Tehran - Iranian leaders will probably take decisive action to quell opposition protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, said Richard Bulliet, an Iran expert at Columbia University. Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated today in downtown Tehran at a rally led by Ahmadinejad’s defeated opponent, Mir Houssein Mousavi, who charges widespread fraud in the June 12...

New York, NY - According to VIN News sources, and also being reported now by the NY Times, Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed today to restore the full funding of Priority7, after-school vouchers, for the next six months. Sources in the Mayor’s office say, the issue will be revisited again after the six months, and at that time a decision will be made for further funding for the vouchers program...

Jerusalem - A 95-year-old Auschwitz survivor donated jewellery he took from the clothing of Jews who were gassed to death at the Nazi camp to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum on Monday. Polish-born Meyer Hack, who now lives in Boston, found the gems while sorting the clothing of victims sent to die in the gas chambers, which was his job at the camp where his mother, brother and two sisters...

New York, NY - Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council have reached an agreement on a budget for next fiscal year. The $60 billion budget includes a sales tax hike of .5 percent. It also means hundreds of city layoffs and job cuts through attrition. The state must approve the sales tax increase, along with a few other tax measures. The legislature in Albany is in turmoil over which...

Manhattan, NY - New York City prosecutors have submitted statements from 113 victims to a judge ahead of failed financier Bernard Madoff's sentencing later this month. The statements submitted on Monday by federal prosecutors include eight from victims who wish to speak at the June 29 sentencing. The 71-year-old Madoff has been jailed since he pleaded guilty in March, admitting that a giant...

New York - The Catskills! About as close to Gan Eden as we can get! Fresh mountain air, no congestion, wide open spaces. We can hardly wait for those summer months. But during these months, parents must remain vigilant. The danger is two-fold: What a child may do and what may be done to a child. I have heard it all: “My child is a yeshivah boy”; “My daughter is a wonderful frum girl.”...

Bermuda - The four men in short-sleeve shirts looked like ordinary tourists, enjoying a Sunday lunch and butter pecan ice cream afterward as they observed the sparkling waters surrounding this Atlantic resort island. But they are Uighurs, Muslims from the vast stretches of western China, an arid and rugged land that is a far cry from Bermuda's sandy beaches and quaint narrow streets lined with...

New York - Stocks tumbled Monday as a key manufacturing gauge came in weaker than expected and the dollar made a comeback. Major indexes were down more than 2 percent, with the Nasdaq the hardest hit of the three, down nearly 3 percent. Stocks tumbled Monday as a key manufacturing gauge came in weaker than expected and the dollar made a comeback. Major indexes were down more than 2...

Syracuse, NY - Abraham Silverbush is the luckiest man in Syracuse: The 77-year-old shop owner will share his $35 million Mega Millions jackpot with his wife Celia and five kids. Silverbush was revealed as the lotto winner during a news conference this morning. Silverbush owns Silverbush Upholstery Shop in Syracuse, and his wife Celia is a 4th grade teacher at Franklin Magnet School of...

Albany, NY - While New York State Senate Democrats have reached a power-sharing deal between Senator Malcolm Smith and Senator John Sampson, after Senator Hiram Monserrate returned to support the party, the battle with the GOP over Senate leadership continues. The deal allows Smith to retain his title of Senate majority leader/president pro temp, while Sampson will take on the role of...

Lakewood, NJ -Extended Stay Hotels, saddled with a huge debt burden from its $8 billion top-of-the-market buyout, filed for Chapter 11 protection Monday, in one of the largest bankruptcy filings by a commercial real-estate company. The filing, made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, came as a legal battle accelerated among the creditors who hold debt...

Tehran, Iran - Gunmen have fired on opposition protesters at a massive march over alleged election fraud, killing at least one person. An Associated Press photographer saw one person shot dead and several others who appear seriously wounded in Tehran's Azadi Square. The shooting came from a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. The gunfire Monday came...

Iran - Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has joined a huge rally against the result of last week's election, defying a government ban. AFP news agency said Mr Mousavi told a crowd of tens of thousands in Tehran he was ready to take part in a new poll. Mr Mousavi, who was making his first public appearance since Friday's vote, believes results were rigged in favour...

West Bank - The state-run Palestinian news agency Wafa today launched a Hebrew version of its service in a bid to give the Israeli public, lawmakers and officials an unfiltered view of their adversary. Available on the Internet at its site, www.hebrew.wafa.ps, the service covers politics, economy, and culture. Wafa said a daily newsletter would also be emailed to Israeli legislators...

Queens, NY - The Vaad Harabonim of Queens ordered the retail establishment known as Queens Pita Bakery and/or Queens Kosher Pita, located at 68-38 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11367, to terminate the employment and any ownership interest of Isaac Ebstein. Ebstein from Williamsburg Brooklyn who earlier in the week pled guilty to felony and misdemeanor sex crime-related charges in the State Supreme...