New York, NY - When the Health Blog Googled “flu”, we were surprised to see an ad for the New York City Health Department show up at the top of the search results page. So what’s a public-health agency doing buying search ads? We gave the health department a call to learn more, and got the skinny from Jeffrey Escoffier, director of health media and marketing. The city, which has...

Australia - After years of inaction, the Victorian Government announced this week it would strengthen the laws against racially motivated crime. On Tuesday, Attorney-General Rob Hulls said the Sentencing Act would be amended so judges were required to take into account whether the motive of the crime was hatred or vilification. This amendment will bring Victoria into line with NSW, Western...

New York, NY - Complaints of wage and labor violations are on the rise at low-end supermarkets, gourmet grocers, coffee shops and four-star restaurants, state labor officials said. The agency fielded 8,000 cases in 2008; this year, it’s up to 10,000, Deputy Labor Commissioner Terri Gerstein said. She was standing in front of a Bushwick Key Food to announce the results of a sweep involving...

White Plains, NY - An alleged homegrown terrorist struggled to keep his pants on in court today while telling the judge he was also struggling to comprehend the charges against him. Ex-con Laguerre Payen, 31, was briefly removed from the White Plains federal courtroom after his jeans fell down, exposing his boxer underwear before he and three co-defendants were arraigned on an eight-count...

Washington - President Obama said Wednesday that he was receptive to Congressional proposals that would require every American to have health insurance and that would force employers to offer health insurance to their employees. But he said there should be exemptions for people who cannot afford coverage and for small businesses in general. Mr. Obama set forth his views in a letter to the...

S. Paul, MN - A Minnesota rabbi is in hot water after a controversial piece in the latest issue of Jewish culture magazine Moment. In a piece featuring several rabbis, Rabbi Manis Friedman of Bais Chana Institute of Jewish Studies in St. Paul responded to the question "How Should Jews Treat Their Arab Neighbors?" by suggesting that Jewish people should kill Arab men, women and children in...

New York - Artificial turf fields pose no significant health risk to users or the environment, according to a study by two New York agencies. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Health focused on crumb rubber, the base layer used on most modern artificial fields that is derived from recycled tires. Various tests conducted at two fields found the...

Paris France - French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a strong condemnation of new remarks from Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denying the Holocaust. "The president of the republic condemned the remarks made today by the Iranian president questioning the reality of the Holocaust," a statement from the Elysee said. Sarkozy had told Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki during a...

Manhattan, NY - Tourist-hungry hotels are slashing room rates - even the famed Waldorf-Astoria, where anyone with a couple of Ben Franklins can bed down. The Park Ave. landmark, where the rich and famous pay $5,000 a night for the best suite, is offering $199 rooms for the hoi polloi who book in advance. The accommodations are on the small side - a cozy 210 square feet - but let's just say...

Jerusalem - Senior Israeli officials expressed irritation on Wednesday that President Obama had declined to acknowledge what they called clear understandings with the Bush administration that allowed Israel to build West Bank settlement housing within certain guidelines while still publicly claiming to honor a settlement “freeze.” The complaint was the latest in a growing rift between the...

New York City - New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. today joined with City Councilmembers Bill de Blasio and David Weprin and child care advocates to oppose City Hall’s plan to slash 3,000 child care vouchers from the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) budget. “At a time when we many families across this city, our neighbors and friends, are struggling against...

Kassel, Germany - A German federal court ruled today that two Jews who were forced by the Nazis to work in ghettos have a right to a pension for their labor, setting the stage for thousands of others to receive payments. The Federal Social Affairs Court in Kassel ruled that the two qualified for pensions because, although they did not receive financial compensation for their work, they...

Albany - A measure to enact tough, new restrictions on teenage drivers is suddenly rolling through the Assembly after languishing there for months and now is poised to pass both legislative houses before the 2009 session ends later this month. The bill’s many provisions would require teens to face longer prelicense training periods and ban teen drivers from using any portable electronic...

Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel - For Zehava (not her real name), the decision to break with the stringent cultural norms of her tight-knit haredi community in Ramat Beit Shemesh and report the suspected sexual abuse of her three-year-old child to the secular authorities came quickly. "I grew up in the community, but I have always been open and accepting of the world around me," begins the...

Mali - Gordon Brown today condemned as "barbaric" the killing of a British hostage being held by an al-Qaida group in north Africa. He told the Commons at question time that those responsible for the murder of Edwin Dyer in Mali would be "hunted down and brought to justice". He said: "I, and the whole house, will utterly condemn this appalling and barbaric act of terrorism. Our thoughts and...