S'pore students set for workforce & world: global quiz host

SINGAPORE: Singapore students have a hunger for knowledge and are ready to face the workforce and the world, observed a key partner of the Tata Crucible Campus Quiz.Mr Giri Balasubramaniam, more popularly known as "Pickbrain", is the host of the global business quiz.He said the world looks up to Singapore in many ways, and one of them is quality education.The Tata Crucible Campus Quiz...

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Pope pardons ex-butler jailed over leaks

By Laura Smith-Spark and Saskya Vandoorne, CNNupdated 11:46 AM EST, Sat December 22, 2012Pope Benedict's former butler Paolo Gabriele leaves after the verdict in his trial at the Vatican in October.STORY HIGHLIGHTSVatican spokesman: Pope Benedict XVI pardons his former butler, Paolo GabrieleGabriele was given an 18-month prison term in October for aggravated theftHe was convicted after leaking private...

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New details emerge on Newtown gunman

NEWTOWN, Conn. He was the awkward, peculiar kid who wore the same clothes to school every day.He rarely spoke and even gave a school presentation entirely by computer, never uttering a word.Play VideoNewtown residents react to the NRA's response to school shootingHe liked tinkering with computers and other gadgets, and seemed to enjoy playing a violent video game, choosing a military-style assault...

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'Fiscal Cliff' Leaves Boehner a Wounded Speaker

John Boehner is a bloodied House speaker following the startling setback that his own fractious Republican troops dealt him in their "fiscal cliff" struggle against President Barack Obama.There's plenty of internal grumbling about the Ohio Republican, especially among conservatives, and lots of buzzing about whether his leadership post is in jeopardy. But it's uncertain whether...

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Himalayan dam-building threatens endemic species

The Himalayas, the world's highest mountain range, may soon hold another record: it could become home to the greatest density of dams in the world. More than a thousand are either already operating, under construction or being planned in northern India, Nepal and Bhutan. Besides providing clean energy, they could...

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N. Korea confirms arrest of US citizen

SEOUL: North Korea confirmed Friday that it had arrested a US citizen in November, saying legal action would be taken against him but giving no details of the charges.The man, identified as Pae Jun-Ho, entered North Korea on November 3 as a tourist, and "committed a crime" against the country, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said."He was put into custody by a relevant institution,"...

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Best moments

STORY HIGHLIGHTSCNN asked people from all over the world to send in their best moments of 2012From the Philippines to Scotland, hundreds of people sent their most memorable images Submissions include exhilarating holidays, the birth of kids, the realization of dreamsWhat was your best moment of 2012? Send us your pictures(CNN) -- For some it was an exhilarating holiday to an exotic place, finding...

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John Kerry tapped to be next Secretary of State

President Obama is nominating Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, CBS News has learned. An official announcement is forthcoming later today. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, has widely been seen as the frontrunner for the position since U.N. ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration. Rice came under heavy fire from Republican...

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Amid Protest, NRA Calls for Armed Guards in Schools

The National Rifle Association stood its ground today in arguing that the answer to gun violence in schools is an armed security force that can protect students, while blaming the media and violent entertainment and video games for recent deadly shootings."The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre...

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Data show how US gun control will cut shooting deaths

It is tragic that it took the deaths of 20 children, but it seems that the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown has finally shifted the debate about guns and violence in the US. In focusing on Newtown, Connecticut,...

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'Erin Brockovich' toxin found at Japan plant

TOKYO: The toxic chemical made infamous by campaigning single mother Erin Brockovich has been found at up to 15,800 times safety limits in groundwater at a Japanese iron plant, the factory's operator said Thursday.Excessive amounts of hexavalent chromium were discovered at Nippon Denko's plant in Tokushima in the country's west as it prepared to halt production of chromium salts at the...

