ISRAEL

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.

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.

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.

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.

Scientists have discovered that the air above the Dead Sea in Israel is laden with oxidized mercury, showing some of the highest levels of the oxidized form of the dangerous neurotoxin ever observed outside the polar regions, according to the United States National Science Foundation.

Berlusconi in Italy laughed it away, while Ahmadinejad in Tehran yet again blamed the United States. The Russians refused to comment and Indians breathed a sigh of relief. WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, revealed the vigor of US espionage, leaking out more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables. The first batch of the documents leaked mentioned Saudi Arabia and other Arab states' desire to attack Iran, highly sensitive information on world leaders and US military strategy across the Worl...

Wikileaks' latest spill, dubbed the 'Cablegate', shows that the world, especially the MIddle East fears Iran. But there are very strong strategic factors that help the country survive.

With over three million tourists having arrived in Israel recently, the country declared 2010 as the “record year” for tourism after the numbers surpassed the record of 3 million arrivals during the pre-crisis time in 2008. Israel, therefore, seems to be emerging as a 'hot' tourism destination!

Twin blasts in Tehran killed a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist while another sustained injuries on Monday. In separate assassination attempts, bombs were placed under their cars. State media held Israeli intelligence agents for their death.

The year 2010 was not good for Google in China and the hacking was, indeed, part of a sabotage attempt carried out with help from the government quarters, reveal the classified U.S. documents released by Wikileaks on Sunday. China to Germany, US diplomacy generally smacks of quid-pro-quo dealings, as ever.

In a rather amusing fashion, Republican Sarah Palin fired back at her critics for highlighting her latest 'North Korea ally' gaffe. In her thanksgiving message to the nation on facebook, she listed out verbal slips of U.S. President Barack Obama.

UBS Securities downgraded rating of Israel-based Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd. to 'neutral' from 'buy', while maintaining its price target of 40 Israeli shekel or $10.89.

The antimatter bomb described in Dan Brown's book Angels and Demons is close to becoming reality as scientists at CERN have created antimatter.