The Arab American News
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Catch “Sound: The encounter”
Sound: The Encounter is the fruit of collaboration on several levels: between presenters from far and near, and between musicians from a once-shared culture.An adventuresome trio, Sound: The Encounter explores the ancient music from the Silk Route, while updating the shared culture of the region. The group features...
Nelson Mandela dies, world mourns loss of legend
December 6th, 20130 South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection, plunging his nation and the world into mourning for a man hailed by global leaders as a moral giant.Although Mandela had been frail and ailing for nearly a year, Zuma's announcement late on Thursday of the...Nasrallah blames Saudis for Iran embassy bombings
BEIRUT — Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday, Dec. 3, blamed Saudi Arabia for a twin suicide attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut that killed 25 people last month.The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an Al-Qaeda affiliate that claimed responsibility for the attacks, "has an emir and he is Saudi, and I am convinced that it is...Egyptian activists to stand trial over breach of new protest law
CAIRO — Egypt ordered on Thursday, Dec. 12, three prominent political activists to stand trial on protest-related charges, judicial officials said, in another sign of growing intolerance of dissent.One of them, leading dissident Ahmed Maher, was charged with protesting without permission, marking the first time anyone had been ordered...Kuwaiti court upholds law restricting freedom of speech
KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait's top court on Monday, Dec. 2, upheld as constitutional a disputed law under which people who "offend" the emir can be jailed for up to five years. The constitutional court rejected challenges by lawyers defending activists to demand the penal code provision be abolished for allegedly suppressing freedom of speech...String of execution-style killings raises fears in Iraq
BAGHDAD — In the past week, Iraqi police have found the bodies of at least 41 men who were either shot in the head or decapitated in a wave of killings in Baghdad and northern Iraq.The spate of execution-style killings in Iraq has rekindled memories of attacks carried out at the height of the country's sectarian bloodshed and raised...Saudi women launch new drive to get behind wheel
RIYADH — Saudi women activists have re-launched a campaign for the right to drive in the ultra-conservative kingdom, urging women to get behind the wheel on Dec. 28.The call for action is a "reminder of the right so it is not forgotten," activist Nasima al-Sada said, adding that women nationwide are being urged to drive on the chosen...Tunisian rapper sentenced to four months in jail for insulting police
TUNIS — A Tunisian rapper who went on the run after receiving a 21-month jail sentence in absentia in August for songs deemed insulting to police was jailed for four months at a retrial Thursday, Dec. 5.Weld El 15, whose real name is Alaa Yacoubi, had surrendered to the authorities at the courthouse for the hearing. The court found...Attack on Yemen’s Defense Ministry kills more than 50
SANAA — A car bomber and gunmen dressed in army uniforms attacked Yemen's Defense Ministry compound in the capital Sanaa on Thursday, Dec. 5, killing at least 52 people and injuring over 100, in the worst attacks in Yemen in 18 months.No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the country has been grappling with a security...Federal judge declares Detroit officially bankrupt: Cuts coming for Detroit creditors, pensioners
DETROIT — A federal judge on Tuesday, December 3, formally declared Detroit bankrupt, a landmark ruling that clears the way for potentially sweeping cuts to city worker pensions and retirement benefits and for steep and possibly precedent-setting losses to the cash-strapped city's bond holders. The ruling by U.S. Judge Steven Rhodes,...
