marriage, President Obama was badly trailing Republican Mitt Romney among evangelical Christians, the group most committed to traditional forms of marriage, according to a new poll about the attitudes of religious voters.Romney led Obama by 68% to 19% among evangelicals in the poll released Thursday by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Religion News Service. The nationwide poll was conducted over four days ending Sunday, well before Obama's remarks about same-sex marriage. (And no questions were asked on that topic.)The good news for the Obama campaign is that Romney doesn't have as much support yet among evangelicals as Republican John McCain did in the 2008 election, when exit polls showed that he had captured 73% of ... Continue reading →

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4 May 2012 Last updated at 06:18 ET Putin's palace? A mystery Black Sea mansion fit for a tsar By Tim Whewell BBC News Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. On a thickly wooded mountainside overlooking Russia's Black Sea coast, an extraordinary building has gradually taken shape. It is alleged to be a palace built for the personal use of Vladimir Putin, with massive and illegal use of state funds. Originally conceived, it is said, as a modest holiday house with a swimming pool, it now boasts a magnificent columned facade reminiscent of the country palaces Russian tsars built in the 18th Century. The massive wrought-iron gates into the courtyard are topped with a golden imperial eagle. Outside are formal gardens, a ... Continue reading →