The Arab American News
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Syria pro-government enters Afrin to aid Kurds against Turkey
February 20th, 20180 ANKARA/BEIRUT - Pro-Syrian government forces entered Syria’s northwestern Afrin region on Tuesday to help a Kurdish militia there fend off a Turkish assault, raising the prospect of a wider escalation of the conflict. Soon after the convoy of militia fighters - waving Syrian flags and brandishing weapons - entered Afrin, Syrian...
Yemeni American teacher alleging she was fired because of hijab sues Melvindale schools
February 20th, 20181 MELVINDALE, Mich. — WXYZ Channel 7 reports that a fifth grade teacher could have been forced out because she wears a hijab. A lawsuit was filed last week against Melvindale/Northern Allen Park School District. Amirah Mosed, the teacher, alleges she was mistreated while working at Allendale Elementary School, saying she was...
Donor meeting on Lebanon economy set for April 6 in Paris
February 20th, 20180 BEIRUT — A major donor meeting aimed at gathering support for Lebanon’s economy will take place on April 6 in Paris, a Lebanese government source said on Tuesday. The Cedre conference, also known as Paris IV, will be one of three international meetings due this year at which Lebanon will seek support for its economy and army, and...
Egyptian firm to buy $15 billion of Israeli natural gas
February 20th, 20180 TEL AVIV - An Egyptian company will buy $15 billion of Israeli natural gas in two 10-year agreements announced on Monday, a major deal that Israel hopes will strengthen diplomatic ties. The partners in Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan offshore gas fields said they would supply the private Egyptian firm Dolphinus Holdings with around 64...
Students plan rallies, Washington march, to demand stronger gun laws after mass shooting
February 19th, 20180 PARKLAND, Fla. - Stunned by the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, students mobilized across the country on Sunday to organize rallies and a national march in support of stronger gun laws, challenging politicians they say have failed to protect them. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a former student...
Driver of van slated to be in Trump motorcade detained for having gun
February 19th, 20180 PALM BEACH, Fla. — The driver of a van carrying journalists covering President Trump was detained on Monday after Secret Service officials found a gun in his bag during a security sweep before the vehicle was to drive onto the president’s Florida property. The Secret Service said no one had been put in danger. The male driver told...
U.N. Security Council mulls Saudi praise for Yemen aid pledge
February 16th, 20180 UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council is considering a British proposal to praise Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for pledging nearly $1 billion to ease Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, even as U.N. experts accuse a Saudi-led military coalition of using “the threat of starvation as an instrument of war” in...
‘Qoudud’ returns to war-torn Aleppo
February 16th, 20180 ALEPPO, Syria — Traditional musicians in Syria's Aleppo say their art is flourishing again 13 months after fighting in the city ended, as new students learn the techniques of "Qoudud" singing. At the National Choral Institute in Aleppo, singing coach Ahmed Kedah said he has between 30 and 50 pupils, including both school children...
U.N.: Bombs will litter Mosul for years
February 16th, 20180 GENEVA — The Iraqi city of Mosul will remain sprinkled with unexploded bombs for a decade, endangering a million or more civilians who want to return home following the end of three years of ISIS occupation, a U.N. demining expert said. Pehr Lodhammar, a senior program manager at the U.N. Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said the...
Lebanon rejects Tillerson’s border proposal, characterization of Hezbollah
February 16th, 20180 BEIRUT — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Lebanon on Thursday that Hezbollah's growing arsenal and involvement in regional conflicts threatened Lebanon's security. Speaking alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in a Beirut news conference, Tillerson also said the United States was engaging with Lebanon and Israel...
Damascus warns Israel of ‘more surprises’ in Syria
February 16th, 20180 DAMASCUS — Israel will face "more surprises" should it again attack Syrian territory, Damascus said on Tuesday, after Syria's air defenses shot down an advanced Israeli warplane during the fiercest flare-up between the old foes in 36 years. The F-16 jet was hit over northern Israel on Saturday as it returned from a raid on a Syrian...
Poll: More Israelis believe bribery charges against Netanyahu, but want him to stay
February 16th, 20180 TEL AVIV — Almost half of Israel's electorate believe the Israeli police, who say they have gathered evidence against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for him to be charged with bribery, a poll showed on Wednesday. A police statement on Tuesday said enough evidence had been found for the 68-year-old Israeli...
