The Arab American News
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Lebanese media: Major parties agree on ex-minister Safadi as prime minister
November 17th, 20190 BEIRUT — Three major Lebanese parties have agreed on nominating Mohammad Safadi, a former finance minister, to become prime minister of a new government, the Lebanese broadcasters LBCI and MTV reported on Thursday. The agreement was reached in a meeting on Thursday between outgoing Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, Lebanon’s leading...
Dearborn Heights Police Chief Dan Voltattorni to retire Nov. 21
November 14th, 20190 DEARBORN HEIGHTS —Police Chief Dan Voltattorni will be retiring later this month after a year on the job. While his tenure as chief was brief, he has been with the Police Department for more than 32 years. Voltattorni began his career as a police cadet and then became a patrolman. In 2013 he became a captain and in 2017 he was...
Governor Whitmer appoints Alyia Marie Hakim to the 39th District Court
November 14th, 20190 LANSING — On Thursday, Gov. Whitmer appointed Alyia Marie Hakim to the 39th District Court. Hakim is a partner with Hakim & Hakim, PLLC. She is also of counsel at Aloia & Associates, PC. Before she began her private practice, which specializes in criminal defense, estate planning, juvenile law and family law, she worked...
Iraqi forces kill 10 protesters in Baghdad and Basra
November 8th, 20191 BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces shot dead at least six anti-government protesters in Baghdad on Thursday and killed four others as they broke up a sit-in in the southern city of Basra, police and medical sources said. Scores more were wounded in the clashes as weeks of deadly violence in Iraq over protests against an entrenched...
No sign of new cabinet as Lebanese leaders meet, bank curbs continue
November 8th, 20190 BEIRUT — Lebanon's outgoing Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri met President Michel Aoun on Thursday without announcing progress towards forming a new government, and banking sources said most financial transfers out of the country remained blocked. Already facing the worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war, Lebanon has been...
Haley Stevens should focus on serving her constituents in Michigan, not Israel
November 8th, 20191 This week, four members of the United States House of Representatives sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General expressing their "concern about the continuing, serious violations of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and the resulting threat our ally Israel faces on its northern border." Resolution 1701 led to...
Calls for new and efficient government in Lebanon after Hariri’s resignation, as crisis deepens
October 29th, 20190 BEIRUT — Saad al-Hariri resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister on Tuesday, declaring he had hit a “dead end” in trying to resolve a crisis unleashed by huge protests against the ruling elite and plunging the country deeper into turmoil. His resignation points to rising political tensions that may complicate the formation of a...
Facebook sues Israeli surveillance group over alleged WhatsApp hack
October 29th, 20190 SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook Inc on Tuesday sued Israeli cyber surveillance firm NSO Group, alleging it hacked users of its messaging platform WhatsApp earlier this year, according to a report by Reuters. The hacking spree targeted journalists, diplomats, human rights activists, political dissidents, senior government officials and...
Iraqis defying bloody crackdown, continue protesting against government corruption and dire living conditions
October 27th, 20190 BAGHDAD - Thousands of Iraqi protesters stood fast in Baghdad’s central Tahrir Square on Sunday, defying a bloody crackdown that killed scores over the weekend and an overnight raid by security forces seeking to disperse them. Young men had erected barricades on a bridge leading to the capital’s fortified Green Zone against...
Former U.S. Congressman John Conyers dies at age 90.
October 27th, 20190 DETROIT - John Conyers, a Democrat who was the longest-serving African American member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving for more than half a century, died on Sunday at the age of 90. Conyers joined the House in 1965 and stepped down in 2017, after his reputation was sullied by sexual harassment accusations. The...
Iraqi forces fire at protesters in Baghdad after prime minister pledges vague reform
October 6th, 20190 BAGHDAD — Iraqi police shot at a small group of protesters in Baghdad on Friday after three deadly days of anti-government unrest, and Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said no “magic solution” was available, pledging vague reform unlikely to placate Iraqis. At least 27 people have been killed so far in violent demonstrations that...
Travelers rank Detroit Metropolitan as the best mega airport in America
October 3rd, 20190 DETROIT - Airline passengers ranked Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport as the best mega airport in North America, according to a new study from J.D. Power. The Motor City’s airport emerged as the winner among mega airports, scoring 786 out of 1,000 points, followed by Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport/Wold (779)...
Air Canada made a 12-year-old remove her hijab
September 29th, 20190 San Francisco - Fatima Abdelrahman was boarding an Air Canada flight wearing her hijab when an airline agent stopped her. He asked the then-12-year-old to remove her headscarf. She said no. He said she had to. It was Fatima's first time flying without her family. She made sure to stick with her U.S. Squash Junior National...
