Security of Dearborn’s Arab community discussed in Senate debate on drones
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) indicated the U.S. government could possibly exceed its authority against citizens, among them, Arab Americans in Dearborn. The issue emerged while Paul was on the Senate floor speaking in a filibuster to protest against granting the U.S. government authority to launch domestic drone strikes....Supreme Court refuses to let Americans challenge FISA eavesdropping law
WASHINGTON - The United States Supreme Court will not let Americans challenge a provision in a foreign intelligence law that lets the federal government secretly eavesdrop on the intimate communications of millions of Americans.On Tuesday, the top justices in the U.S. said the country’s highest court will not hear a case in which...Palestinian director walks the red carpet
After being held up at the airport last week, Oscar nominated Palestinian Director Emad Burnat and his family make it to the 2013 Academy Awards and walk the red carpet. Burnat, whose "Five Broken Cameras" was up for best documentary at the 85th anniversary of the awards said it was abnormal that he was kept waiting at LAX Airport for...Department of Defense reinstates security clearance of Muslim woman
DALLAS — Representatives from the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), a national civil liberties defense organization, is applauding administrators at the Department of Defense for reinstating the long-held security clearance of Linda Mahmoud, a hearing-impaired civil servant of Palestinian descent who had her clearance pulled because...Singer Janet Jackson marries Qatari billionaire Wissam Al Mana
In a statement released to Entertainment Today last month, singer Janet Jackson, one of America’s biggest superstars confirmed that she and Qatari billionaire Wissam Al Mana were officially married. The statement read: "The rumors regarding an extravagant wedding are simply not true. Last year we were married in a quiet, private,...Obama to threaten Iran with military strikein June, Israeli media reports
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says the United States could launch an attack on Iran as early as this June, Israeli media reports.According to a report on Israel’s Channel 10 News that has since been picked up by the Times of Israel, Pres. Obama will use an upcoming meeting overseas to discuss a military strike on Iran. Pres....U.S. finally passes stronger protections for women against abuse
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday ended more than a year of stonewalling a piece of legislation that for two decades has offered legal protections for women against sexual violence, harassment and abuse.The move will close gaps in related funding and safeguards that have opened since the legislation, known as the...Challenges for Obama on his upcoming Mideast visit
The peace process is unlikely to be revived with a presidential visit. Facing hardened attitudes in Israel and Palestine President Obama may have to assume a pastoral role.In the fourth week of March, Obama will visit Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel has announced the agenda for this event: discussions on...Drones over there, total surveillance over here
The big story buried in all the commentary about the U.S. government's drone policy is that the old algorithm of the liberal state no longer works. Focusing on drones is almost a distraction, if it weren't for the number of men, women and children they have killed in only a few years. What we should focus on is the deeper condition that...Sen. Graham says U.S. drones have killed nearly 5,000 people
WASHINGTON - For the first time ever, a senior U.S. senator has publicly announced the number of victims of America's ever expanding drone war — and apparently it's even bigger than some independent researchers have suggested. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) put a number on the United States’ growing tally of kills caused by...Palestinian Oscar nominee Burnat detained at L.A. airport
Oscar-nominated Palestinian director Emad Burnat lamented that U.S. border guards detained him and his family at the Los Angeles airport as they arrived for the awards show. Emad BurnatBurnat, whose "Five Broken Cameras" is up for best documentary at Sunday's 85th Academy Awards, said it was abnormal that he was held up at LAX for an...Despite right-wing opposition, Hagel looks set for confirmation
WASHINGTON - Despite an appeal Thursday by 15 right-wing Republican senators for President Barack Obama to withdraw the nomination of Chuck Hagel as his next defense secretary, the former Republican senator from Nebraska appears virtually certain to be confirmed as Pentagon chief by the full Senate next week.The fact that his arch-foes...Obama administration reveals deep divisions on Syria policy
WASHINGTON – Though President Barack Obama has been reticent to involve his administration too deeply in the Syrian uprising, recent revelations have shown near-unanimous agreement among the president’s top national security advisers for greater military intervention.A recent New York Times story uncovered a strategy by...Majority of U.S. citizens say illegal immigrants should be deported
WASHINGTON - More than half of U.S. citizens believe that most or all of the country's 11 million illegal immigrants should be deported, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday that highlights the difficulties facing lawmakers trying to reform the U.S. immigration system.The online survey shows resistance to easing...Obama focuses on energy, economy in key address
WASHINGTON - In a major annual address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama offered further details on a broad and ambitious range of policy priorities, taking advantage of perhaps his single most significant opportunity to guide the public conversation on his second-term agenda.Discussing some of the most potent debates currently......
