The Arab American News
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No specific, credible threats toward U.S. over July 4th holiday
July 1st, 20160 WASHINGTON - There are no specific or credible security threats against the United States known to law enforcement heading into the Fourth of July weekend, according do a government document seen by Reuters and three sources briefed on the matter. The sources, who asked to speak on the condition of...
U.S. House reignites gun-control debate with planned vote
July 1st, 20160 House Speaker Paul Ryan.WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, under mounting pressure to advance gun-control legislation, will vote next week on a measure to keep guns out of the hands of people on government terrorism watch lists. House Speaker Paul Ryan announced the plan in a...
Trump’s shifting Muslim ban is confusing everybody
July 1st, 20160 WASHINGTON - Donald Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States has been a central issue of his campaign -- but he has described the ban differently in the weeks since the mass shooting in Orlando. His spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, told CNN Saturday that Trump supports barring only Muslims from...
Heroin use at 20-year high
July 1st, 20160 A heroin "epidemic" is gripping the United States, where the cheap supply has helped push the number of users to a 20-year high, increasing drug-related deaths, the United Nations said on Thursday. According to the U.N.'s World Drug Report 2016, the number of heroin users in the United States reached around one million in 2014, almost...
Teen checkups should include suicide risk screening
July 1st, 20160 Suicide is among the leading causes of death in U.S. adolescents and while it's not entirely preventable, doctors can minimize the risk by asking the right questions during routine checkups, the American Academy of Pediatrics says. Pediatricians should ask about mood disorders, use of drugs and alcohol, suicidal thoughts, bullying,...
British Labor leader Corbyn appear to compare Israel to ISIS
July 1st, 20160 LONDON — Jeremy Corbyn was engulfed in a fresh row over Israel when he appeared to compare the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to Islamic extremists at the launch of an independent review into antisemitism in the Labor party. In prepared remarks, Corbyn said: "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or...
U.N.: Violence, settlements, Gaza undermine hope for Mideast peace
July 1st, 20160 UNITED NATIONS — Violence and incitement, settlement expansion and a lack of control of Gaza by the Palestinian Authority are undermining hope for Middle East peace, a senior U.N. official said on Thursday, citing a report by the Middle East peace "Quartet." U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov briefed the U.N. Security Council...
What Clinton should learn from Brexit
July 1st, 20160 President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton.BREXIT — the stunning British vote to leave the European Union — is a clear and dramatic rebuke of the country's political and economic elites. A majority voted to leave, even though the heads of the United Kingdom's two major parties, more than a thousand corporate and bank...
State rep. candidate Sophiea stresses pragmatism, transparency
July 1st, 20160 Paul SophieaDEARBORN — Paul Sophiea is the kind of Republican that predates Donald Trump. He says he is practical, independent and looking to represent the entire Dearborn community in his bid to win the State House's District 15. Sophiea said he is running because Dearborn is a growing city that needs proper representation in...
Concerns arise over selection process for State Rep. vacancy
July 1st, 20160 Julie Palwecki being sworn in to the State House.LANSING — The 13th Congressional District Democratic Party organization is preparing to fill a vacancy following the untimely death of State Rep. Julie Plawecki. The first term representative, who passed away on Saturday, June 25, was running unopposed in the August primary for...
Cities issue warnings, ban on consumer fireworks
July 1st, 20160 A firework vendor in Detroit - Photo by The AANews.LANSING — Michigan's state fire marshal is weighing recommending bans on fireworks and burning in parts of the state with extremely dry conditions heading into the Fourth of July weekend. "It is being discussed at the state level, and at this point, we are not taking any actions for...
Police storm hotel after staff assumed Arab guest was a terrorist
July 1st, 20160 AVON - Police stormed a Fairfield Inn Hotel after a woman called dispatchers and said there was a man in the lobby who was acting suspicious and “pledged allegiance to ISIS.”But it turned out, the man didn’t speak English. And he did not pledge allegiance to ISIS. In fact, when police confronted the Arab speaking man who...
Two Muslim men shot while walking to mosque
June 30th, 20160 MINNESOTA - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of Minnesota is asking federal officials to investigate the shooting of two Muslim men who were shot down on the way to a mosque early Wednesday morning.“The Muslim victims, who were dressed in Islamic attire, were reportedly attacked as they headed...
