Houston, TX - Houston's Jewish community says Hurricane Ike ruined many things, including a 60-year-old tradition of challah bread from Three Brothers Bakery. The family owned bakery had planned to make 3,000 loaves of challah for Rosh Hashana. Three Brothers on Brays Bayou says it sustained an estimated $1 million in wind and water damage when Hurricane Ike barreled into Texas two weeks...

New York, NY - The New York Sun is shutting down. Newspaper spokesman Michael Moi says Tuesday's edition of the conservative broadsheet will be the last. Editor Seth Lipsky announced on Sept. 4 that the feisty paper had endured "substantial" losses and would fail at the end of the month unless it found an infusion of cash. The publication laid claim to a grand tradition in 2002 when it took...

New York - U.S. Stocks took a dramatic plunge on Monday afternoon after the government’s bailout plan — touted by its supporters as a balm for the current market stress — failed to pass the House of Representatives, setting off a fresh wave of anxious selling. In yet another day that has shaken the embattled canyons of Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial closed down 777 points to...

Manhattan, NY - A judge says popcorn purchasers worried about breaking a tooth on unpopped kernels should nibble carefully - or eat something else. Insurance broker Steve Kaplan says he encountered a double dud while watching the movie "Superbad" at the AMC-Lincoln Square Cinema a year ago: His tooth hurt and the movie was awful. Kaplan sued to recover $1,250 for dental repairs. But...

Washington - In a moment of historic drama in the Capitol and on Wall Street, the House of Representatives voted on Monday to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry. The vote against the measure was 228 to 205. Supporters vowed to try to bring the rescue package up for consideration against as soon as possible. Stock markets plunged sharply at midday as it appeared that the...

Albany - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced today that his office has filed a settlement agreement with magazine seller MagsForLess.com over the company’s failure to fulfill magazine subscriptions or provide timely refunds to consumers. In settling the Attorney General’s case, MagsForLess.com must improve its Website and ordering process, provide full refunds to consumers who...

Washington - The U.S. House voted Monday to begin debate on legislation for the financial markets rescue plan, clearing the way for a final vote later in the day that would send the measure to the Senate. The plan would give the Treasury Department up to $700 billion in buying power to acquire mortgage assets from troubled financial institutions. click here to watch live the debate and the...

Skokie, IL - The faded papers hint at stark details in the lives of Nazi concentration camp inmates. Letters secretly carried by children through the sewers of Warsaw, Poland, during the 1944 uprising. A 1933 card from a Dachau camp commander outlining strict rules for prisoner mail. A 1943 letter from a young man, who spent time in Auschwitz, to his parents. The more than 250 World War II...

JJerusalem - Israel should withdraw from nearly all territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war in return for peace with the Palestinians and Syria, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted on Monday as telling a newspaper. Olmert, in a caretaker role since quitting on September 21, said he was breaking new ground in calling for a broad pullback from the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians...

New York - The government says Citigroup will acquire the banking operations of Wachovia in a deal facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The sale of Wachovia comes just days after the government's seizure of Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. -- the largest bank failure in U.S. history. Wachovia has been among the banks hardest hit by the ongoing crisis in the mortgage...

Washington - The draft of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, known among certain Republican leaders as a "crap sandwich," is out. All 110 pages of it. It seems to require that Treasury take stock warrants (or senior debt if no equity is available) in exchange for buying junky securities from a financial institution, except for a few small exceptions outlined below. But it doesn't...

Brooklyn, NY - It wasn't until the city came to investigate the unbearable stench that the tenants at 64 Troutman St. in Brooklyn learned they were living with a bag of dead cats. "It was so bad, we thought it was a dead body," said Daisy Terry, who says her landlord left the rotting carcasses in the Bushwick building for two months to pressure longtime tenants to leave their rent-stabilized...

Jerusalem, Israel - In an unprecedented move, the High Rabbinical Court called on the observant public to shun a resident of Jerusalem who has been refusing to grant his wife a divorce for five years. The man, Israel Meir Briskman, fled the country despite a hold-departure order filed against him, and is presumed to be residing in the United States. In ads published in Israel and abroad, a...

Dear readers, friends and supporters, During this period of reflection and introspection, I and the entire VIN News staff wish to personally thank all of you for your support over the past year. It was a year marked with tremendous growth, especially with our newly redesigned website—growth fueled by your loyal and deeply appreciated following. It is this support that has propelled us to...

Woodmere, NY - Emergencey units are all on the scene for a working kitchen fire at 1001 Hazel Place and Westwood Road, Fire Department and Hatzolah have responded and requesting additional units and Medics to respond to the scene for reports of children inside the structure. U/D: 12:58am At this time the fire is out and all searches are negative, all 11 patients are refusing medical attention...