By Sahar AkbarzaiHalimah Yacob, 63, has become Singapore’s first female president. As a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay community, she was a member of the People’s Action Party for two decades before she decided to run for president and is now the first ethnic Malay to win the presidency in decades. Yacob had two…
By Sahar AkbarzaiA 38-year-old Muslim woman wearing hijab was beaten by a group of three boys in front of the Usera metro station in Madrid, where she suffered cuts, bruises and anxiety symptoms. Madrid police are treating the incident as a hate crime and an Islamophobic attack committed out of revenge following the two attacks in Barcelona and…
By Sahar AkbarzaiPresident Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio, the Arizona sheriff who was convicted in a federal court for federal contempt and disobeying a court order to end patrols targeting Hispanics without charge and convicting them. Arpaio, now 85, was set to be sentenced on Oct. 5. Speculation that Arpaio would be pardoned grew when Trump hinted at…
By Sahar AkbarzaiNational security advisor H.R. McMaster showed President Donald Trump a 1972 picture of Afghan women in skirts as a way to motivate him to continue the war efforts in Afghanistan, according to the Washington Post. The picture was used to convince Trump that the country had once adopted Western values, and still could if the…
By Sahar AkbarzaiPresident Trump announced on Monday his administration’s plan for the war in Afghanistan. The stated strategy included an increase in troops that secures the region from ISIS and Al-Qaeda militants, condemnation of a hasty withdrawal from the country that could have negative consequences for Afghanistan and the U.S., a warning to Pakistan if it continues to…
By Sahar AkbarzaiPresident Trump fired his former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, on Friday, Aug. 18. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed in a statement Bannon’s removal. “White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day. We are grateful for his service and wish him the…
By Sahar AkbarzaiPresident Trump held a press conference on Tuesday blaming both neo-Nazis and white supremacists, along with the “alt-left,” for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, VA on Saturday, after Klu Klux Klan members and other white supremacists held a protest and clashed with anti-protesters. The remarks came a day after Trump explicitly condemned groups such…
By Sahar AkbarzaiA new law in Indiana aims to shut down hundreds of polling locations in a county that is home to the biggest population of Hispanics and the second-largest population of African Americans by consolidating precincts with fewer than 600 active voters as of the 2016 election. The new law, the Lake County Precinct Consolidation Law, which…
By Sahar AkbarzaiA painting of the State of Liberty, which depicts her wearing hijab, has caused anger as it hangs in Rep. Lou Correa’s (D-Calif) district office, as part of an annual Congressional Art Competition. The painting won fourth place in California’s 46th district. There are some who #hate this painting and want me to take it…
By Sahar AkbarzaiThe Department of Justice is planning on investigating affirmative action policies in universities in the United States, according to an internal document released by the New York Times on Tuesday night. In the document released, it stated the Civil Rights division of the department was in search of lawyers to work on “investigations and possible…
By Sahar AkbarzaiAn attack on a mosque occurred around evening prayers on the night of Tuesday, Aug. 1, in Herat, Afghanistan, killing 29 people and injuring 64 others. The attack occurred at a predominantly Shiite mosque named the Jawaida Mosque. According to an Afghan police spokesperson, the two attackers also lost their lives. One attacker fired at…
By Sahar AkbarzaiIn what seems to be an episode of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” Trump’s White House seems to be facing constant instability. The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, first resigned on July 21 after it was confirmed that the New York hedge fund magnate, Anthony Scaramucci, also knows as “The Mooch,” was hired as the new…
By Sahar AkbarzaiAllegations of collusions and connections between members of the Trump team during and after the 2016 presidential campaign had been tossed around for months. Jared Kushner, senior advisor to President Trump, including on the Middle East, made a public statement in front of the White House on Monday, after his meeting with Senate intelligence committee…
By Sahar AkbarzaiDeedra Abboud is a Muslim American seeking the 2018 Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Arizona against Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz). While no Democrat has won a seat for the U.S. Senate in Arizona since 1988, it wasn’t her party affiliation, rather her religion, that made the headlines. Abboud posted a tribute to the…
By Sahar AkbarzaiArchaeologists have recently discovered the slave quarters of Sally Hemings, a female slave who lived in President Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home, and whom Jefferson had six children with, according to many historians and DNA testing. The discovery was part of the Mountaintop Project, a $35 million project which will restore the mansion to Jefferson’s time,…
