More than a third of U.S. adults pursued by collection agencies
WASHINGTON — More than a third of U.S. adults have bad debt that has been handed over to a collection agency and their average debt in collections is $5,178, according to a study published on Tuesday by the Urban Institute.The authors of the report by the Washington, D.C.-based think tank said vicious cycles of bad debt can hold...Poll: American opinion of Arabs,Muslims is getting worse
WASHINGTON — How Americans view Arabs and Muslims has gotten worse in recent years, with negative feelings strongest among republicans and senior citizens, according to a poll released this week.Only 27 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Muslims, down from 35 percent in 2010, according to the Zogby poll, commissioned by...State candidates spend big money in race to win election
LANSING — According to published reports, Gov. Snyder is outspending his opponent, former representative Mark Schauer in his re-election efforts.Snyder has raised $3.3 million, compared to the $1.8 million raised by Schauer. In addition, most of the governor’s contributions come from individuals (the Michigan Republican Party gave...U.S., European airlines halt flights to Israel due to war
WASHINGTON — Air carriers in the United States and Europe this week halted flights to Tel Aviv after warnings from governmental agencies in an effort to ensure passenger safety as turmoil in Israel and the region intensified.U.S. carriers Delta Air Lines, American Airlines Group and United Airlines were the first to announce...Feds discover police civil rights misconduct in New Jersey
NEWARK N.J. — Federal investigators found police repeatedly violated civil rights in Newark, New Jersey's largest city, and recommended an independent monitor to oversee changes, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.The city has agreed to accept the findings of the Justice Department probe, which has been under way since...9/11 Commission raises concerns over Middle East fighters entering the U.S.
WASHINGTON — After 13 years of struggle, Americans are showing a growing public fatigue and waning sense of urgency over terrorism, an attitude that threatens U.S. security, members of the panel that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks said in a report on Tuesday.A decade after issuing the official account of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...German woman charged in Los Angeles with trying to extort Saudi sheikh
LOS ANGELES — A German woman who falsely claimed she was raped and tortured by the son of a Saudi sheikh in Los Angeles was charged on Monday with trying to extort at least $15 million from one of Saudi Arabia's wealthiest men, prosecutors said.Leyla Ors, 33, faces up to four years in prison if convicted on charges of attempted...Utah man arrested in bomb plot to cause uprising against government
UTAH — A Utah man has been arrested in connection with a plot to blow up a police station, kill police officers and destroy infrastructure to delay an emergency response, authorities said.John Huggins, 47, believed that the plan, once carried out, would spark an anti-government uprising, according to documents lodged with a Federal...White House trims 2014 deficit projection to $583 billion
WASHINGTON — The White House lowered its U.S. federal deficit forecast for the 2014 fiscal year by $66 billion to $583 billion on Friday on the basis of gathering economic momentum as evidenced by gains in hiring."The deficit has been cut by more than half as a share of the economy, representing the most rapid sustained deficit...ADC urges Arabs and Muslims to boycott federal government iftars
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) urged Muslim and Arab Americans to boycott the federal government's iftars, including the White House Iftar that was hosted by President Obama on the evening of Monday, July 15, because of "the government’s condoning of the current slaughter of Palestinians in Palestine and the...Poll finds republicans sympathize with Israel much more strongly than democrats
WASINGTON — Republicans sympathize with Israel in its conflict with Palestinians increasingly more strongly than Democrats do, according to a new Pew Research Center survey, opening up the widest partisan gap on American opinion on Israel since available polling in the late 1970s.In a survey taken July 8-14, as Israel started bombing...U.S. agency investigating drone flights after YouTube video goes viral
FORT LAUDERDALE — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating several videos filmed using drones that flew into and around firework displays, including two apparently shot on the Fourth of July and one from Florida that has received nearly nine million YouTube views.The agency this week confirmed at least three...U.S. urges stiff sentences for Britons who recruited for al Qaeda
NEW HAVEN Conn. — U.S. prosecutors urged a judge on Tuesday to impose the maximum sentences for two British men who pleaded guilty in December to running a website and distributing publications that promoted violence and raised money for al Qaeda.The pair, 39-year-old Babar Ahmad and 34-year-old Syed Talha Ahsan, appeared in U.S....Florida lawyers fired for calling Palestinians ‘swine,’ ‘cockroaches’
Raticoff and Sheres.MIAMI — Two South Florida public defenders were fired Tuesday after making inflammatory remarks on social media about Palestinians allegedly celebrating the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June.In one Facebook post attorney Gary Sheres wrote: "they are the filthy swine they don’t eat,"...Obama seeks money, fast hearings to curb young migrant surge
WASHINGTON — The U.S. administration sought on Tuesday to halt a cross-border surge of unaccompanied children from Central America, asking Congress for $3.7 billion in emergency spending and putting in place plans to quicken the youngsters' deportation hearings.It was President Obama's most substantive effort to gain control of a......
