The city puts young children living in homeless shelters in danger by failing to properly screen child care workers, an audit by the City Controller found. Scott Stringer’s inspectors checked out 43 on-site child care centers in city shelters and found 82% of the staffers had not undergone a criminal background check.

By contrast, all public child care centers funded by the city must have their workers fingerprinted and screened through the Statewide Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment. “This investigation reveals that New York City has created two standards of care — an inferior system for homeless children and one for everyone else,” Controller Scott Stringer said. “We found a lack of oversight in shelters that we inspected, as well as conditions that would give any parent nightmares — and that is not acceptable.”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

Listen, if you are hating on a bodega cat, you are not a real New Yorker.

Don’t just take that from me, but from Gary Mann, who flew in from Miami just this morning and headed straight for the SK Deli on Second Avenue for two New York staples: a bacon, egg and cheese, and a deli cat named Star. “I see this, and I know I’m home,” said Mann, quickly clarifying that he was talking as much about the white-pawed puss as the breakfast sandwich. “A deli cat is a great New York thing,” he said.

Mann didn’t know it when he got off the plane, but he was heading straight into the epicenter of today’s Gotham controversy, just hours after the news broke that an SK Deli customer had complained bitterly in a Yelp post. “To my dismay,” posted Diane D. and first reported by Patch.com, “there was a cat, perched upon some cases of Budweiser in the middle of the store!!”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

HAVANA- United Nations agencies submitted a report to the Gener al Assembly on the damage inflicted by the US economic, financial and commercial blockade of Cuba as the international community readies to vote the island´s resolution today demanding the lifting of the unilateral and extraterritorial US policy.

According to PL news agency, more than 30 UN entities submitted their views in the report they addressed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon particularly in their fields of interest.

The World Health Organization, after praising the high health indicators reached by Cuba, alerted on the hurdles posed by the blockade on the island´s efforts to access medical products, equipment and technologies. The World Trade Organization on its part questioned the US policy aimed at promoting brain drain by inciting Cuban doctors to abandon their international missions in other nations.  The UN Children Fund, UNICEF, regretted the difficulties posed by the blockade on Cuban kids, particularly in the health and education services. This agency explained about the problems faced by a Havana children hospital specialized in heart diseases which cannot access biological materials for implants of high quality.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization described the impact of the blockade on its field by saying that Cuba cannot export to the United States, which increases   costs to reach far-away markets. The agency also explained about the hurdles faced by the island to purchase machinery, fertilizers and other resources necessary for agriculture. Cuba cannot yet use the US dollars in its transactions, despite a recent announcement on that issue by the White House, said the Economic Commission for Latin America, ECLAC.

Other agencies that joined the report to the UN secretary general included UNESCO and UNDP. The agencies welcomed the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington and the packages of initiatives adopted by US president Barack Obama to modify the US blockade. For the 25 year in a row, the UN General Assembly will vote today the Cuban resolution demanding the end of the US blockade of the island. Last year 191 out of all 193 UN member states backed the Cuban resolution, only the United States and Israel voted against. ( ACN)…[+]

A backup dancer for Beyoncé and Rihanna vanished after a weekend trip to Manhattan, and her family and friends fear the worst.

Shirlene Quigley, 32, was last seen by her landlord when she left her North Bergen, N.J., home Saturday afternoon, police in New Jersey said.

She went shopping at the Bridal Garden on W. 21st St. in Chelsea, said North Bergen police investigator Christian Argudo. Someone also spotted her near the Port Authority Bus Terminal just before 1 a.m. Sunday, according to North Bergen police.

Her father, Brad, who lives in Burbank, Calif., said Quigley doesn’t suffer from mental health or substance-abuse problems, and she wasn’t planning to get married. She’s devoted to her Christian faith, he said.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A suicidal father died after he jumped off a New Jersey highway bridge while clutching his two children Monday evening, state police said. Cops were called to an interstate bridge running over the Wanaque River for a possible suicide attempt around 8 p.m.

