White House chief of staff: Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories ‘must end’
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials continue to maintain that American policy towards Israel will undergo changes in the wake of pre-election comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he stated that no Palestinian state would be established on his watch. Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories has lasted for nearly...Congress: FBI needs better intelligence
WASHINGTON — The FBI needs to strengthen its intelligence programs and information sharing to counter the diverse and fast-moving national threats that have evolved since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, a congressional commission said on Wednesday. The 9/11 Review Commission report also said the Federal Bureau of Investigation's progress...U.S. losing ‘information war’ to Russia, other rivals
WASHINGTON — The United States is losing an information war to Russia, "Islamic State" and other rivals, says a new report that calls for a strengthening in U.S. counter-propaganda efforts and an overhaul of the government's international broadcasting arm. The study is the latest to highlight problems in the Broadcasting Board...United flight diverted after man rushes toward cockpit
WASHINGTON — A United Airlines flight to Denver returned to a Washington airport late on Monday when a passenger shouting about jihad rushed toward the cockpit before other passengers grabbed him, ABC News said. United Flight 1074, carrying 33 passengers and six crew members, returned to Washington Dulles International Airport when...Anti-Israel ad can be barred from Seattle buses, appeals court rules
San Fransico — County officials in Seattle can prohibit an advertisement criticizing Israeli policies toward Palestinians from appearing on local buses without violating constitutional protections on free speech, a U.S. appeals court said on Wednesday. In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco found that...
Pledge of allegiance read in Arabic causes uproar at New York high school
March 19th, 20150 PINE BUSH, New York — Administrators at an upstate New York high school are apologizing after the Pledge of Allegiance was recited in Arabic on Wednesday morning, offending some students and their families.In an online letter, officials at Pine Bush High School explained that students were supposed to give the pledge in different...NSA sued by Wikimedia, rights groups over mass surveillance
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON — The U.S. National Security Agency was sued on Tuesday by Wikimedia and other groups challenging one of its mass surveillance programs that they said violates Americans' privacy and makes individuals worldwide less likely to share sensitive information. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland, where the...Ohio man accused of Capitol attack plot
Christopher Cornell, 20, of Cincinnati, Ohio is pictured in this handout photo.CINCINNATI — U.S. prosecutors have asked a judge to limit telephone access for an Ohio man, who is accused of plotting an attack on the U.S. Capitol and claims sympathy with "Islamic State" militants, after he was interviewed from jail by a Cincinnati...Demonstrators protest police shooting in Madison, Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. — About 1,500 people, some banging plastic pails or blowing whistles, marched on Wednesday afternoon to the Wisconsin corrections department in Madison to protest the fatal police shooting last week of an unarmed biracial young man. The shooting of Tony Robinson, 19, in Wisconsin's capital by a veteran White Madison...
Muslim man killed in Texas while taking photos with his wife
March 6th, 20150 DALLAS - The North Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-DFW) today called on law enforcement authorities to address community concerns about what motivated the alleged killers of a 36-year-old Muslim who was shot Wednesday. while taking pictures of the snow. A report on social media indicates that the...Ferguson policies targeted Blacks, created toxic environment
Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson is pictured in this undated evidence photo.WASHINGTON/KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A U.S. probe found systemic racial bias targeted Blacks and created a "toxic environment" in Ferguson, Missouri, but cleared a White officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black teenager there, Attorney General Eric Holder said...Californian tried to join “Islamic State” in Syria
LOS ANGELES — A Southern California man whom prosecutors say sought to travel to Syria last year in a bid to join "Islamic State" fighters was indicted on federal charges, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. The suspect, Adam Dandach, 21, of Orange, California, was indicted by a grand jury in Santa Ana, California, the...Muslim man killed in Texas while taking photos
DALLAS — The North Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-DFW) today called on law enforcement authorities to address community concerns about what motivated the alleged killers of a 36-year-old Muslim who was shot Wednesday. while taking pictures of the snow. A report on social media indicates that the...Supreme Court split over Obamacare challenge
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court appeared sharply divided on ideological lines on Wednesday as it tackled a second major challenge to President Obama's healthcare law, with Justice Anthony Kennedy emerging as a likely swing vote in a ruling. The nine justices heard 85 minutes of arguments in the case brought by conservative...Bibi speaks, America listens
So Bibi gave his talk. I wrote up an advance briefing on what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would say before Congress on March 3 and got it almost perfect. I even got some of the punch lines word-for-word. To be honest, that was an easy task. There was absolutely nothing original in this speech. As is true with......
Justice Department reveals racist e-mails sent by Ferguson police
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has concluded that the Ferguson, Missouri, police department routinely engages in racially biased practices. The investigation revealed shockingly racist, bigoted e-mails against African Americans, Latinos and Muslims sent between the department's staff, including one depicting President...New York Schools will start observing Muslim holidays
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio will officially announce Wednesday that the city's public schools will observe the two major Muslim holidays. The schools will be off for one day during Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.According to a 2008 Columbia University study, 10 percent of New York's public school students are Muslim.In a Twitter post......
Netanyahu warns U.S. against Iran nuclear deal
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned President Obama on Tuesday against accepting a nuclear deal with Iran that would be a "countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare" by a country that "will always be an enemy of America."Obama said Israeli Netanyahu did not offer any real alternative amid the ongoing...Republicans propose declaring Idaho a ‘Christian state’
SALMON, Idaho — Members of a county Republican Party are to take up a measure on Tuesday evening that would declare the state a Christian one to bolster what the proposal calls the "Judeo-Christian bedrock of the founding of the United States." The resolution to be voted on by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee is...
U.S. justices show support for Muslim woman denied job due to head scarf
February 27th, 20150 WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled support for a Muslim woman who filed a lawsuit after she was denied a job at an Abercrombie & Fitch Co clothing store in Oklahoma because she wore a head scarf for religious reasons. The nine justices heard a one-hour argument in an appeal brought by...University of Mass. backtracks on excluding Iranian engineering students
BOSTON — A university said on Wednesday it had reversed a decision to stop admitting Iranian students into its science and engineering programs after consulting with State Department officials and its own attorneys. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst early this month said it would stop admitting Iranian students into those......
Obama: Strikes against extremists abroad not a war on Islam
WASHINGTON — “Muslim Americans across our country are worried and afraid,” President Obama wrote in a new op-ed to tout the “countering violent extremism” summit in Washington this week that focuses almost exclusively on homegrown Islamic terrorism. By and large, Obama’s Los Angeles Times op-ed detailed his...Suspected arson burns down Houston mosque
HOUSTON — A homeless man has been arrested and charged with arson for a fire that destroyed a building at an Islamic institute in Houston, fire officials said on Monday. The blaze early on Friday at the Quba Islamic Institute destroyed one of three buildings there, but no one was injured. Fire officials said Darryl Ferguson, 55,......
U.S. creates new agency to lead cyber threat tracking
U.S. Department of Homeland Security employees work during a guided media tour inside the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in Arlington, Virginia.WASHINGTON — Calling the destructive cyberattack on Sony Pictures "a game changer", a top White House official on Tuesday announced a new intelligence unit to...
White House calls climate change greater threat to country than terrorism
February 13th, 20150 White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.WASHINGTON — According to the Washington Times, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Americans no longer face the same threat of attack that they did prior to Sept. 11, 2001, crediting the administration's efforts to degrade organizations such as al Qaeda. Earnest said......