The Arab American News
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Flint’s Arab Americans directed to resources to deal with crisis
The state is distributing Arabic documents to residents through the AAHCFLINT — Arab residents are "all set" with filters, bottled water, testing kits and Arabic-language informational documents about lead poisoning, a community activist said.Mona Sahouri, the executive director of the Flint-based Arab American Heritage Council, said...Flint and Detroit the most vacant U.S. cities
DETROIT — Flint is the most vacant city in the nation, according to a new report. Detroit is a close second. The report by RealtyTrack, which provides housing data nationwide, says 7.5 percent of homes in Flint are vacant. Detroit is not far behind with a 5.3 percent vacancy rate.But the two Michigan cities are exceptions to the...Researchers find new Zika clues to birth defect in fetus study
CHICAGO — On Wednesday, Researchers reported new evidence strengthening the association between Zika virus and a spike in birth defects, citing the presence of the virus in the brain of an aborted fetus of a European woman who became pregnant while living in Brazil. An autopsy of the fetus showed microcephaly or small head size, as...Dearborn Heights residents demand solution to rat problem
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — An epidemic of rats has plagued residents of Dearborn Heights for years despite complaints. Residents packed Tuesday’s city council meeting to address the issue with city leaders. The Arab American News first reported of the city’s pest problem last summer. In addition to rats, residents were complaining...Snyder seeks $300 million for Flint water, Detroit schools
FLINT — This week, Governor Snyder asked state lawmakers to provide more than $300 million in his current and fiscal 2017 budget proposals to deal with the lead-tainted water crisis in Flint and to keep the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) from running out of cash as early as April. The Republican governor, who has come under fire...
We are not anti-Chaldean
February 12th, 20160 Bishop Francis KalabatWhen The Arab American News opposed the invasion of Iraq, some community members accused us of being anti-Shi'a and pro-Saddam. About a decade later, this charge resurfaced when we called for rethinking the Ashura procession. Meanwhile, others claim we are a Shi'a paper for supporting the resistance in Lebanon,...Clinton and the Democratic establishment: Interests and binding ties
Chris Mathews interviewing Hillary ClintonAfter what can only be described as an absolute disaster of an electoral showing in the New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton's hopes of becoming the Democratic nominee in 2016 increasingly hinge on her support from the Democratic establishment. The establishment, which is connected to Clinton...WIC site in Dearborn’s Southend aims to assist Yemeni Americans
DEARBORN — Mothers and young children in Dearborn’s South End will now be able to receive nutritional support through a new WIC (Women’s, Infants and Children’s) program site. The Wayne County Commission voted to modify its contract with The Resource Network Inc. of Hamtramck to open the site at 10547 Dix Ave. The...
Your social media behavior reflects on the entire community
February 12th, 20160 DEARBORN — The allegations against Khalil Abu-Rayyan, the 21-year-old Dearborn Heights resident who was accused of supporting ISIS by the FBI, came as no surprise to those who knew him or had been following him on social media. Court documents revealed that Abu-Rayyan had used Twitter to re-tweet, like and comment on ISIS propaganda...
Social media campaign highlights Arab and Muslim contributions
February 12th, 20160 A young activist at a Take on Hate rally in Washington D.C.DEARBORN — Those who monitor bigotry can barely keep up with Islamophobia fueled by politicians and media pundits. Ever since election season kicked off, hate crimes against Muslims have been on the rise in America, forcing Muslim Americans and advocacy organizations to...
Tensions flare at City Council meeting in protest against Dearborn Police
February 12th, 20160 New Era Detroit members protesting at the Dearborn city council meeting.DEARBORN — A Dearborn City Council meeting abruptly ended in chaos after a group of protestors demanded answers about the deaths of two Detroit residents who were shot and killed by Dearborn police officers in the last two months. The deaths of Kevin Matthew, 35,...Major reconstruction, expansion of I-75 to begin in July
Reconstruction of I-75 will begin this summer, with added lanes and smoother roads starting through Bloomfield Township, Auburn Hills and Troy.The project is part of an eight-phase endeavor to rebuild approximately 18 miles of the freeway between South Boulevard and 8 Mile Road in Oakland County, according to a Michigan Department of...Man pleads not guilty for planned mass shooting in Milwaukee
Samy Mohamed HamzehMILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man who authorities say planned to kill dozens of people in a mass shooting at a local Masonic temple pleaded not guilty to weapons charges in federal court on Tuesday. Samy Mohamed Hamzeh, 23, appeared in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where he is...Justice Dept. sues Ferguson, Missouri, to force police reforms
FERGUSON, MO./WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department sued Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday to force the city to change its police department and court system after the federal government found both to be biased against minorities.The St. Louis suburb, a symbol of problems with policing and race in the United States, earlier...Israel returns 134 goats to south Lebanon in ‘bad condition’
Lebanese farmers demonstrate in front of UNIFIL office in Kfar Shuba village over Israeli abduction of goats, Feb. 11. Photo: The Daily StarBEIRUT — Israeli forces returned 134 goats to Lebanese farmers. The animals were in "bad condition," and Israeli authorities are still holding another 91, the state-run National News Agency......