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Blizzard blasts upper Midwest

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Iowa motorists cope with wet, heavy snow and treacherous roadsHeavy snow, high winds stretch from Iowa to Wisconsin in the season's first blizzardTens of thousands without power in Nebraska, IowaStorm to crawl from Midwest to New England by FridayIs the storm hitting near you? Share your photos and videos on CNN iReport.(CNN) -- Does the end of the world start with a snowstorm?Probably...

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New York Stock Exchange to be sold

NEW YORK The New York Stock Exchange (NYX) is being sold to a rival exchange for about $8 billion, ending more than two centuries of independence for the iconic Big Board. The buyer, IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), an upstart exchange based in Atlanta, made clear Thursday that little would change for the iconic trading floor in Manhattan's financial district if regulators approve the deal....

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Schools Threatened Nationwide After Sandy Hook

Schools across the country, already on edge following last week's massacre of 20 students and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school have been further unnerved following a series of copycat threats, sometimes yielding arrests and caches of deadly weapons.From California to Connecticut, police in the past five days have arrested more than a dozen individuals in Indiana,...

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Cassini captures spectacle in Saturn's shadow

Flora Graham, deputy editor, newscientist.com(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI)Like a Christmas bauble hanging in the night, this view ofa backlit Saturn shines in the darkness. The image was taken during a rare chancefor NASA'sCassini spacecraft to observe the planet's rings while in Saturn's shadow. Conveniently,Saturn blocks the sun and the rings are illuminated from behind. As well as providing...

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Bank of England votes 8-1 to maintain stimulus

LONDON: Bank of England policymakers voted 8-1 to maintain their quantitative easing stimulus programme at their December meeting, repeating the voting pattern from the previous month, minutes showed on Wednesday.The BoE's nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC) had voted earlier this month to keep the QE stimulus amount at 375 billion pounds ($611 billion, 460 billion euros).Polcymakers...

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Ex-judge Robert Bork dies

By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producerupdated 11:44 AM EST, Wed December 19, 2012Robert Bork, ex-federal judge Robert Bork, ex-federal judge Robert Bork, ex-federal judge Robert Bork, ex-federal judge Robert Bork, ex-federal judge Robert Bork, ex-federal judge STORY HIGHLIGHTSConservative judge Robert Bork died WednesdayHe was best known for contentious confirmation battle over his Supreme Court...

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Robert Bork, failed high court nominee, dies at 85

Updated at 11:11 a.m. ET MCLEAN, Va. Robert H. Bork, who stepped in to fire the Watergate prosecutor at Richard Nixon's behest and whose failed 1980s nomination to the Supreme Court helped draw the modern boundaries of cultural fights over abortion, civil rights and other issues, has died. He was 85. Son Robert H. Bork Jr. confirmed to The Associated Press his father died Wednesday at Virginia...

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Gaming chair mimics a full-motion simulator

Paul Marks, chief technology correspondent(Image: Greg Pease/Getty)Multi-million-dollar full-motion flight simulators give trainee pilots a good approximation of the ups and downs of real flight, but the powerful hydraulic rams they are mounted on make them far too big, expensive and dangerous for the home. Gamers should take heart, though: a novel kind of gaming chair called a haptic seat might...

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Coal use set to surpass oil in a decade: IEA

PARIS: Coal is set to surpass oil as the world's top fuel within a decade, driven by growth in emerging market giants China and India, with even Europe finding it hard to cut use despite pollution concerns, according to a report published Tuesday."Thanks to abundant supplies and insatiable demand for power from emerging markets, coal met nearly half of the rise in global energy demand...

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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 ...

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First of 8 funerals at Newtown church begins

NEWTOWN, Conn. Family members have gathered for the first of eight funerals for school shooting victims to be held at a Catholic church in Newtown, Conn. A motorcade of dozens of vehicles led by police motorcycles accompanied the family of 6-year-old James Mattioli to St. Rose of Lima on Tuesday. His funeral comes a day after two other 6-year-old boys were laid in the first of a long, almost unbearable...

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