America mourns, prays and does nothing to address gun violence
February 16th, 20180 The thunderous hail of bullets is always followed by the silence of a nation that cannot bring itself to do anything besides offer ineffective hopes and prayers. Once again, a place for education and advancement has become a scene of horror and fear in America. It is unacceptable that any American should have to endure the terror and...
White House rejects bipartisan Senate immigration plan
February 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, the White House rejected a bipartisan Senate proposal to protect young "Dreamer" immigrants and tighten border security, saying it would weaken enforcement of current law and produce a flood of illegal immigration. Ahead of expected Senate votes, the White House said advisers would recommend that...
Federal Appeals Court: Trump travel ban unlawfully discriminates against Muslims
February 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON — President Trump's travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating on the basis of religion, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday in another legal setback for the policy. The Richmond, Virginia-based Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on a 9-4 vote,......
Dozens of refugee resettlement offices to close as Trump downsizes program
February 16th, 20180 NEW YORK — Refugee resettlement agencies are preparing to shutter more than 20 offices across the United States and cut back operations in more than 40 others after the State Department told them to pare their operations, according to plans seen by Reuters. The slated closures, which are being reviewed by the State Department for...
FBI warned about accused Florida gunman who took part in White nationalist militia
February 16th, 20180 PARKLAND, FL — The Federal Bureau of Investigation was warned last year about an ominous online comment by the 19-year-old man accused of killing 17 people at his former high school but was unable to locate him, an agent said on Thursday. Authorities said the ex-student, identified as Nikolas Cruz, walked into the Marjory Stoneman......
Trump budget seeks cuts to domestic programs, Medicare, favors military and wall
February 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump proposed a budget on Monday that calls for cuts in domestic spending and social programs such as Medicare and seeks a sharp increase in military spending and funding for a wall on the Mexican border. While running for president in 2016, Trump pledged to leave popular benefit programs such as...
Asian Americans and the food justice movement in Metro Detroit—adding complexity, making connections
February 16th, 20180 By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang MI Asian "Before it was even called urban gardening, my parents kept a garden in the backyard ever since I was a kid," said Shane Bernardo, a life-long Detroit resident and a consultant, facilitator and speaker actively involved in food justice. "So I learned at a very early age how strongly my family...
Religious leaders question the Pew Research Center’s report on Muslim Americans leaving their faith
February 16th, 20181 By Farah Harb WASHINGTON D.C. — The Pew Research Center issued a report in January stating there are as many Muslims leaving Islam as there are Muslims converting to it, leading two of Dearborn's Muslim leaders to question the report's validity. The Pew Research Center stated in its report that 23 percent of adults who were...
Republican gubernatorial candidates lack in diversity, but loyal to party policies
February 16th, 20180 Bringing back jobs, improving the economy, education, immigration and infrastructure are some of the most prominent issues on Michigan voters' minds this upcoming election season. The pool of Democratic gubernatorial candidates is distinctly diverse – a Muslim Arab American, an Indian American, an African American and a......
Oklahoma man found guilty of hate crime in neighbor’s death
February 16th, 20180 TULSA, OK — An Oklahoma man who harassed and attacked members of a Lebanese family living next door was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder, a hate crime and other charges in connection with the 2016 slaying of Khalid Jabara. In addition to murder, Stanley Vernon Majors, 63, was found guilty of malicious intimidation or...
Federal Appeals Court: Trump travel ban unlawfully discriminates against Muslims
February 15th, 20180 WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating on the basis of religion, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday in another legal setback for the policy. The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on a 9-4......
Tillerson says Hezbollah role is a threat to Lebanon
February 15th, 20180 BEIRUT — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday warned Lebanon over the Iran-backed Hezbollah group’s growing arsenal and said the movement’s involvement in regional conflicts threatened Lebanon’s security. Speaking alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in a Beirut news conference, Tillerson also said the...
Several dead at Florida high school after ex-student opens fire
February 14th, 20180 PARKLAND, Fla. — A former student at a Florida high school opened fire in the school on Wednesday, causing 16 fatalities and wounding 20 people before he was arrested by police, authorities said. The attack took place shortly before dismissal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 45 miles north of Miami,......
