Afghan president safe after fleeing gunfire at Kabul event (AP)
LONDON, England (AP) — Despite the global credit crisis, the collective wealth of Britain’s 1,000 richest people increased by almost 15 percent last year to 413 billion ($819 billion), according to a list published by the Sunday Times newspaper.
The newspaper’s annual Rich List ranked steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal as Britain’s wealthiest man for the fourth year running.
It put the Indian-born tycoon’s fortune at 27.7 billion ($55 billion), up more than 8 billion from last year.
Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich, owner of London’s Chelsea football team, was in second place, with wealth of 11.7 billion pounds ($23.2 billion).
The Duke of Westminster, Gerald Grosvenor, was in third place with 7 billion ($14 billion). He owns huge parcels of land in central London and elsewhere.
Indian-born industrialists Ari and Gopi Hinduja were in fourth place with wealth of 6.2 billion ($12.4 billion). Russian steel and mining magnate Alisher Usmanov was ranked fifth with wealth of 5.7 billion ($11.4 billion).
The newspaper said more than half of Britain’s 75 billionaires, and 14 of the 20 richest people, were foreign-born.
Queen Elizabeth II — the country’s richest person when the Rich List was first published in 1989 — now ranks 264th, with a personal wealth of 320 million pounds ($640 million). The estimate no longer includes the vast royal art collection, which is now considered to belong to the nation.
Philip Beresford, who compiled the list, said much of the rise in this year’s wealth can be attributed to one factor — the number of foreign rich who have made London or its environs the main home and base of operation.
He said the 11 years since the ostensibly leftist Labour Party was elected to power in 1997 had seen a boon for the super-rich, rarely seen before in modern British history.
found here.
ANDERSON, Indiana (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton called for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate with no moderator against her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, who says no more debates are needed before the May primaries.
In a TV interview to air Sunday, Obama flat-out denied any possibility that he would take part in a debate with Clinton before the next big round of primaries.
Shortly after maintaining that he isn’t ducking debates with his Democratic rival, the Illinois senator admitted that the two hopefuls are not going to have debates between now and Indiana.
Voters in Indiana and North Carolina will head to the polls May 6.
In the interview, Fox News’ Chris Wallace asked Obama why he was ducking another one-on-one meeting.
I’m not ducking one. We’ve had 21, Obama said. We want to make sure we’re talking to as many folks possible on the ground taking questions from voters. Watch more on the upcoming primaries
In South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday, Clinton urged a debate modeled after the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858.
They were a series of formal debates throughout Illinois in a campaign for one of two U.S. Senate seats.
I’m offering Sen. Obama a chance to debate me one-on-one, no moderators. … Just the two of us going for 90 minutes, asking and answering questions; we’ll set whatever rules seem fair, she said.
I think that it would give the people of Indiana and I assume a few Americans might tune in because nearly 11 million watched the Philadelphia debate. And I think they would love seeing that kind of debate and discussion. Remember, that’s what happened during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, she added.
Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams sent a letter to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe on Saturday asking for another debate.
I have no doubt that Sen. Obama, who hails from that great state, understands how valuable and vital these national conversations were to the heart of America. … If we debate, Americans will come, Williams wrote.
Williams, who replaced Patty Solis-Doyle when she stepped down from the campaign February 10, added that such a debate style would allow no questions from the media. There would be equal time and equal opportunity to grapple with the important policy questions we are facing today.
Obama spokesman David Axelrod said Saturday that we’ve debated a full work week of time already with Sen. Clinton, and we have 10 days, nine days left to meet voters in two important and large states.
We want to use our time in that way. I don’t think the public is clamoring for more debates.
Obama’s refusal comes as a Newsweek magazine poll shows his popularity slipping nationwide.
According to the magazine, Obama’s national lead over Clinton is down to 7 percentage points among Democratic voters and those leaning Democratic.
The magazine’s poll last week showed his lead at 19 percent, higher than any other national poll.
Notable from the new numbers: Four in 10 registered voters have an unfavorable view of him now, including Republicans and independents.
Also, 41 percent say they have a less favorable view of him because of his connection to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose controversial sermons made their way to the Internet.
Clinton, meanwhile, is looking to shore up her support from working-class voters with a stop Saturday in Indiana.
Talking about helping her father (a small businessman, she emphasized) in his drapery business when she was growing up in Chicago, Clinton told the crowd, It was one of the many experiences that really taught me the values that I’ve had my entire life. You know, hard work, self-reliance, individual responsibility. Good Midwestern values that we were raised with and that we believe in.
I feel so fortunate to have that kind of background and upbringing, and I know that’s what many of you have experienced as well here in Fort Wayne and across Indiana, she added.
Jabs at President Bush are always easy applause lines at Clinton’s rallies, and she used his unpopularity to push her message Saturday.
We need a president, especially after the last seven years of George Bush, who doesn’t just make speeches about American values but understands them and lives them and believes them and wants to make sure that they are available for everybody.
When Obama made his now-famous bitter comments, Clinton was quick to cast him as an out-of-touch elitist. Now she is locked in a dead heat with Obama in Indiana polls with just over a week before the state’s May 6 contest. Many consider it a must-win for the New York senator.
found here.
