The Arab American News
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Now what happens to the $892 billion COVID aid bill? Here are three options
December 25th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump’s surprise opposition to emergency coronavirus aid and annual government funding passed by Congress has left Americans and global financial markets wondering whether Washington will iron out its differences or descend into chaos in the coming days. Trump has not yet said whether he will veto the...
Over 37,000 healthcare workers immunized against COVID in Michigan
December 23rd, 20200 LANSING — More than 37,000 frontline healthcare workers have now received a COVID-19 vaccination shot in the state, the state’s health department announced on Wednesday. The immunizations of healthcare workers is a common strategy across the U.S., as the first doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, and later Moderna's...
Defying Congress, Trump vetoes defense bill and threatens government shutdown
December 23rd, 20200 WASHINGTON D.C. — President Trump vetoed a bipartisan defense policy bill on Wednesday and raised the prospect that the United States could face a government shutdown during a pandemic, stirring new turmoil in Washington as he headed to Florida for Christmas. Angry at his fellow Republicans in Congress, Trump sought to refashion...
Man shot during robbery at Fairlane Mall
December 21st, 20200 DEARBORN — A popular Dearborn mall became the scene of holiday violence on Monday. The Dearborn Police Department said that at around 5:50 p.m., a man was shot after an attempted robbery outside of the Fairlane Town Center. The shooting was non-fatal and the victim was transported to an area hospital where he is currently listed...
Sanders called $600 COVID payments “totally inadequate”
December 21st, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Congress prepares to vote on a COVID-19 relief package late Monday, which includes direct payments to Americans struggling with the dire economic consequences of a pandemic that has killed more than 315,000 and infected more than 17.5 million. After months of stalemates on negotiations on an urgently...
Lebanon’s airline warns of new ticket challenge facing dollar account holders
December 20th, 20200 BEIRUT — The head of Lebanon’s airline said on Sunday the carrier would at some point need to demand payment for tickets bought in Lebanon using “fresh dollars”, or recently transferred currency that is not subject to restrictions imposed since a financial crisis. Middle East Airlines (MEA) Chairman Mohamad El-Hout did not...
U.S. authorizes Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, elderly next in line for shots
December 19th, 20200 On Friday, Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccine became the second to receive emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), welcome news to a nation with a staggering COVID-19 death toll of more than 307,000 lives lost. Millions of doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to be added to the U.S....
COVID-19 vaccines arrive at Michigan hospitals, Wayne County
December 18th, 20200 MICHIGAN — The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived at various Michigan hospitals this week, as immunization began in hard-hit epicenters of the pandemic in places like Wayne County. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun joined several frontline health care workers at...
As pandemic rages across the U.S., Congress scrambles to reach relief deal
December 18th, 20200 WASHINGTON D.C. — As the coronavirus pandemic roared to new record highs across the U.S., it lit a fire in the U.S. Congress, where Republicans and Democrats were scrambling to pass a new round of aid after months of partisan finger-pointing and inaction. Even as they contemplated passing a third stopgap measure to give them a few...
Sky Lounge wins case against Dearborn Heights, hookah ordinance now void
December 18th, 20200 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Sky Lounge, which owns hookah lounges in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, has won a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn Heights regarding an attempted ordinance to cap the number of such businesses in the city. Originally a Dearborn business, Sky Lounge broke ground on a second location in Dearborn Heights...
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon dies of COVID-19
December 17th, 20200 DETROIT — Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon has lost his battle with COVID-19. He was 65. Napoleon had been on a ventilator since late November. "He was a beloved, iconic and respected law enforcement official. He was progressive and he was old school," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. "He was tough and he had a heart of...
Grand jury indicts six men for Michigan governor kidnap plot
December 17th, 20200 LANSING – Six men facing charges of plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer were indicted by a grand jury this week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan said. The men — Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta — were arrested and charged in October with conspiring...
Two ex-ministers snub judge after being charged over Beirut blast
December 16th, 20200 BEIRUT — Two former Lebanese ministers charged with negligence over a huge explosion at Beirut port in August that killed 200 people snubbed a judge on Wednesday by not turning up for questioning. Judge Fadi Sawan charged three former ministers and the caretaker prime minister last week, sparking fierce debate about whether he had...
