CERN becomes first pure physics voice in UN chorus

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter(Image: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras)If CERN observes the proceedings of the United Nations, will it change the outcome?The international particle physics laboratory, based near Geneva, Switzerland, has been granted observer status in the General Assembly of the United Nations, CERN officials announced today. The lab joins environmental groups and public...

Read More..

Philippine police shoot dead Malaysian carrying bomb

MANILA: A man with alleged ties to Islamic militants was shot dead in the Philippines after he threatened to set off a backpack bomb in a stand-off with local police, an official said Saturday.A suspect identified by police as Mohammad Noor Fikrie of Malaysia was killed in the southern city of Davao after he threatened to blow up an explosive device in a rucksack, city police chief Ronald...

Read More..

Pearlman: I think Bobby Petrino is slime

Bobby Petrino was named head coach at Western Kentucky, months after being embroiled in scandal at University of ArkansasSTORY HIGHLIGHTSBobby Petrino was named the new football coach at Western Kentucky this weekHiring came just months after he was fired from Arkansas amid scandalJeff Pearlman says, sadly, this is no surprise in big-time college sportsHe says the vast majority of players are ultimately...

Read More..

Hundreds pack Conn. church for vigil after rampage

Updated 11:39 PM ET NEWTOWN, Conn. Twenty-six candles — one for each of the victims — flickered on the altar Friday as hundreds of grief-stricken residents gathered for a vigil in memory of the children and staff killed in a shooting rampage at a school in this Connecticut town. With the church filled to capacity, hundreds spilled outside, holding hands in circles in the cold night air and saying...

Read More..

Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'

Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then drove her car to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School, armed with two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle.There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot...

Read More..

Today on New Scientist: 13 December 2012

Violent beauty at the end of an Alaskan glacier You can almost hear the crash of ice on water in this stunning image of an ice sheet calving off the Chenega glacier in AlaskaOvereating now bigger global problem than lack of food The most comprehensive disease report ever produced confirms that, for the first time, there is a larger health problem from people eating too much than too littleIn...

Read More..

Retail sales dip 1% on-year in Oct

SINGAPORE: Retail sales in Singapore dipped one per cent on-year in October as a result of lower sales of motor vehicles, according to the Department of Statistics (DOS).Excluding motor vehicles, DOS said retail sales rose 1.3 per cent on-year.Compared to the previous year, retail sales of motor vehicles decreased 8.5 per cent in October 2012. Sales of optical goods and books, watches...

Read More..

22 school kids wounded in knife attack

By CNN Staffupdated 1:14 AM EST, Fri December 14, 2012STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe attack takes place at a primary school in Henan province, state media reportPolice say they have detained a 36-year-old local residentChina was hit by a spate of knife and cleaver attacks on school children in 2010(CNN) -- Twenty-two primary school children have been wounded in a knife attack in central China, the state-run...

Read More..

Rice withdraws from secretary of state consideration

Updated: 8:45 p.m. ET U.N. ambassador Susan Rice on Thursday officially withdrew her name from consideration to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, citing in a letter to President Obama the "lengthy, disruptive and costly" nominating process she was sure to face if tapped for the job -- a disruption she argued the nation "cannot afford." Play VideoAnalysis: Why did Rice withdraw?Rice,...

Read More..

Health-Exchange Deadline Looms

All of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," doesn't go into effect until 2014, but states are required to set up their own health care exchanges or leave it to the federal government to step in by next year. The deadline for the governors' decisions is Friday.The health insurance exchanges are one of the key stipulations of the new health care law. They will offer...

Read More..

First results from James Cameron's trip to the abyss

IT'S not Pandora, but the Mariana trench holds life just as strange as that in James Cameron's film Avatar. And most is unknown to us, despite the film-maker's 11-kilometre descent into Earth's deepest point in a titanium sphere. Cameron and scientists on the team...

Read More..

