The Arab American News
Author's Posts
Harvard Law Review elects first Muslim president
February 8th, 20210 BOSTON — The Harvard Law Review has named a Los Angeles-born Egyptian American as what it believes is the first Muslim president in its 134-year history, elevating him to the top of one of the most prestigious U.S. law journals. Harvard Law School student Hassaan Shahawy said he hoped his election represented “legal academia’s...
Paul M. Abbate named FBI deputy director
February 6th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. – FBI Director Christopher Wray has named Paul M. Abbate as deputy director. As deputy, he oversees all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities. Abbate most recently served as the associate deputy director. Abbate joined the FBI as a special agent in 1996 and was assigned to the...
International Criminal Court rules it has jurisdiction over Palestinian Territories
February 5th, 20210 AMSTERDAM - The International Criminal Court ruled on Friday that it has jurisdiction over war crimes or atrocities committed in the Palestinian Territories, paving the way for a criminal investigation, despite Israeli objections. Judges said their decision was based on jurisdictional rules in the Hague-based court’s founding...
Biden ends U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen, says war “has to end”
February 4th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, President Biden declared a halt to U.S. support for a Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen, demanding that the more than six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, “has to end.” Biden also named veteran U.S. diplomat Timothy Lenderking as the U.S. special...
‘He invited us’: Accused Capitol rioters blame Trump in novel legal defense
February 2nd, 20210 Emanuel Jackson, a 20-year-old Washington area man, was caught on video using a metal bat to strike the protective shields wielded by police officers as they tried to fend off rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Jackson, awaiting trial in federal court on assault charges, is now adopting a novel legal defense: Seeking to pin...
Moderate U.S. Republican senators urge Biden to compromise on COVID-19 plan
January 31st, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Sunday, a group of 10 moderate Republican U.S. senators urged Democratic President Biden to reconsider his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, saying they wanted a meeting to discuss a compromise that they said could win swift bipartisan support. In a letter to Biden, Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski...
U.N. chief to foreign forces: ‘Leave the Libyans alone’
January 30th, 20210 NEW YORK — On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for thousands of foreign fighters and mercenaries to immediately leave Libya, with Guterres demanding that they “leave the Libyans alone.” Libya has been divided since 2014 between the internationally recognized Government of National...
Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine is 66 percent effective globally
January 29th, 20210 Johnson & Johnson said its single-dose vaccine was 72 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in the U.S., but a lower rate of 66 percent was observed globally in the large trial conducted across three continents and against multiple variants. In the trial of nearly 44,000 volunteers, the level of protection against moderate and...
In locked-down Lebanon, protester killed in night of unrest
January 28th, 20210 TRIPOLI — A man was killed in the Lebanese city of Tripoli on Thursday in clashes between security forces and protesters angry over a strict lockdown that has cut off livelihoods in a collapsing economy. Omar Taybah, 30, was hit by a bullet overnight, according to a local hospital that treated him, a security source and...
Trump impeachment trial put off until early February
January 23rd, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The leaders of the U.S. Senate agreed on Friday to push back former President Trump’s impeachment trial by two weeks, giving the chamber more time to focus on President Biden’s legislative agenda and Cabinet nominees before turning to the contentious showdown over Trump. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,...
First big suicide attack in Baghdad in three years kills at least 32
January 21st, 20210 BAGHDAD — ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in a crowded Baghdad market on Thursday, killing at least 32 people in Iraq’s first big suicide bombing in three years, authorities said, describing it as a possible sign of the reactivation of ISIS. ISIS claimed early on Friday that two of its men blew themselves up in Tayaran...
Democrats take narrow control of U.S. Senate as three new members sworn in
January 20th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats took control of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday when Vice President Kamala Harris swore in three new members to give the party a narrow grip on both houses of Congress as well as the White House for the first time in a decade. Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Alex Padilla of...
Lebanon’s COVID-19 spike overwhelms battered hospitals and exhausted doctors
January 18th, 20210 BEIRUT — COVID-19 patients wait on pavements outside hospitals in Beirut, where emergency rooms are packed and intensive care beds full. Inside, exhausted healthcare workers are succumbing themselves — doctors at one hospital, asking not to be named, said around 40 percent of staff were sick or in isolation. Countries...
