Crime

Big win for automakers as Trump orders fuel economy standards review

March 17th, 20170 DETROIT — On Wednesday, President Trump ordered a review of tough U.S. vehicle fuel-efficiency standards put in place by the Obama administration, handing a victory to auto industry executives and provoking criticism from Democrats and environmental groups. In a move widely seen as a preamble to loosening fuel standards, Trump told...

State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud introduces bill to make Fairlane mall safer

March 17th, 20170 LANSING — On Thursday, State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) introduced a bill that yields additional authority to security guards who have gone through supplementary licensing and training at Fairlane Town Center in an effort to back local police. Hammoud told The AANews that the Dearborn mall would meet the requirement to have...

Trump refuses to shake Angela Merkel’s hand

March 17th, 20170 WASHINGTON, DC -  On Friday, President Trump greeted German chancellor Angela Merkel with a handshake upon her arrival to the White House, but appeared to ignore requests to do so as the pair sat together in front of cameras. The pair had an awkward meeting that could help determine the future of the transatlantic alliance and shape...

Trump vows to appeal against travel ban ruling to Supreme Court

March 16th, 20170 HONOLULU- A defiant President Trump has pledged to appeal against a federal judge's order placing an immediate halt on his revised travel ban, describing the ruling as judicial overreach that made the United States look weak. In granting the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit by the state of Hawaii, U.S. District...

Hawaii judge halts Trump’s new travel ban before it can go into effect

March 15th, 20170 HONOLULU ― A U.S. federal judge in Hawaii dealt another legal blow to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, issuing an emergency halt to his revised travel ban just hours before it was set to go into effect early on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson put out an emergency stop on Trump's executive order, which aimed to...

Man sentenced to max of 40 years in prison in baby’s death

March 15th, 20170 BATTLE CREEK— A man who admitted to killing his girlfriend’s 2-month-old baby almost three years ago was sentenced to 18 to 40 years in prison on Monday. Manuel Hernandez, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the Aug. 7, 2014 death of Isabella Dawn Smith. "It is every parent's worst nightmare," Calhoun County Circuit...

Iraqi troops seize main bridge, advance on mosque in battle for Mosul

March 15th, 20170 MOSUL- Iraqi government forces battling ISIS for Mosul took control of a main bridge over the Tigris river on Wednesday and advanced towards the mosque where the group's leader declared a caliphate in 2014, federal police said. The seizure of the Iron Bridge, linking eastern Mosul with the militant-held Old City on the west side,...

Sterling Heights residents respond to mosque settlement with lawsuit

March 14th, 20171 STERLING HEIGHTS ― The city was thought to have put an end to contentious legal battles after it resolved to settle a lawsuit to allow the building of an Islamic center a few weeks ago. At its heavily attended council meeting on Feb. 21, attendees reacted to the City Council's decision to settle Justice Department lawsuit with...

Tunnels under ancient Mosul mosque show ISIS’s focus on loot

March 14th, 20170 Extensive excavations by ISIS militants under Mosul's ancient Mosque of Jonah show they took care to preserve artifacts for loot, a local archaeologist said, in sharp contrast to their public desecration of antiquities. The militants seized the mosque when they stormed through northern Iraq three years ago, bulldozing and dynamiting...

Sentencing rescheduled for Dearborn Heights man accused of supporting ISIS

March 14th, 20170 DEARBORN HEIGHTS- On Monday, the sentencing for Khalil Abu Rayyan, a Dearborn Heights man accused of supporting ISIS, was postponed after Detroit’s federal courthouse was ordered closed due to harsh weather. At 4 p.m., an hour into sentencing, U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh declared that the U.S. District Court was ordered...

Republican plan to repeal Obamacare would leave millions uninsured

March 14th, 20170 Fourteen million Americans would lose medical insurance by next year under a Republican plan to dismantle Obamacare that would also reduce the budget deficit, a nonpartisan congressional research office said on Monday, throwing President Donald Trump and Republicans on the defensive as they press forward with replacement...