A year after Chapel Hill tragedy, community still traumatized
February 12th, 20160 A makeshift memorial for Deah the victims in the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry, Feb. 11, 2015. Photo: ReutersDEARBORN — Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha were model citizens — students, activists, volunteers. An evil neighbor invaded their home and shot all three of them in the head. Their friends...The cases of Abu-Rayyan and Hamdan: Words matter
This should be a reminder to all Arab and Muslim Americans that what each member of the community does or says can affect and reflect on all of us.Whether or not Khalil Abu-Rayyan meant what he said when he told an FBI informant he wanted to "shoot up" a church in Detroit, the comments, which expressed criminal intentions, are......
State Sen. Smith may step down, serve 10 months in plea deal
Virgil SmithDETROIT — State Sen. Virgil Smith (D-Detroit) may resign his post and go to jail for 10 months as a part of a guilty plea in connection to shooting at his ex-wife last year. In May of 2015, Smith, 35, was charged with domestic violence assault and felony firearm after firing his gun at his ex-wife's car when she was...Ellen Degeneres donates $500,000 to Detroit Public Schools
DETROIT – Daytime talk show host Ellen Degeneres surprised Detroit Public Schools with a donation of $500,000 with the help of Lowes and pop superstar Justin Bieber.Degeneres and Bieber presented Spain Elementary-Middle School with the check via a live video feed during her show. The revelations of dangerous conditions at...
Russia: Syria conflict could unleash World War III
February 11th, 20160 A destroyed neighborhood in AleppoMOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said all powers must sit at the negotiating table to forge an end to the war in Syria "instead of unleashing a new world war.""The Americans and our Arab partners must think well: do they want a permanent war?" Medvedev told Germany's Handelsblatt...Property values rise in Dearborn
Dearborn homes near Warren AvenueDEARBORN — The value of residential property rose 6.7 percent in Dearborn from 2015 to 2016 as the city completed a detailed, multi-year reassessment of properties. However, residents will see only a negligible increase in property taxes due to the reassessment."The 6.7 percent increase in assessed......
Mohammed Assaf to perform at charity concert in Dearborn
Mohammed AssafDEARBORN — Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf will perform in a charity concert at Fordson High School on Friday, March 4.The profit from the event will go to Gaza hospitals, according to Palestinian American activist Daad Katato. Assaf rose to popularity after wining TV talent show Arab Idol in 2013. He garnered...
In Yemen war, hospitals bombed to rubble, starvation spreads
February 10th, 20160 A man reacts at the site of a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen's capital Sanaa, Feb. 10SANAA — Elderly Hamama Yousif was rushed to the main hospital in one of Yemen's largest cities after an artillery round lashed her chest with shrapnel, only to find that the doctors there had run out of the oxygen tanks needed to save her life.In a......
Trump, Sanders win in New Hampshire: networks
NEW HAMPSHERE - Billionaire businessman Donald Trump won New Hampshire's Republican presidential nominating contest on Tuesday, while U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the Democratic primary over Hillary Clinton, U.S. television networks said after early results. Trump's win solidifies his front-runner status in the...U.S. judge deports Qatari military officer accused of enslaving servants
Hassan al-Homoud and his wifeSAN ANTONIO — A U.S. judge ordered on Tuesday the immediate deportation of a Qatari military officer and his wife after they were accused of holding two female servants in slave-like conditions in their upscale San Antonio home.Hassan al-Homoud, 46, who received military training at San Antonio's Camp......