Egypt's constitution seen passing in referendum

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted on a constitution drafted by Islamists on Saturday in a second round of balloting expected to approve a charter that opponents say will create deeper turmoil in the Arab world's most populous nation. Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, who was elected in June, say the constitution is vital to moving Egypt towards democracy two years after...

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Man loses S$6,000 in unhonoured online purchase

SINGAPORE: 21-year-old Kenrick Ho is S$6,000 poorer after an online purchase gone wrong.He had ordered 10 mobile phone sets from an eBay seller named Ms Siah, in September 2012.But after making full payment, no goods were delivered."(I am) very depressed and stressed because I can do alot with S$6,000," he lamented. "What if I need the money urgently? The seller said she'd refund the money,...

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Browsers: Top 5 events from 2012

For a while there, the browser was winning the war.New startups launched online services rather than packaged software. Browser makers raced to transform the Web from a place to publish documents into a general-purpose programming platform. People spent more and more time using the Web instead of software that ran natively on devices.Then the era of modern smartphones andtablets began. And in 2012,...

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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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Syrian rebels fight for strategic town in Hama province

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels began to push into a strategic town in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday and laid siege to at least one town dominated by President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect, activists said. The operation risks inflaming already raw sectarian tensions as the 21-month-old revolt against four decades of Assad family rule - during which the president's Alawite sect...

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Venture Scouts, Girl Guides conferred prestigious awards

SINGAPORE: Eighteen Venture Scouts and seven Girl Guides in Singapore have been conferred the highest honour in the movement.President Tony Tan Keng Yam presented the President's Scout Award and the President's Guide Award for 2012 at the Istana on Friday. The awards are the highest honour given to Singapore's most all-rounded Venture Scouts and Girl Guides.The awards come as recognition...

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Web media: The 5 biggest stories of 2012

Kim DotCom's arrest and subsequent legal fight was one of the biggest stories in digital media during the past year. Check out the rest of them. (Credit:Kim DotCom; Greg Sandoval/CNET) Fun, fun, fun!That's what digital movies, music, and books are supposed to be about. But for the people who create and sell the stuff, it's been all crumbs, crumbs, crumbs. The past year was another tough one for the...

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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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Egypt opposition vows to fight on against Islamist charter

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's opposition, facing defeat over a new constitution in a referendum this weekend, urged its supporters to reject the Islamist-backed charter and pledged to fight on to amend it during elections expected next year. Forty-eight hours before the second round of the plebiscite, the main opposition coalition of liberals, leftist, Christians and secular Muslims called...

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Singapore shares end 0.5% higher

SINGAPORE -- Singapore share prices ended 0.5% higher on Thursday, shrugging off negative cues from Wall Street.The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) rose 16.95 points to end at 3,175.52, supported by the announcement of fresh easing measures by the Bank of Japan.While the market opened lower amid fresh concerns over whether a US fiscal cliff deal will emerge before year-end, support...

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Facebook in 2012: 5 ways its IPO changed the social giant

Now that was a year Mark Zuckerberg will never forget -- even if he didn't celebrate each moment on Facebook, as he wants the rest of the world to do. Sure, he turned 28 and married longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, in a backyard ceremony at the couple's home in Palo Alto, Calif. But that's the stuff of ordinary men. Make no mistake: 2012 will go down as the year in which Zuckerberg came out from...

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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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South Korea's Park seen winning presidential race

SEOUL (Reuters) - The daughter of a former military ruler led the count of votes in South Korea's presidential election on Wednesday, putting her on track to become its first woman head of state although her narrow advantage meant the race was set to go to the wire. A win for 60-year old conservative Park Geun-hye would see her return to the presidential palace where she served as her...

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S. Korea's Park to win presidential vote: TV

  SEOUL: South Korea has elected its first woman president, TV channels said Wednesday, predicting a clear victory for conservative Park Geun-Hye, daughter of the country's former dictator.The KBS, SBS and MBC national broadcasters all declared Park "certain" to secure victory over her liberal rival Moon Jae-In with nearly 40 per cent of the nationwide vote counted.- AFP/ck !--...

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Say what: The top tech quotes of 2012

Felix Baumgartner, on surviving his supersonic free fall: "It was really a lot harder than I thought it was going to be." Mark Zuckerberg might have said the same thing about taking Facebook public, or Tim Cook about Apple releasing its own maps app in iOS 6.(Credit:Red Bull Stratos)Sometimes it's what you say. Sometimes it's how you say it. What really matters is that what you said captured a moment,...

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