Israeli company’s malware used to hack dissidents, activists across 10 countries
April 14th, 20230 An Israeli firm's hacking tools have been used against journalists, opposition figures and advocacy organizations across at least 10 countries — including people in North America and Europe — according to new research published Tuesday by Microsoft Corp and the Internet watchdog Citizen Lab. Citizen Lab said in its report that it...
Biden says he plans on running in 2024
April 14th, 20230 On Monday, President Biden said he plans on running for reelection in 2024, but he’s not yet ready to make an official announcement. Biden spoke with NBC’s Al Roker for a “Today” show segment on the White House Easter egg roll. Roker asked the president if he had plans to host more of the events in the future, a nod to his...
Classified docs leak: Who should go to prison
April 13th, 20230 by Thomas L. Knapp As I write this, Politico reports that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has made an arrest in the matter of “classified” government documents found circulating on social media after allegedly being posted on an Internet game chat server over a period of weeks or months. The New York Times reports that...
President Biden issues a proclamation declaring April 2023 Arab American Heritage Month
April 8th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, March 31, President Biden issued the following proclamation declaring April 2023 as the Arab American Heritage month: "The Arab American story is the American story — one of diverse backgrounds and faiths, vibrant tradition, bold innovation, hard work, commitment to community and stalwart patriotism,...
U.S. citizen gets 20 years for joining ISIS
April 8th, 20230 MIAMI — A U.S. citizen who moved his family to Syria to join the ISIS terrorist group has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Emraan Ali, 55, a U.S. citizen born in Trinidad and Tobago, was sentenced Tuesday in Miami federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to provide material...
Chicago-based organization launches campaign to educate the community about Ramadan
April 8th, 20230 CHICAGO — GainPeace, in partnership with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) and the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) proudly announces the launch of a four-week joint campaign aimed at educating the broader community about the significance of Ramadan and promoting humanitarian...
Robert Kennedy Jr. to make 2024 Democratic presidential bid
April 8th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a lawyer and vaccine skeptic, will make a bid for the White House in 2024, becoming the second long-shot Democratic candidate to challenge President Biden in his expected run for re-election. Kennedy, 69, the son of assassinated 1968 presidential candidate U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, filed...
Poll: Americans divided over criminal charges against Trump
April 8th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The prosecution of former President Trump has evenly divided Americans, but appears to have boosted his chances of winning the Republican nomination for the 2024 election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday. The poll was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, following Tuesday's indictment of...
U.S sanctions Lebanese brothers who sold “compromised fuel”
April 8th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned two Lebanese brothers accused of selling “dangerously compromised fuel” to Lebanon’s state utility company. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control blocked Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme from accessing U.S. bank accounts and the larger U.S....
U.S. blocks Security Council statement condemning Israeli raids on the Al Aqsa Mosque
April 8th, 20230 NEW YORK – On Thursday, the U.S. blocked the adoption of a U.N. Security Council press statement condemning recent Israeli police raids on the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, diplomats said. A U.N. official told The National that there was initial widespread agreement among the 15 council members to issue a statement following Israel's...
Lying about lying: Why we must revisit the definition of “fake news”
April 4th, 20230 The phrase “fake news” continues to be deployed routinely in U.S. politics. In a polarized political atmosphere, both Republicans and Democrats distrust media organizations affiliated with opposing parties. This means that most of what is uttered or written by CNN is “fake news” for Republicans, and much of what appears in...
Senate votes to repeal Iraq War approval many see now as mistake
March 31st, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the resolution that gave a green light for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a bipartisan effort to return a basic war power to Congress 20 years after an authorization many now view as a mistake. Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands, and nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were...
Georgetown opens first-of-its-kind mosque on a U.S. college campus
March 31st, 20230 Every day, Tabshir Forkan walks to Georgetown’s masjid, or mosque, on campus for its daily prayer services. He steps into the sunlit, open worship space to pray. Afterward, he often finds himself in the masjid’s community space, attending spiritual discussions and dinners, studying, meeting with friends. “It’s a space I...
