Washington - President-elect Barack Obama plans to name Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as his secretary of state shortly after Thanksgiving, two senior Obama aides said. The officials said they expect her to accept. Clinton aides had no comment. The choice unites the two rivals in the most protracted presidential primary in American history, giving Obama the "Team of Rivals" Cabinet he...

Washington - Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed tonight while giving a speech to the Federalist Society in Washington, according to three senior administration officials. The 67-year-old Mukasey was rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where his condition was not immediately known. The film clip of Mr. Mukasey at the podium shows him wearing his glasses and in full...

Crown Heights, NY - Whether by plane, train or car, thousands of Jewish activists from all over the world made their way to the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y., for the much-anticipated 25th annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries. The rabbis began trickling in on Tuesday as their flights landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport. More so than in years...

Los Angeles, CA - Dr Pepper The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if a music album by a rock group will be released this year. The cd has been in the works since 1984 and has had many release dates that were never met. This is the reasoning for the challenge. The deal was that if the album released the new cd in 2008, everyone in America...

Queens, NY - A New York City lawyer who pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns has paid the state $4.75 million and given up his law license to settle the case. Menachem L. was sentenced to a conditional discharge today after entering his plea. The sentence means the case is dismissed if Menachem meets specific conditions. The Manhattan district attorney's office says Menachem reduced...

New York, NY - The dam may be about to break on Swiss banking rules that have protected wealthy U.S. clients from IRS scrutiny and that is causing a panic among some relatives of Holocaust survivors and refugees who hid money in Switzerland before the outbreak of World War II. Reports out of Zurich indicate the Swiss government has agreed to give the IRS information about some overseas accounts...

Ramapo, NY - Officials today approved a policy allowing police officers to take days off for religious reason without pay after they've exhausted their contractual days off. The Police Commission's decision came despite the officers' union promising to file a lawsuit challenging it. The Police Benevolent Association's position is that such changes must be negotiated under its collective...

Copenhagen, Denmark - At a time where anti-Semitic acts seem to be on the rise in Europe, a bill was proposed in Denmark that will affect mainly Jews – the banning of male child circumcision. Denmark's National Council for Children has recommended the legislation of a law banning circumcision of boys under the age of 15. The passing of this law would make the Jewish mitzvah and tradition of...

Postville, IA - A judge has ruled that the former manager of an Iowa slaughterhouse that was the site of a large immigration raid is a flight risk and should remain in federal custody. U.S. Magistrate Jon Scoles issued the order today for Sholom Rubashkin. The former CEO of Agriprocessors Inc. was arrested last week on bank fraud charges and had been released on $1 million bond. Federal...

New York - Wall Street slumped Thursday afternoon, as Congress haggled over the fate of the auto industry, Citigroup continued to plummet and stocks flirted with fresh 5-1/2 year lows. Stocks were mostly lower throughout the session after the morning's weak readings on the labor market and manufacturing sector. The major gauges briefly bounced after falling to some key technical levels. But...

Jerusalem, Israel - The Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival has rejected a film created by Orthodox women after the film director demanded screening for female audiences only in accordance with Halacha. The film, "A Light For Greytowers," directed by Robin Garbose, was initially accepted by the festival on the basis of its artistic merits. The film was slated to be screened during the festival...

New York City - In an attempt to snuff out smoking in the city, the New York City Health Department is handing out free nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges. The items are being distributed today at 41 hospitals, community organizations, and clinics across the five boroughs. Health officials say there are about one-million smokers in the city – about 300,000 fewer than six years...

New York - Oil settled under $50, touching the lowest level since May 2005 as record U.S. job losses intensified concerns of a long and deep global recession and further crushed demand expectations. The U.S. government reported the number of workers making new claims for jobless benefits last week surged to the highest in 16 years, helping to push down global equity markets. U.S. light...

New York - Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) slipped to a 14-year low in New York trading on Thursday despite reports that Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud decided to raise holdings in the bank back to 5 percent. The New York-based bank has already added $75 billion in new capital since a year ago in the third quarter. It raised $50 billion through public...

Boston, MA - For 63 years, Martin Vogel longed for information about how his only brother -- his best friend and a fellow U.S. soldier -- died in World War II. He knew that Bernard "Jack" Vogel had tried to escape from a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, but the details were sketchy. Martin was so devastated after the war, he didn't ask too many questions. But as time passed, his thoughts often...