Congresswoman-elect Rashida Tlaib to lead delegation to Israeli-occupied West Bank
December 9th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Due in large part to the abundance of pro-Israel lobbying from organizations like AIPAC, Congressmen and Congresswomen in the United States have largely avoided pledging any support for Palestinians, vocal or otherwise. But newly-elected Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from the 13th District,...U.S. fails to win enough support at U.N. to condemn Hamas
December 7th, 20180 UNITED NATIONS — A U.S. attempt to get the United Nations to condemn the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the first time failed on Thursday because the draft resolution fell short of votes needed in the General Assembly. The resolution required two-thirds support and while Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can carry...America mourns the 41st president, George H. W. Bush
December 7th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — St. Martin's Episcopal Church was the site of Wednesday's memorial service for former President George H. W. Bush, a Republican and father of six, including his eldest son, President George W. Bush. Bush, 94, the nation's 41st president, had been battling several diseases in recent years, including vascular...Lebanese man fined $50 million, sent to prison for helping Hezbollah
December 7th, 20180 WASHINGTON — A Lebanese businessman sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for being an important financial supporter of Hezbollah pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges associated with evading U.S. sanctions imposed on him, the U.S. Justice Department said. Kassim Tajideen, 63, pleaded guilty to conspiring with at least five...Francis to become first pope to visit Arabian peninsula
December 7th, 20180 VATICAN CITY — The first visit by a pope to the Arabian peninsula will take place in February when Pope Francis travels to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, the Vatican said on Thursday. The Feb. 3-5 trip, Francis’ latest to a predominantly Muslim nation, will be centered around the theme of inter-religious peace. The...Israel asks Lebanon to destroy tunnel allegedly dug by Hezbollah across border
December 7th, 20180 Israel asked Lebanon’s army and U.N. peacekeepers on Thursday to destroy a tunnel it said had been dug by the Hezbollah group across the border into what it called its territory. Israel’s occupation forces said this week it had identified a number of passages and sent diggers and troops close the front line with Lebanon to block...King of Malaysia marries former Miss Moscow
December 2nd, 20180 MOSCOW —Photos surfaced on Facebook revealing that 49-year-old King of Malaysia Muhammad V of Kelantan married the 25-year old former Miss Moscow. The photos and a video clip were posted to Facebook Friday. Russian beauty queen Oksana Voevodina apparently married the Malaysian king in Barvikha, a luxury village in Moscow...From Gaza to Dearborn: Mohammed Abu Hussein lost his leg, but not his hope
December 2nd, 20180 DEARBORN – The Palestinian struggle carries countless stories of suffering and injustice. Such is the case with Mohammed Abu Hussein, a young Palestinian boy who lost his right leg in June during the Great March of Return along the Gaza border against the Israeli occupation. Mohammed is currently in Dearborn, where he will receive a...The mother of all Arabic dictionaries makes its debut online
December 1st, 20180 WEST BANK — A computer science professor at Birzeit University has built an online tool called Arabic Ontology that is both a comprehensive dictionary of Arabic and a system that will enable the creation of new Arabic-language software, such as better machine translation. Mustafa Jarrar, an associate professor in the department of...Senate votes 63-37, advances measure to end U.S. support for Saudi war on Yemen
November 30th, 20180 WASHINGTON — While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was lobbying senators on Capitol Hill not to "pack up and abandon" the U.S. role in the Saudi-led coalition war on Yemen, the Senate voted 63-37 to consider a measure that would do just that, ending U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen. The vote was a...Mattis: Yemen peace talks likely in early December
November 24th, 20180 WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that peace talks between Yemen’s warring parties are likely to take place in early December in Sweden. Western countries are pressing for a ceasefire and renewed peace efforts to end the more than three-year long conflict, which is seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia...Trump praises Saudi Arabia amid mounting pressure to sanction ally
November 23rd, 20180 WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, President Trump praised Saudi Arabia for helping to lower oil prices as pressure intensified for the U.S. to impose tougher sanctions on its Arab ally over dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. In a tweet, Trump thanked Riyadh for the recent drop in oil prices and called for prices to go...Iran sticking to nuclear deal, rules out renegotiation with U.S.
