The Arab American News
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Hope fades for survivors as Turkey-Syria earthquake toll passes 20,000
February 10th, 20230 Cold, hunger and despair gripped hundreds of thousands of people left homeless after the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria three days ago as the death toll passed 20,000 on Thursday. The rescue of a 2-year-old boy after 79 hours trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey, and several other people raised...The passing of prominent Lebanese American Dr. Daher Boutros Rahi
February 10th, 20230 By Chris Rahi Kassab With his adoring family by his side, Dr. Daher Boutros Rahi of Grosse Pointe Shores died January 31 at the age of 92. Dad was born in a village in Lebanon called Hemlaya. He lived there with his parents, Boutros and Chafika, and his sister, Emily. To say that the family was poor is an understatement. They...Syria stands alone in healing its wounds from devastating earthquake
February 10th, 20230 The dawn of February 6, 2023 will be recorded as a typical tragedy that befell the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean, or to be precise, part of their peoples. The fear and panic, despite their magnitude, can’t be compared to the horror and devastation of being buried under the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings. It is an...In Syria’s quake-hit Aleppo, survivors try to reach the missing
February 10th, 20230 ALEPPO, Syria – After Monday's earthquake brought down his family's building in Syria's battle-scarred second city of Aleppo, Youssef managed to reach one of his trapped relatives by phone, hearing voices despite a bad line. Since then the 25-year-old has been standing in near-freezing weather by the rubble, unable to get through...China offers emergency aid of $4.4 mln to earthquake-hit Syria
February 8th, 20230 BEIJING - China will offer emergency humanitarian aid of 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to earthquake-hit Syria, its foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular news briefing on Wednesday. The death toll of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria has jumped to more than 8,700. read more Mao said $2 million of the...Israel, Sudan announce deal to normalize relations
February 6th, 20230 KHARTOUM – Israel and Sudan have finalized a deal to normalize relations, with a signing ceremony expected following a transfer of power from the military to a civilian government in Khartoum, the Israeli foreign ministry said on Thursday. Sudan's foreign ministry earlier said the deal was agreed during a visit by Israeli Foreign...Analysis: Israel and Palestinians risk deeper conflict in a distracted world
February 4th, 20230 After bloodshed in Jerusalem and the West Bank and a month since Israel's most right-wing government took office, Israel and the Palestinians risk sliding into a cycle of wider confrontation with pressure on both sides for retaliation, analysts say. A Palestinian gunman shot dead seven people near a synagogue in Jerusalem's outskirts on...Dearborn man arrested for Santa Monica stabbing death of his friend
February 4th, 20230 DEARBORN – On November 2, at approximately 2:43 p.m., Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) officers were dispatched to the Lot 1 North Parking Lot at 1550 Pacific Coast Highway to check the status of a male inside a vehicle that appeared to be deceased. When officers arrived on scene, they confirmed the subject to be...Feds investigate former Republican House Speaker Rick Johnson for alleged bribery in marijuana licensing
February 4th, 20230 LANSING – The FBI and a federal grand jury have been investigating former Republican Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson for more than two years for suspicion of taking bribes in return for awarding medical marijuana licenses, reports The Detroit News. According to three sources familiar with the matter, who chose to remain...New York woman charged with financing terrorist groups in Syria through cryptocurrency
February 4th, 20230 A New York City woman has been charged with using cryptocurrency to provide financial support to terrorist groups in Syria, a rare prosecution involving virtual currency to fund terrorism. The 11-count indictment charged Victoria Jacobs, 43, who was known as Bakhrom Talipov, with providing support for an act of terrorism, money...Lebanese central bank devalues official exchange rate: 15,000 liras for one dollar
February 4th, 20230 BEIRUT – Lebanon devalued its official exchange rate for the first time in 25 years on Wednesday, weakening it by 90 percent, but still leaving the local currency well below its market value. The lira has crashed since a financial meltdown in 2019 after decades of corruption, profligate spending and mismanagement by the ruling elite...Dearborn man convicted of aiding ISIS in Syria
February 3rd, 20230 DETROIT — A Dearborn man who was captured on a Syrian battlefield in 2018 has been convicted on charges of providing support to ISIS and attending one of the group's training camps, prosecutors said. A federal jury convicted Ibraheem Izzy Musaibli, 32, on Monday of charges of providing and attempting to provide material support to...Iran blames Israel for Isfahan drone attack, vows revenge
February 3rd, 20230 Iran blamed Israel for a drone attack on a military factory near the central city of Isfahan, the semi-official ISNA news agency said on Thursday, vowing revenge for what appeared to be the latest episode in a long-running covert war. The attack came amid tension between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear activity and its supply of......
