Creative industry in China on the rise

SHANGHAI: The creative industry is becoming a new growth area of the Chinese economy.

As one of the cities boasting the fastest growth in this sector, Shanghai's municipal government is injecting another US$32 million to further support its development.

Located in one of Shanghai's creative industry parks, KRT is a young local design firm. It is known for doing detailed work that showcases its customers' unique character.

From a three-member team redesigning apartment bathrooms, it now has 20 employees and focuses on high-end residential design and construction projects in the millions of dollars.

Kevin Hsu, design director of KRT Architecture & Interior Design Co., said: "In the past few years, we moved up from doing designs for small projects to big ones for really high-end customers. We don't need to do as many projects as we used to. Instead, we only need five to 10 projects a year to achieve the same amount of growth and profit as before."

Located five minutes away is Adopted -- formed only four months ago. It makes phone accessories which are sold by Apple.

Its small size did not stand in the way of a collaboration with the tech giant.

David Watkins, founder of Adopted, said: "Pretty much the entire team has a lot of experience working for building products for the Apple's retail eco-system. And as a small company, we are able to react and be a lot more nimble than a lot of larger companies."

According to CCID Consulting, China's largest consulting firm, the value of the creative industry in China exceeded US$172 billion in 2011, and the average annual growth rate was more than 26 per cent over the past five years.

This growth can be attributed to the higher value placed on the industry amid the realisation that China needs to move beyond just manufacturing.

In recent years, China's central and local governments have launched various plans to support the industry -- including encouraging schools to set up creative industry departments, and giving subsidies and tax relief to companies in this sector.

For example, Shanghai has just injected another US$32 million into the industry, which will be used to grow the industry, including training more local talents and attracting overseas talents to come to Shanghai.

The total value of the sector in China is expected to reach US$331 billion by 2014 - almost double its current value.

-CNA/ac

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U.N.'s Syria death toll jumps dramatically to 60,000

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• United Nations' Navi Pillay: "We have fiddled at the edges while Syria burns"


• Syrian planes hit Damascus suburbs and other targets, killed dozens at a fuel station


• Al-Nusra Front is among three factions attacking the Taftanaz military air base in northern Syria


• The militant group is a cover for al Qaeda in Iraq, the U.S. State Department says

(CNN) -- The overall death toll in devastated Syria has surpassed an estimated 60,000 people, the United Nations said Wednesday, a dramatic figure that could skyrocket as the civil war persists.

To put it in perspective: 60,000 people is roughly the population of Terre Haute, Indiana; or Cheyenne, Wyoming. It's how many people would fit in Dodger Stadium, and it's more than the 50,000-plus U.S. combat deaths in Vietnam.

The figure is about 15,000 higher than the death toll CNN had cited from a collection of sources.

It's "truly shocking" and shameful, said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, who blamed the international community for inaction.

"Collectively we have fiddled at the edges while Syria burns," she said. "While many details remain unclear, there can be no justification for the massive scale of the killing highlighted by this analysis."

Inside Syria, anti-government activists brought their personal perspective to the new death estimate: "No wonder!" Hama activist Mousab Alhamadee said. "We live on the ground and we see the massacres daily."

Western and Arab nations have denounced President Bashar al-Assad's regime, but they have been been reluctant to intervene in hopes of ending the warfare.

They haven't been successful in forging tough action against Syria at the U.N. Security Council because of opposition from Russia and China, both of which have long had friendly relations with and economic ties to Damascus. While some countries have passed along weapons to the rebels, the larger world community has avoided being drawn into a war, fearing a bloody quagmire, such as the Vietnam War for the United States or the invasion of Afghanistan for the Russians.

Echoing the fears of U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Pillay worried about more deaths "unless there is a quick resolution to the conflict."

"I fear thousands more will die or suffer terrible injuries as a result of those who harbor the obstinate belief that something can be achieved by more bloodshed, more torture and more mindless destruction," she said.

Pillay said the number of deaths is higher than expected.

