* Top Middle East story of 2010: The Stuxnet virus As 2010 comes to an end, the mystery has yet to be revealed: Did Stuxnet set back Iran's nuclear program? Or was it just a small glitch?
* China preparing for armed conflict 'in every direction' China is preparing for conflict 'in every direction', the defence minister said.
* Israel - Iran nuclear bomb 'still three years away' Iran's nuclear program has been hit by technical problems, and it could be still three years away from making a bomb.
* Obama bypasses Senate, appoints envoy to Syria US President Barack Obama has bypassed the US Senate and directly appointed four new ambassadors.
* Israel ex-President Moshe Katsav found guilty of rape Israel's former President Moshe Katsav has been convicted of rape by a court in Tel Aviv and could go to jail.
* Rise of radical Islam threatens Mideast Christians with extinction As Americans celebrate Christmas in peace in our nation, many Christians across the Middle East are in peril: Muslim fanatics seek to exterminate them.
* Killing of Iraq police chief highlights security struggles as US draws down A senior police commander and three other cops in Iraq's northern city of Mosul – the most violent of Iraq's major cities – were murdered by suicide bombers shortly after dawn today.
* Ivory Coast on brink of "genocide": envoy to U.N. Political unrest following Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election has brought the West African country to the "brink of genocide."
* Iran: 'Harry Potter a Zionist Plot to Promote Devil Worship' If you thought the Harry Potter series was an innocent children's fantasy story, you're wrong, an Iranian movie producer says.
* Largest natural gas reserve discovered in Israel worth approximately $95 billion The largest reserve of natural gas, over 16 trillion cubic feet, has been discovered off the coast of Israel.