The Arab American News
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Detroit has second consecutive balanced budget
DETROIT — The city of Detroit has moved past its former bankruptcy with a current balanced budget and a near $63 million surplus. The figures were released on May 31 from Detroit's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2016. This is the city's second consecutive balanced...
Lebanese ministry bans ‘Wonder Woman’ film over Israeli actress
June 2nd, 20170 Lebanon's Interior Ministry banned the new "Wonder Woman" film from cinemas on Wednesday because an Israeli actress plays the lead role, a ministry source and a security official said. Lebanon considers Israel an enemy country and the Ministry of Economy and Trade oversees a boycott of any business transactions concerning...
Not only Muslims: Last week, allies became casualties, too
June 2nd, 20170 Rick Best, 53, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, took a brave stand against bigotry and assault last Friday when they stepped in to defend two teenage girls from the verbal assault and abuse of a bigot whose best defense was that they "looked Muslim." Both 16-year-old Destinee Magnum and her...US sees sharp drop-off in refugee arrivals; Michigan mirrors national trend
LANSING — The number of refugees re-settled in Michigan has dropped sharply over the past six months, mirroring a national trend, according to new analysis of U.S. State Department data from the Pew Research Center. Last October Michigan re-settled 563 refugees. As of April, that number has fallen to 168. Nationally, 9,945 refugees...Donald Trump and the politics of whine
By Thomas L. Knapp "No politician in history, and I say this with great surety," President Trump told Coast Guard Academy graduates on May 17, "has been treated worse or more unfairly" than himself. A day later, in the wake of the Justice Department's appointment of former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to...
Councilman Tom Berry rescinds resignation
June 2nd, 20170 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights city councilman Tom Berry, who originally resigned from his position on May 16, decided to rescind his resignation. He spoke about his decision to finish the rest of his term at the May 23 council meeting. "I love this city…," he said. "I decided that maybe resigning today was not the most...
Trump’s visit to Israel: How Palestine disappeared from US media coverage
June 2nd, 20170 As if he has, overnight, been transformed into a master politician, Donald Trump's 27-hour trip to Israel has left many analysts mystified. Quoting former Israeli political adviser Mitchell Barack, the New York Times referred to Trump as the "Liberace of world leaders", in reference to flamboyant piano player Wladziu Valantino...
Trump must be more firm against White supremacy
June 2nd, 20170 By Dawud Walid Donald Trump's first visit abroad as president was marked by several statements which explicitly and implicitly stated that he wished to put America first. In the first leg of his trip in Saudi Arabia, he stated, "Our first priority is always the safety and security of our own citizens." As there definitely are...
Surgeons in Lebanon offer hope to wounded Syrian refugees
June 2nd, 20170 TRIPOLI, LEBANON — Six operations have failed to cure the constant pain that Ismael Moustafa suffers since he was wounded in an airstrike on his village in Syria three years ago. The 28-year-old former construction worker hobbled on crutches after the shrapnel tore through his right hip and leg, with painkillers offering no relief. A...
Trump abandons global climate pact, allies voice dismay
June 2nd, 20171 WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Thursday he would withdraw the United States from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, a move that fulfilled a major campaign pledge but drew condemnation from U.S. allies and business leaders. Trump, tapping into the "America First" message he used when he was elected...
Suspect in Portland commuter train attack arraigned in court
June 2nd, 20170 PORTLAND — The suspect in a May 26 attack on a commuter train that left two men dead and one injured was arraigned inside the Multnomah County Justice Center Courthouse on Tuesday. Jeremy Joseph Christian, a 35-yearold convicted felon, was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of second-degree intimidation and one...
Trott, Cicilline introduce bipartisan legislation requiring ethics training
June 2nd, 20170 WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dave Trott (R-Birmingham) introduced The Ensuring Trust and Honorability in Congressional Standards (ETHICS) Act, or H.R. 2678, last Thursday. The bill would require U.S. representatives to participate in yearly ethics training and awareness programs. The legislation, co-authored with Rep. David Cicilline of...