Iran’s president rejects nuclear talks before sanctions are lifted
September 29th, 20190 NEW YORK/U.N. — Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has ruled out negotiations on its nuclear program with the United States so long as sanctions remained in place and said he was not interested in a “memento photo” with President Trump. “I would like to announce that our response to any negotiation under sanctions is...
Social Security is not trying to take your benefits
September 23rd, 20190 By Jim Kreidler We’ve seen a new twist on the Social Security Administration (SSA) scam recently. Check out this SSA imposter robocall, which says your benefits will end (That’s not true, by the way.). If you get a call like this, do not press 1. Instead, just hang up and remember: Your Social Security number is not......
Israeli parties vie for Arab vote in bid to oust Netanyahu
September 13th, 20190 TIRA - Challengers to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in next Tuesday’s election have courted Israel’s Arab voters, hoping that a strong turnout from this unlikely source could tip the scales in their favor. The centrist Blue and White party headed by former armed forces chief Benny Gantz has plastered Arab towns with...
Israeli TV host calls Arabs ‘savages’ on air, apologizes later
September 13th, 20191 TEL AVIV — A veteran Israeli television personality apologized on Tuesday for saying on the air that “Arabs are savages.” Yaron London, 79, had made the remarks a day earlier during his show “London and Geula” on Channel 11, the Kan public broadcaster. They came during a discussion of the HBO series “Our Boys”, centering......
Syrian army makes new gains as Russia brings reinforcements
August 31st, 20190 BEIRUT — Russia and its Syrian army ally stepped up aerial raids on northwest Syria as they sent reinforcements from elite army units and Iranian-backed militias to bolster a major offensive against the last big rebel stronghold, opposition sources and residents said on Friday. The Russian-led alliance took the town of Khwain,...
UAE carries out air strikes against Yemen’s government forces to support separatists
August 31st, 20190 ADEN – The United Arab Emirates carried out air strikes against government forces in South Yemen on Thursday in support of southern separatists who have deployed reinforcements to take back control of the port of Aden from their supposed allies in the Saudi-led coalition. The UAE, the second foreign power in the coalition, said it...
Metropark investigation concludes police officer’s comment to Arab American man ‘not racist,’ but ‘unnecessary’
August 31st, 20190 BROWNSTOWN, MI — A police officer has been found in violation of department policies for not being “courteous” or “exemplary” following a verbal argument with an Arab American man at Lake Erie Metropolitan Park in Brownstown Township on Sunday, June 30. The Lake Erie Metropark officer was accused of making a discriminatory...
Hezbollah says it will hit back at Israel as Lebanese army fires at Israeli drones
August 31st, 20190 BEIRUT — Hezbollah said it would respond with a “surprise” strike against Israel after drones crashed in Lebanon at the weekend, but it also said a new full-out war between the longtime adversaries remains unlikely. Adding to the growing tension between Israel and Iran-backed groups in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, the Lebanese army......
Gas station owners agree to cultural sensitivity training after shooting incidents
August 31st, 20190 DETROIT — A group of Detroit activists recently shut down a gas station where a bystander was shot by a clerk, forcing its owners to undergo cultural sensitivity training and make other improvements, the Detroit Free Press writes. The Shell gas station on West Warren near the Southfield Freeway was closed last month for five days of...
CBP detained a Palestinian Harvard student, searched his phone and revoked his visa
August 27th, 20190 BOSTON, MA. - Harvard is reportedly in negotiations with immigration officials this week after an incoming Palestinian student who had arrived in Boston to begin his freshman year had his visa revoked and was ordered to leave the country, according to a report published in Boston Magazine. Also, the Harvard Crimson reports that......
Lebanese defiant after drone strikes
August 26th, 20190 BEIRUT - Lebanese farmers and residents of Beirut suburbs hit by drones at the weekend vowed on Monday to stand their ground in the event of any Israeli attack, amid heightened tensions between the Hezbollah group and Israel. Two drones crashed on Sunday in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which are dominated by the the Shia, prompting...
In first-of-its-kind study, university researchers highlight hookah health hazards
August 26th, 20190 IRVINE, CA – Hookah waterpipe use has grown in popularity in recent years – 1 in 5 college students in the U.S. and Europe have tried it – but the practice could be more dangerous than other forms of smoking, according to a first-of-its-kind study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, published recently in Aerosol......
