The Arab American News
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New law allows college students to postpone jury duty
LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder recently signed a bill that allows full-time college students to postpone jury duty until the end of the school year.“Serving on a jury is an important part of our civic responsibility,” Snyder said. “However, for college students, jury duty can be disruptive to their studies. This law gives them the...
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan discusses immigration in Dearborn
February 28th, 20140 DEARBORN — On Tuesday, Feb. 25 community members hosted a fundraiser for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan at Byblos Banquet Hall in Dearborn. About 80 people attended the event. Speaking to the crowd, Duggan addressed the city’s ongoing efforts to help demolish and revitalize abandoned buildings and houses. “We’re going to...
UM-Dearborn journalism student interning at The Arab American News
February 28th, 20140 DEARBORN — Fatima Fakhreddine, a senior at the University of Michigan Dearborn, began interning at The Arab American News (TAAN) in January. The 22-year-old, who resides here in Dearborn, is majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. She expects to graduate in April and will complete her internship with TAAN at...Identity thief arrested
DEARBORN — On Feb. 15, a Dearborn police officer stopped a vehicle on Town Center Drive for a traffic violation. The driver, who could not produce an operator’s license, identified herself verbally to the officer. Simpson.The officer searched the name provided in the Law Enforcement Information Network and located a...Phone scammers posing as police officers
DEARBORN — The Dearborn Police Department has become aware of a scam involving suspects contacting victims by telephone claiming to be law enforcement or IRS agents collecting debts.The scammer will try to intimidate the victim by threatening to put the victim in jail if the money is not paid. The scammer will ask the victim to...UNSC resolution backs Yemen political transition
NEW YORK - The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Feb. 26, authorized sanctions against anyone in Yemen who obstructs the country's political transition or commits human rights violations but stopped short of blacklisting any specific individuals.The British-drafted resolution was adopted unanimously. It leaves the imposition of asset...Katy Perry’s Egyptian themed music video angers Muslims, responds by removing ‘Allah’ symbol
One of the men who appears in the video is wearing a pendant with the word "Allah." Pop singer Katy Perry has come under fire from Muslims worldwide for a "blasphemous" act in her latest music video, "Dark Horse," reports Al Bawaba. Perry plays an overly stereotypical Egyptian queen who rejects suitors by zapping them with...“Karama Has No Walls” offers powerful and touching glimpse into Yemen’s Friday of Dignity
Karama Has No Walls recounts the gruesome attacks that unfolded on Mar. 18, 2011, now referred to as the Friday of Dignity, when pro-government forces killed more than 50 peaceful anti-government civilians and injured hundreds more using snipers on Change Square in Yemen's capital of Sana'a. To many, the event redefined the Yemeni...Suspected terror financer arrested by the Lebanese Army
BEIRUT - The Syrian national detained by Army Intelligence for allegedly financing terrorist groups in Lebanon has been identified as Omar Juenieh, an Army source told Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star Thursday.The source said that Juenieh, better known as Omar al-Homsi, was arrested Wednesday, Feb. 26, outside General Security...“The Square”: The revolution’s idealism attacked with bullets and politics
From Jan. 25, 2011 until Hosni Mubarak's ouster 18 days later, Tahrir Square in Cairo became an international symbol of freedom, democracy and change. But as the head of the Egyptian regime fell, the army and the Muslim Brotherhood emerged as the potential successors. Jehane Noujaim's Oscar-nominated documentary “The Square” tells...“Omar” depicts a harsh, but accurate reality of Palestine
Nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars, 'Omar' follows a young Palestinian man who struggles to balance his love life with his disastrous political surroundings. Shot in the West Bank, the opening scene of ‘Omar’ sets the tone for the entire film. The title character, played by Adam Bakri, is seen climbing over...Al-Qaeda-linked group applies special tax on Christians in Raqqa
DAMASCUS - The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has demanded that Christians in the city of Raqqa pay a levy in gold and curb displays of their faith in return for protection, according to a statement posted online Wednesday, Feb. 26.ISIS said it would ensure Christians’ safety in exchange for the levy and their adherence to...U.S. hate groups in decline as radical ideas go mainstream
The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual Year in Hate and Extremism report, which tallied 939 active hate groups and 1,096 patriot groups in 2013, for a total of 2,035, which the organization said remained a relatively high number historically. It represented a 14 percent decline over the 2,367 groups counted in...
