The world's billionaires 2011

America's wealthiest still dominate the global ranks, but more new billionaires now come from China, Russia and other developing economies – and Mexico’s Carlos Slim Helú is holding on to the title of world’s richest man.

2011: A record year in numbers, money and impact

This 25th year of tracking global wealth was one to remember. The Forbes 2011 Billionaires List breaks two records: number of billionaires (1,210) and combined wealth ($4.5 trillion).

This combined wealth surpasses the gross domestic product of Germany, one of only six nations to have fewer billionaires this year than in 2010. Brazil, Russia, India and China produced 108 of this year's 214 new names. These four nations are home to one in four members, up from one in 10 five years ago.

Before this year only the United States had produced more than 100 billionaires. China now has 115 and Russia 101.

Wealth creation is moving at an especially breakneck pace in the Asia-Pacific region, which has a record 332 billionaires, up from 234 a year ago and 130 at the depth of the financial crisis in 2009. Sizzling stock markets are behind this surge.

America's wealthiest still dominate the global ranks, but the U.S. is losing its grip. One in three billionaires is an American, down from nearly one in two a decade ago. It has 10 more than last year but 56 fewer than its 2008 peak.

Still there are inspiring newcomers. An obvious example is Facebook, which has spawned six billionaires, including chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, whose fortune this year jumped 238% to $13.5 billion.

The frenzy among investors for all things social pushed up private market values of online gaming outfit Zynga and made a billionaire of founder and chief executive Mark Pincus. Other notable American newcomers to the Forbes list include Groupon backer Eric Lefkofsky.

Why do we spend so much time tracking other people's money? It's because these moguls have the power to shape our world. Telecom billionaire turned Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati is keeping Lebanon's government together. Swiss-Italian entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli is focusing on saving the oceans. And Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have traveled to three continents working to raise philanthropic awareness among the ultra-rich.

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Forever Faithful

For those who just don’t believe pets truly bond with their human companions, maybe these photos will drive the point home.

CNN reports that Leao, a medium-sized brown mutt, took up a spot for at least two days alongside the grave of her deceased owner, Cristina Maria Cesario Santana, who had been among 655 killed in landslides. The pictures were taken Saturday by Vanderlei Almeida of Agence France Presse/Getty Images at a cemetery in Teresopolis amid the mountainous region northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

Sad tale, indeed, and we’ll update it if we hear more. In the meantime, hug your buddies… and here’s another image…

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Student Finds Time-travelling Coin with Next Year's Date On It

Student Sarah Legg is hoping to make a mint by cashing in on a very unusual 50p coin she has found - with next year's date on it.

17-year-old Sarah of Fareham, Hants, was shocked when she saw the coin marked with the 2011 date stamped on it - which she got in change as she was buying lunch.

Sarah, who is training to be a forensic scientist, was buying lunch at at Fareham College when she spotted the temporal anomaly.

She said: 'I was just getting some food at college and thought the coin looked very shiny, so I took a closer look. I thought I had gone into the future with the markings it had. Where the date it is made was, it said 2011.

'I was a bit shocked to be honest and showed all my friends. It looks like the Royal Mint have made a blunder.'

Sarah hopes to cash in on the find so she can help pay off her University fees.

Coin experts are perplexed by the find, one of 29 designs made by the public for the Royal Mint ahead of the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Coin specialist Rob Davies, of Portsmouth, Hants, said: 'It is very unusual and special and the young girl should keep it. I could not put a price on how much they cost but it is very special.

Royal Mint spokesman Nick Scargill said: 'It is unusual but they are perfectly legal tender. It is very special.

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Emirates Palace Erects $11m Christmas Tree

It holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones.

Christmas came in extravagant fashion to the emirate of Abu Dhabi as a glitzy hotel unveiled a bejewelled Christmas tree valued at more than $11 million.

It is the "most expensive Christmas tree ever," with a "value of over $11 million," said Hans Olbertz, general manager of Emirates Palace hotel, at its inauguration.

The 13-metre (40-foot) faux evergreen, located in the gold leaf-bedecked rotunda of the hotel, is decorated with silver and gold bows, ball-shaped ornaments and small white lights.

But the necklaces, earrings and other jewellery draped around the tree's branches are what give it a record value.

It holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones, said Khalifa Khouri, owner of Style Gallery, which provided the jewellery.

"The tree itself is about 10,000 dollars," Olbertz said. "The jewellery has a value of over 11 million dollars - I think 11.4, 11.5."

This will probably be an entry into the Guinness book of world records, Olbertz said, adding that Emirates Palace planned to contact the organisation about the tree which is to stay until the end of the year.

The hotel has had a Christmas tree up in previous years, but this year "we said we have to do something different," and the hotel's marketing team hatched the plan, said Olbertz.

The tree is not the first extravagant offering from Emirates Palace - a massive, dome-topped hotel sitting amid fountains and carefully manicured lawns.

