Earth’s magnetic North Pole shifting drastically
January 25th, 20191 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rapid and irregular movements of Earth’s north magnetic pole prompted an emergency update to a model assisting with navigation. The scheduled fix was supposed to happen on January 15, but the U.S. government shutdown forced a delay. In the last 30 years, the rate of distance that the magnetic north pole moves per...
Pelosi rejects ‘big down payment’ for Trump wall, Senate starts talks to end shutdown
January 25th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — A splintered Senate swatted down competing Democratic and Republican plans for ending the 34-day partial government shutdown on Thursday, but the twin setbacks prompted a burst of bipartisan talks aimed at temporarily halting the longest-ever closure of federal agencies and the damage it’s inflicting around the...
California Democrat Kamala Harris declares candidacy for president
January 24th, 20190 WASHINGTON — In what is becoming a highly diverse field, California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris declared her candidacy for president on Monday, entering on the Martin Luther King Day federal holiday. Harris, who became the second African American woman to serve in the United States Senate, declared her candidacy in the same...
Dingell appointed to health subcommittee on Energy and Commerce Committee
January 22nd, 20190 WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) was appointed to a seat on the Health Subcommittee on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in the 116th Congress. She adds this subcommittee assignment to other assignments on the Environment and Climate Change, Consumer Protection and Commerce, and...
Texas Rep. tries to block Rashida Tlaib’s “dangerous” congressional visit to Palestine
January 19th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Texas Rep. Brian Babin has issued a warning about Detroit congresswoman Rashida Tlaib's planned trip to Palestine, calling it “both ill-conceived and inconsistent with our national values.” Tlaib is planning the trip as a response to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) trip, which is aimed...
Why is the BDS movement a thorn in Israel’s and its backers’ sides?
January 18th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement has apparently shaken enough trees in the Zionist-Israeli avenue to provoke a local reaction in the Senate, where Republicans are trying to pass a bill making the movement illegal. Two Republican Senators, Marco Rubio from Florida and James Risch from Idaho,...
FBI detains American-born journalist without charge
January 17th, 20190 ST. LOUIS, MO — An American-born Iran-based journalist has been detained inside U.S. territories without charge. On Sunday January 13, the FBI took into custody American-born journalist and anchor Marzieh Hashemi, born Melanie Franklin, upon her arrival at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, according to her family and...
City of Louisville renaming its airport after Muhammad Ali
January 17th, 20190 LOUISVILLE, KY — A humanitarian, a peace advocate and unforgettable personality, Muhammad Ali was known as far more than a boxer. Now, he will also be known as the ambassador for the biggest airport in the state of Kentucky, as it was announced that his name will grace the Louisville International Airport, which will be renamed...
Driver who killed Abbas family had blood alcohol level four times the legal limit
January 16th, 20190 LEXINGTON, KY — Georgetown, Kentucky resident Joey Lee Bailey had a blood alcohol content level nearly four times the legal limit when his pickup truck struck an SUV carrying the Abbas family of Northville on January 6, a Fayette County coroner has found. Bailey's BAC measured at .306 according to a report from Kentucky.com, as...
Bernie Sanders slams ‘absurd’ introduction of anti-BDS bill in Congress
January 15th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the U.S. government shutdown continues, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has slammed the “absurd” introduction of a bill targeting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, may run again for president in 2020. He tweeted out an article in the...
Senate Dems block pro-Israel bill from getting a vote
January 15th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Democrats blocked a pro-Israel bill from reaching the 60-vote threshold needed to end a filibuster and reach the floor. The vote of 56 in favor and 44 against kept the bill from reaching the senate floor by a margin of four votes. Michigan Democratic Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters voted against...
Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard announces run for president in 2020
January 14th, 20190 With the 2020 presidential race less than 22 months away, Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has decided to make her candidacy official. Gabbard announced her intention to run this past Friday on CNN's 'The Van Jones Show,' on an episode that was slated to air Saturday night. “There are a lot of reasons for me to make this...
Swearing-in ceremony sends off Rashida Tlaib to Washington D.C.
