Atlanta, GA - Congressman Paul Broun tonight stood by warnings that President-elect Barack Obama might set up a Gestapo-like civilian security force. One day after the Athens Republican told a radio talk show that he regretted calling Obama a “Marxist,” a spokeswoman for the Athens congressman said, “We have not issued any official apology” for comparing Obama’s proposals to the...

United Nations, NY - A U.N. conference on religious tolerance broke new ground Wednesday when a half-dozen Arab leaders - including Saudi King Abdullah for the first time ever - stayed in their seats while an Israeli president spoke. Perhaps the reason was that they liked what he said. President Shimon Peres, a Nobel Peace laureate and leading Israeli dove, embraced a 2002 Saudi peace...

Washington, DC - At the request of both parties, a D.C. Superior Court judge has postponed until Nov. 19, a ruling on whether a 12-year-old boy, who has been declared brain dead on Nov. 2, should continue to receive treatment at Children’s National Medical Center. Judge William Jackson was due to rule tomorrow on whether the child, Motl Brody, has in fact died under D.C. law. The Brody...

San Francisco, CA - Vandals have defaced a Holocaust memorial outside the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco, police said today. San Francisco police were notified of the vandalism today when a swastika inside a Star of David was found drawn in black marker on a bench in Lincoln Park, Lt. Neville Gittens said. Similar 4- to 8-inch drawings were found on the nearby memorial; two on a...

Freehold Township, NJ - Rabbi Avraham Bernstein wants his zoning dispute to be heard by a higher power, but the township says the solution lies further down the legal ladder. The township has filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit Bernstein brought last year after he was hit with a summons for running a house of worship out of his home without necessary approval. Bernstein claims his...

Brooklyn, NY - State Assembly member Dov Hikind was subpoenaed Monday to provide testimony and files he has compiled about rabbis and yeshiva employees who have allegedly sexually abused children under their charge, and rabbinic leaders who may have protected the abusers. The Brooklyn Democrat says he has assembled detailed dossiers on “hundreds” of such cases. But he said he would “go...

Washington - The US government has indicted a Swiss bank executive for helping thousands of wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes on billions of dollars of income, the US Justice Department said Wednesday. Raoul Weil, 48, helped about 20,000 American clients conceal 20 billion dollars in assets from US tax authorities from 2002 to 2007, the Justice Department said. Weil was heading the...

New York City - The fight over press credentials, which has been brewing since at least last spring, finally came to a head today when attorney and public advocate hopeful Norman Siegel filed a lawsuit in federal court against Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly on behalf of three independent writers who had their requests for press pass renewals rejected. The lead plaintiff is...

Brooklyn, NY - Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) is again fighting a proposal by Mayor Bloomberg to close budget gaps by increasing taxes. The most recent proposal would impose a six-cent tax on every plastic bag given out to New Yorkers. Felder has insisted on the reducing government spending and forcing City government to do more with less. “At a time when average New Yorkers are...

New York City - U.S. stocks fell for a third day as Best Buy Co.'s warning of a ``seismic'' slowdown in spending and the Treasury's plan to use bailout funds to bolster consumer credit stoked concern the economic slump is deepening. Best Buy, the largest electronics retailer, lost as much as 13 percent after saying profit will decrease in ``the most difficult climate we've ever seen.'' while...

Lebanon - The leader of Hezbollah is warning supporters not to get their hopes up because of the election of Barack Obama. The militant Shiite group is considered a terrorist organization by the United States. In remarks, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned his followers warned against high hopes with Mr. Obama’s election. “Our Arab world, our Third World and our African world can empathize...

Westchester County, NY - It will soon be against the law to leave a parked car running for more than three minutes in Westchester County. The county Legislature has passed a bill meant to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gases. If signed as expected by County Executive Andrew Spano, the law would impose up to a $250 fine for idling. Emergency vehicles would be exempt. ...

Sydney, Australia - The Deaf Society of New South Wales is searching for clues about the lives of a late Sydney Jewish couple and their deaf Holocaust survivor niece, in order to set up a permanent memorial in their name. Sydney couple Alfred and Elsa Epstein bequeathed more than $1 million to the society in 1989, after their niece, Elisabeth (Lotte) Schiller, went to live at the society’s...

Poland - Too poor and too few, Poland's several thousand Jews lack the resources to preserve their heritage, still in jeopardy after the destruction wrought by the Nazis and decades of communism. "It's urgent. If we don't react now, in 10 years, there will be even more ruins," laments Monika Krawczyk, head of the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ). Prior to...

Jerusalem - Newly elected Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat sent a pacifying message to the ultra-Orthodox community Wednesday, saying he saw no reason for the community's selectmen not to take part in the municipal coalition, as long as they agree to its guidelines. Barkat beat Knesset Member Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) on the bid for the capital's mayorship on Tuesday, winning 52% of the...