Spring Valley, NY - A Rockland County native moved closer yesterday to becoming the State Department's point man in the effort to counter Somalia-based pirates who have been seizing freighters off the Horn of Africa. Andrew Shapiro has been nominated to be Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's assistant secretary for political military affairs. Shapiro was Clinton's chief adviser on...

New York - These days, a visit to the doctor's office often ends in more frustration than answers for worried parents who want to know if their kids have the H1N1 virus. "They should tell us more," said Senad Huskovic, who spent five hours at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens this week seeking a swine flu test for his toddler son Ismar before being sent home without one. "I'm going home knowing...

Orenburg, Russia - The Orenburg Central District Court has convicted four locals for painting a swastika on the Orenburg synagogue, the regional police said today. "A local resident organized a skinhead group together with his three 21-year-old fellows. The group aimed to breach security and to undermine fundamentals of the Russian constitutional system," the police said. The group painted...

Albany, NY - Addressing complaints from Roman Catholic officials and others [specifically a staunch critic of the bill Rabbi Horowitz], the state assemblywoman sponsoring a bill to temporarily lift the statute of limitations on lawsuits alleging the sexual abuse of children said on Wednesday that she would amend her proposal to apply to public as well as private entities. The change would give...

New York - Ever since Sinai, the Jewish nation has been entrusted with a special mission. This mission is unique to the Jewish people precisely because the Jewish nation is unique in one major capacity- each member of the Jewish people has been endowed with a unique ability for something called Dveikus Bashem – cleaving to G-d. The Torah teaches us that Jews have a symbiotic relationship with...

Jersey City, NJ - Watch out, Bernie, your doppelganger is about to make his grand entrance. Paul Cohen, a newspaper advertising executive, has been cast as America’s most notorious con man in the upcoming feature film “Madoff: Made Off With America.” Cohen, 64, learned that he landed the plum role, beating out 45 other Madoff hopefuls. And in doing so, he also landed his first-ever...

Williamsburg, NY - The Department of Parks and Recreation is planning to slash $57 million that’s already been allocated toward the construction of parkland in Williamsburg and Greenpoint over the next six years. The majority of the eliminated funds would have gone towards the construction of Bushwick Inlet Park — a 28-acre waterfront greenspace that was promised to the open-space-starved...

Jerusalem - While Washington and Jerusalem seem to be on a collision course in recent days over the illegal construction of outposts in the West Bank, there are those who remain unfazed by the American pressure. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a prominent Religious Zionism leader, called on Israel on Wednesday to conduct "tough negotiations" with the US on the issue, and added that "yielding to pressure...

Sombor, Subotica, Serbia - Sombor police say that a Jewish cemetery was vandalized in Subotica and that about 11 gravestones were destroyed. The police stated that the investigative judge in Subotica has conducted an inquiry along with the deputy municipal public prosecutor, the local police chief and other police officials, once found, will be charged with vandalizing graves. Police are...

New York - Doctors are testing a new kind of obesity surgery without any cuts through the abdomen, snaking a tube as thick as a garden hose down the throat to snap staples into the stomach. The experimental, scar-free procedure creates a narrow passage that slows the food as it moves from the upper stomach into the lower stomach, helping patients feel full more quickly and eat less. Doctors...

Egypt - President Barack Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims" Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East. "This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," Obama said in a widely anticipated speech in one of the world's largest Muslim countries, an address...

New York - Terror suspect David Williams' father went on an anti-Semitic rant after his son and three others entered not guilty pleas. "The government is blowing this up, especially those Jews," David Williams Sr. said of allegations the four suspects plotted to blow up Bronx synagogues. "Those Jews in the media are turning this into something it is not." The younger Williams and...

Crown Heights, NY - The city is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to rent luxury condos in a Crown Heights building for homeless families. "It's like a hotel. It's the nicest place I've ever lived in," said Nelson Delgado, 36, who moved into a swanky two-bedroom, two-bath pad two weeks ago. "It's beautiful," added Delgado, an out-of-work truck driver from Miami who's living with...