"This massive loss of life could have been avoided if the Syrian government had chosen to take a different path than one of ruthless suppression of what were initially peaceful and legitimate protests by unarmed civilians," she said.

"As the situation has continued to degenerate, increasing numbers have also been killed by anti-government armed groups, and there has been a proliferation of serious crimes including war crimes, and -- most probably -- crimes against humanity, by both sides."

The 60,000, she said, "is likely to be an underestimate of the actual number of deaths." Citing the discovery of mass graves in newly liberated government bases, Alhamadee, the activist, said: "The number I think is far greater than this, and lots of people are missing."

"The recording and collection of accurate and reliable data has grown increasingly challenging due to the conflict raging in many parts of the country," Pillay said.

Rupert Colville, a U.N. spokesman, agrees that the number "is probably a minimum" and reflects a killing field of war crimes.

"There's not a shadow of doubt now that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed. That said, in each individual case, the final judgment has to be made by a court. It's hard to quantify at this point," he said.

"This is a classic case of a conflict that's spiraling downwards, becoming ever more ghastly. We've seen this before in the Balkans and other places. The worse it becomes, the more difficult it is to resolve."

Ahawa, who posted a reaction on CNN.com's comment section, sees a dark future for Syria, regardless. "Syria is doomed, no matter who wins, the terrorist rebels or the terrorist regime, the country ... will take tens of years to rebuild,' Ahawa wrote. "Even if Assad is toppled in the next few months, sectarian fighting will still go on for years."

Wimcorbijn, another CNN.com commenter, accused Western and Arab nations of wanting to topple al-Assad at any cost.

"I think the best bet for Syria now is to keep Assad as leader," wimcorbijn wrote. "It is the right time for (countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to step in and support to help to defeat the rebels. Once the rebels are defeated, they can force to introduce democracy as well as political reforms in Syria."

Air attacks, shelling, tank fire, bomb attacks, street-to-street fighting and sectarian fighting have all contributed to the rising toll, Pillay said. Deaths have increased from 1,000 a month in the summer of 2011 to more than 5,000 a month since July, she said.

Collectively we have fiddled at the edges while Syria burns.
Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights

Deaths have been most prevalent in Homs, the Damascus outskirts, Idlib, Aleppo, Daraa and Hama. More than three-quarters of the victims are male, and 7.5% are female, Pillay said. The gender of the others isn't clear, and analysts couldn't "differentiate clearly between combatants and non-combatants."

The inability of the U.N. Security Council and the international community to stop the violence "shames us all," she said.

Read more: Syria's grim toll continues into 2013

Death estimates have varied among opposition groups that have issued daily counts. For example, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 46,000 people have died since March 2011.

U.N. data specialists counted 59,648 people reported killed in Syria between March 15, 2011, and November 30, 2012, Pillay said. Scores of deaths were reported every day in December.

Related: 2013 prediction: 100,000 deaths

Latest clashes

On Wednesday, fighting sent the daily death toll higher. More than 207 people were killed, mostly in and around Damascus, according the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria.

Syrian government warplanes hammered the Damascus suburbs and other targets. At least 74 people died and dozens were wounded in the Damascus suburb of Mleiha when government planes carried out an airstrike on a fuel station, the LCC said, citing initial reports. The toll of "martyrs" will probably rise "due to continuous pulling of the bodies from under the rubble," the LCC said.

Aerial shelling also was reported in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, in the cities of Aleppo and Deir Ezzor and other locations.

-Estimated Syrian civil war deaths: 60,000

-Estimated Syrian population: 22,530,746

-Percentage of Syrian population killed: .26%

Sources: CIA World Fact Book, United Nations

In Idlib province, Syrian rebels, including jihadists, fought to wrest a key military air base from government forces Wednesday, the opposition said, as anti-regime fighters kept up the heat on al-Assad's forces. Al-Nusra Front, a militant group that the United States designated last month as a terrorist movement, is among three rebel factions attacking the base, rebels said in a statement.

