Minnesota lieutenant governor to replace Franken in Senate
December 15th, 20170 WASHINGTON — Minnesota's Democratic Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith was appointed as a senator on Wednesday to replace Al Franken, who resigned after being accused of sexual harassment. Smith, 59, will serve a one-year term concluding in January 2019, Governor Mark Dayton said at a news conference, and will run in a special election...
FCC strikes down net neutrality
December 15th, 20170 WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted along party lines on Thursday to repeal landmark 2015 rules aimed at ensuring a free and open Internet, setting up a court fight over a move that could recast the digital landscape. The approval of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal in a 3-2 vote marked a victory for...
Feds charge Times Square bomb suspect, Bangladesh questions wife
December 12th, 20170 NEW YORK — Prosecutors on Tuesday brought federal charges against a Bangladeshi man, accusing him of using a weapon of mass destruction in Monday’s bombing of a Manhattan commuter hub. Akayed Ullah, 27, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court with providing material support to a foreign terrorist...
Florida man sentenced to 15 years in prison for vandalizing mosque
December 8th, 20172 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A man who vandalized a Florida mosque in January 2016 and left a raw slab of bacon on its doorstep was sentenced to 15 years in prison on a hate crime conviction, a state attorney's spokesman said on Wednesday. Michael Wolfe, 37, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to criminal mischief to a place of worship in a case...
Study: Americans’ favorable opinions toward Arabs and Muslims improving
December 8th, 20170 WASHINGTON — A growing number of Americans hold favorable opinions of Arabs and Muslims, a new survey by the Arab American Institute (AAI) shows. The survey released Tuesday found attitudes toward Arabs, Muslims, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans have risen to the highest levels in a decade. Conducted two months after the White...
U.S. Supreme Court allows Trump’s latest Muslim ban go into full effect
December 4th, 20170 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to President Donald Trump by allowing his latest travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries to go into full effect even as legal challenges continue in lower courts. The court, with two of the nine justices dissenting, granted his administration’s...
Trump retweets misleading anti-Muslim videos from UK racist group
December 2nd, 20171 WASHINGTON — on Wednesday President Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by the deputy head of a British far-right group who has been convicted of a hate crime and previously posted a number of misleading videos. But the three Trump shared were provocatively titled "Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!"; "Muslim...
Tom Friedman’s paean to a Saudi tyrant ignites NYT comments-storm
December 2nd, 20170 By Mike Whitney "I've never thought much of Friedman's work, but this is the work of a complete toady." Jim, New York Times comments section "What a nauseating exercise in a…-kissing!" Karim Pakravan, NYT comments section NEW YORK — Why did Tom Friedman write such a gushing tribute to the Saudi tyrant, Mohammed bin Salman?...
AAA: 51 million Americans traveling this holiday
November 21st, 20170 More Americans will travel this Thanksgiving than the past 12 years, according to AAA's annual holiday travel forecast it released last Thursday. It predicts nearly 51 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles to celebrate the holiday. That's a 3 percent increase from last year, and the highest number since 2005. Travelers...
U.S. Rep. John Conyers denies sexual harassment allegation
November 21st, 20170 WASHINGTON — House of Representatives Democrats called for an investigation on Tuesday into allegations of sexual harassment against U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-Detroit), who said his office had resolved a harassment case with a payment but no admission of guilt. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in a statement on fellow Democrat...
UCLA basketball players apologize for shoplifting in China, thank Trump
November 18th, 20170 LOS ANGELES - Three UCLA basketball players who had been detained in China on suspicion of shoplifting admitted on Wednesday that they stole items from three stores, and they thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for his help in winning their release. The three players - LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill - remain suspended from the...
Billionaire founder of Insys pleads not guilty to opioid bribe scheme
November 18th, 20170 BOSTON — The billionaire founder of drugmaker Insys Therapeutics Inc pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that he participated in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe a fentanyl-based spray to treat pain in cancer patients. John Kapoor, who stepped down as Insys' chief executive officer and chairman in January but remains its...
Nearly 1.5 million people signed up for Obamacare plans so far
November 15th, 20170 WASHINGTON — More than 800,000 people signed up for Obamacare individual health insurance plans in the second week of open enrollment, U.S. government health officials said on Wednesday, bringing the total number of sign-ups to nearly 1.5 million so far. There is particular scrutiny of how Affordable Care Act programs are faring...
