A Vatican researcher rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus.

An Israeli archaeologist has found the tomb of King Herod, the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem and the Holy Land, at a compound on a hill south of the city, the Hebrew University announced late tonight.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tried to defuse growing public anger over his handling of the war against Hezbollah, promising to rebuild rocket-scarred border areas, but rejecting peace talks with Syria, a key supporter of the Lebanese guerrillas.

ISRAELI scientists have discovered an ancient ecosystem containing eight previously unknown species in a lake inside a cave, sheltered from the outside world for millions of years.

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who took over after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke yesterday, is a seasoned operator and Sharon confidante who is comfortable in cut-throat local politics and in world capitals alike.

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshippers angrily confronted actress Natalie Portman and her Israeli co-star, objecting to scenes of the couple kissing during the filming of a movie scene beside Jerusalem’s Western Wall, police said.

Natalie Portman has been secretly attending classes at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

Two Palestinians convicted of masterminding a series of suicide bombings against Israeli targets were sentenced to 36 consecutive life terms by an Israeli military court today.

Experts performed a top-secret restoration of the Shroud of Turin, removing centuries-old patches and replacing a backing sewn centuries ago on to what some say was the burial cloth of Jesus, church officials announced today.

ISRAELI troops blew up two apartment buildings in a Gaza Strip refugee camp yesterday, just hours after undercover forces killed the brother of a radical Palestinian leader during an arrest raid in the West Bank.

At least 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded when an apparent suicide bomber blew up a bus in northern Israel during rush hour today.

At least eight people died and more than two dozen were injured when a bomb blast ripped through a packed bus in northern Israel during the morning rush hour, police sources and doctors said.

President George Bush and key Arab ally, Jordan’s King Abdullah, have disagreed over a possible US attack to topple Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and the pace of American peacemaking in the Middle East.

Palestinian militant group Hamas did not appear concerned today that its terror bomb attack on a Jerusalem university had killed more Americans than Israelis.

A bomb that blew apart a Jerusalem university cafeteria, killing seven people, claimed victims from around the world, in what an Islamic terror group said was revenge for an Israeli attack.

Bodies lay scattered on the ground, wounded people screamed, and shattered furniture was littered across the large university cafeteria.

Flight recorders from the Swiss airliner that crashed on approach to Zurich airport, killing 24 people, showed the pilots were in the process of aborting their landing attempt to make a new approach, investigators said today.