The Arab American News
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Census Bureau tests new MENA category
January 16th, 20150 DEARBORN — U.S. Census Bureau has decided to initiate plans to test a new classification for persons from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for possible inclusion in the 2020 Census. The bureau is receiving feedback on the category. Inclusion on the Census has been a major Arab American issue for the past two...
West Bloomfield officials accused of racism against Chaldeans
January 16th, 20150 WEST BLOOMFIELD — Members of the West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees are accused of making racist remarks about Chaldean Americans. Board members were confronted about the allegations at a meeting held at the West Bloomfield Township Hall, 4550 Walnut Lake Road, on Monday. “There have been allegations that a...
Duggan reaches out to the Arab community at the Islamic House of Wisdom
January 16th, 20150 (L-R) School administrator Nawal Hamade; State Sen. David Knezek; AACC executive director Fay Baydoun; Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan; Imam Mohamad Ali Elahi, and Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly Jr. among others, pose for a group photo at the Islamic House of Wisdom, Jan. 9.DEARBORN HEIGHTS — In a town hall meeting at the Islamic House of...
Three new Dearborn Public Schools trustees begin their terms
January 16th, 20150 DEARBORN — On Monday night, Dearborn Public Schools welcomed three new trustees and three new administrators during its first Board of Education meeting of 2015. The new trustees, Mary Petlichkoff, Michael Meade and Mariam Bazzi, were sworn in before the meeting by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny. Community...
NAIAS opens this week
January 16th, 20150 DETROIT — The 2015 North American International Auto Show will open up to the public at Cobo Center on Saturday, Jan. 17 and close Sunday, Jan. 25. There will be more than 500 vehicles on display, representing the most innovative designs in the world. The NAIAS is North America’s largest and most prestigious automotive showcase....
Homeland Security Deputy Jaafar continues to serve county under new administration
January 16th, 20150 Homeland Security Deputy Samer Jaafar accepts an award presented to him by Wayne County Commissioner Diane Webb.DEARBORN — Samer Jaafar, the deputy director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) at Wayne County, said he is honored and humbled for the opportunity to work with new Wayne County Executive Warren...
Bob Bashara sentenced to life in prison
January 16th, 20150 DETROIT — Bob Bashara. was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for the murder of his wife, Jane. Bashara was sentenced by Judge Vonda Evans after making statements in court denying his guilt and vowing to appeal his conviction. Bashara was found guilty of five different charges on Dec. 18. They include: homicide-murder...U.S. appeals court hears case on NYC police surveillance of Muslims
PHILADELPHIA — Civil rights groups asked a panel of federal judges on Tuesday to overturn a lower court's ruling that there was nothing harmful in New York City police conducting surveillance on Muslims in neighboring New Jersey without suspicion of a crime. The hearing came days after the deadly attacks in Paris by Islamist gunmen,...Obama seeks enhanced cybersecurity following Twitter hack
WASHINGTON — President Obama sent a bill to Congress on Tuesday to strengthen U.S. cybersecurity laws to protect government, businesses and consumers while protecting privacy, after recent hacking attacks against Sony Picture, Home Depot Inc, Target Corp and on Monday the federal government itself on Twitter. "We've got to stay...White House to curb methane emissions from oil, gas production
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s administration unveiled rules on Wednesday to slash methane emissions from oil and gas production by up to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025, its latest move to solidify the Democratic president's credentials on climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior proposed...On Black-Palestinian solidarity: Can we dream together?