"The battle to liberate Taftanaz military airport has started," the rebels said. "Taftanaz airport has been delivering horrors to Muslims. The warplanes fly from there on a daily basis, to throw explosive barrels on villages and towns."

Read more: Deadly day in Syria as diplomats talk

The other factions participating in the effort are Battalions of Ahrar Al-shaam and the Islamic Forefront. Ahrar is an Islamist coalition with some Salafist elements that cooperates with the Free Syrian Army. The Islamic Forefront is a larger umbrella group of Islamist organizations; one of its members is Ahrar.

About 400 soldiers are based at the airport, along with a number of pro-government militia.

At the base are 30 planes, including transportation craft and fighting jets; seven armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers; artillery and rocket launchers.

Casualties have been reported on both sides in the fighting, but precise numbers were not available because the government has restricted international journalists' access.

Read more: Refugee figures fail to give true picture of Syria crisis

Read more: Marriage destroyed by war

CNN's Joe Sterling, Salma Abdelaziz and Yousuf Basil reported from Atlanta, and Kareem Khadder contributed to this report from Jerusalem

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Al Jazeera acquires Al Gore's Current TV

LOS ANGELES Al-Jazeera, the Pan-Arab news channel that struggled to win space on American cable television, has acquired Current TV, boosting its reach nearly ninefold to about 40 million homes. With a focus on U.S. news, it plans to rebrand the left-leaning news network that cofounder Al Gore couldn't make relevant.

The former vice president confirmed the sale Wednesday, saying in a statement that Al-Jazeera shares Current TV's mission "to give voice to those who are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the stories that no one else is telling."

The acquisition lifts Al-Jazeera's reach beyond a few large U.S. metropolitan areas including New York and Washington, where about 4.7 million homes can now watch Al-Jazeera English.

Al-Jazeera, owned by the government of Qatar, plans to gradually transform Current into a new channel called Al-Jazeera America by adding five to 10 new U.S. bureaus beyond the five it has now and hiring more journalists.

Al-Jazeera spokesman Stan Collender said there are no rules against foreign ownership of a cable channel — unlike the strict rules limiting foreign ownership of free-to-air TV stations. He said the move is based on demand, adding that 40 percent of viewing traffic on Al-Jazeera English's website is from the U.S.

"This is a pure business decision based on recognized demand," Collender said. "When people watch Al-Jazeera, they tend to like it a great deal."

Al-Jazeera has long struggled to get carriage in the U.S., and the deal suffered an immediate casualty as Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation's second-largest cable TV operator, announced it is dropping Current TV due to the deal.

"Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service. We are removing the service as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement.

Previous to Al-Jazeera's purchase, Current TV was in 60 million homes.

In 2010, the network's managing director, Tony Burman, blamed a "very aggressive hostility" from the Bush administration for reluctance among cable and satellite companies to show the network.

Even so, Al-Jazeera has garnered respect for its ability to build a serious news product in a short time. But there may be a culture clash at the network. Dave Marash, a former "Nightline" reporter who worked for Al-Jazeera in Washington, said he left the network in 2008 in part because he sensed an anti-American bias there.

Current, meanwhile, began as a groundbreaking effort to promote user-generated content. But it has settled into a more conventional format of political talk television with a liberal bent. Gore worked on-air as an analyst during its recent election night coverage.

Former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Cenk Uygur are currently its lead personalities. Current signed Keith Olbermann to be its top host in 2011 but his tenure lasted less than a year before it ended in bad blood on both sides.

Current has largely been outflanked by MSNBC in its effort be a liberal alternative to the leading cable news network, Fox News Channel.

Current hired former CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman in 2011 to be its president. Bohrman has pushed the network to innovate technologically, with an election night coverage that emphasized social media conversation.

Current TV, founded in 2005 by former vice president Gore and Joel Hyatt, is expected to post $114 million in revenue in 2013, according to research firm SNL Kagan. The firm pegged the network's cash flow at nearly $24 million a year.

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Tax Deal Done - but How Can Obama Sign It?