Obama can’t ignore Bahrain’s two-year-old uprising
WASHINGTON — Despite the start of a government-inspired dialogue with the opposition Sunday, the Bahraini government continues to jail dissidents, arrest demonstrators, and use a rigged judicial system to convict them.Although the Al-Khalifa regime officially is not a party to the dialogue, Western governments welcomed the interior...U.S. Air Force veteran added to no-fly list after visiting sickly mom
A 10-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force is once again unable to return to his home after being mysteriously added to a federal no-fly list for a second time.Saadiq Long, an American Muslim born in the state of Oklahoma, is stranded near his hometown despite having purchased a plane ticket to return to Qatar, a small Arab nation where he......
U.S. government accused of spying on 9/11 attorneys
WASHINGTON - Detainees being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and their defense attorneys are accusing both the United States government and Gitmo guards alike this week of infringing on the inmates’ rights by conducting illegal surveillance.Only days after lawyers representing alleged terrorists accused the government...TSA nude scanners might be coming to federal buildings
The TSA is retiring 250 of their high-tech “backscatter” screening machines in the coming weeks, easing both healthcare and privacy woes from frequent travelers that don’t trust the devices. Are they really going away for good though?Backscatter makers Rapiscan and the Transportation Security Administration announced the ending of...Research suggests video games about terrorism could incite violence against Arabs
MICHIGAN-A recent study published in the January issue of Psychology of Violence showed that video games about terrorism can incite violence against Arab Americans, even when they don’t appear in the games. According to Muniba Saleem, a researcher from the University of Michigan, and the co-author of the study, the...
Civil liberties groups seek court order to stop NYPD from spying on Muslims
February 8th, 20130 NEW YORK — The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a motion in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday that aims to stop police in the Big Apple from continuing surveillance that specifically targets practicing Muslims.In court papers filed by the NYCLU, the civil liberties group asks a federal judge to grant an injunction “against ongoing......
Major U.S. newspapers admit to honoring CIA demands
As incoming CIA chief John Brennan prepares to answer questions from Congress, some of the biggest names in U.S. media are under attack for hiding a secret drone base that the Obama nominee helped build.Reports in the New York Times and Washington Post this week confirm that the United States Central Intelligence Agency, which Brennan...Report: Pentagon backed plan for U.S. to arm Syrian rebels
WASHINGTON - Pentagon leaders told Congress on Thursday that they had supported a recommendation to arm Syrian rebels promoted by the State Department and CIA but which was reportedly rebuffed by the White House.President Barack Obama's government has limited its support to non-lethal aid for the rebels who, despite receiving weapons......
UN inquiry says Israel must end settlements in West Bank
GENEVA — Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank violate international law, and the country must "immediately" withdraw all settlers from such areas, UN human rights investigators have said.Israel has not co-operated with the inquiry, set up by the Human Rights Council (HRC) last March to examine the impact of settlements in the...AT&T to invest $14 billion to significantly expand wireless and wireline broadband networks, support growing customer demand
NEW YORK — AT&T* recently announced plans to invest $14 billion over the next three years to significantly expand and enhance its wireless and wireline IP broadband networks to support growing customer demand for high-speed Internet access and new mobile, app and cloud services. The investment plan – Project Velocity IP (VIP) –......