After 60 years, East Jerusalem Palestinians face eviction under Israeli settler rulings
December 15th, 20200 JERUSALEM — For Nabil al-Kurd, being forced out of the East Jerusalem home he has lived in since the 1950s would be a fate worse than death. But the 76-year-old and his wife and children are among dozens of Palestinians under threat of eviction from two districts of the disputed city, after an Israeli court ruled their properties are...
Michigan begins historic COVID-19 vaccinations
December 14th, 20200 MICHIGAN — Frontline health care workers at two Michigan hospitals today were the first people to receive the new COVID-19 vaccines. Marc McClelland, pulmonary and critical care physician, 46, of Ada, was among the first people to receive the vaccine in the state, at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital. “To me this is a day of......
U.S. Supreme Court swiftly ends Trump-backed Texas bid to upend election results
December 11th, 20200 WASHINGTON D.C. — On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a long-shot lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by President Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states, dealing him a crushing setback in his quest to undo his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden. The justices in a brief order said Texas did not have...
U.K. warns people with serious allergies to avoid Pfizer vaccine after two adverse reactions
December 9th, 20200 LONDON — Britain’s medicine regulator has advised that people with a history of significant allergies do not get the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine after two people reported severe adverse reactions on the first day of rollout. Starting with the elderly and frontline workers, Britain began mass vaccinating its population on......
Iran says “smart satellite-controlled machine gun” killed top nuclear scientist
December 8th, 20200 TEHRAN — The killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist last month was carried out remotely with artificial intelligence and a machine gun equipped with a “satellite-controlled smart system”, Tasnim news agency quoted a senior commander as saying. Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen...
U.S. Congress confronts COVID-19 aid hurdles as funding deadline looms
December 7th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan effort in Congress to deliver a long-awaited infusion of COVID-19 relief to U.S. families and businesses remained hung up on Monday due to differences over aid to state and local governments and business liability protections. A group of lawmakers from the Democratic-led House of Representatives and...
Benson and family get harassed at home by pro-Trump group
December 7th, 20200 WAYNE COUNTY — A group of protesters appeared outside Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's home on Saturday night to intimidate her and her family about Joe Biden's win in the Nov. 3 election in the state. The protesters gathered to shout typical pro-Trump election slogans like "Stop the Steal", as Benson and her family had...
U.S. government ordered to reinstate protections for “Dreamers”
December 5th, 20200 In a rebuke to President Trump’s administration on Friday, a judge ordered the U.S. government to reopen to first-time applicants a program that protects from deportation and grants work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who live in the United States unlawfully after arriving as children. The action by U.S. District Judge......
Hammoud leads bipartisan legislature group to suggest Robert Saleh for Lions head coach
December 4th, 20200 LANSING — State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) is leading a bipartisan group of 36 Michigan House legislators in releasing an open letter to the Detroit Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp, suggesting Robert Saleh, a Dearborn hero and 49ers defensive coordinator, for the team’s next head coach. “We are writing today to thank you...
MDHHS updates to 10-day quarantine period following CDC
December 4th, 20200 LANSING - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has updated guidance on COVID-19 quarantine periods to conform its standards to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The CDC now gives the options to reduce the required number of quarantine days for individuals with known......
Iran likely to hold off on retaliation over scientist’s killing, U.S. envoy says
December 4th, 20200 TEHRAN — Iran is unlikely to retaliate over the assassination of a prominent nuclear scientist before the inauguration of Joe Biden in case it jeopardizes any future sanctions relief, the top U.S. envoy on Iran told Reuters on Thursday. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who had little public profile in Iran, but had been named by Israel as a prime...
COVID’s second wave underscores the threats facing disabled Americans
December 1st, 20200 The second wave of COVID-19 has arrived with a vengeance. But there's hope on the horizon. Pfizer and Moderna just announced their experimental vaccines proved more than 90 percent effective in clinical trials. People in the highest risk categories — namely, healthcare workers and those with chronic illnesses and disabilities —......
