John Lewis, U.S. congressman and sharecropper’s son, was civil rights hero
July 18th, 20200 WASHINGTON (REUTERS) — John Lewis, who died on Friday at age 80, was a hero of the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1960s who endured beatings by White police and mobs and played an outsized role in American politics for 60 years. Lewis, an Alabama sharecropper’s son elected in 1986 as a...
Arab American Justin Amash officially suspends re-election bid for U.S. Congress
July 17th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (I-Cascade Township), has announced that he will not be running for re-election to represent his district in the western part of Michigan in the U.S. Congress. “I love representing our community in Congress. I always will. This is my choice, but I’m still going to miss it,” Amash...
Trump administration reverses course on barring many foreign students
July 14th, 20200 NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) — In a stunning reversal of policy on Tuesday, the Trump administration abandoned a plan that would have forced out tens of thousands of foreign students following widespread condemnation of the move and pressure from colleges and major businesses. U.S. officials announced last week that international...
Scientists warn of potential wave of COVID-linked brain damage
July 9th, 20200 LONDON (REUTERS) — Scientists warned on Wednesday of a potential wave of coronavirus-related brain damage as new evidence suggested COVID-19 can lead to severe neurological complications, including inflammation, psychosis and delirium. A study by researchers at University College London described 43 cases of patients with COVID-19...
Nessel says DeVos tried to unfairly reroute pandemic funds to private schools, takes legal action
July 7th, 20200 LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and other state attorneys general are taking legal action against a rule issued by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that they say unfairly diverts federal pandemic relief funds to private schools. Nessel and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra are leading a coalition...
Arab American police officer shot and killed, suspect found dead in Ohio
July 4th, 20201 TOLEDO, OHIO — A Toledo Police Officer, Anthony Hussein Dia, was shot and killed shortly after midnight on July 4, the Toledo Police Department said in a press release. Dia, 26, responded to a call regarding an intoxicated male, 57-year-old Edward Henry, walking around the parking lot of a Home Depot on Alexis Road in Toledo....
U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear bid by Iraqis to avoid deportation
July 4th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a bid by a large group of Iraqis convicted of crimes in the United States to prevent imminent deportation to their home country, where they say they could face persecution and torture. The justices let stand a lower court’s 2018 ruling that the federal...
Coronavirus cases are rising in 40 of 50 U.S. states
July 3rd, 20200 FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. climbed to an all-time high of more than 50,000 per day on Thursday, with the infection curve rising in 40 out of 50 states in a reversal that has largely spared only the Northeast. In yet another alarming indicator, 36 states are seeing a rise in the...
Read full letter signed by Tlaib and 12 others condemning Israel’s annexation plans
June 30th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and 11 others members of the House and Senate released a letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that calls on him to stop the new unity government of Israel from carrying out its plans to annex Palestinian territory in the...
Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez and others sign letter amid calls on Israel to cease annexation of West Bank
June 29th, 20203 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and eleven others have signed on to a letter expressing deep concerns over the Israeli government’s plans to annex occupied Palestinian territory. Former presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has also signed on to the...
Approval of Trump’s coronavirus response sinks to lowest on record amid surge in cases
June 25th, 20200 NEW YORK (Reuters) — American approval of President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has dropped to the lowest level on record, the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll shows, as new COVID-19 cases surged and Trump was widely criticized for suggesting he wanted to slow down testing. The June 22-23 poll also found that a...
Police violence: Is “reform” enough?
June 21st, 20200 Every few years, some particular instance of a pervasive phenomenon — police violence in the form of unjustified or at least highly questionable killings — "goes viral" with the result that America's cities explode in protest. Every time that happens, some American politicians complain about a non-existent "war on police", while...
Talented and dedicated citizens are reason for hope in a divided nation
June 21st, 20200 Discouraging news surrounds us. It’s hard to hide from. It’s in the newspapers, on television and radio, and on the Internet. Our nation is divided and our politics are polarized. We are torn apart by disagreements over immigration and by racial divisions. A pandemic has killed more than 100,000 Americans and hobbled the economy....
