The Arab American News
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Data sharing among US law enforcement agencies is in ‘chaos’
New York - The sharing of intelligence among American law enforcement agencies in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is being conducted in a manner that resembles “organized chaos,” according to a new study published this week.New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice published their findings on Tuesday by...Romania bars citizens from working in Israeli settlements
Bucharest - A diplomatic spat has erupted between Israel and Romania after Bucharest reportedly refused to allow Romanian construction workers to be employed in Israel's illegal West Bank settlements, Israel's military radio said on Tuesday, Dec. 10.The row comes in the wake of tensions between Israel and the European Union over new...Deceiving the U.S. Public on Syria
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh has confirmed that President Barack Obama misled the American people over the Aug. 21 Syrian chemical attack by cherry-picking evidence about the Syrian government’s presumed guilt and excluding suspicions about the rebels’ capability to produce their own sarin gas.Hersh also reported that he...Texas enforces “Merry Christmas Law” in public schools
Texas — Texas lawmakers sent notices to schools on Monday, December 9, informing them that new legislation allows students and teachers to dress in festive garb and say "Merry Christmas" all they want without fear of punishment.The so-called "Merry Christmas Law" is backed by social conservatives who feel that seasonal religious...California man arrested for running ‘revenge porn’ website
San Diego - A California man was arrested on Tuesday on accusations he ran a "revenge porn" website, one that featured nude pictures of women often posted by jilted or angry ex-lovers.The San Diego arrest, the latest action by the state to crack down on such websites, comes after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a...South Carolina sheriff refuses to lower flag for Mandela
South Carolina - The U.S. flag flew high outside a sheriff's office in South Carolina on Monday, Dec. 9., in defiance of an order from President Barack Obama to lower all flags in memory of the late South African leader Nelson Mandela.Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said he believed the lowering of the flag to half-staff was a tribute...Mormon church explains defunct ban on blacks in priesthood
UTAH - Thirty-five years after lifting a ban on blacks entering the priesthood, the Mormon church has offered an explanation for a practice that was in place for more than 100 years, saying it was rooted in the racism of the times.A church-produced essay, "Race and the Priesthood," ties the ban to an 1852 speech by Brigham Young, the...Law corner: Michigan’s Lemon Law Only Applies in Some Circumstances
Many people are familiar with the concept of a car being a “lemon.” The phrase is commonly used to describe a vehicle that gives the owner difficulty from the very beginning. Michigan has a “Lemon Law” that affords buyers of defective vehicles rights. However, the Lemon Law does not apply every time someone buys...ADC-MI cancels upcoming gala scheduled for Dec. 13
The American Arab Anti Discrimination of Michigan canceled its upcoming gala that was scheduled to take place Friday, Dec. 13 where people planned to protest over the handling of the group's sexual harassment scandal.A statement issued by the organization’s new incoming director, Fatina Abdrabboh reads as follows: Dear ADC...Catch “Sound: The encounter”
Sound: The Encounter is the fruit of collaboration on several levels: between presenters from far and near, and between musicians from a once-shared culture.An adventuresome trio, Sound: The Encounter explores the ancient music from the Silk Route, while updating the shared culture of the region. The group features...
Nelson Mandela dies, world mourns loss of legend
December 6th, 20130 South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection, plunging his nation and the world into mourning for a man hailed by global leaders as a moral giant.Although Mandela had been frail and ailing for nearly a year, Zuma's announcement late on Thursday of the...Nasrallah blames Saudis for Iran embassy bombings
BEIRUT — Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday, Dec. 3, blamed Saudi Arabia for a twin suicide attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut that killed 25 people last month.The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an Al-Qaeda affiliate that claimed responsibility for the attacks, "has an emir and he is Saudi, and I am convinced that it is...Egyptian activists to stand trial over breach of new protest law
CAIRO — Egypt ordered on Thursday, Dec. 12, three prominent political activists to stand trial on protest-related charges, judicial officials said, in another sign of growing intolerance of dissent.One of them, leading dissident Ahmed Maher, was charged with protesting without permission, marking the first time anyone had been ordered...Kuwaiti court upholds law restricting freedom of speech
KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait's top court on Monday, Dec. 2, upheld as constitutional a disputed law under which people who "offend" the emir can be jailed for up to five years. The constitutional court rejected challenges by lawyers defending activists to demand the penal code provision be abolished for allegedly suppressing freedom of speech...String of execution-style killings raises fears in Iraq
BAGHDAD — In the past week, Iraqi police have found the bodies of at least 41 men who were either shot in the head or decapitated in a wave of killings in Baghdad and northern Iraq.The spate of execution-style killings in Iraq has rekindled memories of attacks carried out at the height of the country's sectarian bloodshed and raised......
