The Arab American News
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Lebanon President Aoun urges forgiveness, stability after protests
January 30th, 20180 BEIRUT ― Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for forgiveness and stability on Tuesday after a political row involving his son-in-law triggered street protests and deepened a rift with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Berri supporters set tires ablaze and blocked roads on Monday in protest against comments by Aoun’s son-in-law,...
Protests erupt in response to Bassil’s slur of Berri, Aoun urges forgiveness and stability
January 30th, 20180 BEIRUT - President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called for forgiveness and stability in Lebanon after a political row involving his son-in-law triggered street protests and deepened a rift with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Gebran Bassil called Nabih Berri “a thug” in a video that went viral on social media in Lebanon. Berri...
New Lebanese ambassador to Washington takes office
January 26th, 20181 WASHINGTON, DC — On Wednesday, former Bloomfield Hills, Mich. resident Gabriel Issa presented his Letter of Credence to President Trump in the Oval Office, accrediting him as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Lebanon to the United States of America.
Abadi: Iraq’s reconstruction may cost $100 billion
January 26th, 20180 DAVOS, Switzerland — Iraq called on Thursday for foreign investors to help it rebuild after defeating ISIS and making progress in reuniting the country, saying it would need up to $100 billion to fix crumbling infrastructure and war-torn cities. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said help was needed with dozens of projects, as Iraq...
Syrians talk peace in Vienna prior to Russian meeting
January 26th, 20180 VIENNA — U.N.-brokered peace talks with the Syrian government and the opposition began on Thursday, a few days before separate negotiations hosted by Damascus's close ally Russia that the West views with suspicion. "The meeting was good," the head of the Syrian government delegation, Bashar al-Ja'afari, told Reuters as he left the...
Arab Americans help Doctors Without Borders deal with the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh
January 26th, 20180 By Farah Harb BANGLADESH — In light of the Rohingya refugee crisis where hundreds of thousands of refugees fearing religious prosecution in Myanmar fled to Bangladesh, the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) arrived in Bangladesh at the beginning of the current crisis to aide refugees living in conditions that...
Frustrated Palestinians snub Pence, tell Trump Jerusalem is not for sale
January 26th, 20180 DAVOS, Switzerland — President Trump threatened on Thursday to withhold aid to the Palestinians if they did not pursue peace with Israel, saying they had snubbed the United States by not meeting Vice President Mike Pence during a recent visit to the region. Arab Israeli parliamentarians protest Pence speech Earlier, Palestinian...
Without UNRWA I wouldn’t be alive today
January 26th, 20180 By Mohamed Mohamed It is regrettable that the most basic human needs of millions of Palestinian refugees are now being used as a weapon in the Trump administration's political assault on Palestinians. On January 16, the administration decided to withhold $65 million of a planned $125 million in U.S. funding for the United Nations...
L’Oreal does not celebrate diversity
January 26th, 20180 By Ruqaya Izzidien British beauty blogger Amena Khan announced that she has pulled out of L'Oreal's latest haircare campaign, after a series of tweets in which she criticized Israel in 2014 re-surfaced. In a statement, Khan explained that she withdrew from the campaign - a move that L'Oreal said it agrees with - because the...
How alcohol damages stem cell DNA and increases cancer risk
January 26th, 20181 LONDON — Drinking alcohol produces a harmful chemical in the body, which can lead to permanent genetic damage in the DNA of stem cells, increasing the risk of cancer developing, according to research published on Wednesday. Working with mice in a laboratory, British scientists used chromosome analysis and DNA sequencing to examine...
Syrians with temporary U.S. protection brace for Trump decision
January 26th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Targeted by the Syrian government after providing humanitarian supplies to civilians fleeing air strikes, Mohammad Alala and his wife escaped in 2012, eventually obtaining student visas to enter the United States. They received a form of temporary protected status (TPS) extended to Syrians in the United States...
Trump rolls out plan for path to citizenship for 1.8 million ‘Dreamers’
January 26th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump is ready to sign on to a plan that would open a path to citizenship for as many as 1.8 million "Dreamers," young immigrants brought illegally to the country as children, senior White House officials said on Thursday. The White House presented the offer as a major concession aimed at attracting...
Obituary: Joseph Haiek, who documented the history and achievements of Arab Americans, dead at 85
January 26th, 20180 LOS ANGELES — Joseph R. Haiek, 85, a well known Arab American historian and journalist who spent his life documenting the achievements of our community in this country, died on Thursday, Jan. 25, according to his family. "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our father, Joseph Rizek Haiek, this morning, January 25,...
