ISRAEL

The average U.S. price of gasoline jumped 18 cents a gallon in the past two weeks due to rising costs of crude oil and related concerns about tensions in the Middle East, although supplies of fuel remained plentiful in most of the country, according to the nationwide Lundberg Survey.

Why is one professional observer so negative about America's short-term economic prospects?

The U.S. government is eyeing Israel, Canada and the United Arab Emirates as possible initial foreign buyers of the V-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft built by Boeing Co and Bell Helicopter, a top U.S. Marine Corps official told Reuters.

A jump in energy prices is jamming the slow-turning cogs of an economic recovery in the West, but that may be nothing compared to the economic shock an Israeli attack on Iran would cause.

The countdown for the much-awaited Oscar/ 84th annual Academy Awards has begun. It will be aired from Kodak Theatre, Calif., Feb. 26.

Nominees for the best foreign language film Oscar gathered Saturday for an annual symposium to discuss their films, but a cloud of global politics loomed over the event in which Iranian and Israeli filmmakers both took part.

Amid UN nuclear inspectors' findings that Iran has accelerated its enrichment of uranium, the U.S. intelligence community maintains that no hard evidence exists that Tehran has decided to build a nuclear weapon, according to current and former American officials interviewed by the New York Times.

Iran has the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel.

According to reports Iran possesses missiles with a range of about 1,250 miles (which would easily place Israel within the target area).

Saudi Arabia has raised crude exports and the United States is considering releasing oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve as crude-oil prices hit nine-month highs on Friday and concerns deepened over Iran's nuclear program.

It was an ordinary blue felt pen, and not a bullet, that killed Mohamed Nasheed's term as the first democratically elected president of the Maldives.

A report by the U.N. nuclear agency Friday revealed that Iran has sharply improved its controversial uranium enrichment drive, increasing Israel's fear that the Islamic Republic is pushing ahead with the atomic bomb plans.

Hinting at the possibility of a military strike, the Pentagon is bolstering the U.S. defenses in the Persian Gulf as a preemptive measure to counter any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz.

This comes as something of a breakthrough since Assad had long provided a sanctuary for Hamas exiles.

Leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publicly against their long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Friday, endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule.

Russian Scientists have successfully grown fruit from 30,000 year old frozen Siberian seeds found buried along the banks of the Kolyma river, a study published in a new issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America reported.

TORONTO, Feb. 23 -- Muslim countries are overthrowing fundamentalist rulers and the United States could have a Mormon presidential candidate as religion keeps a firm, inevitable foot in politics.

There appears to be disagreement within the Israeli government itself over what to do with Iran, with defense minister Ehud Barak and President Shimon Peres clashing on the topic. Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu has forbidden his cabinet ministers from publicly discussing options on Iran.

Regardless of how Capriles identifies himself, his candidacy has unleashed a wave of anti-Jewish sentiments in Venezuela, a country with a long history of anti-Semitism.

David Lazar, the current rabbi of Stockholm's Jewish community and a U.S. immigrant, has won the Straight Person of the Year award instituted by a Swedish gay magazine.

Israel may have to consider ending the internal war within its government before launching an attack on Iran in the name of its alleged nuclear weapons program. Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak, who is believed to be pushing for military action against Iran, slammed President Shimon Peres, following newspaper reports which said that Peres is expected to tell U.S. President Barack Obama that he doesn't believe Israel should attack Iran soon.