Jan 2, 2013 6:29pm

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

Congress officially delivered the bill to avert the fiscal cliff to the White House this afternoon, House Speaker John Boehner’s office told ABC News.

Now the question is when will the President sign it?

The bill, passed late on New Year’s Day, expires tomorrow at 11:59 a.m. when the current session of Congress concludes. If President Obama doesn’t sign it by then, constitutionally the bill is dead.

But this evening, eighteen hours before the deadline, the President is on a golf course in Hawaii.  And the bill is in Washington at the White House.

Administration officials won’t say what they will do despite repeated inquiries from ABC News.

There seem to be two options:  1) An Air Force jet can deliver the bill to Hawaii (better leave quickly!) in time for the President to sign it before 11:59 Eastern Standard Time; or, 2) The White House can use a presidential “auto-pen.”

The simple mechanical device uses a template of the presidential signature to scrawl it on paper if activated by the White House at Obama’s direction.

But would an auto-pen – usually used to sign insignificant correspondence and photographs – pass constitutional muster?  We don’t know.  The question has never been tested by the courts.

A 2005 legal study commissioned by former President George W. Bush determined that use of the autopen is constitutional but acknowledged the possibility that its use could be challenged.  Bush never used the autopen, officials from his administration told ABC.

President Obama is only believed to have used the autopen once to sign a piece of major legislation — the 2011 extension of the Patriot Act — which reached his desk while he was on a diplomatic trip to Europe. Officials invoked national security concerns to justify the move.

Use of the autopen has been controversial.  Conservative groups alleged last summer that Obama used an autopen to sign condolence letters to the families of Navy SEALs killed in a Chinook crash in Afghanistan — a charge the White House disputed flatly as false.

In 2004, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was criticized for using an autopen to sign condolence letters to the families of fallen troops.

And in 1992 then-Vice President Dan Quayle even got into some hot water over his use of the autopen on official correspondence during an appearance on “This Week with David Brinkley.” More HERE.

ABC News’ Ann Compton and Devin Dwyer contributed reporting.

SHOWS: World News

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New path for mid-career professionals to join accounting industry

SINGAPORE: Mid-career professionals in Singapore without accounting work experience or accounting-related qualifications can now be hired and trained as accounts or audit professionals.

This has been made possible by a new pilot programme, a result of a partnership between NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and professional accounting body CPA Australia.

Under the programme, e2i will provide participating employers training allowances and subsidise up to 70 per cent of course fees for successful candidates. Employers that hire candidates for professional accounting roles under this programme can apply for training support of up to S$8,450 per eligible employee.

Employers will commit to offer jobs to successful candidates on a permanent and full-time basis.

The candidates will also have starting salaries of at least S$2,000, and receive a basic salary increase of at least 15 per cent when they complete the programme.

During their training, candidates will enrol in the CPA Programme Foundation Level course, which will equip them with the necessary basic accounting knowledge. It also provides them with a direct pathway to advance to the Professional Level course, which will confer the globally-recognised CPA Australia professional accounting designation.

Candidates will also undergo six months of on-the-job training with participating employers.

Mr Gilbert Tan, acting CEO of e2i, said: "e2i creates employment and employability solutions for PMEs interested in developing their careers. This Place-and-Train programme for accounts and audit professionals was initiated to help address the manpower needs of the accounting sector, as well as provide a way for locals to tap into accounting or audit-related job opportunities."

Mr Melvin Yong, Singapore General Manager of CPA Australia, said: "As Singapore positions itself to become a global accountancy hub, this partnership between CPA Australia and e2i will provide an ideal doorway for those in mid-careers looking for an opportunity to join the accounting profession.

"For employers, this is a potential avenue to recruit experienced staff amidst Singapore's current tight labour market."

The programme is part of the labour movement's continuous outreach to professionals in the financial and business services cluster.

-CNA/ac

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Pa. gov. to sue NCAA over Penn State sanctions

HARRISBURG, Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett said Tuesday he plans to sue the NCAA in federal court over stiff sanctions imposed against Penn State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.

