New York - Ira Sorkin's family left Russia early in the 20th century and none of the attorney's Jewish grandparents suffered or died under the Nazi killing machine. But that good fortune was just too bad, according to one vitriolic man who e-mailed Sorkin recently. "This is in regard to your efforts on the behalf of Bernard Madoff," the message read. "As one Jew to another I deeply regret...

srael - The IDF stepped up efforts to quell violent anti-security barrier demonstrations in the West Bank over the weekend, using, for the first time in six months, the "skunk bomb." "The smell is so strong that people flee immediately," explained an IDF source, noting that the demonstration was dispersed within minutes of firing the bomb into the crowd. On Friday, IDF and Border Police...

Cochin, India - Local authorities in the southern Indian state of Kerala have decided to renovate one of the oldest synagogues in the region as part of a larger heritage conservation and tourism development project, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The Parur synagogue, located in the village of North Paravur, approximately 18 km. north of Cochin, dates to the early 17th century. It was believed...

West Yorkshire, England - Two men who called Auschwitz a holiday camp for Jews have become the first in the UK to be convicted of inciting racial hatred online. The pair fled Britain for the US after being convicted of running an internet campaign. But their hopes of being protected by the US free speech laws ended when they were held in custody for a year before being deported to face sentence...

Spring Glen, NY - State environmental and health officials say they are satisfied Thursday's oil spill at the former Homowack Lodge resort, now known as Machne Bnos Square, has been contained. Joe Naclerio, who was supervising cleanup on Friday for CSC Conklin, the company that had been contracted by the Hasidic sect that owns the hotel, said it was lucky that a culvert under a portion of...

New York, NY - After crying poverty for months, Mayor Bloomberg authorized fat raises for 6,692 of his managers and nonunion employees, worth $69 million over two years. The raises, which will cover virtually all his City Hall staffers, but not himself, will match those given to District Council 37, the city's largest municipal union. There will be a 4% raise retroactive to March 3 of last...

New York, NY - Drivers are about to pay more to use many New York City bridges and tunnels. Tolls are set to rise by 10% at 3 a.m. Sunday on the nine crossings controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. They include the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge - formerly the Triborough Bridge - the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and the Queens Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels. The toll...

Jerusalem - Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews again clashed with police in Jerusalem on Saturday afternoon during the latest Haredi demonstration against the Shabbat opening of the Carta parking garage in the capital. The clash took place in the Haredi neighborhood of Mea Shearim, where police had been deployed to maintain order. The incident began when hundreds of Haredim gathered Saturday...

Jerusalem - Three ultra-Orthodox Jews were wounded, two of whom suffered stab wounds to the head and another beaten, after an altercation with secular Jewish residents of Jerusalem, erupted before dawn on Saturday in a conservative Jerusalem neighborhood, said spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby. The police spokesman said the wounded told police that they were attacked by secular Jews at the Bar Ilan...