Today on New Scientist: 21 December 2012

Cadaver stem cells offer new hope of life after death Stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow five days after death to be used in life-saving treatmentsApple's patents under fire at US patent office The tech firm is skating on thin ice with some of the patents that won it a $1 billion settlement against SamsungHimalayan dam-building threatens endemic species The world's highest mountains...

Read More..

Rent in Orchard Rd prime areas down 0.28% in Q4

SINGAPORE: Prime area rent for shopping malls and retailers in Orchard Road inched down 0.28 per cent this quarter, compared to the previous quarter. In a report by Savills World Research, average monthly rent in prime areas in Orchard Road were S$35.1 per square foot in the fourth quarter. This is a slight drop from the S$35.2 per square foot in Q3. Analysts felt that this is due to adjustments...

Read More..

Failure of fiscal deal puts more pressure on Boehner

STORY HIGHLIGHTSRepublicans rejected his Plan B to avert fiscal cliff, raising questions about his futureSome conservatives have called for Boehner's resignationMost Republicans say it's premature to say his speakership is in jeopardyWhile the failure of the Plan B vote was bad, Boehner faces tougher days aheadWashington (CNN) -- Roughly six weeks ago, Rep. John Boehner was reelected unanimously by...

Read More..

Pope pardons ex-butler who leaked documents

In this photo taken Wednesday, May, 23, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI, flanked by his private secretary Georg Gaenswein, top left, and his butler Paolo Gabriele arrives at St. Peter's square at the Vatican for a general audience. / AP Photo/Andrew Medichini VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday granted his former butler a Christmas pardon for stealing the pontiff's private papers and leaking...

Read More..

'Cliff' Deniers Put Faith in No Deal

Not everyone thinks the "fiscal cliff" is so bad.If the Dec. 31 deadline passes, income taxes will go up and across-the-board spending cuts will hit government programs. But while most of the political world frets as if a major disaster is looming, others have treated it more like the Y2K bug: a fiscal canard ginning up a lot of unnecessary panic.The cliff is a "fantasy," former...

Read More..

Avian flu virus learns to fly without wings

Potentially fatal bird flu viruses can spread on the wind, a hitherto suspected but unproven route of transmission. Usually, people catch bird flu through close physical contact with each other or, much more commonly, with infected poultry....

Read More..

ASEAN will continue to push for open skies agreement with India: PM Lee

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the issue of an open skies agreement between ASEAN and India is something which Singapore will continue to push for.Speaking to the Singapore media at the end of his visit to New Delhi for the ASEAN-India commemorative summit, Mr Lee said passenger traffic keeps on growing, and hence the need for more capacity."I keep on making the point to...

Read More..

Plan B yanked, now what?

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: "The president will work with Congress to get this done," the White House saysThe House Speaker says his Plan B wasn't voted on because it didn't have "sufficient support" A bill to alter cuts did narrowly pass the House; the White House says it would vetoThe fiscal cliff's tax hikes and spending cuts are set to take effect in JanuaryWashington (CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner's...

Read More..

N. Korea: We've detained a U.S. citizen

Updated 7 a.m. EST PYONGYANG, North Korea North Korea said Friday that an American citizen has been detained after confessing to unspecified crimes, confirming news reports about his arrest at a time when Pyongyang is facing criticism from Washington for launching a long-range rocket last week. The American was identified as Pae Jun Ho in a brief dispatch issued by the state-run Korean Central...

Read More..

NRA to Speak on Stopping Newtown Repeat

For the past week, leadership at the National Rifle Association has largely stayed away from the media, but this morning the group may weigh in on how to keep a deadly shooting massacre like last week's at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school from happening again.The NRA will hold a news conference in Washington, D.C., just before 11 a.m.Its leadership has held off on interviews...

Read More..

Fetal healing: Curing congenital diseases in the womb

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

Read More..

SGX consults markets on proposed rule changes

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is consulting the securities and derivatives markets on proposed rule changes to provide market participants with more clarity of their rights and responsibilities. The proposed rule changes are meant to clarify when settlement and other payments between the clearing house and clearing members become final. SGX is proposing rule refinements to remove...

Read More..

Blizzard warning issued for big chunk of Midwest

STORY HIGHLIGHTSPower outages affect thousands in Des Moines, Iowa23-car pileup in Texas dust storm kills one, injures 17Heavy snow, high winds stretch from Colorado to Wisconsin in season's first blizzardStorm to crawl from Midwest to New England by FridayIs the storm hitting near you? Share your photos and videos on CNN iReport.(CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people lost power in Iowa on Thursday...

Read More..

Virginia Tech Survivor Fights Back Against Guns

Colin Goddard knows what it's like to be in a classroom when an armed man bursts through the door and starts randomly shooting people. Goddard was a student at Virginia Tech when a gunman shot him and killed 32 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history."It was the most terrifying nine minutes of my life," Goddard told Terry Moran of "Nightline" Wednesday. "One moment...

Read More..

Fabricated future: The sceptic's guide to 3D printing

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

Read More..

TIME magazine names Obama 2012 person of the year

NEW YORK: Time magazine on Wednesday named the recently re-elected US President Barack Obama as its person of the year for 2012 -- the second time it has accorded him this honor.The venerable American news magazine said the United States is in the midst of huge cultural and demographic changes and Obama is "both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America."The magazine...

Read More..

Libya siege: Ambassador's last minutes

STORY HIGHLIGHTSU.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in September of this yearHe was the first U.S. ambassador murdered since 1988 Along with Stevens, three other Americans were killed (CNN) -- They were hiding in a place security officers called a "safe area." It was anything but.Outside an angry crowd grew, gunfire rang out and a fire blazed.Thick smoke blinded the three trapped men. The intruders...

Read More..

UBS to pay $1.5B in fines for rate manipulation

Updated 4:30 a.m. GENEVA Switzerland's UBS AG agreed Wednesday to pay some $1.5 billion in fines to international regulators following a probe into the rigging of a key global interest rate. In admitting to fraud, Switzerland's largest bank became the second bank, after Britain's Barclays PLC, to settle over the rate-rigging scandal. The fine, which will be paid to authorities in the U.S., Britain...

Read More..

Australia a Model for Successful Gun Control?

If there is one country that best represents the possibility of cutting gun crime by increasing gun control, it is Australia.In 1996, 28-year-old Martin Bryant finished his lunch in a café in the seaside resort of Port Arthur and pulled out a semi-automatic rifle. In the first 15 seconds of his attack, he killed 12 and wounded 10. In all, he shot more than 50 people in six locations,...

Read More..

How an ancient Egyptian code unmasked a cannibal star

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

Read More..

SMRT Alpha appointed to operate retail space at S'pore Sports Hub

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Sports Hub has appointed SMRT Alpha to lease and operate 41,000 square metres of commercial retail space at the Singapore Sports Hub.This new joint venture is a partnership between subsidiaries of SMRT and NTUC FairPrice.The retail mall and waterfront area will feature a variety of indoor and alfresco food and beverage outlets.For shoppers, the mall will offer...

Read More..

Watch Dallas Mavericks try to sing

on your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®. iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. If you get CNN and HLN at home, you can watch them online and on the go for no additional chargeStart watching ...

Read More..

Schools reopening in Newtown

NEWTOWN, Conn. With security stepped up and families still on edge in Newtown, schools are opening for the first time since last week's massacre, bringing a return of familiar routines -- at least, for some -- to a grief-stricken town as it buries 20 of its children. Play VideoHoliday week is full of funerals for Newtown, Conn.Two 6-year-old boys were laid to rest Monday in the first of a long, almost...

Read More..