Gaza returns to donkey days
December 6th, 20130 GAZA CITY - The garbage trucks of Gaza city are at a standstill due to an ongoing fuel shortage affecting all aspects of daily life, including garbage collection, sewage and waste disposal and other vital services. But the local donkeys are here to help.Abu Hesham on his donkey cart won’t be able to clear all the streets of garbage. In...Impossible dialogue
Chances are dim that elections will be held in Yemen next February. Yet without elections, the push for reforms and change that were inspired by the Yemeni revolution would become devoid of any real value. Yemenis might find themselves back on the street, repeating the original demands that echoed in the country’s many impoverished...Miami suburb sued for ‘stop and frisk’ police tactics
Miami — The mayor and police department of a predominantly black Miami suburb have been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit over allegations of aggressive police tactics, including stop-and-frisk searches and arbitrary arrests, targeting African Americans. The 11 plaintiffs named in the lawsuit are led by Ali Amin Saleh, a Latin...Soldier found guilty for running a prostitution ring at military base
Fort Hood, Texas - A U.S. military court found a soldier guilty of taking part in a suspected prostitution ring at Fort Hood, Texas, one of the largest Army bases in the United States.The Fort Hood case was part of a spate of embarrassing sex-related incidents in the military this year that prompted Congress to look at ways to make top...Obama’s Kenyan-born uncle gets green card despite DUI, resisting deportation
WASHINGTON - A U.S. immigration judge ruled on Tuesday that President Barack Obama's Kenyan-born uncle can stay in the United States as a lawful resident, despite his decades dodging deportation and a 2011 drunk-driving arrest.Judge Leonard Shapiro said his decision was based on a federal law granting green cards to foreigners who......
Driver in fatal New York train crash says he ‘zoned out’
New York City —The driver of a New York commuter train that derailed on Sunday, December 1, killing four people, told federal investigators he "zoned out" shortly before the crash, the driver's labor union leader said.The seven-car train was traveling at 82 miles per hour (132 km per hour), nearly threeDriver in fatal New York train...
New FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul Abbate meets with leaders, listens to community’s concerns
December 6th, 20130 Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate.DEARBORN — Paul M. Abbate, the new Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Detroit Division visited The Arab American News’ (TAAN) office on Nov. 25 as part of a series of meetings to introduce himself to the region’s Arab and Muslim communities. TAAN conducted a short introductory interview...Ollie’s restaurant celebrates grand opening of third location
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The Middle Eastern cuisine market might seem overcrowded in Metro Detroit, home to the largest Arab American population outside of the Middle East. But for Ali Hojaij, owner of Ollie’s restaurants, it’s a field with plenty more potential and growth for new investments.This week, Hojaij celebrated the...
Samer Khalaf replaces Warren David as ADC president
December 6th, 20130 DEARBORN — The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) terminated Warren David as its national president and on Wednesday, Dec. 4 appointed Attorney Samer Khalaf as his successor. A statement by the organization thanked David for his service and said that he was "no longer employed with ADC as of Nov. 26," without......
Legal corner: Remember, credit card debt has to be paid back
Young people tend to be careless with their finances. Whether because of lack of education, lack of experience or a general sense of invincibility, young people often find themselves in debt that they have difficulty repaying. Credit card debt is a problem for many college students. During welcome week at many college...Iraqi American featured in Oakland County Executive’s Elite 40 Under 40 Class of 2013
OAKLAND COUNTY — Ziad Kassab, CEO of ZCD Transportation and VP of Guardian Angel Home Health Care Inc., is a member of Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson’s Elite 40 Under 40 Class of 2013. Ziad KassabThe program spotlights the top business and community leaders under the age of 40 who excel in their industry and show......
Pistons honor 23-year-old founder of charity with Game Changer of the Year award
AUBURN HILLS — Alex Zayid, 23, is the recipient of this year’s Detroit Pistons Game Changer of the Year Award. He was presented with the honor Nov. 25 at a Pistons game in Auburn Hills for the work of his charity, Youth For The Fight (YFTF). Zayid, right, with a representative from the American Cancer Society. “Game...Dearborn city council revises special events ordinance after ruling from federal judge in favor of Jones
DEARBORN — On November 26, Dearborn City Council members approved a change to its special events ordinance, in response to a court case led by anti-Islamic pastor Terry Jones last summer, when a U.S District Judge ruled the City's previous ordinance was unconstitutional.Judge Denise Page Hood had ruled that the City had violated the......