The Republican governor scheduled a Wednesday news conference on the Penn State campus in State College to announce the filing in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg.

The sanctions, which were agreed to by the university in July, included a $60 million fine that would be used nationally to finance child abuse prevention grants. The sanctions also included a four-year bowl game ban for the university's marquee football program, reduced football scholarships and the forfeiture of 112 wins.

The governor's office announced the news conference late Tuesday afternoon. His spokesman did not respond to repeated calls and emails seeking to confirm a Sports Illustrated story that cited anonymous sources saying a lawsuit was imminent.

Corbett's brief statement did not indicate whether his office coordinated its legal strategy with state Attorney General-elect Kathleen Kane, who is scheduled to be sworn in Jan. 15.

Kane, a Democrat, ran on a vow to investigate why it took state prosecutors nearly three years to charge Sandusky, an assistant under former football coach Joe Paterno. Corbett was the attorney general when that office took over the case in early 2009 and until he became governor in January 2011.

6 Photos

Who's who in the Penn State child sex abuse scandal

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Pa. Atty Gen: Penn State officials showed "callous lack of concern"

State and congressional lawmakers from Pennsylvania have objected to using the Penn State fine to finance activities in other states. Penn State has already made the first $12 million payment, and an NCAA task force is deciding how it should be spent.

The NCAA, which did not respond to calls seeking comment Tuesday, has said at least a quarter of the money would be spent in Pennsylvania.

Republican U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent called that an "unacceptable and unsatisfactory" response by the NCAA to a request from the state's U.S. House delegation that the whole $60 million be distributed to causes within the state.

Last week, state Sen. Jake Corman, a Republican whose district includes Penn State's main campus, said he plans to seek court action barring any of the first $12 million from being released to groups outside the state.

The fine was just part of college sports' governing body's sanctions on Penn State for its handling of the abuse scandal involving Sandusky, who was convicted in June on charges he sexually abused 10 boys, some on campus. The landmark sanctions, though, didn't include a suspension of the university's football program, the so-called death penalty.

Sandusky, 68, was convicted on 45 counts. He's serving a 30- to 60-year state prison term.

Eight young men testified against him, describing a range of abuse they said went from grooming and manipulation to fondling, oral sex and anal rape when they were boys.

Sandusky did not testify at his trial but has maintained his innocence, acknowledging he showered with boys but insisting he never molested them.

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House Plans Up-or-Down Vote on 'Cliff' Deal

The Republican-dominated House of Representatives is taking an up-or-down vote on a bipartisan Senate deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."

House Republicans agreed to the up-or-down vote Tuesday evening, despite earlier talk of trying to amend the Senate bill with more spending cuts before taking a vote.

If House Republicans had tweaked the legislation, there would have been no clear path for its return to the Senate before a new Congress is sworn in Thursday.

The Senate passed the same bill by an 89-8 vote in the wee hours of New Year's Day.

Before deciding on the up-or-down vote in the House, GOP leaders had emerged from a morning conference meeting disenchanted by the legislative package devised by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Mo., and Vice President Biden early this morning, with several insisting they could not vote on it as it stood.

"I do not support the bill," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said as he left the meeting. "We're looking for the best path forward. No decisions have been made yet."

House Speaker John Boehner refused to comment on the meeting, but his spokesman said, "the lack of spending cuts in the Senate bill was a universal concern amongst members in today's meeting."

Bill Clark/Roll Call/Getty Images

'Fiscal Cliff' Negotiations: Congress Reaches Agreement Watch Video

Fiscal Cliff Countdown: Missing the Deadline Watch Video

"Conversations with members will continue throughout the afternoon on the path forward," Brendan Buck said in a statement.

As lawmakers wrestled with the legislation, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill's added spending combined with the cost of extending tax cuts for those making under $400,000 would actually add $3.9 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. The Joint Committee on Taxation reached a similar conclusion.

