Chen Guangcheng, right, Hillary Clinton, left Photo: Reuters; Getty Images By Peter Foster, Washington Bureau 8:00AM GMT 25 Feb 2015 Hillary Clinton’s account of one of her crowning moments as secretary of state has been flatly contradicted by a leading Chinese activist. Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer who escaped house arrest and caused an diplomatic crisis between China and the US by taking refuge in the American embassy in Beijing in 2012, accused the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton... Read more

Special to NJJN February 24, 2015 U.S. REP. CHRIS Smith (R-Dist. 4) gave the keynote address to a gathering of over 300 people at the Center for Jewish Life dinner held Feb. 8 in Marlboro. CJL religious leader Rabbi Yossi Kanelsky presented Smith with an award for his “outstanding leadership and vision and for confronting anti-Semitism at home and abroad.” Smith, who is cochair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and an executive member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, is the author of the... Read more

By Christopher Neely - A Manasquan resident who was captured by the Nazis in WWII’s Battle of the Bulge in 1945 was awarded a rare military medal by a member of congress on Friday, Jan. 30. Francis B. Hayes Jr., 89, of Manasquan, was awarded a Prisoner of War Medal by Congressman Christopher Smith [R-4] on Friday. Mr. Hayes served for the U.S. military during WWII and was held in a Nazi prison camp for months until being liberated in April 1945. Congressman Smith welcomed Mr. Hayes and 16 of his... Read more

By JONATHAN SALANT OF THE STAR LEDGER - The head of the New Jersey State Police union told federal lawmakers today that "basic human decency" requires the extradition of convicted cop-killer Joanne Chesimard amid efforts to restore relations with Cuba. "We urge you to demand and include the immediate return of Chesimard before any further consideration of restoration of diplomatic relations with the Cuban government," Chris Burgos, president of the State Troopers Fraternal Association told a Hou... Read more

On Jan. 21, 1945 Francis B. Hayes Jr. was captured by German forces during the Battle of the Bulge. "We became completely cut off," Hayes, 89, Manasquan, said. "Germans were all around us. We were neither able to pull back nor advance and were running out of ammunition. Relief could not get through to us." He was moved several times between various prison camps. As the Allies pushed the Germans back, the Germans brought their prisoners deeper into Germany. "I had to share a bunk with another pr... Read more

Boko Haram, with its chilling brutality, radical Islamic ideology and unstoppable seizure of Nigerian territory is quickly emerging as the Islamic State of Africa. While much of the world has focused on the terror attacks in Paris and the Islamic militants' capture of swaths of Syria and Iraq, Boko Haram has gone on a bloody rampage through northeastern Nigeria. Human rights groups have sounded alarms about the al-Qaeda-linked organization's recent brutality: the slaughter of up to 2,000 people ... Read more

BY APP STAFF WRITER AMANDA OGLESBY - TUCKERTON – Holly Austin Smith thought she was running away from her Tuckerton home to a better life. She found, instead, a life of forced prostitution on the streets of Atlantic City. She was 14 years old in 1992 when she ran away from her family, from a future at Pinelands Regional High School that frightened her, and from friends who bullied her. During the summer between the eighth and ninth grades, Smith met a man in his early 30s at the Hamilton Mall in... Read more

BY AMIR KAHN, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT STAFF- Autism is on the rise: More than 1.5 million people have the condition in the United States alone. But because the majority of these people are younger than 22, the country is on the verge of an “autism tsunami” that could leave thousands without the support they need as they become adults, according to Autism Speaks, an autism advocacy organization. “The current system we have right now is woefully inadequate,” says Angela Lello, director of housing... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), a vocal critic of President Obama’s decision to embrace the Castro regime after decades of human rights abuses, including the harboring of fugitives, appearred on Fox News Channel today reiterated his call to Cuba to extradite Joanne Chesimard, the convicted murderer of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. Smith noted the long record of human rights violations of Fidel Castro and Raul Castro, and has said the Castro brothers should be tried at The Hague for th... Read more

BY RUSS ZIMMER, ASBURY PARK PRESS - Thousands of superstorm Sandy victims didn't know where to turn when they ran into issues with their flood insurance providers. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is announcing today that a new, independent consumer advocate will be activated next week for just that purpose. The Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate was established as part of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 that was passed earlier this year, but hadn't yet been op... Read more