New York, NY - The federal government is sending $261 million to New York City for use mainly on repairs to bridges and pedestrian walkways across the five boroughs, city and state officials said today. The funding, which is part of the national stimulus bill, would supplement the $1.1 billion in infrastructure projects already outlined in the city's capital plan. Construction projects...

Uzhhorod, Ukraine - Investigators discovered a mass grave for 200 Jews in a western Ukrainian city. The JTA is reporting that Rabbi Mendel Teichman, the chief rabbi for the city of Uzhhorod, on the country’s border with Slovakia, and the region, in recent weeks had come across an open area with no fence and no headstones in the local Jewish cemetery. The rabbi then found decades-old...

Washington - The White House heard in two meetings today from non-profit officials opposed to lowering the charity deduction for the wealthy, a move they fear would lower contributions. A cross-section of groups -- including Catholic Charities, the Council on Foundations, and the Orthodox Union -- met with OMB deputy Jeffrey Liebman to press their concerns, a source said. And Jewish leaders...

Jerusalem - An American-born convert to Judaism who has been officially accepted as Jewish by Israel's Chief Rabbinate is struggling to obtain recognition from the Interior Ministry so he can make aliya, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Lukas (Lev) Morgan O'Neil, who was adopted and converted to Judaism as a baby and who grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household in Orange County, California, has...

Washington - The leader of the Pakistani Taliban threatened Tuesday to carry out a terrorist attack on the U.S. capital, and said his forces were behind an assault on a police academy in eastern Pakistan. Baitullah Mehsud said fighters loyal to him raided the police academy on the outskirts of Lahore on Monday to avenge continuing U.S. missile strikes against Islamic militants based along the...

New York - A federal judge has ruled that New York City can severely limit the number of billboards placed along its roadways. Judge Paul Crotty ruled against two companies that own hundreds of billboards in a decision Tuesday. The companies had argued that the city was discriminating against their billboards since smaller signs are allowed throughout the city. But Crotty wrote that it was...

New York City - Starting tomorrow, New York City smokers will have to pay $9 or more for a pack of cigarettes. The 62-cent federal excise tax increase that takes effect on April 1st will push the cost of cigarettes to more than $250 a month for people smoking a pack a day. As many as 20,000 adult New Yorkers are expected to quit smoking as a result of the measure - a response that would prevent...

Borough Park, NY - Council Member Simcha Felder (D – Brooklyn) encourages Passover observers to exercise caution during the upcoming holiday; particularly during the traditional burning of chametz (bread, grains and leavened products) which cannot be eaten during the holiday. Felder encourages those celebrating Passover to abide by the Fire Department’s limit of ten pieces of chametz for...

Bnei Brak, Israel - A 5-year-old was rushed to the hospital after being struck by a vehicle near Yigal Alon Street. At Petah Tikva's Beilinson Hospital the girl was pronounced r''l dead...

Brooklyn, NY - The city's ultra-Orthodox Jews took the Pennsylvania Amish on a walking tour of their world today, saying their communities are naturally drawn to each other with a commitment to simpler lifestyles. "It's reinforcing to the Amish community to see us Jews living the way the Bible says Jews are supposed to live, and have lived since the time of Moses and Abraham," says Israel Ber...

Albany, NY - Gov. David Paterson and New York legislative leaders are rejecting a proposal to put tolls on bridges as part of any deal to bail out New York City's financially troubled mass transit system. Paterson says the Senate's Democrat majority has taken the tolls off the table and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is accepting that. Also under consideration are proposals to hike...

Israel - Wherever a person goes in Israel, he is likely to find a small booklet called the “Tikun HaKlali” of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810). It can be spotted amongst the magazines and pamphlets in dentist’s offices, health clubs, bus stations, and felafel parlors. The “Tikun HaKlali” -- which means the “General Remedy” -- is composed of ten Psalms and a long confessional...

Ottawa, Canada - A Canadian-Lebanese man held for allegedly killing four people and injuring 40 in the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue was ordered released on bail today ahead of his extradition hearing. Judge Robert Maranger set "very, very strict conditions" on Hassan Diab including that he remain in his home in Ottawa, and wear an electronic tag. Diab, a part-time university sociology...

Israel - Africa-Israel Investments, an Israel-based real estate company, reported its fourth quarter and full year results for 2008, with full year revenue falling 45 percent to NIS 6 billion. The loss has been touted as the largest in the nation's history, largely due to sinking American real estate values, including the serious devaluation of the New York Times building. Controlling...

Washington - Mayor Michael Bloomberg is endorsing President Obama's health care plan. He says the nation's mayors deserve a seat at the table in shaping the legislation. The Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent spoke to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington on Tuesday. Bloomberg said the nation's broken health care system must be fixed. He says that's especially true as more...