Israel - Advice to women from the chief rabbi: Married women should give up their maiden name, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger told hundreds of women at a convention dedicated to Jewish family values and religiosity. "We are currently in an era of permissiveness and there are many messages that create cracks in the Jewish home's whole structure," the rabbi told the women in...

Lakewood, NJ - A motor vehicle accident on Rt 70 and Buckingham Drive emergency units requesting BLS and Medics to respond to the scene, Lakewood police reporting heavy traffic in the area...

Brooklyn, NY—High-profile Assemblyman Dov Hikind, no stranger to controversial issues, has thrust himself to the forefront of a burning Jewish-community issue once again. But this time, perhaps, the stakes have never been higher—because Hikind's target is an issue the long-time activist himself confesses ignorance of until recently: molestation and abuse of children in the Orthodox...

Atlanta, GA - A spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines says flight attendants found a woman's body in the restroom of a plane that landed in Atlanta. Spokeswoman Keyra Johnson says the body was on Delta flight 950 that arrived from Los Angeles. She says the crew noticed the restroom was occupied on the final approach to the airport Wednesday morning. Authorities have not determined the cause of...

New York City - The American Airlines baggage system is not functioning at John F. Kennedy International Airport. A spokesperson for the airline tells WCBS 880 that flights were being held in hopes of getting the system up and running again. Since they weren't able to get the system running, flights have resumed, but are taking off without baggage. The Transportation Security Administration...

Jerusalem - A videotape has been posted on YouTube which may show the moment of pilferage, which the videograph credibly shows is taken "seconds after Senator Obama steps away from the Western Wall." The videographer identifies himself as David Cohen, "a freelance photographer/videographer currently living in Jerusalem." He reports that "Seconds after Obama left the stones, some of his...

New York City - The proposal to build a Costco store in an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side is gaining an important supporter: Mayor Bloomberg. At a press conference yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg said bringing the big-box warehouse chain to the city would help New Yorkers weather a difficult economic downturn. "Costco has a reputation of selling in bulk at very low prices, and...

Zagreb, Croatia - The funeral of a former Nazi concentration camp commander was used to celebrate his crimes, a Jewish human rights group said and urged Croatia's president to investigate. Dinko Sakic's funeral was an "outrageous display of unrepentant racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia," the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Israeli branch director, Efraim Zuroff, said in a letter addressed to...

Jerusalem - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a contender to replace Ehud Olmert as prime minister, publicly acknowledged on Tuesday she had been an agent for the Mossad spy agency. "I served for four years within Mossad," she told army radio. "I also followed training courses and worked overseas." Livni decline to discuss any missions she may have conducted for the agency. "I quit...

Woodbourne, NY - Push open the door at Le Chocolat and the slightly darkened, air conditioned room leads to a glass counter with sparkling black jewels. Yosaif Krohn, the 23-year-old co-owner and manager, places two pieces of chocolate on a china plate and walks to one of the tables. But before he serves the square delight smothered in milk chocolate, he has something to say. Krohn knows...

Cooper City, FL - Efforts by Cooper City to limit space for houses of worship in its strip malls were rejected in court by a judge who ruled, essentially, the city violated a Jewish synagogue's civil and constitutional rights. In her decision, District Court Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga said that a law adopted by the Cooper City Commission wrongly places bans on where houses of worship can be...

Williamsburg, NY - NYPD of the 90th Pct are on the scene at 18 Boerum for a large swastik that was found on the front of this multiple dwelling building, PD requesting Hate Crime units to respond. Williamsburg Shomrim Patrol on the scene...

New York - A new survey shows New Yorkers check their e-mails more than anyone else, and growing numbers even wake in the middle of the night to get their fix. "I was getting taken in for appendicitis and I checked my e-mail in the back of the ambulance," said student Caitlin Reardon, 20, who lives in the East Village. "I had to stay in touch." One in six New Yorkers check their e-mail as...