New York - The doll said... what?! A cute doll that should coo, sounds like it's spouting a message of hate. The doll is called the Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo. It's made by Fisher Price and sold by stores all over the country. Mea Williams bought the toy and heard something disturbing. "All of a sudden it says, "Islam Is The Light," Williams said. Other moms...

New York - Governor David Paterson has vetoed legislation to extend no-fault insurance benefits to drunk drivers. The bill, S.8294-A, would have repealed New York's Alcohol Exclusion law, which allows insurance companies to deny some coverages to motorists who drive while under the influence. Currently, New York's basic no-fault coverage does not apply to anyone who drives a car while...

Brooklyn, NY - Jewish Response, an organization founded to help defuse anti-Semitism, is alarmed about the high frequency of references to Jews in the current election campaign. Candidates seem to feel that they are helping the Jewish people by promising to further what they believe to be the Jews' interests at every opportunity. However, the exact opposite is the truth. "When only the...

Crown Heights, NY - The battle lines are being drawn between The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization and the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE) with the advent of the season of Kapparot, the ancient Jewish rite of slaughtering chickens to atone for one's sins before the holiday of Yom Kippur. PETA zeroed in for the second year in a row on...

Jerusalem- When Israeli father Avi tried to register his 6-year-old twin daughters for his local Ultra-Orthodox school this year, he was happy to sign a form saying his children do not watch television or use the internet at home. But he was surprised to discover he had to give a "kosher cellphone number". He did not have one. Avi lives in Har Nof, one of the main Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi...

Williamsburg, NY - The application process for 346 affordable rental apartments being constructed has now opened, according to Vincent Abate, chair of Community Board 1. The apartments are being constructed at 34 North Sixth St. and 27 North Sixth St. in the Northside section of Williamsburg. They are being constructed under the Inclusionary Housing Program and the Participation Loan Program...

Sydney - The turmoil in world financial markets has stripped Perth billionaire Andrew Forrest of the title of Australia's richest man, with shopping centre boss Frank Lowy taking the mantle for the first time. The Fortescue Metals Group chief executive's fortune has nearly halved in recent months, as collapsing sharemarkets impact on Australia's multi-billionaires, the Australian newspaper...

New York City - Stocks skidded Monday - with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling to nearly five-year lows - as credit markets seized up and European governments' rush to prop up failing financial firms underscored the global reach of the credit crunch. But the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost as much as 800 points, began cutting its losses as the market close neared. Still, at the...

Boston, MA - The treasurer of Massachusetts has asked the federal government about lending Massachusetts money under the same favorable terms it has given banks and firms during the financial crisis. Treasurer Timothy Cahill's requests to the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston were prompted by the state's inability to borrow from the short-term debt markets. The financial turmoil...

Brooklyn, NY - Traffic is closed in both directions on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway due to a tanker truck fire near the Cadman Plaza exit in Brooklyn, as was reported at VIN News Traffic Report. There are reports ofe one car that may have hit the truck, and large plumes of smoke were seen near the scene, As per NYPD ESU, all occupants are out and safe only one person suffered minor...

Washington, DC - The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up an Oregon dispute between a father who wants to circumcise his 13-year-old son against the wishes of the boy's mother. The case now goes back to an Oregon trial judge to determine whether the boy wants to undergo the procedure. James Boldt, a former Southern Oregon resident who converted to Judaism, says his son wants to be...

Washington - Former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld on Monday blamed the collapse of his firm on a "crisis of confidence" that spread throughout the banking sector. "This was not a lack of confidence in just Lehman Brothers, but part of what has been called 'a storm of fear' enveloping the entire investment banking field and our financial institutions generally," said Fuld, in prepared...

Jerusalem, Israel - A 60-year-old man was killed this afternoon when his car crashed into the back of a bus on Eshkol Boulevard. Emergency medical teams that arrived at the scene tried to resuscitate the man but eventually had to pronounce him dead, ZAKA responding. According to the initial investigation, the accident occurred because the driver had a heart attack...

Sayreville, NJ - A group of thieves broke into a warehouse on Kennedy Drive and drove away with three tractor-trailer-sized shipping with tens of thousands of dollars in women's clothing just 200 yards from the Sayreville police headquarters. The crime occurred just before 4 a.m. at the E.S. Sutton Inc. warehouse at 115 Kennedy Drive, Detective Sgt. David Lasko said. The burglars first entered...

Bucharest - Romania will press ahead with plans for a national Holocaust memorial, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said Monday. Tariceanu said work would soon commence at the site in the centre of Bucharest, the capital, to commemorate some 400,000 Romanian Jews and Roma killed under a Nazi-allied regime during World War II. "The Holocaust must not be denied or forgotten, and it must...