Will Smith has stunned the world by declaring that even Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was essentially a “good” person. Read the rest of this entry »

Rescuers dug through mountains of mud Wednesday in search of survivors from landslides in western Indonesia, some using their bare hands because blocked roads delayed the arrival of heavy-lifting equipment. Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. soldiers found mass graves north of Baghdad next to a torture center where chains were attached to blood-spattered walls and a metal bed frame was still connected to an electrical shock system, the military said Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »

A man charged with fatally shooting his wife and children was the beneficiary listed on her $1 million life insurance policy, according to testimony at an estate hearing.

Christopher Vaughn, 33, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Kimberly, and the couple’s three young children. Authorities found their bodies June 14 in the family’s sport utility vehicle parked on a service road about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, after a wounded Vaughn flagged down a passing motorist.

Vaughn was to receive $1 million from a life insurance policy on his wife, according to Friday’s testimony in Kendall County civil court. But Illinois law has prevented him from collecting the assets of his alleged victims.

Judge Tim McCann ordered that an uninvolved third party should handle the estate until Vaughn’s criminal case is resolved. A bill of more than $30,000 for four funerals is the only money that can be removed from the account, McCann ruled.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Vaughn.

Saudi Arabian police have arrested 28 men for allegedly planning to attack holy sites around Mecca and Medina during the recently finished Muslim hajj pilgrimage, the kingdom’s Interior Ministry said Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday ruled out cease-fire talks with the Gaza Strip’s Islamic Hamas rulers, vowing to press ahead with a “true war” against Palestinian militants who attack southern Israeli communities with rocket and mortar fire. Read the rest of this entry »

Two Hamas terrorists are dead and two others wounded after Israel Air Force gunners carried out an air strike in central Gaza early Monday morning, according to Palestinian Authority medical personnel. Read the rest of this entry »

Sunny skies on Monday helped road crews deal with the remnants of a blustery snowstorm that blacked out thousands of homes and businesses and was blamed for at least 22 traffic deaths in the upper Midwest. Read the rest of this entry »

In Dnepropetrovsk, the ‘Golden Rose’ Synagogue has introduced an innovative idea aimed at promoting the mitzvah of giving Tzedaka or Charity. In its entrance hall now stands an automated machine, which enables congregants and visitors to donate funds for charitable purposes by transferring funds from their credit or debit cards to the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk – a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine. Read the rest of this entry »

The recent visit of the Mosholu Rebbe, shlita, on Shabbos Parashas Vayeishev, and the subsequent Chanukah Party on Wednesday evening, the second night of Chanukah, has left an indelible impression on the Five Towns. The Rebbe’s stay energized the atmosphere and elevated spirits. Read the rest of this entry »

A 48-year-old woman is being charged with scamming illegal immigrants in Rockland County - by taking money to get them with green cards and citizenship. Read the rest of this entry »

“I came back from a trip to Israel in November convinced that Israel would attack Iran,” Bruce Riedel, a former career CIA official and senior adviser to three US presidents - including George W. Bush - on Middle East and South Asian issues, told Newsweek Thursday, citing conversations he had with Mossad and Israeli defense officials. Read the rest of this entry »

Chabad launched its first Mitzvah Mobile in Moscow. Read the rest of this entry »

The recent appointment of Chabad Rabbi Dovid Gutnick opens a new chapter for the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation’s synagogue. Read the rest of this entry »

Fourteen Islamist extremists were being held Friday on suspicion of planning to use explosives to free an Al Qaeda sympathizer from prison, the Belgian Interior Ministry and federal prosecutor said. Read the rest of this entry »

Gun-toting carjackers made off with an 18-wheel FedEx delivery truck after accosting the driver at a stoplight in Manhattan early Friday, police said. Read the rest of this entry »

The Bush administration’s decision to deny California the right to regulate greenhouse gases from vehicles exploded like a grenade in California. But it was hiding in plain sight for weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

The leader of an Orthodox Jewish group was arrested Wednesday morning along with several others on suspicion of tax fraud and laundering money through an Israeli bank and several business in the jewelry district in downtown Los Angeles. Read the rest of this entry »