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Hamburg - A senior Iranian ayatollah called Friday for the formation of a new United Nations after the UN Security Council passed new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programmes. "This UN is not the UN of independent world states but the UN of imperialistic and hegemonic powers," Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said in the Friday prayer ceremony carried live by Iranian radio.

DALLAS, TX (KERA) - There are new rules in Dallas for handling stray dogs. Anyone who takes "possession" of a stray must try to locate the owner within 72 hours, or face a fine up to 500 dollars. Council member Vonciel Jones Hill was the only "no" vote. She said the ordinance would place a burden on anyone trying to have some kindness towards a stray. Dog owner Brad Kirby spent two years pushing for the ordinance after his dogs were stolen from his yard. He discovered who took them, but police had no legal power to make the man...

What is vodka eyeballing? A new fad among some kids in Europe may be spreading to the US. In online videos it is dubbed vodka eyeballing and now the claim is that some American teens have tried the odd way to get a buzz. It is just as it sounds - supposedly it is a shot of vodka into the eye. This bizarre new "trend" has found a home on YouTube and some say they are concerned for US kids as the claim is that it will get you a buzz quicker than taking a shot of vodka by mouth....

Regulations that came into effect in New Zealand over the weekend forbid kosher ritual slaughter (shechita). According to the new regulations, animals must now be unconscious before being slaughtered, invalidating them for kosher slaughter.

Public health officials are battling a host of new infectious threats to the nation's blood supply. Blood centers, which have long tested for risks like hepatitis C and AIDS, have added a number of new tests on donated blood in recent years, including checks for West Nile virus and Chagas, a tropical parasitic disease. But new screening tests are hard to develop and can take years to win government approval. Currently, for instance, there's no way to screen for newer threats like babesiosis, a parasitic infection that has been linked to 10 U.S. deaths through blood transfusions since 2006. And...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Democrats in the state Senate on Monday countered Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts with a plan to raise taxes by nearly $5 billion, largely by extending temporary taxes and delaying corporate tax breaks for two years.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama called for first-ever mileage and emissions standards for big rig and work trucks Friday, seeking to limit pollution from the large vehicles that contribute a big share of it. With a presidential memorandum signed in the Rose Garden, Obama also ordered federal agencies that have already brought out new standards for cars and light trucks for the 2012-2016 model years to begin work on even stronger rules for 2017 and beyond.

PHOENIX - A Glendale optometrist's yearlong legal fight over what services he had to provide for a Spanish-speaking customer has translated into new protections for other businesses. Gov. Jan Brewer has signed legislation affirming that nothing in state law requires businesses to provide "trained and competent" interpreters when a customer comes in speaking a language other than English. Assistant Attorney General Michael Walker said that has probably always been the law. But that didn't save John Schrolucke from having to spend time and money defending himself and his practice before Walker's office finally dismissed the case.

Lea Klibanoff, 34, was a student at the Ma’aleh Film School when she started filming “The Messiah Will Always Come.” Before deciding to focus on Ofran in her movie, Klibanoff, who is religiously observant, wanted to sketch a portrait of the new breed of activists who are religious or formerly religious and have become prominent in many leftist, human rights organizations. People such as the founders of Breaking the Silence, members of B’nei Avraham, several leaders of the struggle in Sheikh Jarrah, as well as people affiliated with Ta’ayush, Yesh Din, Machsom Watch and Ir Amim.

A Muslim extremist who earlier warned that TV's "South Park" creators should be "afraid for their lives" for insulting Islam's prophet Muhammad now says that yesterday's car bomb attempt in Times Square will be just the beginning of a new wave of terrorist attacks. Younus Abdullah Muhammad, author of RevolutionMuslim.com, told WND senior reporter Aaron Klein on New York's WABC 770 AM that America should "absolutely" expect more jihadi violence in New York City

WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke unveiled a new $100 bill equipped with two new security features. The bill will go into circulation Feb. 10, 2011. The Fed, along with the Treasury Department, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Secret Service, "continuously monitor the counterfeiting threats" for each denomination and redesign decisions are made based on those threats, Mr. Bernanke said.

