World

Lebanon’s interior minister says it foiled three planned suicide attacks

February 23rd, 20220 BEIRUT — Lebanese security forces have foiled plans by militants linked to ISIS to carry out three suicide attacks in Beirut's southern suburbs, the interior minister said on Wednesday. The plans for the attacks involved rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire as well as suicide vests rigged with explosives that would have killed...

How a Saudi woman’s iPhone revealed hacking around the world

February 18th, 20220 A single activist helped turn the tide against NSO Group, one of the world’s most sophisticated spyware companies now facing a cascade of legal action and scrutiny in Washington over damaging new allegations that its software was used to hack government officials and dissidents around the world. It all started with a software glitch...

What Turkey’s rapprochement to Israel means for the Palestinian State

February 14th, 20220 By Mina Mohammadi This March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan plans to meet with Israeli President Issac Herzog in Ankara for the first time in 13 years. While the meetings are set to discuss strategic gas imports to Israel, they also sit upon long standing moral tensions of Turkey’s support for the Palestinian...

Key U.S.-Canada bridge reopens as Ottawa protest persists

February 14th, 20220 WINDSOR — The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing was open Monday after protesters demonstrating against COVID-19 measures blocked it for nearly a week, but a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa, persisted as city residents seethed over authorities’ inability to reclaim the streets. Demonstrations against virus restrictions and...

Our immigrant nation is a big tent for everyone

February 9th, 20220 By Joseph Richard Preville On August 4, 1963, The New York Times Magazine published President Kennedy’s majestic essay, “A Nation of Immigrants.” Rejecting geographically narrow and restrictive immigration quotas based on national origin for the U.S., Kennedy urged reform and the adoption of a new immigration policy that would...

News from Yemen: Fighting eases in Marib, Biden speaks with Saudi king

February 8th, 20220 ADEN — The Saudi-led coalition deployed newly formed units near Yemen's Marib, where battles abated over the last week, according to military and government sources, as the warring sides hold their positions in the fight for energy-rich areas that has led to the war's biggest escalation in years. Last month the Houthi movement...

Tips to prevent frozen pipes

February 4th, 20220 By Rabih Hamawi The pervasive deep freeze that has blanketed more than half of the U.S. is causing a lot of problems for property owners. As the water in pipes freezes, as much as 2,000 pounds of pressure is produced, seriously testing the tensile strength of water lines. With a burst pipe’s ability to release hundreds of gallons...

ISIS leader Quraishi kills himself during Syria raid, U.S. says

February 3rd, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The leader of ISIS died when he blew himself and family members up during a U.S. military raid in Syria, President Biden said on Thursday, dealing a blow to the jihadist group's efforts to reorganize as a guerrilla force after losing large swathes of territory. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi had led ISIS...

Preparing students for a career in tech

February 1st, 20220 By Michael Mitchell Software has become an essential part of our everyday lives. From smartphones to washing machines, computer applications are here to stay and we must prepare the next generation to be adept in tech. With the tech business booming, many students are looking to get a head start on their careers in the field....

Addressing the stigma surrounding mental health and illness in the Arab community

January 30th, 20221 — Sara Nasser is a licensed clinical/community mental health counselor and art therapist. It appears the only time we ever really hear about mental health issues in our community is when something unfortunate has happened. So, naturally, the subject becomes a topic of fear to some. Oftentimes, mental illness is hard to recognize or...

Lebanon’s Hariri suspends role in politics, will not run in parliamentary election

January 24th, 20220 BEIRUT - In a bombshell announcement, Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri said on Monday he was suspending his role in political life and would not run in a forthcoming parliamentary election. The news comes as the country is tackling a dire financial crisis that has seen the country depend into social and...

Grow a few vegetables indoors this winter

January 19th, 20220 - Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was...

Here’s how to get free COVID-19 tests shipped directly to your Michigan home

January 18th, 20220 LANSING —  Governor Whitmer is urging residents to take advantage of the federal government’s free COVID-19 testing program. At-home, rapid COVID-19 tests are available for free at COVIDTests.gov, with every household eligible for four free tests that will be shipped directly to Michiganders’ homes. Deliveries of the tests...

