2013 Smart Guide: Supercomet to outshine the moon

Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year" Doomsayers disappointed by 2012's non-apocalypse will get a sop in 2013 in the form of a rare supercomet. Once widely seen as a portent of doom, comets are seldom as spectacular as the new...

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Important to preserve each community's identity: Indranee Rajah

SINGAPORE: Senior Minister of State for Law and Education Indranee Rajah has stressed the importance of preserving the identity of Singapore's various communities, at a dinner to raise funds for the Vairavimada Kaliamman temple."What is special about Singapore is that each community has preserved its identity, has preserved part of its past and at the same time is forward looking," she...

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Zelizer: Six political lessons of 2012

2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The...

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American contractor killed by Afghan policewoman

Updated 6:10 a.m. EST KABUL, Afghanistan An Afghan policewoman shot and killed an American adviser outside the police headquarters in Kabul on Monday, the latest in a rising tide of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies, senior Afghan officials said. The woman, identified as Afghan police Sgt. Nargas, had entered a strategic compound in the heart of the capital and shot the adviser...

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Newtown Inspires Country to Spread Kindness

While the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School have no doubt left the nation shaken, they have also inspired an outpouring of acts of kindness from across the nation and around the world.The central hub of many of these is on display in the U.S. Post Office in Newtown, Conn., a community shaken by the killing of 20 children and six school staff members by 20-year-old Adam...

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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...

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S'pore's top manpower issues in 2012

SINGAPORE: Foreign worker levies were raised in last year's Budget. All the changes would have been implemented next July.Depending on the sector companies are in and how reliant they are on foreign workers, companies will pay between 250 and 750 dollars more in levies per worker.To reduce dependency on foreign workers, companies are being urged to raise productivity.In addition, they...

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Thousands defy protest ban in anti-rape rallies in India

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: A journalist is killed in Manipur covering a protest against sexual assault For a second day, protesters are blasted with water cannons in New Delhi Demonstrators slip under police vans to deflate tires Police say a woman was gang-raped and badly beaten on a busNew Delhi (CNN) -- Thousands of protesters defied a ban on demonstrations in New Delhi on Sunday, venting their anger...

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U.K. media: Rolling Stones guitarist Wood ties knot

In this August 9, 2012 file photo, Sally Humphries and Ronnie Wood attend the Fashion for Relief charity dinner in London, England. / Tim Whitby/Getty Images LONDON Two British newspapers say Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has married his fiancee Sally Humphreys at a ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel. The Sun and the Daily Mirror carried photographs of the 65-year-old rocker with...

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Departing Secretary of State Clinton's Legacy of Firsts

After 31 years of public service, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves the limelight behind.On Friday, President Obama nominated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to take her place as secretary of state, leaving Clinton to help him move in and then bow out.Over the past three decades, Clinton has served her country in one way or another, a tenure that was full of firsts.She was...

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