Mexican telecommunications titan Carlos Slim Helu now tops Forbes' list of world's richest people, with a net worth of $53.5bn. And, for the second time since 1995, Microsoft founder Bill Gates' name was not at the top of the list.
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The latest wave of violence in Nigeria was described as retaliation for the outburst of killing in January in which hundreds of people were killed. Now religious leaders are calling on the federal government to help stop the violence. But what are the real causes of the violence? Who is to blame? And is Nigeria on the road to becoming a 'failed state'?
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Israel's approval for building 1,600 new housing units for ultra-Orthodox Jews in East Jerusalem has infuriated the Palestinians. Nabil Abu Rudeina, a Palestinian Authority spokesman, told the AFP news agency: "This is a dangerous decision and will hinder the negotiations." The Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now condemned the new project, saying it would "widen the gap with the Palestinians and the two-state solution, which risks becoming obsolete". According to Israel's Haaretz newspaper, some 50,000 housing units are reported to be in various stages of planning and approval on occupied land in East Jerusalem. Haaretz says plans for around 20,000 apartments are already in an advanced stage. A spokesman for the Israeli interior ministry said: "The Jerusalem District Planning Committee today approved a plan which has been in the works for over three years. "This is a procedural stage in the framework of a long process that will yet continue for some time. The committee meeting was determined in advance and there is no connection to US Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to Israel." There are still various planning hurdles for the East Jerusalem project to clear, and work is not thought likely to start for at least another two years. Under pressure from the US, Israel has agreed a 10-month suspension of new building in the West Bank. However, the moratorium excludes East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state. Israel's continued expansion of settlements is one of the biggest obstacles to the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians, now suspended for more than a year despite months of US-led shuttle diplomacy.
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This week Global Pulse revisits China and its relationship with the U.S. and the world, from our 2009 Year-End Special. This overview of China's changing role in the turbulent global economy includes an interview with Wayne Silby, Chairman of the Board of Calvert Investments, and an unusually deep look at China as portrayed by CCTV, Chinese state television. SOURCES: CCTV, China; Al Jazeera English, Qatar; Fox News, U.S.; CBS, U.S.; BBC, U.K.
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US Defence Secretary Robert Gates (left) meets with Saudi King Abdullah bin... US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday as Washington sought support from oil-rich Gulf allies to build pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme. The visit came a day after Gates appealed to Saudi leaders to back a US-led drive for crippling sanctions against Iran in a visit to Riyadh. In his talks in Abu...
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis were still awaiting preliminary results on Thursday four days after a national election they hoped would bring stable government and help end years of sectarian conflict as U.S. troops ready to leave. Officials count parliamentary election ballots at the tally centre in Baghdad March 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani) Elections officials had expected to release the first results on Wednesday, but by early afternoon on...
China has reacted angrily to a speech by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, in which he accused authorities of trying to "annihilate Buddhism" and expressed sympathy for Uighur protesters in China's western region of Xinjiang. In an address marking the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule he also said Buddhists monks in Tibet were living in prison-like conditions and said talks with China on limited autonomy for his homeland had gone nowhere. The speech was quickly condemned by Chinese state media with a commentary by the state-run Xinhua news agency describing the Dalai Lama's remarks as "resentful" and full of "angry rhetoric". "Regardless of his...
BRUSSELS, March 11 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Thursday it had paid Latvia a further, 0.5 billion euro ($678.5 million) tranche of the Baltic country's 7.5-billion-euro international bailout package. "I am glad that Latvia has complied with the policy conditions for the third EU disbursement," European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement. (Reporting by Marcin Grajewski, editing by Dale Hudson)...
Drug abuse is rife in the Afghan police force with up to four out of 10 recruits testing positive for illegal drugs in some areas, a US report says. The report for the US Congress said the illegal drugs trade "undermines virtually every aspect" of efforts to secure Afghanistan. Afghanistan produces 90% of the world's opium and the drugs trade is a key source of funding for the insurgency. Coalition forces are battling militants in opium-producing areas of...
Heavy fighting between Somali government forces backed by African Union troops on one side and rebel fighters from Al-Shabaab on the other hand have killed at least 27 people and injured more than 70 others in the capital Mogadishu, medics and witnesses said. The clashes erupted in the rebel-held northern districts of Karan, Yaqshid,...
MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN Associated Press Writer= MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamist insurgents and government forces battled for a second day in the Somali capital after medical officials Thursday said 23 people had already been killed. Insurgents attacking from the north on Wednesday reached within a mile (2 kilometers) of the presidential place in the heart of the city before being beaten back with the help of African Union peacekeepers in tanks, residents said. The exchange of gunfire and mortars made it impossible to get an accurate death toll for Thursday's fighting because ambulances could not get to the wounded and dying. Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu's ambulance service, said he saw 20...
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