Confident Assad launches new term in stronger position
A still image taken from the inauguration video of Syria's president Bashar Al Assad who was sworn in, on July 16.DAMASCUS — Bashar al-Assad was sworn in for a new term as Syria's president on Wednesday, July 16, after a June 3 election, which his opponents dismiss as a sham but which he said proved he had achieved victory after a...Report: Child marriages on the rise among Syrian refugees in Jordan
AMMAN — The number of child marriages has doubled among Syrian refugee girls in Jordan because of poverty and fear of sexual violence, international agencies said on Wednesday, July 16.Save the Children, in a report, "Too Young to Wed," said children marrying in Syria before the country's conflict erupted in 2011 accounted for 13...UAE to join space race
ABU DHABI — Oil-rich United Arab Emirates announced Wednesday it will create a space agency with the aim of sending the first Arab unmanned probe to Mars by 2021."The UAE has entered the space race with a project to send an unmanned probe to Mars by 2021 in the Arab world's first mission to another planet," said an Emirati government...Seven Egyptian men sentenced to life for sexual assaults, harassment in Egypt
CAIRO — Seven Egyptian men were jailed for life on Wednesday for attacking and sexually harassing women during rallies and celebrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square.The sentences were the longest since the president vowed to crack down on sexual assaults in June and the government criminalized sexual harassment, amid widespread criticism...
Lebanese PM focused on keeping Lebanon neutral in regional turmoil
July 18th, 20140 BEIRUT — In an interview with The Arab American News, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam affirmed his opposition to the policies of disabling the government, which are being employed by some components in his cabinet. Salam was designated by the Lebanese Parliament as a consensus prime minister last year. After more than nine...Kuwait threatens to revoke citizenship in crackdown on opposition
KUWAIT CITY — The Kuwaiti government has threatened to revoke the citizenship of people suspected of trying to "undermine the stability" of the oil-rich monarchy, local media reported on Tuesday, July 15.The warning is part of an "iron fist" policy adopted by the cabinet on Monday night, following protests earlier this month over the...Assassination, airport shelling deepen Libya’s chaos
TRIPOLI — Several shells hit the terminal of Libya's main airport on Thursday, July 17, as rival militias fought in Tripoli for a fifth day, and gunmen assassinated a female politician in the east.In another sign of growing turmoil, air controllers halted work in Tripoli, shutting off much of the oil-producing country from...At least 14 Tunisian troops killed in mountain attack
TUNIS — At least 14 Tunisian soldiers were killed on Wednesday, July 16, when gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades attacked two checkpoints in the remote Chaambi mountains, the deadliest militant strike on the north African country's armed forces.Since April, thousands of Tunisian soldiers have been deployed to the Chaambi range...Epic fail: Israel’s ambassador to US lambasted on Twitter during #AskDermer Q&A
Ron Dermer, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, received fierce backlash on Thursday, July 17, as he defended his country’s Operation Protective Edge offensive on Gaza during a Twitter Q&A.According to the latest Pew Research polling on the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, Americans still heavily lean...
Candidate Warren Evans looks to restore faith in county government
July 11th, 20140 Evans.DEARBORN — Warren Evans believes it’s time for a change in governance.Evans, 65, is a lifelong Detroiter who has built an impressive resume in law enforcement over the years. He has served as an assistant Wayne County prosecutor, Detroit police chief and as Wayne County sheriff. In 2009, he ran for mayor of Detroit. "I've...
