Good morning! Morning Minutes is a round-up of stories that will break on Tuesday, Dec 31, and which we think you'd be interested in.

It appears on weekdays, available by 7am.

50 success stories for S'pore's 50th birthday

The success stories of 50 graduates from the polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) have been collected in a new book to mark Singapore's 50th anniversary.

A Nation of Skilled Talents, which is supported by the SG50 Celebration Fund, was written by Dr Jonathan Loh, a polytechnic graduate who is now a scientist at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, and graduate student Chadi El Farran.

Acting Education Minister Ong Ye Kung will launch the book today (Dec 30) at The Future of Us exhibition at Gardens by the Bay. - AMELIA TENG

US and UK to release housing market data today

Both the US and the UK will be releasing data for their countries' housing market on Wed (Dec 30). The UK will be releasing their nationwide housing price index for the month of December.

The index rose 3.7 per cent in November, compared with the same month last year, and is expected to continue rising in December. Similarly, the US will also be releasing data on their pending homes sales, a leading indicator for the health of the housing market, for November on Wed.

Europe hit by turbulent weather

Britons are bracing themselves for more rain on Wed (Dec 30) in northern England plus Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland. York, Leeds and Manchester in northern England have been hit by flooding in recent days amid volatile weather conditions around Europe.

France is melting under unusually high temperatures in the Alps, Italy is fogging under a smog build-up, while Spain is battling more than 130 forest fires over 2,000 hectares of land.