Omaha, NE - The fire started just after 8pm outside the Beth Israel Synagogue, located at 126thnd Pacific Streets. Some 30 members were in the synagogue, when they smelled smoke. They went outside to discover the playground completely engulfed in flames. Witnesses said they saw three teens, two girls and a boy, fleeing the scene with a duffel bag. It took firefighters only 15 minutes to douse...

Chicago, IL - Strawberries protect the heart, reduce risks of cancer, act as an anti-inflammatory and may be good for the brain, too, U.S. researchers say. Researchers from the Chicago Healthy Aging Project found that older adults who eat strawberries at least once a month have less cognitive decline. More specifically, women who consumed more than one serving of strawberries per month had...

London - A pilot scheme to give ethnic victims of crime the right to ask for a police officer from their own community is unlikely to involve the Jewish community. The scheme is currently being tested by London’s Metropolitan Police with the Sikh and Punjabi community. The police is also encouraging its staff associations — which represent minority groups, such as Muslims and Hindus — to...

Rome, Italy - Anti-Israel graffiti was found on the walls of branches of Italy's student travel agency CTS located throughout the Italian capital Rome on Thursday. It is believed the culprits - who allegedly belong to a self-proclaimed anti-racism group - wanted to protest the agency's recent promotion of travel to Israel. The graffiti 'artists' wrote messages such as "Boycott Israel, reject...

Jerusalem - The presence of IDF soldiers at the Western Wall is a sign of destruction and desolation, a Shas functionary wrote in a newspaper column for Tisha Be'av. "We are in sorrow for the desolate Mount Zion and for the Kotel square which is sometimes desecrated and soldiers who walk there," wrote Shas Knesset faction director Tzvi Ya'acobson in his weekly column in the Bakehila...

Washington - Congressional officials say the government plans to suspend the popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases. The Transportation Department called congressional offices late Thursday to alert them to the decision to halt the program, which offered owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a...

Montreal - No early parole for a 23-year-old Montreal man sentenced to seven years in prison in the firebombings of a Jewish community centre and an orthodox boys' school in Montreal. The National Parole Board has refused Omar Bulphred's request. The Skver-Toldos Orthodox Jewish Boys school in Outremont was attacked in September 2006 and the Ben Wieder community centre in Snowdon was...

Albany, NY - An appeals court has ruled that Richard Ravitch can keep serving as New York's lieutenant governor during a legal fight over his appointment -- but he can't preside over the state Senate. State Senate Republicans' had challenge Ravitch's appointment, claiming it violates the state constitution. An appeals court in Brooklyn took up the issue today, and vacated a restraining order –...

London - Kosher phones — adapted to prevent access to the Internet — have finally arrived in London with the blessing of the strictly Orthodox rabbinate. Rose Communications, a company in Stamford Hill, north London, is inviting customers to trade in their old mobiles free for the new handsets, which can also be modified to exclude the text messaging service. Although kosher phones have...

Bedford, NY - A town Judge has been admonished by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct for imposing a total of $11,281 in excessive fines in 209 traffic cases. According to The Journal News, Town Justice Charles G. Banks Jr. levied thousands of dollars in excessive fines on motorists at the end of 2006 and 2007, according to a state judicial oversight panel, which found his conduct at...

Washington - Representative Anthony D. Weiner (D-Brooklyn/ Queens) and 23 other Members of Congress recently called upon Secretary Hillary Clinton to direct the State Department to conduct an annual review of Saudi Arabian textbooks that teach historical inaccuracies, propagate the subjugation of women, and educate their children to hate Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims. In a letter to...

Brooklyn, NY - Senator Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), Chair of the Finance Committee, announced that Governor Paterson has signed into law a bill he introduced (S. 552) to require cities with a million or more people to translate all voting materials into Russian. Sen. Kruger has long advocated for this passage of this measure and said it will have a “profound impact” on his constituency...

Weber County, UT - A 7-year-old boy in Utah decided it was too hot to go to an event, so he took the family car for a joyride, leading sheriff's officers on a low speed chase. The officers tailed the boy for 10 blocks as he weaved in traffic lanes and blew through stop signs, KSL TV in Salt Lake City reported. At one point officers pulled close enough to realize a small boy was driving. The...

Houston, TX - Continental Airlines said it would mimic a move made by U.S. discount carriers by offering in-flight satellite television broadcasts to passengers. JetBlue, Virgin America and Frontier have already outfitted planes with TV screens that pick up programs in real time -- as opposed to taped programming -- USA Today reported Thursday. Continental said it would charge passengers...

Washington - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has denied calling White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and senior Obama advisor David Axelrod “self-hating Jews." The alleged use of the term “self-hating Jew” is particularly timely as Jews mourn on Thursday the destruction of the First and Second Holy Temples. Jewish thought teaches that “senseless hatred” among Jews was the reason...