Saudi women launch new drive to get behind wheel
RIYADH — Saudi women activists have re-launched a campaign for the right to drive in the ultra-conservative kingdom, urging women to get behind the wheel on Dec. 28.The call for action is a "reminder of the right so it is not forgotten," activist Nasima al-Sada said, adding that women nationwide are being urged to drive on the chosen...Tunisian rapper sentenced to four months in jail for insulting police
TUNIS — A Tunisian rapper who went on the run after receiving a 21-month jail sentence in absentia in August for songs deemed insulting to police was jailed for four months at a retrial Thursday, Dec. 5.Weld El 15, whose real name is Alaa Yacoubi, had surrendered to the authorities at the courthouse for the hearing. The court found......
Attack on Yemen’s Defense Ministry kills more than 50
SANAA — A car bomber and gunmen dressed in army uniforms attacked Yemen's Defense Ministry compound in the capital Sanaa on Thursday, Dec. 5, killing at least 52 people and injuring over 100, in the worst attacks in Yemen in 18 months.No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the country has been grappling with a security...Federal judge declares Detroit officially bankrupt: Cuts coming for Detroit creditors, pensioners
DETROIT — A federal judge on Tuesday, December 3, formally declared Detroit bankrupt, a landmark ruling that clears the way for potentially sweeping cuts to city worker pensions and retirement benefits and for steep and possibly precedent-setting losses to the cash-strapped city's bond holders. The ruling by U.S. Judge Steven Rhodes,...
Gaza returns to donkey days
December 6th, 20130 GAZA CITY - The garbage trucks of Gaza city are at a standstill due to an ongoing fuel shortage affecting all aspects of daily life, including garbage collection, sewage and waste disposal and other vital services. But the local donkeys are here to help.Abu Hesham on his donkey cart won’t be able to clear all the streets of garbage. In...Impossible dialogue
Chances are dim that elections will be held in Yemen next February. Yet without elections, the push for reforms and change that were inspired by the Yemeni revolution would become devoid of any real value. Yemenis might find themselves back on the street, repeating the original demands that echoed in the country’s many impoverished......
Miami suburb sued for ‘stop and frisk’ police tactics
Miami — The mayor and police department of a predominantly black Miami suburb have been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit over allegations of aggressive police tactics, including stop-and-frisk searches and arbitrary arrests, targeting African Americans. The 11 plaintiffs named in the lawsuit are led by Ali Amin Saleh, a Latin...Soldier found guilty for running a prostitution ring at military base
Fort Hood, Texas - A U.S. military court found a soldier guilty of taking part in a suspected prostitution ring at Fort Hood, Texas, one of the largest Army bases in the United States.The Fort Hood case was part of a spate of embarrassing sex-related incidents in the military this year that prompted Congress to look at ways to make top......
Obama’s Kenyan-born uncle gets green card despite DUI, resisting deportation
WASHINGTON - A U.S. immigration judge ruled on Tuesday that President Barack Obama's Kenyan-born uncle can stay in the United States as a lawful resident, despite his decades dodging deportation and a 2011 drunk-driving arrest.Judge Leonard Shapiro said his decision was based on a federal law granting green cards to foreigners who...Driver in fatal New York train crash says he ‘zoned out’
New York City —The driver of a New York commuter train that derailed on Sunday, December 1, killing four people, told federal investigators he "zoned out" shortly before the crash, the driver's labor union leader said.The seven-car train was traveling at 82 miles per hour (132 km per hour), nearly threeDriver in fatal New York train......