The hotel, which bills itself as seven-star, in February introduced a package for a seven-day stay priced at one million dollars.

Takers of the package have a private butler and a chauffeur driven Maybach luxury car at their disposal during their stay, as well as a private jet available for trips to other countries in the region.

And in May, the hotel opened a gold vending machine, becoming the first place outside Germany to install "gold to go, the world's first gold vending machine," said Ex Oriente Lux AG, the German company behind the machine.

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FIFA World Cup 2010 Predictor - Paul the Octopus Died

Paul the Octopus, the cephalopod who became a global sensation after successfully predicting matches at the World Cup, has died peacefully in his sleep aged two.

Stefan Porwoll, general manager of the Oberhausen Sea Life centre in Germany - where Paul made his predictions - confirmed the news.

"He died last night, a peaceful and natural death," Porwoll said.

Paul, who was born in January 2008 in Weymouth, correctly predicted the winner of all seven of Germany's matches at this summer's World Cup in South Africa. He then correctly chose Spain over the Netherlands before the final.

Paul made his predictions by choosing between two feed boxes which bore the flags of the two nations involved in the next match.

Time and again his predictions came true, transforming him into a global sensation who attracted big-money transfer offers after the tournament.

Yet the Oberhausen Sea Life centre insisted on keeping their star attraction - and are now devastated at the news of his passing.

"We all loved him and we will all truly miss him," added Porwoll

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"Dr. Death" sells human body parts online

The move has provoked strong condemnation from German churches which accuse him of degrading human dignity.

A whole body from www.plastination-products.com costs about 70,000 euros ($97,400), torsos start at 55,644 euros and heads come in at around 22,000 euros each — excluding postage and packaging.

For those on a tighter budget, transparent body slices are available from 115 euros each.

But these real body parts — which have undergone plastination, a process which replaces water and fat with plastic for preservation purposes — are not available to everyone.
Only “qualified users” who can provide written proof that they intend to use the parts for research, teaching or medical purposes can place an order.

Interested parties who do not fall into this category can buy reproductions of the real body parts — so-called “Anatomy Glass,” which the shop’s website describes as “high resolution acrylic glass prints of the original body slices.”

Jewellery crafted from animal corpses, including necklaces made from horse slices, wristbands made from giraffe tails and earrings made from bull penises, is also available to the general public.

The online shop has outraged leading members of Germany’s religious community. In a joint statement, Protestant regional bishop Ulrich Fischer and Catholic archbishop Robert Zollitsch condemned the online body shop, which they said was “breaking a taboo.”

Zollitsch said “human dignity is sacrosanct — even after death — so the human body shouldn’t be degraded and made into an object of spectacle, or a stock of spare parts.”

They said that “Germany must not be allowed to become a hub of the corpse trade.”

Von Hagens, 65, is no stranger to controversy. A public autopsy he performed in front of a live audience in 2002 was televised and caused a public outrage, as did his 2004 tour through Germany with his Body Worlds exhibitions.

canoe.ca

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Austria's first 'bionic' man dies in car crash

 The car mechanic lost both his arms when he climbed a high-voltage electricity pylon as a dare.

An Austrian man who became the first person outside the US to wear thought-powered "bionic" arms has died from injuries sustained in a car crash, the hospital where he was treated said.

Doctors at the Medical University of Graz said they switched off the life support machines of Christian Kandlbauer on Friday night after determining he was clinically brain dead.

Kandlbauer, who would have turned 23 next month, sustained severe head injuries when the specially modified car he was driving served off the road in the south east of Austria and crashed into a tree on October 19.

The cause of the accident is not yet known, particularly whether the neurally-controlled arm-prostheses he had been fitted with might have played a role.

Kandlbauer, a car mechanic from the south-eastern province of Styria, lost both his arms in September 2005 when he climbed a high-voltage electricity pylon as a dare.

Doctors fitted him with a prototype bionic arm for research purposes two years later and he became the first person outside the US to wear such high-tech prosthesis for everyday use in January 2009.

Just 10 months later, Kandlbauer passed his driving test and was given a specially-adapted Subaru. He returned to work as a warehouse clerk with his former employer.

"One of my first goals was a driving licence," he wrote on his homepage.

A trip to Australia and getting his own flat were among his other dreams.

"I love driving. My licence has given me back my independence," he wrote, saying his motto was: "Don't live for others, live for yourself!"

Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH, the German medical technology company which developed and built his bionic arms, paid tribute to Kandlbauer on its website.

The company said in a statement it was deeply shaken and in mourning for a man who had become their friend over the years of their partnership.

Kandlbauer "accepted his fate in a manner that commanded great respect from all of us. The courage to face life and the firm belief in living as part of society were his constant companions," the statement said.

Kandlbauer was a "pioneer of a technology that will permit many people to resume their everyday lives”.

emirates247.com

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