Monroe, NY - Village Trustee James Purcell informed the Monroe Village Board that the Village of Kiryas Joel has decided not to renew the fire contract with Monroe for support services with Monroe’s Mombasha Fire Company. In a letter to the board, Attorney David B. Gubits, council to Kiryas Joel, advised that his client has calculated that it does not make economic sense to pay more that...

Detroit, MI - Chrysler LLC's financial arm on Friday said it would stop offering vehicle leases to U.S. consumers, a sharp break in strategy in response to plunging resale prices for gas-guzzling trucks and tighter credit. "We are shifting our strategy to focus on retail products," said spokesman Bill Porter. "Effective August 1 we will no longer offer lease products in the United...

New York - Livery drivers will now have better access to workers' benefits. Gov. David A. Paterson announced Friday that he has signed a law to aid the drivers in New York City, and in Westchester and Nassau counties. Until now, injured livery drivers could go years without compensation as their cases bounced between the no-fault insurance and workers' compensation systems, Paterson said in...

Staten Island, NY - A motor vehicle accident with two pedestrians struck one of them a child, at 240 Martin and Westwood. Hatzolah responding Code-1 BLS and Medics with two ambulances...

Laos - Avner Bardugo, 25, was making a river expedition Friday morning in Laos by boat when for unknown reasons the craft flipped over and he fell into the water and got swept away. Bardugo serves in the IAF's elite 669 search and rescue unit, which is often alerted to help rescue Israelis who go missing abroad. The missing man was traveling with another Israeli at the time of the accident...

New Orleans - Mayor Bloomberg predicted that New York will eventually adopt a version of his failed congestion pricing plan - but not until the "spineless state Legislature" gets past the November election. "Congestion pricing will come, in New York and lots of other cities, because it is the only way where you are going to do the two things that you need to do - reduce people's driving and find...

Tel Aviv - A group of U.S. experts have uncovered severe shortcomings in Israel's aviation security system, local daily Ha'aretz reported Friday. The major problem affecting flight safety is a lack of proper supervision from civilian authorities, experts from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration concluded following a tour of Israel's aviation facilities, said the report. The group also...

Jerusalem - The Knesset is considering a law that would change the way the Sabbath is officially observed in the State of Israel. The new measure would allow public transportation to run and permit many recreation and entertainment-oriented businesses to open. Government agencies and services would still remain closed. The proposal, which states “the freedom of movement must not be harmed...

Bowdon, Manchester, UK - A row has erupted in Bowdon between residents and members of the local synagogue. At a planning meeting, concerned residents attempted to block an application put forward by South Manchester Synagogue for an extension of its premises licence allowing its hall to stay open three hours longer until midnight for private functions and religious...

New York City - New data show the New York metropolitan area is the largest contributor to America's gross domestic product, but its position at the top of the national ranking may be due more to the inclusion of neighboring economic powerhouses such as Greenwich and Stamford, Conn., than its own economic strength. New York City actually is responsible for less than half of all economic...

Manila, Philippines - A hole the size of a small car in the underside of a Qantas jumbo jet carrying 346 passengers over the South China Sea forced the pilot to make an emergency landing Friday after a rapid descent. The Boeing 747-400 was cruising at 29,000 feet when a loud bang rattled the plane. Video shot by a passenger shows people sitting with their oxygen masks on as the jet descended...

Boston - For Massachusetts retailers and their customers, the summer sales tax holiday has become an annual tradition. But for Jews observing Tisha B’av, the opportunity to take advantage of this summer’s savings would have been lost without the keen eyes of a local legislator. “For observant Jews, if there are goings on at synagogue or they want to use that day as a day of prayer...

Baltimore, MD - Writer Mindy Salazar from the OU's Jewish Action Magazine speaks with Sarai Kashnow about the challenges of being a military spouse, the “toughest job in the military.” Sergeant Joseph Kashnow, and his wife, Sarai, both in their twenties, did not have a typical “shanah rishonah” (first year of marriage). Only three months after getting married in January 2003, Joe was...

Chicago, IL - A University of Illinois law professor says he has offered to represent Iran if it decides to sue the United States over threatened nuclear program sanctions. Iran's Press TV reported that Francis Boyle, an international law expert, is urging Iranian leaders to sue Israel and the United States through the International Court of Justice in The Hague over their ultimatum that Iran...

Jerusalem - Thirty ultra-Orthodox men who studied for their psychometric exams in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox college passed with a score well above the national average, despite not having studied mathematics and English. "Studying maths and English in the yeshiva would have been a terrible waste of time," said Haim Glick, 29, of the Haredi town of Elad, a computer science student. "I hear...