CDC advisers delay decision on J&J vaccine pause
April 14th, 20210 Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) met Wednesday to review blood clot cases among people who received the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine. But the committee of experts declined to vote on whether use of the vaccine should resume, meaning the "pause" on the vaccine's use will remain at...
Michigan “pauses” J&J COVID vaccine over clot reports, CDC and FDA recommendations
April 13th, 20210 WASHINGTON D.C. — In a joint statement, the CDC and FDA announced the recommendation of a “pause” on using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine. The agencies are investigating unusual blood clots in six women that occurred from six to 13 days after being vaccinated. The clots occurred in veins...
Dr. Maya Hammoud elected at-large member of NBME Executive Board
April 10th, 20210 Dr. Maya Hammoud has been elected as an at-large member of the National Board of Medical Examiners' Executive Board. Hammoud, originally from Dearborn, has chaired the NBME’s International Foundations of Medicine® (IFOM®) Committee since 2016 and currently serves on the International Oversight Committee. The NBME is a leading...
Cases surge in Michigan, but Biden administration reluctant to increase vaccines
April 8th, 20210 With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise to dangerous levels, Michigan officials have asked the Biden administration to increase supplies of life-savings vaccines, though a positive response has not come from the White House. On Thursday alone, Michigan recorded 7,819 new cases, pushing officials, including U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell...
U.S. restores assistance for Palestinians, to provide $235 million in aid
April 8th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C./WEST BANK — On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced it would provide $235 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinians, restarting funding for the United Nations agency supporting refugees and restoring other assistance cut off by former President Trump. The package, including humanitarian, economic and...
Dingell calls on Biden administration to press Saudi Arabia to end Yemeni blockade
April 6th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) joined Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) in leading 76 of their congressional colleagues to call for the Biden administration to publicly increase pressure on Saudi Arabia to lift the blockade on Yemen immediately, unilaterally and...
Activists stage hunger strike, rally in D.C. against the war on Yemen
April 6th, 20210 - From contributor Laura Albast Activists from the Yemeni Liberation Movement (YLM) and other organizations held a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. They carried banners calling for an end to the U.S.-backed Saudi blockade on the embattled country. The five Michigan natives leading the action staged a...
Iran, world powers to discuss U.S. return to nuclear deal, compliance
April 3rd, 20210 PARIS – Officials from Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain met virtually on Friday to discuss a possible return of the United States to the 2015 nuclear deal, the European Union said in a statement on Thursday. The Biden administration has been seeking to engage Iran in talks about both sides resuming compliance with the...
Appeals court rules “terror watchlist” doesn’t violate constitutional rights
April 2nd, 20210 A panel of appeals court judges ruled this week that the “terror watchlist” does not violate the constitutional rights of American citizens, even if they are not notified or allowed to defend themselves against the government’s underlying reason for adding their names to the list. The legal news website Law & Crime reported...
Delta Airlines to resume selling the middle seats May 1
April 2nd, 20210 ATLANTA — Delta Airlines' CEO announced that the airline is ending a year-long pandemic practice of blocking middle seats beginning May 1. Beginning May 1, Delta will be selling every seat on its flights. In a press release, CEO Ed Bastian said that the unblocking of seats was based partly on the increase of travelers receiving...
Department of Education expanding pause on interests and collections for federal student loans
April 2nd, 20210 WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education has announced an expansion of the pause on federal student loan interest and collections. The pause will impact all defaulted loans in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL) and is expected to help more than 1 million additional borrowers. “At a time when many...
Anti-vaccine misinformation has reached 59 million users on social media, attorneys general demand action
March 25th, 20210 LANSING — Social media has been key to spreading dangerous misinformation about recent global and national events, including the deadly coronavirus, vaccines designed to combat it and the 2020 U.S. presidential elections. Now a group of state attorneys general, including Michigan’s, are calling on these wildly popular platforms...
International exchange student program looking for host families this fall
March 25th, 20210 DEARBORN — In the last year, many international exchange students were unable to come to the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic. World Link, an organization that links students from different parts of the world to host families, provided these students with a virtual program linking each student with an American host family and...