Dearborn native Robert Saleh hired by Jets, becomes NFL’s first Muslim head coach
January 15th, 20211 DEARBORN — The New York Jets hired San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to be their new head coach, making him the first Muslim to run an NFL sideline, the team announced Thursday night. "We've reached an agreement in principle with Robert Saleh to become our head coach," the Jets said in a statement. Saleh has...
Top U.N. officials urge U.S. to revoke blacklisting of Yemen’s Houthis, warn of famine
January 14th, 20210 NEW YORK — On Thursday, three top United Nations officials all called on the United States to revoke its decision to designate Yemen’s Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, warning it would push the country into a large-scale famine and chill peace efforts. U.N. Yemen mediator Martin Griffiths, U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock and......
International year in review: Palestinians betrayed, calamity in Beirut, crisis in Yemen
January 14th, 20210 The following is a year in review for the top international news that we covered in 2020. Palestinians betrayed, calamity in Beirut, crisis in Yemen. Protests in Lebanon over deepening economic crisis Authorities in some of the most populous areas of Lebanon cracked down on mass protest by Lebanese expressing their frustration...
As House deliberates, Senate Republicans mull starting Trump impeachment trial Friday
January 13th, 20210 WASHINGTON D.C. — As the U.S. House of Representatives moved on Wednesday toward a vote on impeaching President Trump, Republican leaders in the Senate weighed whether to launch a trial on Friday on whether to remove him from office, a source familiar with the deliberations said, though no final decision was reached. With only a......
Feds release millions of vaccine doses to Michigan, other states
January 12th, 20210 LANSING - Millions of previously held-up doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine have been released to Michigan and other states. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that they will grant a request from Governor Whitmer and eight other governors and release the millions of doses of the safe,...
In Trump’s final days, Netanyahu orders more settler homes built
January 11th, 20210 JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered construction plans advanced on Monday for some 800 Jewish settler homes in the occupied West Bank, anchoring the projects in the final days of the pro-settlement Trump administration. Palestinians condemned such construction as illegal. The timing of the move appeared to be...
House Dems will pursue second impeachment of Trump, Reuters source
January 8th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Democrats are planning to introduce articles of impeachment against outgoing President Trump on Monday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency. The move comes after a violent crowd of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. One woman was shot by Capitol Police that day as she tried...
50 percent of vaccines held back by Trump administration for unknown reason
January 7th, 20210 LANSING — Governor Whitmer has joined several other state governors to call on the federal government to release millions of COVID-19 vaccines held back by the Trump administration for unknown reasons. Whitmer joined Gavin Newsom (CA), Laura Kelly (KS), J.B. Pritzker (IL), Tim Walz (MN), Andrew Cuomo (NY), Tony Evers (WI) and Jay......
Guns and tear gas in U.S. Capitol as Trump supporters attempt to overturn his loss
January 6th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Police in the U.S. Capitol responded with drawn guns and tear gas on Wednesday as swarms of protesters stormed in and sought to force Congress to undo President Trump’s election loss shortly after some of Trump’s fellow Republicans launched a last-ditch effort to throw out the results. Police evacuated the...
Michigan to begin vaccinating people over age 65, preK-12 teachers, essential workers
January 6th, 20210 LANSING — Governor Whitmer and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) officials announced that the state is moving to a new phase of vaccination on Monday, Jan. 11. The MDHHS is moving forward with vaccination of Michiganders age 65 and older and some frontline essential workers, including preK-12 teachers and......
Tight elections unfolding in Georgia with Biden’s agenda, Senate control at stake
January 5th, 20210 ATLANTA — Early vote totals suggested close contests were unfolding in two U.S. Senate races in Georgia that will decide which party controls the chamber and the possible fate of Democratic President-elect Biden’s legislative agenda. Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler faced Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff, a...
Lebanon orders three-week lockdown to fight virus spread
January 4th, 20210 BEIRUT - Lebanon announced a full lockdown for three weeks, including a night curfew, to stem a rise in COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals in a country already facing financial meltdown. Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan said the lockdown would start on Thursday and run until Feb. 1, with further details on......