Palestinian American man, 80, found dead after being held in Israeli raid

January 13th, 20220 OCCUPIED West Bank — An 80-year-old Palestinian American man was found dead after being detained and handcuffed during an Israeli raid on an occupied West Bank village, Palestinian officials and relatives said on Wednesday. The U.S. State Department said that Omar Abdalmajeed As'ad was a U.S. citizen and that it had sought...

New books by American Muslims: Muslims have stories to tell; are Americans ready to listen?

January 11th, 20220 — This article was contributed by Joseph Richard Preville to The Arab American News. It has been edited for style. Al Qaeda’s terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001 was horrific, but what came next was far worse. The U.S. responded by unleashing a 20-year campaign of surveillance and harassment against its own Muslim...

A year on, the ideological insurrection against our democracy continues

January 8th, 20220 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com When I told my parents that I was going to run for governor of Michigan, I could see through the windows of their eyes the emotions battling in their minds....

U.S. FDA authorizes Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster for 12- to 15-year-olds

January 4th, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  authorized the use of a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 15, and narrowed the interval for booster shot eligibility to five months from six. The agency also authorized a third shot for children aged 5- through...

U.N. shrinks Yemen food rations in “desperate measures”

December 24th, 20210 YEMEN — The World Food Program (WFP) said on Wednesday it will reduce food rations for 8 million people in Yemen from January due to a lack of funding from donors, warning the cuts will push more people into starvation. Families on reduced handouts will receive barely half of the WFP's daily minimum ration. Other food assistance...

Public school athletic programs – they’re more than “just sports”

December 22nd, 20210 — This article was contributed by Brian Anderson, Hamtramck Public Schools’ athletic director. It has been edited for style. For many students, school sports are much more than an after-school activity. Athletics provide a way for kids to interact with their peers, exert energy and be a part of a team working towards a common...

State health authorities ask people to get vaccinated, boosted and start out the new year on the right track

December 17th, 20210 LANSING — The state health authorities are asking residents to start the new year of on the right track as the state continues to go through a surge in cases, and with a new COVID-19 variant in the mix. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recommend people get their booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine....

Facebook says Israeli and other spy firms targeted 50,000 people

December 17th, 20210 Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. is calling out half a dozen private surveillance companies for hacking or other abuses, accusing them in a report published Thursday of collectively targeting about 50,000 people across its platforms. The company's fight with the spy firms comes amid a wider move by American tech companies, U.S....

Pfizer says COVID-19 pill near 90 percent effective in final analysis

December 14th, 20210 On Tuesday, Pfizer Inc. said final analysis of its antiviral COVID-19 pill still showed near 90 percent efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Last month the U.S. drugmaker...

Lebanon’s public sector falls further into chaos and corruption

December 10th, 20210 DEKWANEH — After waiting in line for hours to register his car at a vehicle licensing agency in a suburb north of Beirut, Amine Gemayel’s patience is running thin. He has already visited the branch in Dekwaneh several times for what should be a simple procedure, without success. The only way to get his paperwork done any...

Beirut blast probe judge cleared to continue investigation

December 7th, 20210 BEIRUT — The probe into last year's deadly Beirut port blast has been cleared to resume after being suspended for more than a month on legal claims against its lead investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, a judicial source said. A Beirut court rejected the last of the suits preventing Bitar from questioning top officials on...

U.S. State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware

December 4th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Apple iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to four people familiar with the matter. The hacks, which took place in the last several months, hit U.S. officials either based in Uganda...

U.N. urged to restore scrutiny of war crimes in Yemen

December 3rd, 20210 GENEVA – Activist groups called on the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday to create a new panel of independent experts to collect and preserve evidence of possible war crimes by all sides in Yemen's bitter conflict for future prosecution. Bahrain, Russia and other members of the U.N. Human Rights Council pushed through a vote in...