Gas prices hit record highs in the U.S.
March 9th, 20220 Americans are now experiencing soaring gas prices, surging more than 30 percent since Russia invaded Ukraine and the U.S. and other countries imposed a raft of sanctions. The Biden administration has already begun looking at scenarios in which oil tops $200 a barrel, with gas stations already topping $4 a gallon in many...
U.S. to resume Iraqi refugee program after fraud investigation
March 6th, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. said on Tuesday it has reopened a refugee program for Iraqis that was placed on hold for more than a year during an investigation into fraud. Officials will resume processing applications that were suspended during the probe and accepting new petitions for resettlement as part of the Iraqi "Direct Access"...
Russia invades Ukraine in biggest attack on another state in Europe since WW2; U.S. imposes sanctions on Moscow
February 25th, 20220 News of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday shored up global anxieties over a conflict that has the potential to drag in regional powers and the U.S., marking the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two. The invasion began Thursday morning with attacks by land, sea and air, with missiles...
Arab, female-founded “relationship” app sees growing global success
February 22nd, 20220 DETROIT — A U.S.-based, Arab female-owned dating app has seen a massive increase in users around the world and growing popularity in international app markets. Baklava, an "Arab relationship app for dating, marriage and friendships", announced last week that it is now at 160,000 plus downloads and growing. The app is now seeing...
Key U.S.-Canada bridge reopens as Ottawa protest persists
February 14th, 20220 WINDSOR — The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing was open Monday after protesters demonstrating against COVID-19 measures blocked it for nearly a week, but a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa, persisted as city residents seethed over authorities’ inability to reclaim the streets. Demonstrations against virus restrictions and...
Report shows millennials, desperate for home ownership, take risks, face remorse amid inflation
February 8th, 20220 A new real estate report reveals the desperation and anxieties behind millennial home ownership in the pandemic-era home market. The report, published by Clever, a real estate data company, says it surveyed millennials to get insight into the economic reality of their home buying habits and preferences. In popular understanding, a...
ISIS leader Quraishi kills himself during Syria raid, U.S. says
February 3rd, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The leader of ISIS died when he blew himself and family members up during a U.S. military raid in Syria, President Biden said on Thursday, dealing a blow to the jihadist group's efforts to reorganize as a guerrilla force after losing large swathes of territory. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi had led ISIS...
DOJ says Kansas woman led all-female ISIS battalion
February 1st, 20220 The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) has alleged an American woman, Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, of organizing and leading an all-female military battalion on behalf of ISIS. The DOJ has charged Fluke-Ekren with providing and conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, which the U.S has designated a foreign terrorist...
U.S. doesn’t care for China’s Muslims: Boycotting the Olympics is about global competition
January 28th, 20220 The diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games may go down in history as the official start of the cold war between the U.S., a handful of its allies and China. The American strategy, however, of using boycotts to pressure Beijing in the name of “human rights”, may prove costly in the future. On December...
Bengali American could become first Muslim woman federal judge
January 19th, 20220 NEW YORK — Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, a Bengali American, has been nominated by President Biden to serve as federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Choudhury would become the first Muslim woman and the first Bangladeshi American to serve as a federal judge and the...
MLK Day and the legacy of spying on activists
January 17th, 20220 MLK Day, since being signed into law as a national holiday by President Reagan, has come to symbolize a moment of national reflection on the state of race relations in America. Although Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the end of his life was a staunch champion against militarism and economic exploitation, seminal moments such as his...
Schools nationwide to receive 5 million COVID tests from the federal government
January 14th, 20220 Schools in the U.S. can expect additional COVID-19 tests, being made available by the federal government, in about two weeks. The additional tests are part of a Biden administration strategy to keep schools open during a nationwide coronavirus surge, accelerated by the highly contagious Omicron variant. The White House has said the...
