Ogdensburg, NY - The owner of kosher food operations in Ogdensburg will be evicted by the city for failure to pay rent and utilities. Ahava of California LLC, Venice, Calif., reportedly owes the city $90,000 in back rent and $618,138 in delinquent utility payments, according to a four-page complaint filed Friday. "They haven't paid a penny to us," City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra said Friday...

Washington - Anthony Lake served as one of Barack Obama’s principal counselors on foreign affairs during the campaign and exchanged e-mail messages with him regularly. But now that Mr. Obama is president, Mr. Lake no longer has his e-mail address. “No,” he said when asked if he had it. “Did. Don’t.” Neither does Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, nor Steny H. Hoyer, the...

Paris, France - An umbrella group of Jewish groups sought assurances from French President Nicolas Sarkozy that authorities would do more to stem a rise in anti-Jewish crime due to the war in the Gaza strip. Some 100 acts targeting Jews were reported in France since Israel launched its offensive against Gaza's Hamas Islamist rulers in late December, said the Representative Council of Jewish...

New York, NY - So-- just how clean is your favorite restaurant? Would you give it an "A","B" or "C"? City officials believe you have right to know -- that's one of the reasons their implementing a new grading system for health inspection scores. And that grade will have to be posted where diners can see it. The restaurant lettering system will be phased in over the next two years and posted...

Vatican City - A UK-born cleric who denied the existence of Nazi gas chambers has apologised to the Pope for causing any distress - but without retracting. Richard Williamson also thanked Pope Benedict for allowing him to rejoin the Roman Catholic Church after being excommunicated on an unrelated issue. He apologised for his "imprudent remarks" in a Swedish TV interview. Pope Benedict...

New York - Burt Ross — an Englewood resident, former mayor of Fort Lee, and well-known Bergen County real estate developer we be the special guest on Talkline with Zev Brenner, this Saturday night, January 31, 12 midnight. Tune into WMCA 570 AM or via www.talklinecommunications.com Mr. Ross lost $5 million, through direct investments with Bernard Madoff. ...

Portland, ME - Portland police are investigating a case of vandalism at a synagogue. Authorities said sometime overnight someone painted a swastika on the welcome sign at congregation shaarey tphiloh on noyes street. In response to the vandalism, the rabbi of the synagogue is calling on the community to come together to stand against hate. Sunday morning at eleven, a special meeting will...

Manhattan, NY - There is perhaps no man in America as reviled and scrutinized as Bernard Madoff, the investor who reportedly confessed to bilking financiers out of some $50 billion. Hoards of photographers make a habit of amassing outside his Upper East Side apartment building and the federal courthouse for his brief and occasional appearances. But that tumult seems to have had little effect on...

Washington - The FBI is severing its once-close ties with the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, amid mounting evidence that it has links to a support network for Hamas. All local chapters of CAIR have been shunned in the wake of a 15-year FBI investigation that culminated with the conviction in December of Hamas fundraisers at a trial where CAIR...

Lakewood, NJ - Two New Jersey nonprofits who allegedly mislead Pennsylvania donors about the use of their donations reached a settlement Friday with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. Joy For Our Youth Inc., which was doing business in Pennsylvania under the names Kars-4-Kids and Oorah Inc., all of Lakewood, N.J., reached the $65,000 agreement with the Charitable Trusts and...

Lille, France - A court in northern France has sentenced a young neo-Nazi skinhead to six months in prison for scrawling a swastika and anti-Semitic graffiti on a synagogue, a judicial official said. The conviction in Lille is believed to be among the first related to an upsurge of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim attacks in France that authorities say was prompted by the three-week war in the...

Jersey City, NJ - A federal jury in Trenton ordered United Parcel Service to pay $10,000 to a Jersey City man who was denied a job because his Rastafarian religious beliefs forbid him from shaving his beard. The suit, filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charged that the Atlanta-based company discriminated against Roniss Mason, 31, by failing to make an exception to its...

Caracas, Venezuela - A group of approximately 15 armed men forced their way into a Caracas synagogue, defacing its offices with anti-Semitic graffiti and defaced the ark where the Torah is kept. About 15 men forced their way into the Mariperez Synagogue in Venezuela's capital about 10 p.m. Friday, staying until about 3 a.m., police said. They tied up the security guard at the synagogue before...

Williamsburg, NY - Most of the residence of 144 Division Avenue living above Quality Health Medical Center, were rescued from a morning fire that destroyed the entire 2 story corner mixed use commercial structure. But rescue workers from the New York Fire Department and Hatzolah volunteers couldn't get out an 100-year-old man that was trapped inside the building, reportedly at a window waiting...

Albany, NY - Governor David A. Paterson signed into law legislation that will significantly strengthen the handling of probation violations in New York State. The probation legislation sets in place several new requirements that ensure rapid responses to reported probation violations to better protect victims and communities. Under the new probation legislation, criminal courts must react...