Suspect in Oregon train stabbings claims self-defense
June 12th, 20170 PORTLAND- The man accused of murdering two men and wounding a third on a Portland, Oregon, train was led away from a courtroom on Wednesday by sheriff's deputies as he shouted that he had acted in self defense. Jeremy Christian, 35, had stood quietly in a glass-walled holding cell in the courtroom throughout a brief appearance until...
Comey says Trump fired him to undermine FBI Russia investigation
June 12th, 20171 WASHINGTON- Former FBI Director James Comey accused President Donald Trump on Thursday of firing him to try to undermine the agency's investigation of possible collusion by Trump's campaign with Russia's alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. In the most eagerly anticipated U.S. congressional hearing in years,...
First Institute of Arab and Islamic Art opens in New York
June 12th, 20170 NEW YORK — The city of New York had no institute to showcase the modern and contemporary art of Arab and Muslim artists. But, that changed this May when the Institute of Arab and Islamic Art opened with a four-woman show of work by Dana Awartani, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Zarina and Nasreen Mohamedi. For now, it is temporarily...
Protesters rally against “Sharia Law” in dozens of U.S. cities
June 10th, 20171 SEATTLE- Protesters held rallies across the United States on Saturday to denounce sharia law, the Islamic legal and moral code that organizers say poses a threat to American freedoms, but critics believe anti-Muslim hatred is behind the condemnation. ACT for America, a self-described grassroots organization focusing on national...
American University of Beirut professor denied entry to US because of “extreme vetting”
June 9th, 20170 WASHINGTON — An associate professor at Lebanon's American University of Beirut said he was traveling to California for an engineering conference when he was unjustly barred from entering the US because of new “extreme vetting” measures. George A. Saad, 35, missed his presentation at the Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference...
Two Lebanese Americans charged with aiding Hezbollah
June 9th, 20170 DEARBORN — A Dearborn man whose home was raided by the FBI on June 1 was arrested in Livonia later that night on suspicion of links to Hezbollah, a U.S. designated terrorist organization, the Justice Department announced on Thursday, June 8. Both Samer El Debek, a Lebanese American truck driver who moved to Michigan from New York a...
Dearborn man to be arraigned on terrorism-related federal charges
June 2nd, 20174 DEARBORN ― The man in question involving a FBI raid at a Dearborn home Thursday night is suspected of aiding terrorists, The AANews have learned from sources close to the investigation. Samer ElDebek, a Lebanese American truck driver, was taken into custody and transported to his hometown of New York on Friday on federal charges of...US sees sharp drop-off in refugee arrivals; Michigan mirrors national trend
LANSING — The number of refugees re-settled in Michigan has dropped sharply over the past six months, mirroring a national trend, according to new analysis of U.S. State Department data from the Pew Research Center. Last October Michigan re-settled 563 refugees. As of April, that number has fallen to 168. Nationally, 9,945 refugees...
Suspect in Portland commuter train attack arraigned in court
June 2nd, 20170 PORTLAND — The suspect in a May 26 attack on a commuter train that left two men dead and one injured was arraigned inside the Multnomah County Justice Center Courthouse on Tuesday. Jeremy Joseph Christian, a 35-yearold convicted felon, was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of second-degree intimidation and one...
Trump administration approves tougher visa vetting, including social media checks
June 2nd, 20170 WASHINGTON-The Trump administration has rolled out a new questionnaire for U.S. visa applicants worldwide that asks for social media handles for the last five years and biographical information going back 15 years. The new questions, part of an effort to tighten vetting of would-be visitors to the United States, was approved on May 23 by...
Trump to pull out of Paris agreement
May 31st, 20170 President Donald Trump will follow through on a campaign pledge to pull the United States out of a global pact to fight climate change, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters, a move that promises to deepen a rift with U.S. allies. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, did not confirm the decision in a post on...
Suspect in Portland commuter train attack to be arraigned in court
May 30th, 20170 PORTLAND-A man will appear in court in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday to answer charges that he murdered two men who tried to stop him hurling religious slurs against two women of Muslim appearance on a commuter train. The attack came as some religious rights groups warn of a rising tide of anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States,...