The impasse once again raised the specter of sweeping tax hikes on all Americans and deep spending cuts' taking effect later this week.

"This is all about time, and it's about time that we brought this to the floor," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said after emerging from a meeting with Democrats.

"It was a bill that was passed in the U.S. Senate 89-8. Tell me when you've had that on a measure as controversial as this?" she said of the overwhelming vote.

Pelosi could not say, however, whether the measure had the backing of most House Democrats.

"Our members are making their decisions now," she said.

Biden, who brokered the deal with McConnell, joined Democrats for a midday meeting on Capitol Hill seeking to shore up support for the plan.

While Congress technically missed the midnight Dec. 31 deadline to avert the so-called cliff, both sides have expressed eagerness to enact a post-facto fix before Americans go back to work and the stock market opens Wednesday.

"This may take a little while but, honestly, I would argue we should vote on it today," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who sits on the Budget Committee. "We know the essential details and I think putting this thing to bed before the markets is important.

"We ought to take this deal right now and we'll live to fight another day, and it is coming very soon on the spending front."

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In-depth 2012: The best long reads of the year

Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year"

Dig deeper, look closer and think harder – these are the goals of New Scientist's in-depth articles. Each one is perfect for saving in your favourite read-it-later app and curling up in front of a glowing tablet for a good long read.

These are our editors' picks of our best features of the year, and all are prime examples of the amazing breadth of big ideas that were ripe for the tackling in 2012. When you have finished digesting these readable meals, visit our in-depth articles archive if you're hungry for more.

Richard Webb: "You might not have heard of the algorithm that runs the world." I certainly hadn't, or that its mathematical foundations are starting to look a little wobbly. An eye-opening examination of how seemingly abstruse mathematics is in fact deeply embedded in modern life: "The algorithm that runs the world"

Sally Adee: Gastric bypass surgery is the best surgery you're not getting, said Dr Oz on his popular medical advice show in the US. Because of enthusiasm from people like him, this operation has become massively popular – but by whimsically hacking at our stomach, might we might be messing with a system far more complicated than anyone really understands? Samantha Murphy had the surgery and began to realise that losing 45 kilograms could come with some profound neurological trade-offs: "Change your stomach, change your brain"

Michael Le Page: Nowadays most people either haven't heard of the 1970 book The Limits to Growth, or believe – wrongly – that the research it was based on has been discredited. But the main message of Limits is perhaps more relevant than ever – that a delayed response to mounting environmental problems leads to catastrophe further down the line: "Boom and doom: Revisiting prophecies of collapse"

Richard Fisher: This is a simple story about a scientific mystery. Strange rumbles, whistles and blasts have been reported all over the world for centuries. In New York state, they are called "Seneca guns"; in the Italian Apennines they are described as brontidi, which means thunder-like; in Japan they are yan; and along the coast of Belgium they are called mistpouffers – or fog belches. Yet the cause is often unexplained – what on Earth could be behind them? "Mystery booms: The source of a worldwide sonic enigma"

Valerie Jamieson: It's been a sensational year for particle physics, but the Higgs boson isn't the only fascinating particle in town. Meet 11 more particles that change our understanding of the subatomic world: "11 particles for 11 physics puzzles"

David Robson: What is the secret of the legendary "flow state" that seems to mark out genius in everyone from piano virtuosos to tennis champions? With the latest brain stimulation techniques, it may soon be within everyone's reach, and Sally Adee writes with panache as she describes her own use of the technology during a terrifying marksmanship training session. This has everything I want to read in a story – drama, a revolutionary idea and some practical advice for anyone to try at home: "Zap your brain into the zone: Fast track to pure focus"

Graham Lawton: The writer of this article, Christopher Kemp, is a self-confessed lover of marginalia – nooks and crannies of science that are often overlooked. But as this beautifully written story reveals, those nooks and crannies often contain rich and fascinating material. Material, in fact, like ambergris: "Heaven scent: The grey gold from a sperm whale's gut"

Ben Crystall: Many people may remember the wonder material Starlite from an episode of BBC TV's Tomorrow's World – it seemed to have a miraculous ability to withstand fire and heat. So what happened to it? In this feature Richard Fisher uncovers the strange tale of Starlite and its eccentric inventor Maurice Ward, and on the way reveals fascinating details about Ward and his creation. And though Ward is dead, the story may not be over – it now looks like Starlite could get a second chance… "The power of cool: Whatever became of Starlite?"