Reuters poll: Most Americans, including Republicans, support sweeping Democratic police reform proposals
June 19th, 20200 NEW YORK — Most Americans, including a majority of President Trump’s Republican Party, support sweeping law enforcement reforms such as a ban on chokeholds and racial profiling after the latest death of an African American while in police custody, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Thursday. The national survey,...
Trump calls for new Supreme Court justices after major rulings against administration
June 18th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the aftermath of two major U.S. Supreme Court rulings against the Trump administration this week, the president lashed out on Twitter and called for “new justices” in the highest court in the country. “The recent Supreme Court decisions, not only on DACA, Sanctuary Cities, Census and others, tell you......
Muslim organization wants White House to reject Islamophobic Pentagon policy pick
June 15th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Emgage Action, a national advocacy organization for Muslim Americans, says it is disheartened by Islamophobic comments made by Retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, the White House's nominee for a top position as Pentagon policy chief. The organization calls for the White House to reject Gen. Tata from this...
Kamala Harris introduces police reform bill, but her contradictory criminal justice record still stands
June 8th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new police reform and accountability bill introduced on Monday aims to increase the investigative powers of the regional and federal government in cases of police misconduct. The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 has been introduced by the Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA) and House Judiciary......
Why representative democracy matters
June 6th, 20200 Over the last few years, the health of American democracy has come under great scrutiny. Polling routinely shows that Americans are concerned that democratic institutions aren’t working as well as they ought to. Inevitably, this brings up the question of whether we can mend our problems or if the system of representative democracy...
‘Get your knee off our necks,’ activist Sharpton says at George Floyd memorial
June 5th, 20200 MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Prominent civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton told mourners on Thursday George Floyd’s fatal encounter with police and the nationwide protests his death ignited marked a reckoning for America over race and justice, demanding, “Get your knee off our necks.” Memorial tributes to Floyd in Minneapolis,...
National unemployment rate seen near 20 percent as COVID slams jobs market again in May
June 5th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The national unemployment rate likely shot up to almost 20 percent in May, a new post World War Two record, with millions more losing their jobs, exposing the horrific human toll from the COVID-19 crisis. The Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report on Friday could bolster economists’ dire...
Original complaint shows blatant disregard for Floyd’s life, Chauvin charges now increased
June 3rd, 20200 Minneapolis — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Wednesday that he has increased charges for former police officer Derek Chauvin to second degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Charges of aiding and abetting murder were also announced for the three other officers involved, who have also been......
At testimony, Whitmer asks Congress for aid with budget crisis, testing and protection
June 2nd, 20200 WASHINGTON D.C. — At a U.S. House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Michigan Governor Whitmer joined Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson to discuss their states' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Entitled, On the Front Lines: How Governors are Battling the COVID-19 Pandemic, the hearing was...
Minneapolis ablaze: Arab American owner of store where George Floyd was killed says he condemns police’s actions
May 29th, 20204 Minneapolis — The city of Minneapolis has been plunged into rioting this week after video of the killing of George Floyd by a police officer circulated widely. Outrage over police brutality culminated into three days of demonstrations that by Thursday night set the city ablaze. Late Thursday, the Third Precinct was broken into......
Trump considering legislation that may scrap law protecting social media companies
May 28th, 20200 WASHINGTON D.C. — President Trump said he will introduce legislation that may scrap or weaken a law that has long protected Internet companies, including Twitter and Facebook, an extraordinary attempt to intervene in the media that experts said was unlikely to survive legal scrutiny. Trump...
Sen. Peters proposes bills to bring medical manufacturing back to U.S., track and address future shortages
May 23rd, 20201 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The shortage of medical supplies and protective equipment to tackle the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. became apparent early on in the pandemic. In Wayne County alone, workers at a prominent hospital spoke of under 100 masks at the beginning of the disease’s spread. The country’s national strategic reserve of......