Walmart faces second lawsuit this week over treatment of workers
March 31st, 20230 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Walmart Inc. on Thursday, the agency's second lawsuit in one week accusing the largest U.S. retailer of discrimination against workers with disabilities. The EEOC said Walmart illegally demoted Calvin Hagan for missing too much work at a Raleigh, North Carolina store because...
Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury on criminal charges
March 31st, 20230 NEW YORK — Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury after a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, becoming the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges even as he makes another run for the White House, a law enforcement source said on Thursday. The charges, arising from an investigation......
Syrian air defenses shoot down Israeli missiles over Damascus
March 31st, 20230 DAMASCUS — At least three huge explosions were heard in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Friday, according to a Reuters' report. The Syrian air defenses confronted an "Israeli aggression" over Damascus, Syrian state media reported, without providing details if there were any casualties or damages. Israel conducted air strikes...
No regrets from the Iraqi who threw his shoes at Bush
March 28th, 20230 BAGHDAD — Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi gained fame for hurling his shoes at President George W. Bush in a news conference to show his anger at the corruption and chaos that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He is still furious. "The same people who entered 20 years ago with the occupier are still ruling despite......
Reassessing the U.S. invasion of Iraq 20 years later: “A big strategic error”
March 23rd, 20230 From an empowered Iran and eroded U.S. influence to the cost of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria to combat ISIS fighters, the United States still contends with the consequences of invading Iraq 20 years ago, current and former officials say. Then-President George W. Bush's 2003 decision to oust Saddam Hussein by force, the way...
UIC report examines experiences, racial justice for Chicagoland’s Arab Americans
March 12th, 20230 According to U.S. Census data, more than 100,000 Arab Americans reside in the Chicago metropolitan area, representing about 90 percent of all Arab Americans in Illinois. Many scholars and community leaders contend this is an undercount due to Arab Americans not having a racial category of their own on the Census. They note that this not...
Dingell, colleagues introduce legislation to make home care coverage mandatory under Medicaid
March 12th, 20230 WASHINGTON – On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D- Ann Arbor), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman Ed.D. (D-NY) introduced the HCBS Access Act to make HCBS a mandatory benefit within Medicaid and ensure eligible older adults and people with disabilities have the option to choose between home care and institutional...
House hawks kill bipartisan effort to end the war in Syria
March 12th, 20230 Ahead of a vote on his resolution to force congressional oversight on the continuation of U.S. military operations in Syria, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was feeling bullish. “Hope springs eternal,” he told The Intercept when asked whether the measure would pass. The resolution was ultimately voted down on Wednesday night, March 8, with 47......
Bill requiring Arab Americans be counted in state data progresses to Illinois House vote
March 11th, 20230 CHICAGO – On Wednesday, a bill that would ensure those who identify themselves as Middle Eastern or North African are counted in state data progressed in the Illinois House of Representatives. The legislation, House Bill 3768, passed the State Government Administration Committee. It will go to the House floor for a vote, and then...
Biden’s $6.8 trillion budget challenges Republicans, raises taxes on rich
March 10th, 20230 PHILADELPHIA – On Thursday, President Biden unveiled plans for government spending and higher taxes on the wealthy, choosing the swing state of Pennsylvania to reveal his playbook for an expected 2024 re-election bid. Speaking at a Philadelphia union hall, the Democratic president challenged his Republican opposition on fiscal......
U.S. rights groups call on the Biden administration to ban Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country
March 10th, 20230 Several advocacy and rights groups throughout the United States are calling for the U.S. government to issue an entry ban on Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, after Smotrich called for Huwwara to be “wiped out” earlier this week. Through multiple statements, several groups, including rabbinical groups and...
Syria condemns U.S. top general’s “illegal” visit to American army base
March 10th, 20230 Syria’s foreign ministry has condemned a surprise visit by the United States’ top military officer to an army base in the Kurdish-held northeast, dubbing it “illegal,” state media reported. In his snap visit last Saturday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley met U.S. troops stationed in areas of war-torn Syria......