S. Korea seeks to recover N. Korea rocket debris

SEOUL: South Korea's navy has launched a salvage operation in the Yellow Sea to retrieve debris from North Korea's long-range rocket launch, military officials said Thursday.The first stage of the North's Unha-3 rocket launched on Wednesday fell in the sea off the Korean peninsula, while the second splashed down east of the Philippines."Our navy discovered what appeared to be a part from...

Read More..

Singer's plane plunged from 28,000 feet, official says

By CNN Staffupdated 11:04 PM EST, Wed December 12, 2012Singer Jenni Rivera dies in plane crashSinger Jenni Rivera dies in plane crashSinger Jenni Rivera dies in plane crashSinger Jenni Rivera dies in plane crashSinger Jenni Rivera dies in plane crashSinger Jenni Rivera dies in plane crashSinger Jenni Rivera dies in plane crashSTORY HIGHLIGHTSSinger's plane was flying at 28,000 feet when it began to...

Read More..

In cautionary move, Europe centralizes bank oversight

BRUSSELSEuropean Union finance ministers reached an agreement early Thursday to create a single supervisor for their banks - one of the most significant transfers of authority from national governments to regional authorities since the creation of the euro currency. Under the deal, banks with more than $39 billion in assets supervised or those that represent a significant proportion of their national...

Read More..

N. Korean Missile Hits Target of Alarming the World

North Korea's successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile hit its target: it bolstered the standing of its young tyrant Kim Jong Un and raised the specter of being able to eventually strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.The pride in the success of the launch -- after several failures -- is a huge boost for Kim Jong Un, 29, who took power one year ago. He has...

Read More..

Today on New Scientist: 11 December 2012

Out-of-season's greetings from the Arctic frost flowers Season's regards from an icy meadow in the Arctic, but it's no winter wonderland and please don't dash out into itHow hacking a mosquito's heart could eradicate malaria Watch how a double-pronged trick helps mosquitoes remain healthy while carrying disease, a process that could be exploited to eliminate malariaNew drug lifts hard-to-treat...

Read More..

New Yorkers live longer than other Americans: mayor

NEW YORK: New Yorkers are living longer than Americans overall, and the margin is increasing, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday as he praised his administration's health policies.A New Yorker born in 2010 has a life expectancy of 80.9 years, 2.2 years longer than the national life expectancy of 78.7 years at the time.Since 2001, New Yorkers' life expectancy has increased by three years,...

Read More..

Sudan: Israeli 'spy vulture' nabbed

By Nick Thompson and Nima Elbagir, CNNupdated 2:13 PM EST, Tue December 11, 2012Sudan: Israel using 'spy vultures'Sudan: Israel using 'spy vultures'Sudan: Israel using 'spy vultures'Sudan: Israel using 'spy vultures'STORY HIGHLIGHTSSudan: Israeli vulture with GPS-equipped camera caught by officials in western SudanIsraeli scientists say a number of vultures tagged with GPS to study migration routesExpert:...

Read More..

Motive unclear in Oregon mall shooting that left three dead

PORTLAND, Ore. A masked gunman wearing camouflage opened fire Tuesday in a busy Portland mall, leaving the gunman and two others dead and one person injured, and forcing the mall's Santa Claus and hundreds of Christmas shoppers and employees to flee or hide among store displays. Austin Patty, 20, who works at Macy's, said he saw a man in a white mask carrying a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest....

Read More..

Gunman 'Tentatively' Identified in Oregon Shooting

A masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two individuals before killing himself, has been "tentatively" identified by police, though they have not yet released his name.The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing, and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering...

Read More..

Doha summit launches climate damage aid

The latest summit to stop climate change, held in Doha, Qatar, over the past two weeks has been roundly slammed. Little was agreed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and the latest modelling, carried out by the Climate Action Tracker consortium shows global averages temperatures are still set to rise by at least...

Read More..

Number of fallen casement windows hits new high

SINGAPORE: The number of fallen windows has risen since 2010, with an average increase of eight to nine cases per year. There were 50 cases in 2010, 58 cases in 2011 and 67 cases up till November this year.A joint statement by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and Housing and Development Board (HDB) said the increase is largely due to the number of fallen casement windows.Thirty-seven...

Read More..