(CNET) — MP3 players are practically as prolific as cell phones now–heck, some of them are cell phones. Regardless of what portable device provides the music, one thing is a given: the stock earbuds that come in the package aren’t doing ears any favors.
Clearly, the landscape is ripe for aftermarket headphone manufacturers, which explains why companies such as Denon, which is normally associated with home audio, continue to expand its portable product lines.
The latest midrange model from Denon is the AH-C551 In-Ear Headphones, a $100 pair that offers solid sound quality and a low-profile design. These earbuds certainly stack up against competition from Creative and V-moda.
We’re pretty pleased with the design of the Denon AH-C551 earphones. The ‘buds are very small and low profile, and the overall style is understated. Unlike Denon’s lower-end model, the AH-C351, the AH-C551 only come in one color option: black.
Although the earpieces are plastic, they don’t feel cheap, and a thin silver ring around each end gives them just a hint of class. Also, since they are so small and feature slightly rounded edges, they’re quite comfortable, even during extended wear.
Denon includes three sizes of silicone ear tips to help users get a proper fit–you’ll need that to achieve the best sound isolation and bass response. We had no issues achieving a good seal with our ears.
Fortunately, the cable design of the Denon AH-C551 earphones is different than that of the AH-C351, so you don’t get the annoyingly uneven weight distribution. Rather, the AH-C551 features an even Y-cable (measuring 14 inches) descending from the earpieces.
A slider at the bottom of the Y helps to prevent tangles when the headphones are not in use. There, the cable joins and extends a further 4.5 inches to the straight plug. Denon also includes an extender that measures about 32 inches long and terminates in a right-angle plug.
All told, the cord ends up being plenty long enough to carry an MP3 player in a pocket or bag. Plus, the cable is relatively thick and seems fairly durable. The included zippered hard-shell case can also help to increase the life of the headphones.
The Denon AH-C551 In-Ear Headphones offer nice, balanced audio quality. They’re definitely not as bass-heavy as V-moda models, so if you prefer a more even sound, this is the place to look.
Still, the AH-C551s are not incapable of pumping out the bass, especially for tracks heavy on the low-end (Paul Oakenfold’s remix of Justin Timberlake’s My Love really thumped).
We paired the headphones with both our computer and a Creative Zen V Plus for testing and were not disappointed.
In general, music sounded rich and encompassing, with plenty of warmth through the mids and clarity on the high-end details.
There were a few songs here and there that suffered from some jarring highs, but they were few and far between. These ‘phones are definitely worthy of their $100 price tag. E-mail to a friend
(CNET) — MP3 players are practically as prolific as cell phones now–heck, some of them are cell phones. Regardless of what portable device provides the music, one thing is a given: the stock earbuds that come in the package aren’t doing ears any favors.
Clearly, the landscape is ripe for aftermarket headphone manufacturers, which explains why companies such as Denon, which is normally associated with home audio, continue to expand its portable product lines.
The latest midrange model from Denon is the AH-C551 In-Ear Headphones, a $100 pair that offers solid sound quality and a low-profile design. These earbuds certainly stack up against competition from Creative and V-moda.
We’re pretty pleased with the design of the Denon AH-C551 earphones. The ‘buds are very small and low profile, and the overall style is understated. Unlike Denon’s lower-end model, the AH-C351, the AH-C551 only come in one color option: black.
Although the earpieces are plastic, they don’t feel cheap, and a thin silver ring around each end gives them just a hint of class. Also, since they are so small and feature slightly rounded edges, they’re quite comfortable, even during extended wear.
Denon includes three sizes of silicone ear tips to help users get a proper fit–you’ll need that to achieve the best sound isolation and bass response. We had no issues achieving a good seal with our ears.
Fortunately, the cable design of the Denon AH-C551 earphones is different than that of the AH-C351, so you don’t get the annoyingly uneven weight distribution. Rather, the AH-C551 features an even Y-cable (measuring 14 inches) descending from the earpieces.
A slider at the bottom of the Y helps to prevent tangles when the headphones are not in use. There, the cable joins and extends a further 4.5 inches to the straight plug. Denon also includes an extender that measures about 32 inches long and terminates in a right-angle plug.
All told, the cord ends up being plenty long enough to carry an MP3 player in a pocket or bag. Plus, the cable is relatively thick and seems fairly durable. The included zippered hard-shell case can also help to increase the life of the headphones.
The Denon AH-C551 In-Ear Headphones offer nice, balanced audio quality. They’re definitely not as bass-heavy as V-moda models, so if you prefer a more even sound, this is the place to look.
Still, the AH-C551s are not incapable of pumping out the bass, especially for tracks heavy on the low-end (Paul Oakenfold’s remix of Justin Timberlake’s My Love really thumped).
We paired the headphones with both our computer and a Creative Zen V Plus for testing and were not disappointed.
In general, music sounded rich and encompassing, with plenty of warmth through the mids and clarity on the high-end details.
There were a few songs here and there that suffered from some jarring highs, but they were few and far between. These ‘phones are definitely worthy of their $100 price tag. E-mail to a friend
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Hello. My name is Izabel, and you are reading my Fair Proxy blog, where I post the lastest CNN news on world events. |
My name is Izabel Potrito. You are reading my Fair Proxy blog where I'll share latest news in USA and world. My thoughts to make this country a better place.