Maronite Patriarch Rai stresses ties with the homeland
June 30th, 20160 Dr. Daher Rahi with Patriarch RaiDETROIT — Maronite Patriarch Bechara Peter Rai came to Detroit with a prayer for peace. He called on world powers to end the wars in the Middle East and demanded expatriates hold on to their homelands’ identities.“We pray together for the Middle East, for its peace, for a permanent, overreaching,...
Chicago Police tackle, strip search fasting Muslim woman
June 30th, 20160 CHICAGO— A Muslim woman was running to catch a train in Chicago when five police officers tackled her, ripped off her hijab and strip searched her. Itemad “Angel” Almatar said she faced humiliation at the hands of police before being arrested for no reason. She was carrying a backpack with food in it to break......
WSU president, federal judge awarded for social justice efforts
June 30th, 20160 DETROIT — On Tuesday June 7, The Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) and the NAACP branch of Detroit awarded federal judge Terrance Berg of the Eastern District of Michigan and Dr. M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University, for their commitment to social justice and equality. Wilson created the Office of Multicultural...Lebanese army foils further ISIS attacks
Lebanese army soldiers at the site of suicide bomb attacks in Qaa, June 27.BEIRUT — Lebanon's army said on Thursday it had foiled planned terrorist attacks by ISIS on a tourist site and a crowded area, days after multiple suicide bombers killed five people in the border village of Qaa. Five people involved in the two thwarted attacks,......
Cheating taxpayers for political advantages
Politicians who limit the effectiveness of government agencies for short-term political advantages cheat taxpayers and short-change the government. I first met Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), a brash young Republican, at a gathering of EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), which challenges invasions of privacy by big...
Arab American journalist Hassan Hamie dies at 81
June 30th, 20160 DEARBORN — Veteran journalist and diplomat Hassan Hamie died on Sunday, June 26 after a long struggle with illness. He was 81. Hamie was born in the Lebanese village of Taraya. He had a degree in political science and history from Brussles University in Belgium. He started his journalistic career as a reporter for Al-Nabaa...
Community mourns loss of State Rep. Plawecki, a dedicated public servant
June 29th, 20160 Plawecki was a regular volunteer with Project Dignity Outreach, a local non-profit organization that feeds the homeless in Detroit. DEARBORN HEIGHTS – The local community is grieving over the untimely death of State Representative Julie Plawecki, 54, who died on Saturday, June 25, from a presumed heart attack...
Iftar with an African American family
June 29th, 20160 The El-Amins having iftarDETROIT — "God, we thank you for the food that has been prepared for the nurturing, for the healing of our bodies," prayed Maurice El-Amin, hands folded together, in ritualistic gesture. "Amen," his family responded collectively at the Ramadan dinner table. "Bismillah (in the name of Allah)," said another, as......
CIA Chief concerned about ISIS attacks in U.S.
June 29th, 20160 WASHINGTON - An attack by Islamic State in the US would not be surprising, the CIA chief said. While the US is more difficult for terrorists to infiltrate than it was before 9/11, ISIS has shown ability to inspire people already in the US using the internet.“I would be surprised if ISIL isn’t considering carrying out...
Syrian refugee returns €150,000 he found in a cupboard
June 28th, 20160 Police in Minden, Germany, say a Syrian man who arrived last year as a refugee is their “hero of the day” after he found €150,000 ($166,000) and handed it to authorities.The 25-year-old discovered the money in a cupboard he had been given by a charitable organisation.Minden police said on Tuesday that the man had found......
Sorority girl sentenced to life in prison for killing newborn
June 28th, 20160 OHIO - A former Ohio college student who gave birth in April 2015 and then left her daughter in a trash bag outside her on-campus sorority house to die, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.Prosecutors said Emile Weaver, 21, then a student at Muskingum University, knew she was pregnant and still played sports and...
Suicide attack kills 28 at Istanbul airport
June 28th, 20160 Ataturk Airport following a blast, June 28ISTANBUL — Two suicide bombers opened fire before blowing themselves up at the entrance to the main international airport in Istanbul on Tuesday, killing at least 28 people and wounding many more, Turkish officials and witnesses said.Police fired shots to try to stop the attackers just before......
