Meet Obama's Defense Secretary Nominee

President Obama nominated former Senator Chuck Hagel as the next U.S. secretary of defense. To those who haven't followed the Senate closely in the past decade, he's probably not a household name.Hagel is a former GOP senator from Nebraska and Purple-Heart-decorated Vietnam veteran, but he wouldn't necessarily be a popular pick with Republicans in Congress.At age 21, Hagel and...

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West vs Asia education rankings are misleading

Western schoolchildren are routinely outperformed by their Asian peers, but worrying about it is pointless MATHEMATICS and science are as essential to modern economies as coal was to the industrial revolution. So when the results of international tests show Western schoolchildren lagging behind their peers...

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TP students present innovations at exhibition

SINGAPORE: More than 60 nifty inventions were presented at this year's Engineering Project Show at Temasek Polytechnic on Monday.Some ideas included a baby pram that can function as a high chair and a tray return system. The ideas are the final-year projects of the polytechnic's engineering students.Five students created an "Ah Long" detector, which could be attached to front doors to...

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NHL, players reach tentative agreement

From Maria P. White and Josh Levs, CNNupdated 1:11 PM EST, Sun January 6, 2013Mike Brown of the Toronto Maple Leafs strips the puck from Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings during a game last January.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Games could resume "hopefully, within a few days," Fehr saysFans react with a mix of frustration and excitement The two sides reach an agreement after a marathon negotiating...

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Google head Eric Schmidt in North Korea

Updated 4:15 a.m. EST BEIJING The Google chairman wants a first-hand look at North Korea's economy and social media in his private visit Monday to the communist nation, his delegation said, despite misgivings in Washington over the timing of the trip. Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of one of the world's biggest Internet companies, is the highest-profile U.S. executive to visit North Korea --...

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Silent Skype calls can hide secret messages

Got a secret message to send? Say it with silence. A new technique can embed secret data during a phone call on Skype. "There are concerns that Skype calls can be intercepted and analysed," says Wojciech Mazurczyk at the Institute of Telecommunications in Warsaw, Poland. So his team's SkypeHide system lets users...

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WP hopes to raise S$1.5m to purchase headquarters

SINGAPORE: The opposition Workers' Party (WP) is hoping to raise S$1.5 million for the purchase of its own headquarters.The party's secretary-general Low Thia Khiang and chairman Sylvia Lim said this at the party's first musical concert, titled "Brick in Blue".Ms Lim said since the 2011 general election, the party has raised some S$500,000.The money came from monthly contributions from...

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Armstrong's lawyer: No mea culpa talks

By Jillian Martin and Chelsea J. Carterupdated 1:06 PM EST, Sat January 5, 2013STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe New York Times report cites unnamed associates and doping officials in its reportCyclist's lawyer says his client was not in discussion with U.S. or world anti-doping agenciesArmstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life Cyclist has repeatedly denied using banned performance-enhancing...

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Syrian president to give speech

BEIRUT Syrian President Bashar Assad will deliver a speech on Sunday in a rare address to the nation, state media said, as rebels fighting to topple his embattled regime pressed ahead with an offensive on the capital. The official SANA news agency said in a brief statement Saturday that Assad will speak about the latest developments in Syria. The speech would be the first by the leader since June,...

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Gun Show Near Newtown Goes on Despite Anger

A little more than 40 miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School, where last month 20 first graders and six staff members were massacred, gun dealers and collectors alike ignored calls to cancel a gun show, and gathered for business in Stamford, Conn.Four other gun shows with an hour of Newtown, Conn., recently cancelled their events in the wake of the shootings, when 20-year-old...

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