Boulder shooter a Syrian immigrant with mental issues, Muslims condemn killings and raise money for victims
March 23rd, 20210 COLORADO — On Tuesday, authorities identified 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa as the shooting suspect in a tragic Monday massacre at a Boulder, Colorado grocery store. Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold announced the identity of the shooter at a press conference. The suspect is accused of killing 10 people, include a Boulder...
Tlaib, Jayapal reintroduce bill to make monthly relief payments to Americans, without raising U.S. debt
March 23rd, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) are re-proposing a way to get monthly COVID-19 relief to Americans without adding to the national debt. The pair have reintroduced the Automatic BOOST to Communities (ABC) Act, which immediately provides a $2,000 payment using BOOST debit cards......
Khamenei says U.S. promises have no credibility for Iran
March 21st, 20210 TEHRAN — Iran does not trust U.S. promises on lifting sanctions and will only return to its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal once Washington fully removes the measures, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday. The administration of President Biden is exploring ways to restore the 2015 nuclear deal that...
Fight for $15 minimum wage not over, but will it be enough?
March 21st, 20210 Progressive members of the Democratic Party are continuing their efforts to raise the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, after the effort failed to pass the U.S. Senate as part of the latest COVID-19 relief package. Those members, like U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), intend to ensure a $15 minimum wage increase is incorporated......
Biden’s China policy likely to be doomed from the start
March 21st, 20210 A much anticipated American foreign policy move under the Biden administration on how to counter China’s unhindered economic growth and political ambitions came in the form of a virtual summit on March 12, linking, aside from the United States, India, Australia and Japan. Although the so-called “Quad” revealed nothing new in...
IRS plans to push U.S. tax deadline to May 17
March 17th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is planning to push its tax filing deadline about one month to May 15 from April 15. Because May 15 falls on a Saturday, the final deadline for filers will likely be the following Monday, May 17. The move will give taxpayers additional time to file their 2020 tax returns and pay...
Survey shows difficulty faced by working parents for online learning, strong support among Republican parents for return to school
March 12th, 20210 A Gallup poll released Thursday shows particularly strong support among parents who identify as Republican to get their children back in classrooms for in-person learning. The poll results are based on self-administered web surveys conducted Feb. 14-21, with a random sample of 860 adults, aged 18 and older, who are parents of students...
What does the new COVID relief law mean for federal unemployment benefits?
March 11th, 20210 Millions of unemployed Americans will see no interruption in their supplemental weekly federal unemployment benefits, after President Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill on Thursday. The new law means nearly one-third of American households who are currently unemployed or will lose their job this summer will......
Biden: “All American adults will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1”
March 11th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — In his first prime-time address to the American public, President Biden announced on Thursday that he is directing states to make all adults vaccine-eligible by May 1. As vaccine supplies continue to increase, Biden is now confident the enormous goal to vaccinate much of America is possible. The U.S. is...
Minneapolis judge reinstates third degree murder charge in George Floyd’s death; Detroit judge dismisses city’s claims that activists conspired to obstruct police
March 11th, 20210 MINNEAPOLIS/DETROIT — While a judge in Detroit dismissed claims that activists conspired to obstruct police, a judge in Minneapolis reinstated a third degree murder charge against a former Minneapolis police officer in the death of a Black man. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill reinstated the charge against Derek Chauvin,......
Biden signs sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill into law
March 11th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Biden signed into law his sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief and stimulus package on Thursday, just hours before delivering his first prime-time address since taking office. The signing on Thursday means some Americans could expect their $1,400 stimulus payments to begin arriving in their bank...
Senators seek to make daylight saving time permanent as more states try to end time changes
March 11th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new bill introduce by a group of U.S. senators seeks to end yearly time changes by making daylight saving time the new, permanent standard time. The bill would allow states with areas exempt from daylight saving time choose the standard time for those areas. The bill, known as the “Sunshine Protection Act......