Syrian Army prepares ground assault on Yabroud: 175 rebels killed in ambush
February 28th, 20140 DAMASCUS - Syria's army is preparing to assault a key rebel bastion near Damascus, a pro-regime newspaper said Thursday, Feb. 27, as activists reported heavy shelling and fighting the area."The Syrian army is preparing to launch a new phase" on the town of Yabroud near the border with Lebanon in its offensive in the Qalamoun mountains,...Jordan Paliament votes to expel Israeli ambassador
AMMAN — A majority of the Jordanian Parliament voted on Wednesday, Feb. 26, to seek the expulsion of Israel's ambassador to the kingdom after the Jewish state's Knesset debated Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.Prominent lower house deputy Khalil Attieh told AFP that 86 out of 150 members of parliament voted......
Police station comes under heavy gunfire in eastern Saudi Arabia
RIYADH - Unknown gunmen opened fire at a police station in a Shi'a village in eastern Saudi Arabia, wounding three policemen, the interior ministry said Tuesday, Feb. 25.The attack took place late Sunday in the flashpoint of Awamiya village, part of the predominantly Shiite eastern Province district of Qatif where protests erupted in...Social media campaign urges Arabs to stop using derogatory terms when referring to African Americans
“Drop the A-Word” is a social media campaign launched by a new Muslim-American group, and co-founded by metro Detroiters, that urges Arabs to stop using Arabic racial terms when referring to blacks.The terms are Abed and Abeed. Abed is Arabic for slave or servant, and Abeed is the plural form of it. The campaign calls on people...Federal court awards Arab American $1.1 M over employment discrimination by Washtenaw County
DETROIT - On Thursday, Feb. 27, a jury at the Eastern District Federal Court awarded $1.1 million to a former Arab American Washtenaw County employee for being wrongly denied promotion and terminated by the county.Ali Aboubaker, a Tunisian American, was fired from his job at Washtenaw County in 2008, a few months after "expressing...Yemen stops printing leading southern opposition newspaper
ADEN - Yemeni authorities have prevented a local newspaper linked to southern separatists from being printed at a government-owned press in Aden, editors said on Sunday, in a move that led to a protest in the port city.The Aden al-Ghad newspaper said officials at the 14 October Printing and Publishing house refused to print its Sunday......
Abbas, Israel, and the right of return
This week, the Palestinian right of return made a special news appearance. For some time, the issue has been a sticking point in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Refusal to budge on the right has been the cornerstone of any Palestinian position. Refusal to recognize it has been at the heart of any...Beirut for the rich only: Average apartment costs $1 million
BEIRUT — A recent study on property prices produced by the real estate advisory agency, RAMCO, shows the average price of apartments in Beirut has risen to $1.091 million."Trade in property and real estate speculation raised the prices artificially until it became almost impossible for people working in this country to live in it,"......
Official in pro-Syrian government party assassinated in north Lebanon
BEIRUT — A senior official in a Lebanese party supportive of the Syrian regime was shot dead Thursday, Feb. 20, in the northern city of Tripoli, sparking clashes in which two people were killed."Masked gunmen opened fire at 7:00 a.m. on Abdelrahman Diab," a senior official in the Arab Democratic Party, as he drove through...Four die during Saudi police raid on house in eastern town
RIYADH- Two Saudi security officers and two people they were trying to detain were killed in a gunfight on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the eastern town of al-Awamiya, the government said, an area where minority Shi'a have staged regular anti-government protests. Shi'a in the region complain of discrimination, a charge denied by the kingdom,......