Acclaimed theater company searching for Arab Americans with Dearborn stories
January 26th, 20180 DEARBORN — Ping Chong + Company, an internationally acclaimed theater company known for bringing unheard voices to the stage, is partnering with the Arab American National Museum to present Undesirable Elements/Dearborn, an interview-based theater production for the AANM's Global Fridays series. The production is now accepting...
U.S. drops to eighth place on ‘best countries’ list
January 26th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. has dropped to eighth place in U.S. News and World Report's "Best Countries" ranking. This is the second straight year that the U.S. has dropped in the rankings. In 2017, the U.S. came in seventh place. Switzerland came in at the top spot for the second year in a row. U.S. News said the drop can be......
Dearborn’s longtime associate broker Sam Baydoun announces run for Wayne County Commission seat
January 26th, 20180 DEARBORN — Dearborn Real Estate associate broker and businessman Sam Baydoun announced that he will seek the Wayne County Commission seat being vacated by Chairman Gary Woronchak, who has opted against seeking another term on the county's governing board and will instead run for an open seat in the State Senate. Woronchak represents...
Yemeni American family decries police cruelty: They threw us out in the cold like animals
January 26th, 20180 By Farah Harb HAMTRAMCK — Members of a Hamtramck family claim the police treated them pitilessly during a traffic stop on Jan. 3 in which the father was pulled over for an expired tag and ticketed for having no insurance. Nasser Almasmari had his pregnant wife, 10-year old son and 2-year-old and 11-month-old daughters with him when......
Michigan State University president resigns over gymnasts abuse case
January 24th, 20180 LANSING — The president of Michigan State University said on Wednesday she is tendering her resignation after facing a barrage of criticism for not doing enough to stop the abuse by a doctor who worked at the school and was convicted of molesting gymnasts. “As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable. As president, it is...
Dearborn’s longtime associate broker Sam Baydoun announces run for Wayne County Commissioner seat
January 24th, 20181 DEARBORN, Mich. – Dearborn Real Estate associate broker and businessman Sam Baydoun announced today that he will seek the Wayne County Commission seat being vacated by Chairman Gary Woronchak, who has opted to against seeking another term on the county's governing board and will instead run for an open seat in the State Senate....
Amena Khan loses her L’Oreal gig after 2014 tweet calling Israel a “child killers” unearthed
January 24th, 20180 LONDON - Just days into her role, a British Muslim model has quit a major beauty brand's campaign after right-wing media outlets published her tweets from 2014, in which she criticized Israel's war in Gaza. Amena Khan, who runs the Pearl Daisy fashion blog, became L'Oreal's only hijab-wearing model to front its haircare campaign,...
Ex-USA Gymnastics doctor sentenced to 175 years for sexual abuse
January 24th, 20180 LANSING — Disgraced long-time USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced on Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison for molesting young female gymnasts, following days of wrenching testimony from about 160 of his victims, including Olympic medalists. “I’ve just signed your death warrant,” Ingham County Circuit......
While the opioid crisis looms Neurontin prescriptions rise
January 19th, 20180 ATHENS, OHIO — Prescriptions for nerve pain medications like Neurontin and Lyrica have more than tripled in recent years, according to a recent U.S. study. The study suggests the rise is driven by chronically ill older adults already taking opioids. "Nearly one in 25 adults takes a gabapentinoid during a year, which matters because...
Stress in schools could be reduced with a partnership between doctors and teachers
January 19th, 20180 CHICAGO — A teacher turned doctor has made some suggestions about lowering stress levels in students. Dr. Kavitha Selvaraj of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago suggested giving teachers a professional support network, strategies to de-escalate charged situations and ways to manage behavior in children with......
The presidency
January 19th, 20180 By Lee H. Hamilton Because we live in such tumultuous political times, it's easy to believe that today's intense public focus on the Trump presidency is something new — an obsession like none we've ever seen before. Yet to one degree or another, the president has always been at the center of the public's attention. This is...
In words and deeds: The genesis of Israeli violence
January 19th, 20181 By Ramzy Baroud Not a day passes without a prominent Israeli politician or intellectual making an outrageous statement against Palestinians. Many of these statements tend to garner little attention or evoke rightly deserved outrage. Just recently, Israel's minister of agriculture, Uri Ariel, called for more death and injuries on......
