ISRAEL

The stars of motoring show 'Top Gear', one of the BBC's biggest selling programme brands around the world, have landed in a religious row for dressing up in burkas on the Boxing Day special.

U.S. stocks advanced in a thinly traded session on Wednesday with the S&P 500 eyeing its best December in nearly two decades as investors remained optimistic about the prospects for equities next year.

A sum up of top events that shaped US in past decade (2000-2010). Part 3 covers 2009 & 2010 on Michael Jackson’s death, US economy and jobs, Obama closing Guantanamo Bay detention, troops in Afghan, Tea Party, Sarah Palin and Nobel Peace Prize.

Researchers have found that the paintings have maintained their vivid colors even though they have never been repainted due to the replacement of the original paint with a bio-film of living, pigmented micro-organisms.

Bylines paved the way towards journalistic stardom, altering power relations within the news industry, finds a new study.

A hospital in Israel has begun using Apple's iPad to enable medical staff to help treat patients, provide consultations and study X-rays and CT scans from afar.

While UN World Tourism Organisation recently announced that France will be the most sought-after place in 2010, places such as Scotland, Israel, Bethlehem and the like remained horded for some unusual charms. Here’s a list of world’s 10 tourist hotspots that saw an incredibly rise in tourism interests in 2010.

Israel’s policies in West Bank and other districts are depriving Palestinians of basic necessities while providing lavish amenities to Jewish settlements, Rights group says. Human Rights Watch, in a report released on Sunday slammed the Israeli government for what it called, violations of ‘International laws’ and Palestinian Rights. It also demanded a withdrawal from the settlements.

Technological advances enabling companies to significantly cut costs have led to strong global growth in start-up activity, an American venture capital pioneer told Reuters.

Technological advances enabling companies to significantly cut costs have led to strong global growth in start-up activity, an American venture capital pioneer told Reuters.

As per Israeli government figures, the Palestinian city has received a record number of 1.4 million tourists so far in 2010 and about 90,000 more are expected to visit Bethlehem during Christmas and holiday season, about 70,000 up from last year.

Some of the so-called emerging markets have advanced to a point where they might be considered “developed” -- or not, depending on one’s views and criteria. Further complicating this picture is the arrival of “frontier” markets – countries even less developed than the emerging markets, but boasting even greater long-term growth potential.

Increasing domestic oil production could reduce unemployment, create jobs, and help jump-start the U.S. economic recovery, said Marc Weidenmier of the American Enterprise Institute.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Genoptix, Sanderson Farms, Infinera, Amgen, Ness Technologies, MannKind, Silicom, Comcast, NVIDIA, and Orexigen Therapeutics.

From the Jamaican beach in Caribbean to the Christians’ Holy Lands, there are many exotic places available for a cheap vacation this holiday season. Here’s a list of 8 most cheap destinations for your Christmas getaways.

Outside the US and UK - where today's no change decision from the Bank of England left interest rates near 33-year lows beneath inflation - emerging economies are also flirting with sub-zero real rates of interest, Japanese investment bank Nomura's London office notes.

Iran has temporarily released on bail a pioneering Iranian blogger who has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison, a rights group said on Thursday.

Young kids hurling stones at army tanks, stifling curfews, incongruous checkpoints and an unrelenting settlement activity...The visualization of the word 'Palestine' is unlikely to change any time soon. Fathers would still have to carry children on their shoulders to protest against the army incursions while their mothers rally in support of people forced out as a result of expanding settlements. The peace talks have been officially stalled, the latest of the news reports suggest.

Iran has delivered the first consignment of locally produced raw uranium making its nuclear program self-sufficient, the country's top nuclear boss said on Sunday. The announcement came just a day before the Islamic republic is to resume the stalled nuclear talks with Germany and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday and Tuesday in Geneva.

Expressing severe discontent over the continuing settlement activity, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, stated that he might dissolve PA if a peace deal cannot be reached with Israel.

U.S. spy planes flew reconnaissance flights over Lebanon from a British air base in Cyprus, leaked U.S. documents show, in a counter-terrorist surveillance operation requested by Lebanese officials.