Clare Wilson: I enjoyed working on this feature the most this year because to me it truly represents the future of medicine. New Scientist often predicts that some new medicine or technology will be available in five years' time. When it comes to using gene therapies or stem cell therapies on babies in the womb – the subject of this feature – the timeline is probably more uncertain, yet I don't see how anyone can doubt that some day it will happen: "Fetal healing: Curing congenital diseases in the womb"

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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N.Korea leader vows "radical" economic shift

SEOUL: North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un called for a "radical turnabout" in the impoverished country's economy in a rare New Year's address Tuesday that also urged improved relations with the South.

While the heart of his lengthy speech was devoted to turning the North into an "economic giant" and raising living standards, Kim stressed that military power remained a national priority.

"The military might of a country represents its national strength. Only when it builds up its military might in every way can it develop into a thriving country," he said in a voiced message broadcast on state television.

The address will be closely parsed for meaning in South Korea which just elected its first woman president, the conservative Park Geun-Hye, who has signalled a willingness for greater engagement with Pyongyang.

The voiced message was the first of its kind since Kim's grandfather, the North's founding president Kim Il-Sung, delivered one in 1994, the year of his death.

Kim's comments on the economy are likely to fuel speculation that he might be set to implement economic reforms that observers have been predicting since he came to power a year ago after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il.

The year 2013 will be a year of "great creations and changes in which a radical turnabout will be effected," Kim said, adding that "the building of an economic giant is the most important task" facing the country.

Praising the success of the North's space scientists in launching a long-range rocket last month, Kim said a similar national effort was required on the economic front.

"The entire Party, the whole country and all the people should wage an all-out struggle this year to effect a turnaround in building an economic giant and improving the people's standard of living," he said.

When Kim Jong-Il died, he left a country in dire economic straits -- the result of a "military first" policy that fed an ambitious missile and nuclear programme at the expense of a malnourished population.

Despite a rise in staple food output, daily life for millions of Koreans is an ongoing struggle with under-nutrition and a lack of vital protein and fat, according to a recent World Food Programme report.

Some observers had seen a glimmer of reformist hope in the handover of power to the Swiss-educated Kim Jong-Un, only in his late 20s.

Instead, Kim focused on consolidating his power base with a series of high-profile personnel changes, notably within the military elite, while at the same time pursuing Kim Jong-Il's missile programme.

Tuesday's address called for a "radical" increase in output across the board, from light and heavy industry to agriculture, as well as an improved transport infrastructure.

But it offered no specific policy directives for how this might be achieved by the isolated state which relies on its sole major ally China for 70 per cent of its foreign trade.

Kim's address came as the UN Security Council is still considering how to punish Pyongyang for its recent rocket launch, which most of the world saw as a disguised ballistic missile test.

The speech lauded the launch as a historic national achievement and stressed the need to develop more "sophisticated military hardware" in order to bring about a "fundamental change" in combat preparedness.

On South Korea, Kim sounded a conciliatory note and urged a scaling down of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

"An important issue in putting an end to the division of the country and achieving its reunification is to remove confrontation between the North and the South," Kim said.

"The past records of inter-Korean relations show that confrontation between fellow countrymen leads to nothing but war," he said.

South Korean president-elect Park Geun-Hye has distanced herself from outgoing President Lee Myung-Bak's hardline policy towards Pyongyang and spoken of the need for greater engagement with the North.

But in her first post-election victory policy statement, Park made it clear she still viewed Pyongyang as a serious threat and would put the South's national security before any trust-building programme.

-AFP/ac

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