Two dozen rescued after being stranded on California roller coaster
Local media footage showed rescuers in hard hats working from an elevated platform and a perch atop the ride's support beams aiding the roller coaster's occupants, one of whom could be seen gripping a safety harness.LOS ANGELES — Two dozen people, four of them slightly injured, were left stranded high off the ground after a...Report: U.S. spies on prominent Muslim Americans
Nihad Awad.An online magazine reported Wednesday that the National Security Agency and the FBI covertly scanned the emails of five prominent Muslim-Americans under the government's secret surveillance program aimed at foreign terrorists and other national security threats.The report in The Intercept, a venture by journalist Glenn......
China criticized for banning Ramadan fast
WASHINGTON, DC – As Muslims around the world observe the holy month of Ramadan, Uighur Muslims in China face far-reaching restrictions on their religious practices. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the Chinese government to end such actions, including bans on fasting and other religious...United Nations to intervene in Detroit water crisis
DETROIT — The United Nations Human Rights Council is expected to intervene in Detroit’s water crisis. In March the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department announced it would issue shut-off notices to customers with unpaid balances that exceeded $150 and were more than two months behind on their payments. The DWSD said about half...Poll: 63 percent of Americans believe Blacks are responsible for their own condition
WASHINGTON — According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, 63 percent of Americans believe Blacks are responsible for their own inability to succeed.Those polled ranged from those who identified as "solid liberals" to those who identified as "steadfast conservatives." They were asked whether they believed that "racial...Charter One to change its name to Citizens Bank in 2015
SOUTHFIELD — Citizens Financial Group Inc.’s Charter One branches in Michigan will be rebranded as Citizens Bank next year as part of a broader strategy to unify all of its brands, the company announced on Monday. This change, also scheduled for Citizens’ Charter One branches in Ohio, will result in a uniform Citizens Bank......
U.S. justices uphold firms’ religious objections to contraception
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that owners of private companies can object on religious grounds to a provision of President Obama's healthcare law that requires employers to provide insurance covering birth control for women.The decision, which applies only to a small number of family owned or other...N.Y. top court says cyberbullying law violates free speech
ALBANY N.Y.— New York's highest court said on Tuesday that a law designed to criminalize cyberbullying was so broad that it violated the First Amendment, marking the first time a U.S. court weighed the constitutionality of such a law.The 2011 Albany County law banned electronic communication intended to "harass, annoy, threaten...or......
Obama to reform immigration on his own, bypassing Congress
WASHINGTON — President Obama said on Monday he would take executive action to revamp the U.S. immigration system and move additional resources to protect the border after hopes of passing broad reform legislation in Congress officially died.Republican John Boehner, speaker of the House of Representatives, told Obama last week that his...U.S. privacy board says NSA Internet spying program is effective but worrying
Washington — The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA)'s data collection program has been an effective tool to enhance the country's security but some elements of the cyber-spying raises privacy concerns, a U.S. federal privacy watchdog said in a report.Privacy issues have become a hot topic since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden......
