New York, NY - Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has a warning for Mayor Bloomberg: Change term limits at your own risk. "I think people will be angry at him ... and his approval ratings will go down," Silver said. "But he's got to make that determination, not me." "I'm opposed to term limits," he continued. "But the people still voted for them twice." Silver's comments come in the wake of his...

New York - United Airlines has doubled its fee for a second checked bag to $50, citing volatile fuel prices. United says the $50 one-way fee will apply for tickets bought beginning Tuesday for travel beginning November 10 within the U.S. or to or from Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Travelers in first or business classes, "Premier" frequent fliers and active-duty military...

Safed, Israel - After 8 boys and 10 girls, Sima Zalmanov, 47, from Tafed, gave birth to a boy last week, her 19th child. The new boy was born in Rebecca Ziff Hospital in Safed. "It came as a surprise," said Sima Zalmanov of Safed. "I did not think that at my age I would have another child, but it is a great joy for me." Sima, who has been married for 27 years, is the principal of the city’s...

Crown Heights, NY - Police Comissioner Raymond Kelly made a surprise visit yesterday to the neighborhood and was walking on the streets and made stops into some stores to check things out. Mr. Kely also attend a 'Hacnusas Sefeir Torah' celebration that happened at that hour. Mr. Kelly expressed his amazement and said. "If i knew its so interesting here in this neighborhood with many things...

Lazio, Italy - A Nazi war criminal has caused outrage after it emerged that he was invited to judge a local beauty pageant. SS captain Erich Priebke, 95, is serving a life sentence under house arrest near Rome for his part in the World War II massacre of 335 Jews and partisans in 1944 at the Ardeatine Caves outside Rome. However, he was allowed to transmit a video message to participants of a...

Perm Russia - The Perm Jewish community is in grief over the loss of a Jewish family of four, killed among the 88 victims of Sunday's Aeroflot 737 plane crash. Ephraim and Golda Nakhumov, and their two young children were members of the Chabad community of Perm. Eliyahu, their seven-year old was enrolled to begin first grade this week at the Chabad community school, and his four year old...

Brooklyn, NY - After continues controversy and infighting between Crown Heights Shomrim and Shmira Patrol units, the local precinct was taking applications to create a new united patrol organization. Due to the recent conflict between the two patrol factions in crown heights, Shmira and Shomrim, the NYPD 71st Precinct has started working on creating a new Community Citizen's Patrol, under the...

Sydney - With less than a month before Yom Kippur, Australian Jews are preparing for the high holy days and several thousand are planning to practise the ancient custom of kapparot -– where a person’s sins are transferred to a chicken that is swung over their head and then slaughtered. Traditionally the chicken meat, or an equivalent monetary amount, is given to the poor. In the...

Brooklyn, NY - CD was produced by Yochi Briskman and the Neginah crew (Although someone noted to me that it’s the usual Gal Kol crew like Singolda, Volnitz, Avidani, Amit Harel, Rigler, and Gadi Seri). To its great merit, this CD is a true exception in Jewish Music with an excellent choice of songs. Every single song has the potential to be loved and sung over and over at weddings...

Holywood, CA - With heartfelt appeals and joyful performances from a diverse group of celebrity guests, the 2008 Chabad "To Life" Telethon generated more than $8 million for the charity. "We are so deeply humbled and inspired by the amazing generosity shown by our community," said Rabbi Boruch S. Cunin, Director of West Coast Chabad. "Especially in these tough economic times, more and more...

New York City - Mounting embarrassment for taxpayers and Congress makes it imperative that Representative Charles Rangel step aside as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while his ethical problems are investigated. This recommendation does not come easily, considering the New York Democrat’s four decades of service in Congress. But Mr. Rangel himself has felt obliged to request three...

New York Cty - In just a few short days, Daniel L. Squadron has gone from neophyte insurgent candidate to wunderkind. His victory in the Democratic primary last week over State Senator Martin Connor, a 30-year veteran of Albany and onetime Senate minority leader, has made Mr. Squadron, 28, one of the most talked-about figures in New York City politics. Since that stunning victory — he...

Jerusalem - The US Department of Defense has notified Congress of a potential sale to Israel of 1,000 smart bombs capable of penetrating underground bunkers, which would likely be used in the event of a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The notification to Congress was made over the weekend by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the branch of the Pentagon responsible for...

Duluth, MN - A man accused of pretending to be a lawyer in at least 10 states is facing federal charges. Howard O. Kieffer is charged with one count of mail fraud and one count of false statements in impersonating a lawyer. Court documents show he has worked on federal cases in at least 10 states, and North Dakota will be the first state to prosecute him. Kieffer was arrested in Duluth...