Gunmen kill 11 people on Pakistan-Iran border

QUETTA, Pakistan: Unknown gunmen killed 11 people as they prepared to illegally leave Pakistan in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, officials said on Saturday.The gunmen, riding motorcycles, attacked a convoy on Friday night in Pakistan's Gwadar district near the border with Iran, some 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) southwest of Quetta.Officials described the dead as "illegal immigrants"...

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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...

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NRA: Guns in schools would protect students

Updated: 6:44 p.m. ETIn a press conference reflecting on last week's massacre in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre today called on Congress to put armed law enforcement agents in every American school, insisting that guns in schools -- not tougher gun laws -- would most effectively protect children from school shootings. Play VideoA "good guy with a gun" in every school?...

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Obama Still an 'Optimist' on Cliff Deal

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON D.C. – Ten days remain before the mandatory spending cuts and tax increases known as the “fiscal cliff” take effect, but President Obama said he is still a “hopeless optimist” that a federal budget deal can be reached before the year-end deadline that economists agree might plunge the country back into recession.“Even though Democrats and Republicans are...

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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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Asian markets retreat as US fiscal cliff fears grow

HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly fell on Friday after Republicans scrapped a vote on putting in place a back-up plan if talks on averting the US fiscal cliff end in failure.The news out of Washington late Thursday cancelled out a rally on Wall Street and upbeat data on the US economy, while it also hit currency traders, who have sent the safe-haven yen higher despite more Bank of Japan...

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NRA director expected to speak on school massacre

STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe nation observes a moment of silence, and church bells will ring in many statesThe NRA is to speak on the Sandy Hook shooting FridayAdam Lanza's burial has been put off; his mother was interred ThursdayThree 6-year-old victims were buried Thursday(CNN) -- Across the nations Friday morning, church bells will toll. Flags will fly at half staff. Many websites will go offline. And office-workers...

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

Updated 5:10 a.m. EST PYONGYANG, North Korea North Korea said Friday it has detained an American citizen who has confessed to unspecified crimes. State media said in a short dispatch that someone named Pae Jun Ho entered North Korea on Nov. 3 as a tourist but was detained because of crimes. The North said the crimes were "proven through evidence," but didn't elaborate. Pyongyang has detained...

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Fiscal Cliff 'Plan B' Is Dead: Now What?

Dec 20, 2012 11:00pm The defeat of his Plan B — Republicans pulled it when it became clear it would be voted down — is a big defeat for Speaker of the House John Boehner.  It demonstrates definitively that there is no fiscal cliff deal that can pass the House on Republican votes alone.Boehner could not even muster the votes to pass something that would only allow...

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Urban Byzantine monks gave in to temptation

WHO ate all the pies? In 6th-century Jerusalem, the Byzantine monks were greedy gobblers - despite strict rules that they should eat mainly bread and water. Most early Byzantine monasteries were located in remote deserts, but St Stephen's monastery thrived...

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Stocks likely to continue being investors' favourite

SINGAPORE: Stocks may continue to be a favourite asset for investors next year.Improving corporate earnings and attractive valuations are expected to drive stock prices higher. Experts said investor sentiment may also get a lift on hopes of a recovery in the Chinese and US economies. Equities are among the star performers in financial markets this year.In the US, key stock indices like...

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Large portion of Midwest under blizzard warning

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: 156-mile stretch of freeway closed in Colorado23-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 Friday(CNN) -- People traveling early for Christmas in the center of the country will be dashing through the snow and the rain and the wind.The first...

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Senate GOP proposes much smaller Sandy aid package

WASHINGTONSenate Republicans on Wednesday proposed a $24 billion emergency aid package for Superstorm Sandy victims, less than half of what Democrats hope to pass by Christmas. The GOP alternative bill would provide more than enough money to pay for immediate recovery efforts through the spring. Republicans complain that the $60.4 billion Democratic bill being debated in the Senate is larded with...

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Obama Invokes Newtown on 'Cliff' Deal

Invoking the somber aftermath of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., President Obama today appealed to congressional Republicans to embrace a standing "fair deal" on taxes and spending that would avert the fiscal cliff in 13 days."If there's one thing we should have after this week, it should be a sense of perspective about what's important," Obama said at a midday news conference."I...

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2013 Smart Guide: New maps to rein in cosmic inflation

Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year" We're about to get a better grasp of one of the biggest ideas in the universe: inflation. The first maps of the cosmos from the European Space Agency's Planck satellite are due...

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Nature no excuse for cheating, says Chris Wang

SINGAPORE: Is it in men's nature to cheat?Taiwan actor Chris Wang thinks so."The Fierce Wife" star said he came to this conclusion after reading up on the topic and observing similar cheating behaviour among males of other animal species, during his travels as the host of an adventure programme.However, he stressed that this doesn't make it okay for men to betray their partners."I think...

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Report details final minutes for ambassador, 3 others

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 in 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...

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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...

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Newtown Settles In for Prayerful, Somber Christmas

Residents of Sandy Hook, Conn., gather every year under an enormous tree in the middle of town to sing carols and light the tree. The tree is lit this year, too, but the scene beneath it is starkly different.The tree looms over hundreds of teddy bears and toys, but they are for children who will never receive them. The ornaments are adorned with names and jarringly recent birth...

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2013 Smart Guide: Revolutionary human stem cell trial

Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year" If all goes to plan, 2013 should see the first human trial of "rewound" cells. These are produced by turning adult cells back to a stem cell state and then coaxing them into becoming another...

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