Suspect in Portland commuter train attack arraigned in court
June 2nd, 20170 PORTLAND — The suspect in a May 26 attack on a commuter train that left two men dead and one injured was arraigned inside the Multnomah County Justice Center Courthouse on Tuesday. Jeremy Joseph Christian, a 35-yearold convicted felon, was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of second-degree intimidation and one...
Trump administration approves tougher visa vetting, including social media checks
June 2nd, 20170 WASHINGTON-The Trump administration has rolled out a new questionnaire for U.S. visa applicants worldwide that asks for social media handles for the last five years and biographical information going back 15 years. The new questions, part of an effort to tighten vetting of would-be visitors to the United States, was approved on May 23 by...
Trump to pull out of Paris agreement
May 31st, 20170 President Donald Trump will follow through on a campaign pledge to pull the United States out of a global pact to fight climate change, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters, a move that promises to deepen a rift with U.S. allies. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, did not confirm the decision in a post on...
Suspect in Portland commuter train attack to be arraigned in court
May 30th, 20170 PORTLAND-A man will appear in court in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday to answer charges that he murdered two men who tried to stop him hurling religious slurs against two women of Muslim appearance on a commuter train. The attack came as some religious rights groups warn of a rising tide of anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States,...
Laptop ban may extend to all flights in and out of US
May 30th, 20170 WASHINGTON-The United States might ban laptops from aircraft cabins on all flights into and out of the country as part of a ramped-up effort to protect against potential security threats, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Sunday. In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Kelly said the United States planned to "raise the...
Texas teacher disciplined after giving student ‘terrorist’ award
May 28th, 20170 CHANNELVIEW, Texas - At least one teacher at Lance Cpl. Anthony Aguirre Junior High School in Houston has been disciplined after presenting a seventh grade student with the mock award "most likely to be a terrorist," a school district official said on Friday. "The Channelview Independent School District Administration would like...
Tillerson declines to host Ramadan event at State Department
May 28th, 20170 WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has declined a request to host an event to mark Islam's holy month of Ramadan, two U.S. officials said, apparently breaking with a bipartisan tradition in place with few exceptions for nearly 20 years. Since 1999, Republican and Democratic secretaries of state have nearly always hosted...
Two men stabbed to death on Oregon train trying to stop anti-Muslim rant
May 27th, 20170 PORTLAND- A man fatally stabbed two passengers aboard a Portland, Oregon, commuter train after they tried to stop him from harassing two young women who appeared to be Muslim, police said on Saturday. Police identified the assailant, who was arrested soon after the Friday afternoon attack, as Jeremy Joseph Christian of Portland, a...
BREAKING: ICE detains employees at Ann Arbor restaurant
May 24th, 20170 ANN ARBOR-After eating breakfast at popular Ann Arbor restaurant, Sava's, a small team of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officers proceeded to interrogate and detain between three and five employees. The officers entered the restaurant, located at 216 S. State around 11:30 A.M. on Wednesday, entering the kitchen while the...
Trump budget poised to slash healthcare for poor, other programs
May 22nd, 20170 WASHINGTON-The White House is set to release President Donald Trump's first full budget on Tuesday, a plan that will include a cut of more than $800 billion from the Medicaid program for the poor and reductions in other social spending. The Medicaid cuts were part of a Republican healthcare bill passed by the U.S. House of...
To ease fears, Muslim schools reach out to neighbors
May 19th, 20172 NEW YORK — At a Roman Catholic high school in New York's Long Island suburbs, two dozen visiting Muslim students knelt and prayed while teens in uniform blazers from the host school looked on. The trip's agenda was simple: give students whose schools are just 10 miles apart but culturally worlds away a chance to get to know each...
US special counsel named to investigate Trump-Russia ties
May 17th, 20170 The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow. The move followed a week in which the White House was thrown into an uproar amid rising...
Former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning leaves prison
May 17th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.-Chelsea Manning walked out of a U.S. military prison on Wednesday, seven years after being arrested for passing secrets to WikiLeaks in the largest breach of classified information in U.S. history. Manning, 29, was released from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at about 2 a.m., according to...
Trump: ‘absolute right’ to share information with Russians
May 16th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.-Facing heavy criticism over his handling of highly classified information, U.S. President Donald Trump defended having shared "facts" with senior Russian officials, saying on Tuesday he had an "absolute right" to do so and had been trying to get Moscow to be more active in combating Islamic State militants. Trump's...
US: Syrians built crematorium at prison to dispose of bodies, Syria denies accusations
May 16th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.-The United States has evidence Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has built a crematorium at a large military prison outside the capital Damascus, a State Department official said on Monday. Stuart Jones, acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, said U.S. officials believe the......
Trump defends his ‘absolute right’ to share information with Russians
May 16th, 20170 WASHINGTON- Facing a deluge of criticism over his handling of highly classified information, U.S. President Donald Trump defended having shared "facts" with senior Russian officials, saying on Tuesday he had an "absolute right" to do so and had been trying to get Moscow to be more active in combating ISIS militants. Trump's...
Trump to create panel to study voter fraud, suppression: official
May 11th, 20170 WASHINGTON-President Donald Trump plans to create a commission on Thursday to investigate voter fraud and voter suppression, a White House official said, a move that follows Trump's unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump planned to sign an executive order creating the Presidential Commission on...
Bronx substitute fired after ripping 8-year-olds hijab off
May 10th, 20170 NEW YORK CITY-A substitute teacher received a scolding by Education Department officials after he ripped a hijab off the head of a Bronx second-grader last Tuesday. Police sources said on 1 p.m. on that day, Oghenetega Edah, 31, demanded that Safa Alzockary, 8 take off her religious scarf around 1 p.m. last Tuesday, cops said. The...
U.S. anti-Muslim bias incidents increased in 2016, group says
May 9th, 20170 BOSTON- When the Masjid Al-Kareem mosque in Providence, Rhode Island, received a threatening letter in November calling Muslims a "vile and filthy people," its members were frightened enough they asked for and got extra police protection. The 42-year-old mosque was far from alone. The letter it received was one of 2,213 anti-Muslim......
Muslim shopper harassed at Trader Joe’s
May 8th, 20170 WASHINGTON ― A video of a woman appearing to tell off a Muslim shopper went viral, in which the woman told her, “I wish they didn’t let you in the country." The encounter allegedly took place at a Trader Joe’s in northern Virginia over the weekend, according to a South Carolina-based comedian who posted the video and claimed...
Federal reserve keeps interest rate unchanged at .75 to 1 percent
May 5th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but downplayed weak first-quarter economic growth and emphasized the strength of the labor market, in a sign it could tighten monetary policy as early as June. In a bullish statement following the end of a two-day policy meeting, the central bank also......
CNN won’t air Trump’s ‘100 days’ ad
May 5th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C. — An ad by Donald Trump's campaign that featured the president jeering at the mainstream media network CNN for being "fake news" will not be aired by the station, sources said Tuesday. In a statement addressing the ad, CNN said that they "requested that the advertiser remove the false graphic that says the...
Illinois village attains welcoming status
May 5th, 20170 SUMMIT, IL — The Village of Summit, in Illinois attained welcoming community status following a unanimous vote at a village hall meeting. The meeting, taking place on Monday night at 7 p.m. central time, passed an ordinance that would restrict local police cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials with......
