FBI to interview N.J. governor’s accuser

newark (ap) | FBI agents will soon travel to Israel to interview the man who claimed Gov. James E. McGreevey sexually harassed him, authorities said earlier this week.

Golan Cipel is to be interviewed sometime this week or next, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He declined to specify what topics would be addressed.

Cipel, who once was the New Jersey governor’s homeland security adviser, left for his native country of Israel last month, shortly before his lawyer announced that Cipel would not sue McGreevey.

An FBI investigation was already under way, prompted at least in part by complaints from McGreevey’s lawyer that Cipel had demanded cash to avoid a lawsuit. Cipel’s side has denied any extortion.

Maryland gives funds to Jewish schools

new york (jta) | Maryland’s governor will give $100,000 to help secure Jewish schools in the state.

Maryland becomes the first state to authorize federal homeland security dollars for the protection of Jewish sites after the Department of Homeland Security determined in July that high-risk nonprofit institutions were eligible for the money.

New Yorker arrested over racist posters

new york (jta) | An American was arrested for recruiting children to post pro-Nazi and pro-white supremacist stickers on buildings, including a synagogue.

The New York Times reported Tuesday, Sept. 21, that Thomas Zibelli, who lives in New York City, was charged with criminal mischief and aggravated harassment.

The prosecutor recommended the charges be labeled as hate crimes.

Study: MRIs detect BRCA cancer better

new york (jta) | MRIs detect breast cancer caused by gene mutations occurring in some 2 percent of Ashkenazi women better than mammographies, according to a new study.

The study involving the mutation to the BRCA genes, which have been linked to breast and ovarian cancers in Ashkenazi Jewish women, was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

According to the Human Genome Project in Washington, some 2 percent of Ashkenazi Jews carry one of the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 mutations that have been linked to the cancers.

A 1997 study into the risk of breast and ovarian cancers among Ashkenazi Jews found that, by the age of 70, a woman with the mutations has a 56 percent chance of getting breast cancer and a 17 percent chance of getting ovarian cancer.