Mitsubishi offices inspected over latest recall

TOKYO: Dozens of transport ministry officials inspected Mitsubishi Motors' offices across Japan on Tuesday after the automaker last week widened a recall to about 1.7 million vehicles.The inspection of Mitsubishi's Tokyo headquarters and quality-control offices nationwide came after the ministry criticised the firm over the latest expansion of an oil leak recall."We are inspecting the...

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Zelizer: Six political lessons of 2012

2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The year in pictures2012: The...

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Dueling trackers keeping tabs on Santa

Updated 7:58 p.m. Eastern PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. Volunteers at a U.S. Air Force base monitoring Santa Claus' progress around the world were on track to answer a record number of calls Monday from children wanting to know everything from Saint Nick's age to how reindeer fly. Oh, and when are the presents coming? Phones were ringing nonstop at Peterson Air Force Base, headquarters of the...

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Newtown Christmas: 'We Know They'll Feel Loved'

People drawn to Newtown to share in its mourning brought cards and handmade snowflakes to town Monday while residents prepared to observe Christmas less than two weeks after a gunman killed 20 children and six educators at an elementary school.On Christmas Eve, residents said they would light luminaries outside their homes in memory of the victims. Tiny empty Christmas stockings...

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New Scientist 2012 holiday quiz

Continue reading page |1 |2 THIS was the year we held our breath in almost unbearable anticipation while we waited to see whether physicists at the Large Hadron Collider would finally get a clear view of the Higgs boson, so tantalisingly hinted at last December. Going a bit blue, we held on through March when one of the...

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New Japan govt hints at joining Pacific trade pact

TOKYO: Japan's new government led by incoming prime minister Shinzo Abe has suggested it may join a US-backed Pacific-wide free trade deal, a report said on Monday.Tokyo has previously shown interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) but remained non-committal in the face of fierce opposition from its cosseted farming industry.Participation by the world's third largest economy...

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Indian PM calls for peace amid outrage over gang rape

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: India's prime minister says the public anger is "genuine and justified"NEW: Authorities are working to "ensure security and safety" for women, he saysFor a second day, protesters are blasted with water cannons in New Delhi Police say a woman was gang-raped and badly beaten on a busNew Delhi (CNN) -- India's prime minister called for calm Sunday after clashes erupted between police...

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Sen. Michael Crapo arrested on DUI in Virginia

Sen. Michael Crapo, R.-Idaho, was arrested in Virginia early Sunday morning and charged with driving under the influence, Alexandria police say. Police spokesman Craig T. Fifer said an officer was on routine patrol when he saw Sen. Crapo's vehicle run a red light. It was stopped at Hume Avenue and Mount Vernon at 12:45 a.m. Crapo then underwent several field sobriety tests, which he failed, Fifer...

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Get 'em While You Can? Gun Sales Soar

The National Rifle Association may still get its way and defeat the lawmakers calling for a ban on the sale of assault ridles, but some gun store owners say it seems their customers aren't taking any chances."We have never seen anything like this," said Larry Hyatt, who owns a gun shop in Charlotte, N.C. "We have the Christmas business, the hunting season business, and now we...

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Today on New Scientist: 21 December 2012

Cadaver stem cells offer new hope of life after death Stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow five days after death to be used in life-saving treatmentsApple's patents under fire at US patent office The tech firm is skating on thin ice with some of the patents that won it a $1 billion settlement against SamsungHimalayan dam-building threatens endemic species The world's highest mountains...

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