November 22nd, 20180 Iran has no intention of renegotiating the 2015 nuclear deal, as demanded by the U.S., Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said. Speaking at an international conference in Rome, Zarif said the Iranian people will endure U.S. sanctions. Iran sticking to nuclear deal, IAEA says, amid new U.S. sanctions Iran is implementing...U.S. deals another blow to Palestinians, merges consulate in east Jerusalem with embassy
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is merging the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem into the new U.S. Embassy there, a move critics say is the latest U.S. slap at the Palestinians and one that could further undermine hopes for a two-state solution. The U.S. Consulate General effectively functioned as a direct point of contact...Nissan to fire Ghosn after arrest for alleged financial misconduct
November 19th, 20180 Nissan Motor Company Chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested on Monday for alleged financial misconduct and will be fired from the board this week, a dramatic fall for a leader hailed for rescuing the Japanese carmaker from close to bankruptcy. Nissan said an internal investigation, triggered by a tip-off from a whistleblower, had revealed......
Fewer Arab students head for U.S. to study, report shows
November 19th, 20180 WASHINGTON — Fewer Arab students are choosing to study at universities in the U.S. than in the previous year, according to a report published on Tuesday, while the number of American students going to the Middle East has surged modestly. The Institute of International Education’s 2018 Open Doors report shows that in the last...Former Bahraini minister warns of joint Arab-Israel conspiracy against Palestine
November 18th, 20180 Former Bahraini Minister Mohammad Ali Fakhro, a board member of the Arab Anti-Corruption Organization, criticized the Arab world’s normalization with Israel, blaming these ties for Tel Aviv’s continuous targeting of Palestinians, Arabi21 reported on Wednesday. “The Israeli occupation continues its efforts to get rid of the......
U.S. senators seek clampdown on Saudis over Yemen, journalist’s murder
November 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON — Republican and Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation on Thursday seeking to strike back at Saudi Arabia over the death of a Saudi journalist at a consulate in Turkey and for its role in Yemen’s devastating civil war. If it were to become law, the bill would suspend weapon sales to Saudi Arabia and prohibit...Yemeni father mourns baby girl who died of starvation
November 16th, 20180 SANAA, Yemen — Saleh al-Faqeh held the wasted arm of his baby daughter as she took her last breath on Thursday at the malnutrition ward of the main hospital in Yemen’s capital Sanaa. Four-month-old Hajar al-Faqeh reached the al-Sabeen hospital last week from Saada province, one of thousands of Yemeni children suffering from...Trump nominates retired general John Abizaid as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia
November 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON — President Trump announced his intention to nominate retired general John Abizaid as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, after two years of the position being vacant. The nomination of Abizaid, a decorated military commander who fought in six wars and served as the head of Central Command before retiring in 2007, was...U.S. imposes sanctions on Saudi officials for Khashoggi killing
November 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON — The United States imposed economic sanctions on 17 Saudi officials on Thursday for their role in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor sought the death penalty for five suspects in the murder. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctions were the first concrete response by the......
‘Everything is a target’: Gaza residents decry indiscriminate Israeli strikes
November 16th, 20180 GAZA — Ahmed Abu Saif struggles to maintain a straight face as he looks at the amorphous pile of rubble of what used to be a five-story building he owned. The structure is one of the several civilian sites that have been flattened over the past 24 hours in Gaza as Israeli jets pounded the besieged and densely-populated coastal...Five reasons why Trump’s Iran sanctions will fail
November 4th, 20180 The next round of economic sanctions on Iran, which will start going into effect on Nov.4, will mainly target the country’s oil and gas industries. These sanctions were eased after the 2015 signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, but are being phased back in following......
Yemeni teacher turns his home into school for 700 students
TAIZ, Yemen — Outside the home of Yemeni teacher Adel al-Shorbagy the queue of children lining up for education keeps getting longer. Almost 700 come daily to his house that he converted into a school in the government-held city of Taiz, which has been at the center of a three-and-a-half-year civil war that has left millions on the...Mysterious deaths of Saudi sisters found bound with duct tape in Hudson River
November 2nd, 20180 NEW YORK — New York City investigators believe that the two sisters from Saudi Arabia whose bodies were found bound together with duct tape floating along the Hudson River last week were alive when they entered the water, two police sources told ABC News. Detectives are checking to see if any surveillance cameras captured the moment......