January 14th, 20190 RIVER ROUGE - Rep. Rashida Tlaib celebrated taking the oath of office as congresswoman of Michigan’s 13th District with a swearing-in ceremony at River Rouge High School on Saturday. Sophia Chue, executive director of Caribbean Community Service Center in Detroit, emceed the event. Supporters performed music and poetry leading up...
Muslim youth group volunteers to clean national parks
January 12th, 20190 Saturday volunteers from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association picked up trash outside Independence Hall, the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and other national parks closed by the partial government shutdown. They cleaned up litter, swept the grounds and emptied garbage cans at the Everglades...
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell introduces the “Abbas Stop Drunk Driving Act”
January 11th, 20190 WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Debbie Dingell has introduced the Abbas Stop Drunk Driving Act. The legislation would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to set a federal motor vehicle safety standard that would require all new vehicles to be equipped with an ignition interlock device. DOT would have to complete this standard......
Syrian refugee’s falafel restaurant named ‘The Nicest Place in America’
January 10th, 20190 KNOXVILLE, TN — The restaurant Yassin's Falafel House here has officially been named 'The Nicest Place in America' by Reader's Digest and Good Morning America. Good Morning America host Robin Roberts made the announcement on Thursday to owner Yassin Terou, who traveled to New York in hopes of winning. Nearly 500 people submitted...
Minnesota congresswoman becomes first to don hijab after 181 year-old law is changed
January 9th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Newly elected Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was sworn in on Thursday, January 3, the same day as fellow American Muslim Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. While the soft-spoken Omar did not grab as many headlines as Tlaib did with her comments in the past month, she did usher in a new rule change that will have a......
116th Congress most diverse in U.S. history
January 8th, 20190 WASHINGTON - A record number of women, 126, took the oath of office in the Thursday swearing-in of the 116th U.S. Congress. It is the most diverse group of lawmakers to assemble on Capitol Hill, with the first two Muslim American women, the first two Native American women, the first two Latinas from Texas, the first Black woman from...
Latino-Arab American Ammar Campa-Najjar narrowly lost in midterms, plans to run in 2020
January 7th, 20190 SAN DIEGO - In November, Ammar Campa-Najjar hoped to become the first Latino Arab-American member of Congress. Though he was facing off against Rep. Duncan Hunter – who with an ongoing finance scandal is embroiled in controversy – he faced an uphill battle. The 50th Congressional District in California – which encompasses parts of...
Amazon pulls offensive doormats with Islamic religious text after several complaints
January 4th, 20191 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, CAIR, welcomed a decision from retailer Amazon to removal numerous doormats, bath mats and other items imprinted with Islamic calligraphy, references to the Prophet Muhammad and verses from the Qu'ran, Islam's holy book, according to a press...
Iran rejects U.S. warning against space launches, ballistic missiles
January 3rd, 20190 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected a U.S. warning against carrying out space vehicle launches and missile tests, saying on Thursday they did not violate a U.N. resolution. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a pre-emptive warning to Iran earlier on Thursday against pursuing three planned space rocket......
Survey finds many Americans lack basic knowledge about the Holocaust
January 3rd, 20191 The conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany released survey findings that show one-third of Americans think “substantially less" than 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. The survey, which highlights a lack of basic knowledge about the World War II genocide, showed a notable lack of understanding among...
FDA approves two new cancer treatments after fast tracked reviews
December 30th, 20180 The new cancer drugs Vitrakvi and Xospata were approved this past week after expedited reviews according to a report from CNN, with one expected to make an impact on the treatment options for childhood patients and the other for adults. Vitrakvi, which was approved this past Monday, was approved for both adult and pediatric cancer......
Snyder vetoes controversial GOP power play proposal, 40 other lame-duck bills
December 30th, 20180 LANSING — Governor Rick Snyder rejected 41 lame-duck bills on Friday according to a report from the Detroit Free Press, including a measure that would have given Republican-led lawmakers more authority to intervene in legal battles next year, in anticipation of Democrats taking over top posts within the state. The proposal was...
Immigrants to high-income countries may be healthier than native-born people
December 29th, 20180 A new research review has suggested that international migrants who come to high income countries to work, study or join families are less likely to die prematurely than people born in their new homelands, according to a report from Reuters. “Migrants to rich countries have lower rates of death due to most major disease areas......