Palestinian American man, 80, found dead after being held in Israeli raid
January 13th, 20220 OCCUPIED West Bank — An 80-year-old Palestinian American man was found dead after being detained and handcuffed during an Israeli raid on an occupied West Bank village, Palestinian officials and relatives said on Wednesday. The U.S. State Department said that Omar Abdalmajeed As'ad was a U.S. citizen and that it had sought...
No Visa waiver for Israel until Arab American rights are protected
January 12th, 20220 Last week the Jerusalem Post ran a story under the headline “Palestinian Americans to be allowed to land at Ben Gurion Airport.” Israeli officials are now saying that instead of only permitting Palestinian Americans to cross over the Allenby Bridge from Jordan, they will allow them to fly into Israel’s airport and proceed from...
New books by American Muslims: Muslims have stories to tell; are Americans ready to listen?
January 11th, 20220 — This article was contributed by Joseph Richard Preville to The Arab American News. It has been edited for style. Al Qaeda’s terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001 was horrific, but what came next was far worse. The U.S. responded by unleashing a 20-year campaign of surveillance and harassment against its own Muslim......
U.S., Iran tensions at a high point over sanctions, 2020 Soleimani killing
January 11th, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House and Tehran have exchanged harsh words this month, as Iran symbolically sanctioned a list of Americans in connection with the 2020 killing of General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike. "We will work with our allies and partners to deter and respond to any attacks carried out by Iran," said White...
National year in review: Change of the guard, insurrection, impeachment and election challenges
January 9th, 20220 In 2021 there was a change of the guard in Washington, D.C., but this change was preceded by an unprecedented insurrection on Capitol Hill and a second impeachment of former President Trump. Arab Americans and Muslims made headlines on the national level with the first Muslim appointed to the federal bench and the U.S. Supreme Court......
A year on, the ideological insurrection against our democracy continues
January 8th, 20220 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com When I told my parents that I was going to run for governor of Michigan, I could see through the windows of their eyes the emotions battling in their minds....
U.S. FDA authorizes Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster for 12- to 15-year-olds
January 4th, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 15, and narrowed the interval for booster shot eligibility to five months from six. The agency also authorized a third shot for children aged 5- through...
Passport fees set to increase by $20 starting Dec. 27
December 23rd, 20211 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. State Department said this week that on Dec 27, the cost for a passport book will increase by $20. The department said the the increased fee is necessary to ensure it continues to produce one of the most secure travel and identity documents in the world. Travelers can learn more about their...
CDC updates side effects of COVID-19 vaccines
December 22nd, 20210 WASHINGTON D.C. — While the COVID-19 cases keep increasing nationwide, the CDC has updated the side effects of getting the vaccine. As of Dec. 20, 241.9 million people or 72.9 percent of the U.S. population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of those, 204.1 million or 61.5 percent are fully vaccinated and more......
House passes bill to combat Islamophobia after racist remarks made by Trump-endorsee U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert
December 17th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that would establish a special envoy office at the U.S. State Department with the aim to "monitor and combat" international Islamophobia. The Combating International Islamophobia Act, introduced by U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Jan Schakowsky...
Hundred of Virginia school students walk out, asking accountability over Islamophobic attack on student
December 17th, 20211 Hundreds of Fairfax High School students in the town of Fairfax, Virginia walked out on Thursday and demanded their school take action following a disturbing attack on one their Muslim schoolmates by a fellow student. On Tuesday, a boy reportedly pushed a Muslim girl to the ground, took off her Islamic head scarf or hijab and beat her......
Muslim Somali American Deqa Dhalac inaugurated as mayor of predominantly White Maine city
December 7th, 20210 MAINE — The City Council of South Portland, Maine unanimously voted on Monday to elect the city’s first Muslim mayor. Deqa Dhalac, 53, is believed to be the country’s first Somali American mayor. Dhalac won a City Council seat back in 2018, being the only non-White candidate for a Council seat in the Whitest state in the U.S....
U.S. State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware
December 4th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Apple iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to four people familiar with the matter. The hacks, which took place in the last several months, hit U.S. officials either based in Uganda......