Republicans oust Ilhan Omar from high-profile U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee
February 3rd, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives ousted Democrat Ilhan Omar from a high-profile committee over remarks widely condemned as anti-Semitic, two years after Democrats removed two Republicans from committee assignments. The deeply divided House voted 218-211 along party lines to remove Omar...More school counselors could turn the tide on the youth mental health crisis
January 30th, 20230 By Cameka Hazel More than 130 children's organizations recently called on President Biden to declare a national emergency in response to America's youth mental health crisis. That news came just days after an expert panel recommended that all children ages 8to 18 receive routine screenings for anxiety. These developments drew new......
Lebanese protest record low value of local currency
January 29th, 20230 BEIRUT – Lebanese protesters burned tires and held up handfuls of local currency bills on Wednesday at the entrance of the Lebanese central bank in Beirut, furious over the spiraling devaluation of the lira. Lebanon's economic meltdown, which began in 2019, has cost the lira around 97 percent of its value. The decline has been...Lebanese protest as fate of port explosion probe hangs in balance
January 29th, 20230 BEIRUT – More than 200 people protested outside Lebanon's justice palace on Thursday over efforts to derail an investigation into the deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion, as top judges cancelled a meeting to discuss the fate of the inquiry. Judge Tarek Bitar announced on Monday he was resuming his investigation into the blast that...Business taxpayers reminded about wage statement and income record form due dates
January 29th, 20230 Business taxpayers are reminded that they must submit their wage statements and other income record forms — such as W-2s, 1099-NEC and 1099-R — to the Michigan Department of Treasury on or before Feb. 1. Business taxpayers may send their wage statements and income record forms through one of the following options: Michigan...California is a killing field: 19 dead in 3 mass shootings within 44 hours
Forty-four hours in America. Three mass shootings. Nineteen lives wiped out. All in California. The victims in suburban Monterey Park included people between the ages of 57 and 76, ringing in the Lunar New Year Saturday night, Jan. 21, at a dance studio in the heart of the city’s Asian American community. Then it happened......
Chokr faces up to 10 years in prison for lying on forms to buy three guns, remains in custody
January 27th, 20230 On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted Hassan Yehia Chokr on federal charges in connection with an anti-Semitic attack last month at a synagogue in Oakland County as new details emerged in court about his activity at a gun shop the day of the incident. Chokr, 35, who is accused of intimidating children and parents at Temple Beth El in...Gov. Whitmer pushes her agenda at the State of the State address, as Democrats flex consolidated power in Lansing
January 27th, 20230 LANSING – Gov. Whitmer released a list of her administration priorities Wednesday night — an agenda that has a greater chance of becoming policy with Democrats controlling all levels of political power in the state for the first time in 40 years. “We spoke with a clear voice in November,” Whitmer said in her annual State of the......
U.S. concerned over Israeli raid against Palestinian camp ahead of Blinken visit
January 27th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Washington is concerned the security situation between the Israelis and Palestinians could worsen ahead of a visit to the Middle East by Secretary of State Antony Blinken starting on Sunday, a U.S. official said, after a deadly raid by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Thursday. The top U.S. diplomat...New “Middle Eastern or North African” checkbox proposed for U.S. Census forms in 2030
January 27th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration is proposing major changes to forms for the 2030 Census and federal government surveys that would transform how Latinos and people of Middle Eastern or North African descent are counted in statistics across the United States. A new checkbox for "Middle Eastern or North African" and a......