Hamas rockets hit deep, Isreal intensifies attacks
July 11th, 20140 Palestinians carry the bodies of members of the Kaware family that hospital officials killed in an Israeli air strike on their house, during their funeral in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 9. GAZA...Syrian government forces squeeze insurgents in Aleppo
DAMASCUS — Syrian armed forces have taken strategic ground around Aleppo this week, residents and state media said on Wednesday, July 9, squeezing the main rebel supply line into the city after months of battlefield gains by Damascus.The government advance, after close to two years of stalemate, was bolstered by fighters from...Egypt’s Sisi: extremists threaten the world
Sisi.CAIRO — Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned world powers on Monday that Islamist militants are ravaging the Middle East and pose a threat to everyone's security."Be alert to what is happening in the region ... This region is being destroyed right now and we should not let this happen," Sisi said in a televised...Houthi rebels capture major city in northern Yemen
SANAA — Houthi fighters captured one of the main cities in northern Yemen on Tuesday, June 8, a local official and residents said, after fighting that has killed at least 200 people.The fall of Omran represents a major blow to the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has been trying to stabilise the U.S.-allied country...UAE arrests Qatari “spies”
DUBAI — Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have arrested Qatari "spies," an Emirati daily reported on Wednesday in a new sign of mounting tensions between Doha and its Gulf neighbors.The report in Al-Khaleej newspaper, which cited Emirati sources, was in response to a report in Qatar's Al-Arab daily that three Qataris had been......
Iraq tells U.N. that ‘terrorist groups’ seized nuclear materials
BAGHDAD — Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country's north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad."Nearly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul...Bahrain expels U.S. official, questions opposition chief
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Tom Malinowski (C) meeting with Bahrain's Al-Wefaq opposition group leader Ali Salman (L). MANAMA — On Wednesday, July 9, Bahraini police questioned the head of the largest opposition group, who was summoned after a meeting with a U.S. official later declared......
AAPAC to host Wayne County executive candidate forum on Tuesday, July 8
July 4th, 20140 Wayne County executive candidates - Election 2014 - PrimaryDEARBORN—The Arab American Political Action Committee will host a Wayne County executive candidates forum, Tuesday, July 8 at 6 p.m. at the Lebanese American Heritage Club, 4337 Maple St. The forum is an opportunity for business and community leaders, residents and...ISIS’s appeal to young Muslims
An Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) loyalist waves an ISIS flag in Raqqa on June 29. As Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), declares himself the caliph of a new Islamic state larger in size than Great Britain, people in Baghdad wait for a fresh assault on the capital by his fighters,...
Settlers torture, murder Palestinian boy in revenge attack after the killing of three Israeli youths
July 4th, 20140 Suha, mother of Mohammed Abu Khudair, shows a picture of her son on her mobile phone at their home in Shuafat, an Arab suburb of Jerusalem July 2. REUTERS/Ammar Awad RAMALLAH — A 17-year-old Palestinian boy from East Jerusalem was abducted and killed early Wednesday, July 2, in a suspected act of revenge for the killing of three...Iraqi Kurdish president asks parliament to prepare for independence vote
Iraq's Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani votes at a polling station during voting for Iraqi parliamentary election in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, north of Baghdad April 30, 2014.BAGHDAD — The president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region asked its parliament on Thursday, July 3, to plan a referendum on Kurdish......
Saudi Arabia deploys 30,000 soldiers to border with Iraq
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia deployed 30,000 soldiers to its border with Iraq after Iraqi soldiers abandoned the area, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said on Thursday, July 3. Baghdad denied the Saudi claim and said the frontier remained under its full control.The world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia shares an 800-km (500-mile) border...Four Tunisian soldiers killed in landmine blast
TUNIS— Four Tunisian soldiers were killed in a landmine blast during an operation against Islamist militants in the north of the country, TAP state news agency reported on Wednesday, July 2.Tunisian troops are battling militants from the hardline Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia and other al-Qaeda-linked fighters, especially since......
Fresh gains and new enemies for Islamic State in Syria
DAMASCUS — Islamic State militants have taken control of most of eastern Syria as they build on the momentum of their advance through northern provinces of neighboring Iraq.The jihadist group, which claims authority over Muslims worldwide, has seized weapons from arms depots in Syria and Iraq, money from bank vaults in cities it has...Coffee shop attacked in Lebanon for not closing during Ramadan
BEIRUT —A café open for customers during the day of the fasting month of Ramadan in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli was attacked by unknown gunmen with a grenade, wounding four people and causing material damages to the café.Two unidentified men on a motorcycle threw the bomb at Makiya café whose owner insists on opening his......