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to be released

March 13th, 20170 CAIRO ― Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown as president of Egypt in an uprising in 2011, will be released from detention in a military hospital, the public prosecutor ruled on Monday, his lawyers and judicial sources said. "He will go to his home in Heliopolis," Mubarak's lawyer Farid El Deeb said, adding the ageing former president...

Fire at Ypsilanti mosque possibly a hate crime

March 12th, 20173 YPSILANTI- Federal officials are investigating a fire at the Islamic Center of Ypsilanti on Saturday that could possibly be a hate crime, according to police. Pittsfield Township Fire Chief Sean Gleason told MLive that firefighters received numerous calls reporting a house fire, but they reached the scene only to find the mosque on...

Italian police break mafia ring exporting fake olive oil to U.S.

March 12th, 20171 ROME  - Italian police said they have busted a crime ring exporting fake extra virgin olive oil to the United States, highlighting the mafia's infiltration of Italy's famed agriculture and food business. Twelve people with links to the 'Ndrangheta, the organized crime group based in the southern Calabria region, were arrested on a...

Trump’s revised travel ban dealt first court setback

March 12th, 20170 A federal judge in Wisconsin dealt the first legal blow to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban on Friday, barring enforcement of the policy to deny U.S. entry to the wife and child of a Syrian refugee already granted asylum in the United States. The temporary restraining order, granted by U.S. District Judge William Conley in...

74 killed in Damascus bombing targeting Shi’ites

March 12th, 20170 DAMASCUS- According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll of a double bomb attack targeting Shi'ite pilgrims in Damascus has climbed to 74. Yesterday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said that the bombs killed at least 40 Iraqis and wounded 120 who were visiting the Sayeda Zeinab shrine. There was no immediate claim...

Republican health care plan moves forward

March 10th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C. —After the GOP organized together to oppose former President Obama's Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), Democrats organized to delay a replacement plan's advancement. The Republican-dominated House Ways and Means Committee required 18 hours to become the first panel to approve the Republicans' Obamacare repeal...

Washington restaurant sues Trump over alleged unfair hotel competition

March 10th, 20170 WASHINGTON D.C. - A Washington restaurant has sued President Trump and the company that operates his landmark Washington hotel, claiming that patrons have shifted business there to curry favor with his new administration, the owners said on Thursday. The suit, which was filed on Wednesday, does not seek monetary damages, but wants...

Secretary of Homeland Security releases statement on hate-inspired attacks

March 10th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly released a statement in response to an onslaught of hate crimes against individuals and attacks against communities. "I strongly condemn any violent acts to perpetuate fear and intimidation not only against individuals, but entire communities," said Kelly...

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade quitting at Trump’s request

March 10th, 20170 DETROIT — Barbara McQuade says she's stepping down as U.S. attorney for eastern Michigan at the request of President Donald Trump. McQuade has been head of the U.S. Attorney's Office since 2010. But it's common for the job to change hands when a new president takes office. She said Friday it's been an "incredible privilege" to work...

U.S. to lead 68 nations in anti-ISIS effort

March 10th, 20170 WASHINGTON D.C. — A Trump administration official reported Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host a counterterrorist meeting on March 22. The meeting, to which 68 countries are invited, will coordinate the next moves in combating ISIS. It will be the first assembly of the full coalition since the last similar...

More states seek to halt Trump’s new travel ban in court

March 10th, 20171 WASHINGTON D.C. — Several states said on Thursday they would move forward with legal challenges to a revised executive order signed by President Trump this week that temporarily bars the admission of refugees and some travelers from a group of Muslim-majority countries. The opposition comes on top of a separate legal challenge to...

Texas State Senate committee approves transgender ‘bathroombill’

March 10th, 20170 AUSTIN, TX — A vote to approve a controversial bill took effect within a Texas State Senate committee on Wednesday. The bill, which would require people to use the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex rather than with the gender they identify, passed 7-1 following hours of testimony which included many objections and...

Lebanon appoints new army chief

March 10th, 20170 BEIRUT — Lebanon appointed General Joseph Aoun as army commander on Wednesday, replacing General Jean Kahwaji at the head of a force that has been guarantor of civil peace since the 1975-90 civil war. The Lebanese government also filled several high-ranking security and judicial posts, Information Minister Melhem Riachi said in a...