The cameras, which combine number plate reading technology with a global positioning satellite receiver, are similar to those used in roadworks. The AA said it believed the new system could cover a network of streets as opposed to a straight line, and was “probably geared up to zones in residential areas.” The Home Office is testing the cameras at two sites, one in Southwark, London, and the other A374 between Antony and Torpoint in Cornwall. The `SpeedSpike’ system, which calculates average speed between any two points in the network, has been developed by PIPS Technology Ltd, an American-owned company with...

A new Jewish organization has been started in the United States – openly supportive of Sarah Palin, but its bottom-line goal appears to be opposition to President Barack Obama and his tilt against Israel. The group was officially formed Sunday in honor of Israel’s Independence Day by Jewish communal activist Benyamin Korn, former executive editor of the Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia, and other academic, religious and community leaders.

A defense lawyer is calling for calm after death threats have been made against teenagers charged in the death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide after she was allegedly bullied by schoolmates. "Not to minimize what happened to Phoebe Prince in any way, but translating this into death threats and public harassment has got to stop," says Colin Keefe, who represents Sharon Chanon Velazquez, accused of tormenting Prince, who hanged herself on Jan. 14. "It's gotten way out of control," adds Keefe, who says Velazquez has been driven temporarily from her home.

Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), top Republican on the House Ways & Means Committee has released a handy new chart (.pdf) outlining the nearly $700 billion in new taxes enacted by Democrats this Congress. The chart details the "gross tax increases equate to more than $2,100 for every man, woman and child in the United States and include at least 14 violations of the President’s pledge not to raise taxes on Americans earning less than $200,000 (singles) and $250,000 (married couples)." “The agenda coming out of the Administration and Democrats in Congress is clear -- they want to tax more in...

Last week, President Obama signed historic health care reform legislation into law -- but his legislative success doesn't seem to have helped his image with the American public. The latest CBS News Poll, conducted between March 29 and April 1, found Americans unhappier than ever with Mr. Obama's handling of health care - and still worried about the state of the economy. President Obama's overall job approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 44 percent, down five points from late March, just before the health bill's passage in the House of Representatives. It's down 24 points since his...

Walgreens will no longer accept new Medicaid patients in Washington state as of April 16. The pharmacy company, which operates 121 stores in the state, will continue filling Medicaid prescriptions for current patients. In a news release, the company said its decision to not take new Medicaid patients stemmed from a "continued reduction in reimbursement under the state's program." The company says that under the current payment structure, the state Medicaid program is reimbursing Walgreens below its cost to break even on nearly 95 percent of brand-name medications dispensed to Medicaid patents. Other pharmacies have made similar decisions recently.

  Story by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gary A. WitteKUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – An Afghan National Army unit met with villagers in eastern Afghanistan’s Naray district this week to introduce itself and hear residents’ concerns. Leaders with the ANA’s 1st Coy, 1st Kandak, 2nd Brigade, headed meetings with elders in the Arzigal and Nangal villages, thereby continuing efforts to bring residents closer to their government. “They were very friendly,” ANA Lt. Said Rahman, a platoon leader, said after talking with men in Nangal, March 8. “We got acquainted with the elders.” The unit, which arrived at Forward Operating Base Bostick...

When the news of the New Israel Fund (NIF) paying around $8 million to organizations that provided the Goldstone Report with all its condemnations of Israel, it was clear that the “New Israel” desired by the New Israel Fund is one with more than 9 years of consistent rocket fire. Our organization, Sderot Media Center (SMC), with a yearly budget of close to $200,000, worked tirelessly on a formal report that was requested by the Goldstone Commission itself, which encompassed the impact of the rocket fire on the residents of the Sderot region. We sent this formal report accompanied by...

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says there is no truth to reports that President Barack Obama will press Congress to pass a significantly smaller healthcare reform bill. "I don't have reason to believe that that's accurate," Hoyer told The Hill following a speech at a Federation of American Hospitals conference Tuesday.