Trump administration approves tougher visa vetting, including social media checks
June 2nd, 20170 WASHINGTON-The Trump administration has rolled out a new questionnaire for U.S. visa applicants worldwide that asks for social media handles for the last five years and biographical information going back 15 years. The new questions, part of an effort to tighten vetting of would-be visitors to the United States, was approved on May 23 by...
FBI raids Dearborn home, arrests man citing ‘national security issue’
June 2nd, 20171 DEARBORN ― On June 1 at around 5 in the evening, the silence of a Dearborn street was broken when a large FBI task force raided a home, just as some residents were preparing to break their fasts. The FBI said it was conducting an operation related to a "national security issue" at the home on Jonathon Street near Warren Avenue, but...
Trump delays moving U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem by six months
June 1st, 20170 WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an order on Thursday to keep the U.S. Embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv temporarily instead of relocating it to Jerusalem, despite his campaign pledge to go ahead with the controversial move. After months of fierce debate within his administration, Trump chose to continue his predecessors' policy of......
Trump to pull out of Paris agreement
May 31st, 20170 President Donald Trump will follow through on a campaign pledge to pull the United States out of a global pact to fight climate change, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters, a move that promises to deepen a rift with U.S. allies. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, did not confirm the decision in a post on...
The future of most business districts outside of Downtown Detroit is uncertain
May 30th, 20170 By Lester Graham | Michigan Radio There are small business districts throughout Detroit that are barely hanging on. They were once thriving. But, population loss, and the loss of wealth in the neighborhoods have caused hard times for neighborhood businesses. The question is: what to do with them now? In the MorningSide neighborhood......
Morocco arrests activist leading northern protests
May 30th, 20170 RABAT — A leading Moroccan activist was arrested on Monday alongside other protesters caught up in a wave of rallies against official abuses and corruption in the north, state media said. Nasser Zefzafi, who has helped organize months of protests, would be investigated on charges of "threatening national security" and other crimes,...
Suspect in Portland commuter train attack to be arraigned in court
May 30th, 20170 PORTLAND-A man will appear in court in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday to answer charges that he murdered two men who tried to stop him hurling religious slurs against two women of Muslim appearance on a commuter train. The attack came as some religious rights groups warn of a rising tide of anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States,...
Laptop ban may extend to all flights in and out of US
May 30th, 20170 WASHINGTON-The United States might ban laptops from aircraft cabins on all flights into and out of the country as part of a ramped-up effort to protect against potential security threats, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Sunday. In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Kelly said the United States planned to "raise the...
Suicide bomber kills 13, injures 24 at Baghdad ice cream shop
May 29th, 20170 BAGHDAD - On Tuesday, a suicide bomber detonated a rigged vehicle outside of a popular ice cream shop in the Karrada district of Baghdad, killing 13 people and wounding at least 30 others, officials said. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) claimed responsibility, stating its intent in attacking a "gathering of......
Texas teacher disciplined after giving student ‘terrorist’ award
May 28th, 20170 CHANNELVIEW, Texas - At least one teacher at Lance Cpl. Anthony Aguirre Junior High School in Houston has been disciplined after presenting a seventh grade student with the mock award "most likely to be a terrorist," a school district official said on Friday. "The Channelview Independent School District Administration would like...
Tillerson declines to host Ramadan event at State Department
May 28th, 20170 WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has declined a request to host an event to mark Islam's holy month of Ramadan, two U.S. officials said, apparently breaking with a bipartisan tradition in place with few exceptions for nearly 20 years. Since 1999, Republican and Democratic secretaries of state have nearly always hosted......
Two men stabbed to death on Oregon train trying to stop anti-Muslim rant
May 27th, 20170 PORTLAND- A man fatally stabbed two passengers aboard a Portland, Oregon, commuter train after they tried to stop him from harassing two young women who appeared to be Muslim, police said on Saturday. Police identified the assailant, who was arrested soon after the Friday afternoon attack, as Jeremy Joseph Christian of Portland, a...
Talking to the other side
May 26th, 20170 I've had a number of conversations recently that convince me our country is divided into two political camps separated by a deep and uncomfortably wide gap. No, I'm not talking about liberals and conservatives or pro- and anti-Trump voters. I'm talking about people who believe in politics and our political system and people who......
