Bnei Brak - Homesh Investments, one of the the ultra-Orthodox sector's biggest firms, said to mangage assets worth tens of millions of shekels, may be on the verge of bankruptcy. Homesh's owner, haredi businessman Asher Shapranovich, was rumored to have disappeared, and possibly to have fled Israel, but he refuted those assumptions by turning up at the firm's offices in Bnei Brak. According...

New York - Other deaths won the headlines, but this month saw the passing of an important figure with local ties. Gen. Bela Kiraly, died July 4 in Budapest at the age of 97. Gen. Kiraly was a true hero several times over. As a young officer in the Hungarian army (which was allied with the Nazis), he was put in charge of 400 Jewish slave laborers on the Ukrainian front. Kiraly bravely...

Borough Park, NY - A Brooklyn grandma got more than she'd bargained for when she rented a copy of "Austin Powers" from her local library and found it spliced with long pornographic scenes. Esther Klein got the tape from the Borough Park branch for her three grandkids, ages 7 to 15. The X-rated footage appeared as the credits rolled at the end. Klein contacted her assemblyman, Dov Hikind -...

Sao Paulo - Brazilian authorities on Monday ruled that an Israeli fugitive alleged to have sexually molested a number of children will not receive refugee status, the Justice Ministry announced. Elior Chen is considered the spiritual leader of a Jerusalem sect that was found to have abused young children, two of whom, aged 4 and 5, were hospitalized in March in critical condition. Chen's...

Jerusalem - Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior has given permission to the residents of West Bank settlements to use their phones on Shabbat to report "suspicious IDF movements," according to settlement activists. A message being circulated by Efrat-Gush Etzion-Kiryat Arba Hevron Action Committees warned settlers to remain vigilant, stating: "In light of the threat of destruction of outposts...

New York, NY - Fatalities caused by reckless driving are on the rise as cops fail to enforce the law, a report due out today by Transportation Alternatives claims. The advocacy group found that police are not writing tickets for violations like speeding, running red lights and failure to yield. Failure to enforce traffic safety regulations has led to a spike in fatal crashes, according to...