Savannah, GA - A Savannah family is taking a leap of faith and hoping their fundraiser goal can be met by Thursday. That's when their two-year-old son heads to New York for what could be a lifesaving therapy. Problem is, the family's insurance company refuses to fund it. The price tag is $125,000. The Landons are squeezing as much family fun in as they can, because come Thursday, they'll be...

Mumbai - They said that just one look at the bodies of the dead hostages as well as terrorists showed it was a battle of attrition that was fought over three days at the Oberoi and the Taj hotels in Mumbai. Doctors working in a hospital where all the bodies, including that of the terrorists, were taken said they had not seen anything like this in their lives. "Bombay has a long history of...

New York, NY - The city grappling with the aftershocks of the global financial crisis, has been forced to refund more than $800 million to companies that overpaid their taxes this year based on expectations of a more robust business performance. The refunds - three times the amount typically returned - have triggered deep unease among city budget officials, who are already struggling with...

Mumbai, India - A report in several media outlets that some of the killed during the terrorist raid of the Chabad House were found wrapped in prayer shawls is false, despite the credence lent it by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's repetition of the tale. "The pictures of the Jewish victims and this terrible image of the directors of the Chabad House wrapped in a tallitot are shocking and...

Jerusalem - David Bialka, a resident of Netanya, Israel, was miraculously saved from the tragic events that occurred this past week in Mumbai, India. “The Creator of the World gave me my life anew,” Bialka tearfully related, “It was as if I was born again just yesterday.” In an exclusive interview Mr. Bialka gave to Israel CH. 2 TV he described his ordeal, he had gone to sleep in the...

Mumbai, India - On the last Shabbat evening in Mumbai before Rivka and Gavriel Holtzberg were brutally murdered by Islamic terrorists, there was an unusually rapturous mood at the Sha'ar Shamayim Synagogue. "There were barely 10 of us, but we spontaneously broke out in song and dance that lasted for a long time," recalled Yossi Katz, a professor of geography at Bar-Ilan University and one of...

Williamsburg, NY - The city is backing off a pledge to spend $2 million to battle tenant displacement along the Brooklyn waterfront. The Bloomberg administration committed to creating the fund in an agreement that was key to gaining community support - and City Council approval - for a 2005 rezoning. That rezoning allowed for high-rise residential development on the Williamsburg and Greenpoint...

New York City - Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) and Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) announced today they will introduce legislation which would ban the city from purchasing bottled water and water coolers for government offices and city agencies. More than 30 cities across the country have taken steps to reduce spending on bottled water, including San Francisco, which last year prohibited...

India - A top Russian counter-terrorism expert on Sunday underlined that the Mumbai attackers were not "ordinary terrorists" and were probably. trained by the special operations forces set up in Pakistan by the US intelligence prior to the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. "The handwriting and character of the Mumbai events demonstrates that they were not ordinary terrorists," said...

Washington - An American rabbi said Sunday that he heard a woman's desperate cry for help as he spoke to one of the assailants at the Mumbai Jewish center before everyone inside the building was killed. Rabbi Levi Shemtov said he made contact with the gunman when he called the cellphone of Gavriel Holtzberg, one of the hostages at the Chabad House, after the attack began on...

Washington - Although Americans' attention has been focused primarily on domestic issues, including the sour economy in recent months, this week's deadly attacks in Mumbai are a horrific reminder that the threat of terrorism remains high around the world, including the United States. The set of coordinated attacks on 10 strategic sites in India's financial capital left more than 150 people...

Postville, IA - Federal authorities are going after two life insurance policies held by the owner of Agriprocessors. Court records allege the troubled Postville meatpacking company has been paying thousands of dollars each month for premiums on two $3 million insurance policies on Abraham Aaron Rubashkin's wife. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa filed actions against...

New York, NY - People late for school or work because of New York City subway delays can get notes from the transit agency to give to their teachers or bosses. The New York City Transit division says it gives passengers the notes so they can prove they're not lying about being delayed while riding the subway. Passengers request the delay verification letters over the phone. NYC Transit...

Israel - Foreign Ministry officials say the bodies of Rabbi Gavriel and Rebetzen Rivka Holtzberg are not being delayed at this point by anything other than typical flight scheduling problems. "A plane already left Mumbai today," said spokesman Yossi Levi. "We are not sure it will be possible to arrange for another one later in the day. We are trying, but we will see." The families of the...

Mumbai, India - Four days after the attack on Nariman House, a Jewish religious centre in the Indian city of Mumbai, three of the nine bodies found in the centre have not been positively identified. A team of experts from Israel has been sent to Mumbai to aid with identification of the three remaining bodies. It is thought that the three could have been Israeli travellers that had little contact...