Queens, NY - Along the stretch of Main Street that wends its way through this largely Orthodox Jewish community in Queens, Bruce Becker's candy-colored shop stands out among many of the other businesses. Like many of his neighbors, he sells a kosher product and draws in regular crowds after Sabbath. But while many fellow shopkeepers are feeling the pain of slower sales in the recession, Mr...

Williamsburg, NY - Fire department and Hatzolah are responding to a working fire at the bakery section of 50 x 200 brick building of One Stop Kosher Supermarket at 98 Rutledge Street between Bedford Avenue and Wythe Avenue. U/D: 12:16 am. Fire under control, no reports of any injuries at this time. ...

Boulder, CO - A man displaying "bizarre behavior" and throwing rocks at a townhome window early Friday morning was shot by a sheriff's deputy after a struggle in which the suspect seized a Taser and pointed it at the deputy. The Boulder Sheriff's Office identified the man as Cosmo Daniel Moshe Grill, 22, an Israeli citizen who moved to Boulder recently from New York City. The deputy who shot...

England - The Government is looking at proposals to offset new visa laws which have hit young strictly Orthodox Jews who want to marry partners from abroad. The age for a spouse being granted permission to live in Britain was raised from 18 to 21 in a move designed mainly to combat forced marriages among the Asian community. But representatives of the Charedi community, whose members...

New York - In the mosaic of America, three groups that have been unusually successful are Asian-Americans, Jews and West Indian blacks - and in that there may be some lessons for the rest of us. Asian-Americans are renowned - or notorious - for ruining grade curves in schools across the land, and as a result they constitute about 20 percent of students at Harvard College. As for Jews, they...

Passaic, NJ - Surveillance video shows a Passaic, New Jersey, police officer beating a 49-year-old man standing idly on a street corner. The beating was captured on surveillance cameras outside Lawrence's Grill and Bar in Passaic, New Jersey. Surveillance tape from Lawrence's Grill and Bar in Passaic on May 29 shows a police car pull up to Ronnie Holloway, who is standing still on the curb...

New York, NY - Two state lawmakers want New York City's public housing agency to install a safety device on all its elevators that experts say could have prevented the death of a 5-year-old Brooklyn boy who fell down a shaft while trying to escape a stalled elevator last year. The lawmakers - Assemblyman Brian P. Kavanagh of Manhattan and State Senator José M. Serrano of the Bronx and East...

London - The Board of Deputies is studying the implications of the new Equality Bill amid concerns that it could become harder for religious organisations to restrict jobs to members of their own faith. Jon Benjamin, the Board’s chief executive, said he was consulting heads of other Jewish organisations about the proposed legislation, which received a second Commons reading. “We are...

Jerusalem - Israeli police fired water cannons at thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem who threw stones in protest on Saturday against the opening of a public parking lot they see as a violation of religious law. Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said six officers were injured by stones and some protesters were arrested in the scuffles that erupted at the Israeli city hall...

Brazil - Brazilian search crews on Saturday retrieved the first bodies from a crashed Air France flight in the Atlantic, and investigators said faulty speed readings had been found on the same type of jets. Navy ships found the bodies of two men and debris including a blue seat with a serial number matching Air France Flight 447, a rucksack containing a vaccination card, and a briefcase with...