New York City - Rep. Charles Rangel said today he will give up one of his four rent-stabilized apartments, for which he has paid about half of market rate for more than a decade. "The decision has been made to relocate as soon as possible," said Rangel spokesman Emile Milne, as the Harlem Democrat faced a storm of controversy. Rangel's announcement that he would move out of one of his Lenox...

New York, NY - Truck drivers carrying overweight loads are risking heavy fines if they try to cross New York City's bridges and tunnels. The MTA's Bridges and Tunnels division says truck drivers carrying more than 80,000 pounds can be fined as much as $10,000 each for crossing MTA facilities. Overweight vehicles stress roadway pavements and decks. The extra weight accelerates wear and tear...

Miami Beach, FL - A bicycle-riding Miami Beach man has been charged under a hate crime law after police say he slapped at a rabbi and blurted: "You .... Jew." Pichardo Dearmas, 49, was charged with assault with prejudice, a misdemeanor, and is being held at Miami-Dade County Jail, on $1,000 bail. Rabbi Abraham S. Mann, 36, formerly of the Hallandale Jewish Center -- wearing a black-brimmed...

Borough Park, NY - The NYPD and Shomrim Patrol have put out an urgent alert to the Borough Park community, to be on the lookout as a strong spike in recent few days of thieves breaking into houses, and robbing it An hour ago on 1246 54th st. 3 males with false ID's as inspectors, forced them self into a house & robbed the place...

New York, NY - A group of Americans, Canadians and Israelis who claim Hezbollah rocket attacks injured them and killed relatives have accused two banks of helping finance the terrorist attacks and have sued them for $650 million. The 85 plaintiffs say in court papers the American Express Bank Ltd. of New York and the Lebanese-Canadian Bank SAL of Beirut unlawfully transferred millions of...

Trenton, NJ - Governor Jon S. Corzine will embark on his first official visit to Israel this week, with a focus on identifying new opportunities to foster trade, investment and commercial relationships between New Jersey and Israel. The Governor will concentrate on business opportunities in industries that include stem cell research, alternative energy, green technologies, and research and...

Pasadena CA- Hundreds of worried IndyMac Bancorp Inc. customers lined up Monday to pull as much money as they could from the failed financial institution. However, federal regulators said it could be years before the affairs of the bank were fully resolved. Charles Tengeri, a retired school teacher, was the first customer to emerge from the Pasadena headquarters of the bank. He held a...

Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tells state television he'll attend the next UN General Assembly meeting expected to be held in New York in September. Ahmadinejad has attended every annual UN General Assembly meeting since he was elected in 2005. He told state TV on Monday that he will attend September's meeting in order to defend Iran's rights and propose changes to what he...

Edison, NJ - Two swastikas were scrawled on the walls inside the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva in Edison in what police are calling a bias crime. A 19-year-old student at the Woodbridge Avenue school discovered the word "Jesus" written on the wall of a staircase, then found a 2-foot by 2-foot swastika drawn in green marker on the wall of the landing. A 2-foot by 3-foot image of male genitalia...

Barack Obama's campaign has denounced a New Yorker magazine cover showing the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist as "tasteless and offensive." The magazine's editor called the cover a work of satire. The illustration on the issue that hits newsstands Monday, titled "The Politics of Fear" and drawn by Barry Blitt, depicts Barack Obama wearing...

Borough Park, NY - A hapless burglar who swiped more than $200 from a Brooklyn apartment was back within moments begging to return the stolen cash - in exchange for the wallet he left behind. Victor Marin, 20, broke into the 40th Street building in Borough Park and made off with the money, but left his billfold - complete with his identification - on the victim's bed. The bewildered victim...

New York City - New York pharmacists are criticizing a "drastic" cut in reimbursement rates, which they say could force some pharmacies out of business. The 2.25% cut, which took effect last week, lowers the reimbursement rate for pharmacists filling prescriptions for patients enrolled in the state's Medicaid and Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage programs. Designed by state lawmakers...

New York - Poison control centers and emergency rooms in the Boston area and nationwide have noted a spike in calls about caffeine poisoning. A recently released report by University of Massachusetts Medical School toxicologist Richard Church tracked 4,600 caffeine-related calls to poison control nationwide in 2005, the most recent statistics available. Half involved people under age...

San Francisco, CA - The secret to finding the perfect parking spot in congested cities is usually just a matter of luck. But drivers here will get some help from an innocuous tab of plastic that will soon be glued to the streets. Tod Dykstra, left, chief of Streetline, and Scott Dykstra glue down sensors. Peter DaSilva for The New York Times The system uses a wireless sensor embedded in a...

Bnei Brak, Israel - A 2-year-old boy was run over by truck when he fell out of his carriage, which his 7-year-old sister was pushing across the street. The carriage tilted when the girl, who was walking beside her mother, pushed it from the curb into the street, and the baby, who was not properly belted in, flew out. The truck was just turning the corner at the time and ran over the baby...