Activist Steven Pargett and rapper Tef Poe in Dheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem.This week, a delegation of African-American activists returned from a 10-day trip to Palestine. Black organizers, artists, and journalists from organizations including the Florida-based Dream Defenders, Chicago’s Black Youth Project, and Ferguson’s...The Saudi hypocrisy
Then President George W. Bush and then Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud walk amid the blue bonnets of Crawford, TX in 2005.On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Saudi Arabia denounced the attacks on the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo as a "cowardly terrorist act." Two days later, the kingdom flogged liberal blogger...Lebanese army thwarts series of terrorist plots
A bombing targeted a cafe in a predominantly Alawite neighbourhood in Lebanon's second city, Jan 10.BEIRUT — The Lebanese army foiled a series terror plots Thursday, announcing the arrest of a cell planning a number of suicide attacks in the country and dismantling a car packed with explosives in northeastern Lebanon. Interior...Iraq asks for greater U.S. support in fighting extremists
Iraqi fighters prepare to fire a weapon during fighting with IS militants at Al-Nibai, north of Baghdad Jan. 12.BAGHDAD — Iraq told President Obama's envoy that the U.S.-led coalition battling "Islamic State" needs to do more to help Iraq defeat the jihadists controlling large areas of the north and west of the country. Parliament...Egypt’s high court overturns last conviction against Mubarak
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak waves to his supporters inside a cage in a courtroom at the police academy in Cairo April 13, 2013.CAIRO — Egypt's high court on Tuesday overturned the only remaining conviction against former president Hosni Mubarak, opening the way for his possible release four years after the revolution that......
Are All Terrorists Muslims? It’s Not Even Close
What percentage of terror attacks in the United States and Europe are committed by Muslims? Guess. Nope. Guess again. And again...“Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.” How many times have you heard that one? Sure, we heard Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade say it, but to me, that was simply part of the Fox...Pope Francis on Charlie Hebdo: There are limits to free speech
Pope Francis waves to Filipino Catholics as his motorcade passes by in Manila on Jan. 15.MANILA — Pope Francis on Thursday condemned killing in God's name but warned religion could not be insulted, weighing into a global debate on free speech ahead of a rapturous welcome in the Philippines. The pontiff made the comments to reporters......
Russia advises Syrian opposition leaders to attend Moscow talks
MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday Syrian opposition representatives would risk losing influence in peace efforts if they do not attend planned talks in Moscow. The refusal of prominent opposition figures to attend the Jan. 26-29 meeting, intended to bring together representatives of President Bashar...
Nasrallah threatens Israel over Syria Strikes
January 16th, 20150 Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.BEIRUT — Lebanon's Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Thursday that Israeli strikes inside Syria were also an aggression against Syria's regional allies, and they have the right to retaliate. "The frequent attacks on different sites in Syria is a major breach," Nasrallah told...How did Yemen become the perfect home to al-Qaeda training camps?
SANAA — Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris last week. Nasr al-Ansi, a top commander with the group, made the claim in a video on its Twitter account. According to Yemeni intelligence, both Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi, the two brothers who carried out the...
ICA distributes gifts to the needy in celebration of prophet Mohammed’s birthday
January 16th, 20150 DEARBORN — On Saturday, Jan. 10 hundreds gathered at the Islamic Center of America (ICA) in Dearborn in celebration of the prophet Mohammed’s birthday. To commemorate that event, attendees wrapped gifts for needy children. Charitable giving is one of the pillars of Islam and this event was one of several held around metro......
Third Detroit man to stand trial for killing French street artist
January 16th, 20150 DETROIT — A judge ruled on Tuesday that a third Detroit man accused in the killing of a 23-year-old French street artist will stand trial for his 2013 shooting death, prosecutors said. Following a hearing, Drequone Rich, 20, was bound over for trial in Wayne County Circuit Court. Last week, Judge Michael Wagner ruled that his...Teen dies one day after meeting Eminem
ROCHESTER HILLS — Gage Garmo, a 17-year-old Chaldean Rochester High School senior who battled cancer, died on Monday, just one day after meeting hip hop superstar Eminem. The Rochester Hills based charity The Rainbow Connection arranged the meeting between the terminally ill teen and the rapper. According to the charity, Eminem,......
Judge: Michigan must recognize marriages of 300 same-sex couples
DETROIT — Michigan must recognize the legal marriages of about 300 same-sex couples who were wed in the state in a one-day period last year after a federal court struck down a ban on gay marriage and before the decision was put on hold by a U.S. appeals court, a judge ruled Thursday, Jan. 14. The same-sex couples who married in...Charges against ‘Santa Claus’ shooter will not be dropped
DETROIT — On Thursday, a judge said the criminal charges filed against Marcus Weldon, the 26-year-old “Santa Claus” shooter who injured two Arab American men at a Detroit gas station Dec. 21, will not be dropped and the case will go to trial. “We are happy with the judge’s decision and so relieved,” Yemeni American......