The Arab American News
Author's Posts
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,......
Iraqi refugee removed from plane sues Southwest Airlines
February 14th, 20180 LOS ANGELES, CA — Southwest Airlines Co. was sued on Tuesday by an American citizen who came to the United States as an Iraqi refugee and said he was removed from a California flight after another passenger became unnerved upon hearing him speak in Arabic. Khairuldeen Makhzoomi said he is seeking compensatory and punitive...
Damascus warns Israel of ‘more surprises’ in Syria
February 13th, 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...
Israeli police recommend bribery charges against Netanyahu
February 13th, 20180 TEL AVIV - Israeli police on Tuesday recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery, opening the way for what could be the biggest challenge yet to the right-wing leader’s political survival. Against the backdrop of Israeli flags in a televised speech at his residence, a somber Netanyahu called the allegations...
Denmark plans to ban face veil
February 13th, 20180 COPENHAGEN — Denmark’s government said last Tuesday it planned to fine people who covered their face in public, putting it in line to join France and others restricting the burqa and the niqab, worn by some Muslim women. The center-right government, which is backed by the nationalist Danish People’s Party, said it would bring in......
Ahed Tamimi’s trail begins in Israeli court
February 13th, 20180 JERUSALEM — The teenage girl who became a hero to Palestinians after she was filmed slapping and kicking an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank appeared in an Israeli military court on Tuesday for the start of her trial. Ahed Tamimi, 17, has drawn international attention following her arrest after the Dec. 15 confrontation...
Saudi Arabia building world’s tallest tower
February 9th, 20180 JEDDAH — Construction of the world's tallest skyscraper in Jeddah is going ahead, the head of the consortium behind the $1.5 billion project said, despite the detention of some businessmen backing the plan in Saudi Arabia's crackdown on corruption. His comments were a sign that the government is trying to prevent the purge from......
Washington: No U.S. contribution to Iraq in upcoming reconstruction conference
February 9th, 20180 WASHINGTON — The United States does not plan to contribute any money at a conference in Kuwait next week to fund Iraq's reconstruction drive after the war against ISIS militants, U.S. and Western officials said, a move critics say could deal a new blow to American standing internationally. "We are not planning to announce anything,"...
U.S. envoy visits Lebanon and Israel amid tensions over border wall, energy
February 9th, 20180 BEIRUT — A U.S. envoy has assured Lebanon that Israel does not seek an escalation between the countries following a surge in hostile rhetoric, Lebanese and Israeli officials said on Thursday. Lebanon and Israel have exchanged threats and condemnation over a border wall being built by Israel, a tender issued by Beirut for oil and gas......