Responding officers discovered an abandoned car on the side of the road, and later found a man and his two children in a wooded area below the bridge, cops said in a statement. The unidentified man was pronounced dead at the scene and his two children were taken to an area hospital where they were being treated for non-life threatening injuries. The children’s ages and identities were not immediately available…[+]

One 13-year-old girl died and another was injured when a car slammed into them while they were walking to school in Queens Monday morning, police said.

The sedan was heading south on Cross Bay Blvd. when it struck Jazmine Marin and the other girl as they crossed the street near 149th Ave., two blocks from the Robert H. Goddard middle school in Ozone Park at about 6:45 a.m., officials said.

The teens may have been on their way to that junior high school when the tragic incident occurred, police sources said. Emergency responders rushed both girls to Jamaica Hospital, where Jazmine died from her injuries. The other victim is in stable condition with a leg injury.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

HAVANA- Cuban Health Minister Roberto Morales welcomed US Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell in Havana, on Thursday.

According to the director of international relations at the Cuban Health Ministry, Nestor Marimom, Burwell was interested in the treatment of cancer in Cuba, particular the promotion of actions to prevent that disease, which has become the second cause of death in The Americas, PL news reported. The US Health Secretary was also interested in joint training programs between both ministries and she highlighted the role played by Cuban medical experts in the elimination of Ebola in Africa, as well as their work in Haiti. According to Marimon, US and Cuban scientists will meet by late November on actions to fight Zika and other Arboviruses as part of a meeting underway in Havana.(ACN)…[+]

BRIDGETOWN – On October 13, 2016, the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) approved an additional loan of USD3 mn to the Government of Dominica, to support the development of a reliable potable water supply for persons within the Water Area-1 (WA-1) network in that country. WA-1 is the most important water system in Dominica, serving approximately 36 percent of the population.

CDB had previously approved a loan to Dominica in 2012, to upgrade its water supply systems. This additional loan will assist in integrating climate-change resiliency in the design of the Project, drawing on lessons learnt by the passage of Tropical Storm Erika in 2015.

“Tropical Storm Erika caused extensive damage to the water and sewage system in Dominica. It also led to the need to look at the existing infrastructure in that country, and reinforced the need for climate change resilience to be built into design standards and specifications. This loan supports the revisions needed to ensure that Dominica’s water supply system is less susceptible to natural disasters,” said Daniel Best, Director of Projects, CDB.

When completed, it is expected that approximately 25,000 people will benefit from the project. The majority will be in the capital, Roseau, in the parish of St. George, with the remainder spread across the western sections of St. Paul and St. Joseph and the entire parish of St. Luke. St. George had the largest number of affected communities as a result of Erika. It also encompasses the country’s main health care, residential, commercial and industrial centers.

The Project is expected to be completed in 2018. It is being executed by the Dominica Water and Sewerage Company (DOWASCO)…[+]

Police are looking for a man who stole a police car that was parked directly in front of a Bronx precinct with the key left in the ignition, a police source said.

The unidentified man drove the car from the 50th Precinct in Kingsbridge to the 52nd Precinct in Norwood on Sunday at 6:40 a.m. There, the man crashed into two parked cars near the intersection of Fordham Road and Sedgwick Ave., the police source said. “It seems like it was a joy ride,” the source added. It is unclear why the keys were left in the ignition or how long it took for cops to realize the car was stolen. “The investigation is ongoing,” a police spokeswoman said.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

An Oklahoma woman died after she jumped out of a moving car, allegedly trying to escape her abusive husband, police and friends said. Brianne King, 33, was driving on a busy Oklahoma City interstate with her husband, Michael Muller, Tuesday morning when police suspect she opened the passenger seat door and hurled herself out of the moving vehicle, according to KFOR-TV. King passed away after suffering a serious head injury from the fall, according to a GoFundMe page set up by her relatives.Shocked friends immediately suspected foul play and brought up Muller’s abusive past.(nydailynews.com)…[+]