Trump nominates Arab American Alex Azar as U.S health secretary
November 13th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.—On November 13, Alex Azar was nominated to be the next United States Health and Human Services secretary. If the nomination goes through, Azar will be the second Arab American to serve in this position. Previously, Donna Shalala served eight years in the position during former president Bill Clinton’s...
Anti-Muslimblog post costs State Rep. TimKelly Education Department position
November 10th, 20170 WASHINGTON — The Department of Education is no longer considering State Rep. Tim Kelly (R-Saginaw) for a leadership post over personal blog posts deemed offensive to Muslims, reported Education Week, a national newspaper covering K–12 education. The posts were made between 2009 and 2012 on Kelly's "Citizen Leader" blog, when he......
Poll: Most Americans oppose visa lottery, but favor other openings for immigrants
November 10th, 20170 WASHINGTON — Most Americans oppose the use of a lottery system for giving immigrants permanent U.S. residence, but a majority support allowing immigrants to obtain green cards through sponsorship by U.S. employers, according to a Reuters/ Ipsos opinion poll. The poll, released on Thursday, found that only 25 percent of Americans...
Many reported dead after gunman opens fire at Texas church
November 5th, 20170 SUTHERLAND SPRINGS- A gunman entered a church in a small town in southeast Texas on Sunday and began firing, resulting in many fatalities and injuries, a county commissioner told Reuters. The gunman was killed several miles from the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, about 40 miles (65 km) east of San Antonio, said Guadalupe......
Shorter enrollment for Obamacare, uncertainty looms on U.S. healthcare
November 3rd, 20170 WASHINGTON—As Americans begin signing up for Obamacare health insurance plans on Wednesday, experts expect reduced participation as a bitter political debate clouds the program’s future. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly failed to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, which they have said...
Uber, Lyft ban conservative activist after anti-Muslim tweets
November 3rd, 20171 NEW YORK CITY—Conservative activist Laura Loomer was banned from the ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft on Wednesday after unleashing an anti-Muslim tweetstorm in the wake of the New York City attack on Tuesday that killed eight people, the companies said. Loomer released numerous posts on Twitter about Muslims on Tuesday and...
White House: adding Uzbekistan to travel ban not ruled out
November 1st, 20170 WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has not ruled out adding Uzbekistan to a list of countries named in a presidential travel ban, following Tuesday’s deadly truck attack, allegedly by an Uzbek immigrant, in New York City, a White House spokeswoman said on Wednesday. “Look, that’s maybe something that’s looked at, but that...
Trump wants to end visa lottery program that New York attack suspect used, send him to Guantanamo
November 1st, 20170 WASHINGTON ― President Trump on Wednesday said he planned to end a diversity lottery program that he said the Uzbek immigrant suspected of killing eight people in New York City used to get into the United States. “Today we mourn the horrifying terrorist attack in New York City, just blocks away from the site of the World Trade......
Uzbek man is focus of deadly New York truck attack
November 1st, 20170 NEW YORK - On Wednesday, U.S. investigators were focused on an Uzbek immigrant they said killed eight people in New York by driving a rental truck down a riverfront bike path in an attack authorities said had all the hallmarks of terrorism. The suspect, who was shot by police and arrested moments after the Tuesday rampage in lower...
Truck drives through crowd near World Trade Center site, kills 6 and injures 15
October 31st, 20170 NEW YORK ― New York City police have confirmed multiple deaths and injuries as a result of gunfire and a vehicle striking people near the Word Trade Center memorial in lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon. One person has been taken into custody, police officials said. The incident took place near the West Side Highway and Chambers......
Two ex-Trump aides charged in Russia probe, third pleads guilty
October 31st, 20170 WASHINGTON - Federal investigators probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election charged President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and another aide, Rick Gates, with money laundering on Monday. A third former Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty in early October to lying to the FBI, it was...
U.S. border agents detain Mexican girl being rushed to hospital
October 27th, 20170 CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS—A 10-year-old Mexican girl with cerebral palsy living illegally in Texas was in federal custody on Thursday after the ambulance rushing her to surgery had to pass through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint, a family attorney and government officials said. Rosa Maria Hernandez was being transported from a medical......