Laptop ban may extend to all flights in and out of US
May 30th, 20170 WASHINGTON-The United States might ban laptops from aircraft cabins on all flights into and out of the country as part of a ramped-up effort to protect against potential security threats, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Sunday. In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Kelly said the United States planned to "raise the...
Texas teacher disciplined after giving student ‘terrorist’ award
May 28th, 20170 CHANNELVIEW, Texas - At least one teacher at Lance Cpl. Anthony Aguirre Junior High School in Houston has been disciplined after presenting a seventh grade student with the mock award "most likely to be a terrorist," a school district official said on Friday. "The Channelview Independent School District Administration would like...
Tillerson declines to host Ramadan event at State Department
May 28th, 20170 WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has declined a request to host an event to mark Islam's holy month of Ramadan, two U.S. officials said, apparently breaking with a bipartisan tradition in place with few exceptions for nearly 20 years. Since 1999, Republican and Democratic secretaries of state have nearly always hosted......
Two men stabbed to death on Oregon train trying to stop anti-Muslim rant
May 27th, 20170 PORTLAND- A man fatally stabbed two passengers aboard a Portland, Oregon, commuter train after they tried to stop him from harassing two young women who appeared to be Muslim, police said on Saturday. Police identified the assailant, who was arrested soon after the Friday afternoon attack, as Jeremy Joseph Christian of Portland, a...
BREAKING: ICE detains employees at Ann Arbor restaurant
May 24th, 20170 ANN ARBOR-After eating breakfast at popular Ann Arbor restaurant, Sava's, a small team of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officers proceeded to interrogate and detain between three and five employees. The officers entered the restaurant, located at 216 S. State around 11:30 A.M. on Wednesday, entering the kitchen while the......
Trump budget poised to slash healthcare for poor, other programs
May 22nd, 20170 WASHINGTON-The White House is set to release President Donald Trump's first full budget on Tuesday, a plan that will include a cut of more than $800 billion from the Medicaid program for the poor and reductions in other social spending. The Medicaid cuts were part of a Republican healthcare bill passed by the U.S. House of...
To ease fears, Muslim schools reach out to neighbors
May 19th, 20172 NEW YORK — At a Roman Catholic high school in New York's Long Island suburbs, two dozen visiting Muslim students knelt and prayed while teens in uniform blazers from the host school looked on. The trip's agenda was simple: give students whose schools are just 10 miles apart but culturally worlds away a chance to get to know each...
US special counsel named to investigate Trump-Russia ties
May 17th, 20170 The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow. The move followed a week in which the White House was thrown into an uproar amid rising...
Former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning leaves prison
May 17th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.-Chelsea Manning walked out of a U.S. military prison on Wednesday, seven years after being arrested for passing secrets to WikiLeaks in the largest breach of classified information in U.S. history. Manning, 29, was released from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at about 2 a.m., according to......
Trump: ‘absolute right’ to share information with Russians
May 16th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.-Facing heavy criticism over his handling of highly classified information, U.S. President Donald Trump defended having shared "facts" with senior Russian officials, saying on Tuesday he had an "absolute right" to do so and had been trying to get Moscow to be more active in combating Islamic State militants. Trump's...
US: Syrians built crematorium at prison to dispose of bodies, Syria denies accusations
May 16th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.-The United States has evidence Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has built a crematorium at a large military prison outside the capital Damascus, a State Department official said on Monday. Stuart Jones, acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, said U.S. officials believe the......
Trump defends his ‘absolute right’ to share information with Russians
May 16th, 20170 WASHINGTON- Facing a deluge of criticism over his handling of highly classified information, U.S. President Donald Trump defended having shared "facts" with senior Russian officials, saying on Tuesday he had an "absolute right" to do so and had been trying to get Moscow to be more active in combating ISIS militants. Trump's...
Trump to create panel to study voter fraud, suppression: official
May 11th, 20170 WASHINGTON-President Donald Trump plans to create a commission on Thursday to investigate voter fraud and voter suppression, a White House official said, a move that follows Trump's unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump planned to sign an executive order creating the Presidential Commission on......
