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According to Forbes' annual World's Billionaire list released yesterday, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person for the second year in a row, with a net worth of US$74 billion. American Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp, is again listed in second place with US$56 billion while investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway is third. China added the most new billionaires to the list with 54 while Russia added 31. The US came in third, with 23 new billionaires; American Mark Zuckerberg, chairman of Facebook, more than tr

Alberto Granado Jiménez, the Argentinian biochemist who was Che Guevara's companion on his transformative motorcycle trip through South America, died in Havana on Saturday, reported Cuban state television. He was 88 and died of natural causes. The politically active Jiménez met Ernesto "Che" Guevara, then a medical student, in Hernando, Argentina where Guevara had gone to play rugby. Both were intellectually curious and interested in exploration. In 1951 they set out on an eight-month motorcycle trip through South American that exposed the

Two US Marshals and one officer of the St. Louis, Missouri Metropolitan Police Department were shot during a gunfight while trying to apprehend a suspect on Tuesday morning. All three were taken to local hospitals for treatment, where one US Marshal later died. The suspect, identified by his family as 35-year-old Carlos Boles, was shot and killed by authorities returning fire. Eight law enforcement officials arrived at Bole's St. Louis, Missouri home to serve a felony arrest warrant. Upon entering the house, they were fired at with a semi-auto

With development of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) browser almost complete, Microsoft announced on Friday that it is time for IE6 users to move away from the antiquated 10-year-old browser. Microsoft has replaced it with three newer versions. On a new website, "The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown", Microsoft has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade users to stop using IE6 and update to a newer IE. Its goal is to decrease IE6 users to less than one percent. "[Ten] years ago, a browser was born. Its name was Internet Explorer 6. N

Three members of a Dutch navy helicopter crew that were detained by an armed unit loyal to the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, while they were attempting to evacuate two European nationals from Sirte last Sunday, have been accused Thursday of transporting spies. The Lynx helicopter had taken off from the Tromp, a Dutch naval warship. According to the Libyan government, the crew, consisting of two men and a woman, entered Libyan airspace "in breach of international law." Libyan state TV says their mission was to evacuate or drop off spies. No

United States soldier Bradley Manning, accused of leaking US state secrets to WikiLeaks and detained under restrictive conditions at the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia since July 2010, was ordered Wednesday to sleep stripped of all clothing. According to his attorney, this condition was imposed because Manning made a "sarcastic quip" about the harsh conditions of his confinement. For most of the eight months he has been held there, Manning has been required to sleep only in his boxer shorts because he has been under "prevention of injury

Former United States soldier and World War II veteran Leonard Lomell died on Tuesday at the age of 91, his family revealed on Thursday. Lomell was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on June 6th, 1944, also known as D-Day. As a platoon leader in the US Army's 2nd Ranger Battalion, Lomell and other men climbed sheer cliffs to destroy German artillery. J. Mark Mutter, a historian from Lomell's hometown of Toms River, said, "He was one of the greatest men of the greatest generation. He was so typical of that generation and p

The Sun and The Daily Mail — tabloid newspapers that are the most-read papers in the UK — have been found to be in contempt of court by the High Court in London. The case is thought to be a landmark decision regarding Internet publishing. The case dates back to November 2009, when Ryan Ward was on trial before Sheffield Crown Court, accused of murdering Craig Wass. The prosecution case was that Ward hit Wass with a brick, and no firearms allegation was made against Ward at trial, but both titles placed a photograph on their websites of Ward wi

Friday, Fennville, Michigan high school athlete Wes Leonard, 16 years old, suddenly collapsed on the basketball court after making the game-winning shot in overtime. His play had cinched a perfect season for his undefeated Fennville High School basketball team before an exuberant crowd. As Leonard lay motionless on his back, the audience became silent. A witness on the court said Leonard had ceased to breathe and his heart had stopped. Attempts to revive him failed and he was transported to a nearby hospital where he died a little over an

Ahmed Shafik, Egypt's acting prime minister, has resigned, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, now in control of the country, announced yesterday. Shafik was appointed to his position by then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak during the 2011 Egypt anti-government protests, not long before Mubarak decided to resign as president on February 11, 2011. Meanwhile, a number of his cabinet ministers have retained their positions. Shafik had received criticism for his negative attitude towards young protesters and his "inadequate vision", accordin

The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the First Amendment protects the free speech rights of an anti-gay church that pickets the funerals of U.S. soldiers, even if they use hateful and offensive language. In an 8 to 1 decision, the Court upheld a lower court's ruling that struck down an award of US$5 million to a slain soldier's father, Albert Snyder. Snyder had sued Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas for picketing the funeral of his son, 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder who was killed in

The Telecommunications Commission of the Solomon Islands (TCSI) have issued a fine to a Papua New Guinea (PNG) mobile phone provider, for failing to meet the deadlines set out in the terms of its license. bemobile, the second mobile network service provider in the Solomon Islands, was supposed to have covered 50% of the Solomons by September 2010 and 75% by February 1st 2011. Both targets passed with their requirements unfulfilled. The National Statistics Office and the TCSI investigated claims by bemobile that it had covered 64% of the Isla