London - Jewish groups today rejected as inadequate an apology by Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone for remarks in which he praised German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. During an interview with The Times newspaper last week the billionaire spoke of the Nazi dictator's ability to "get things done." But after a storm of criticism, Ecclestone issued a statement on Tuesday in which he said: "I...

Be'er Sheva, Israel - The extended hours at Be'er Sheva bars and restaurants have brought the proprietors an additional expense: paying kashrut supervisors. So the city's chief rabbi, Yehuda Deri, proposed a solution: placing cameras in restaurant kitchens in order to send video feeds straight to the supervisors of Jewish dietary law. Deri, the brother of former Shas leader Aryeh Deri...

Brooklyn, NY - A replica Statue of Liberty swiped from a Brooklyn coffee shop has turned up in a shocking YouTube video that shows it blindfolded, beheaded and then smashed to pieces. The slogans "We don't want your freedom" and "Death to America" float across the screen in the chilling clip - reminiscent of real terrorist videos. The NYPD's computer sleuths are investigating who posted the...

New York - Drivers in the New York area wasted nearly 380 million hours stuck in rush-hour traffic in 2007 - second only to those in Los Angeles - according to a traffic study released today. The average motorist in the New York area lost 44 hours in 2007 because of rush-hour traffic congestion, according to the Urban Mobility Report conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute. The...

New York, NY - The speed of the world's biggest jets was no match against the slow and steady pace of a group of turtles who delayed flights at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport today. The airport has put up with all kinds of delays -- weather, late connections, crowded airspace -- but this delay may have been a first. A runway that juts out into a bay was closed for 35...

Highland, NY - A boy sustained a possible spinal injury from a diving accident. Hatzolah is transporting the injured 12-year-old child to Saint Francis Hospital after diving into the pool of Camp Karlin Stolin (former Torah Vodaas) on Chodikee Lake Road in Ulster County. Injuries seems not to be life threatening. ...

New York City - More than 200 miles of bike lanes have been added to New York City streets in the last three years, and officials plan to carve out still more space for cyclists. Officials celebrated the 200-mile mark Wednesday in the Bronx. A 2006 study found 225 cyclists were killed and nearly 3,500 hurt by cars in the city between 1996 and 2003. In response, the city pledged to expand...

New York City - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn today announced a $20 million pilot program to turn unsold condominiums, unrented apartments and stalled construction sites into affordable housing opportunities for moderate- and middle-income families. Through the Housing Asset Renewal Program (HARP), the City will negotiate with developers and banks and...

Manhattan, NY - A Israeli army commander in town visiting family was injured when a pair of teenage hooligans threw rocks at her taxi as it cruised past the Upper East Side. Gilat Raz, 41, was on the FDR headed to her brother's home in Queens around 9 p.m. last night when the neighborhood punks dropped a few rocks from an overpass near 71st Street -- with one striking the yellow cab's...

Albany, NY - Gov. David A. Paterson will name Richard Ravitch, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as lieutenant governor in a televised speech he has scheduled for late Wednesday afternoon, according to an administration official. The office of lieutenant governor has been vacant since Eliot Spitzer resigned in March 2008. The lack of a lieutenant governor — who...

Bronx, NY - The police activity that caused a brief stir on Independence Avenue turned out to be a response to an empty threat. Congregants at Congregation Torah V’Chesed Nanash on West 239th Street, also called the Riverdale Schteeble, called the police when they noticed an unattended suitcase on the street not far from their synagogue. Police and firefighters cordoned off the...

Philadelphia, PA - Like many teenagers, Ari Weinstein spends his summers riding his bike and swimming. This year, the 15-year-old had another item on his to-do list: Foil Apple Inc.'s brightest engineers and annoy chief executive Steve Jobs. Ari is part of a loose-knit group of hackers that has made it a mission to "jailbreak" Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. The term refers to installing...

Paris, France - Four members of the militan Jewish Defense League were arrested today over an attack on a Paris bookstore run by pro-Palestinian activists. The four, ages 16 to 26, were arrested in Paris and its suburbs on suspicion of trashing the store. Masked vandals burst into the shop, armed with sticks and bottles of oil early Friday afternoon, smashing the computers and cash till...

New York, NY - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg remains popular in the Big Apple, but a slim majority of voters would like to see someone else running the city. A new Marist poll finds 58% of voters feel Bloomberg is doing either an excellent or good job in office while 40% say he is performing fairly well or poorly. Overall, 52% of voters think New York City is moving in the right...

Jerusalem - Thousands of Charedi children from the "Talmudei Torah" elementary schools attended a marching from the Shabbat Square in downtown Jerusalem to the Safra Square in protest against the decision to open a parking lot at the site on Shabbat. Th event was called by the Edah HaChredit. The children recited teh Shema prayer, and were holding flags which read in Hebrew "Jerusalem was...