Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is back on top of Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest people.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has criticised the low US profile in the international campaign in Libya, saying that France and Britain are carrying most of the burden.

The US is tempering its tough talk on Libya with a dose of reality, explaining that even a no-fly zone over the country would require a military attack on Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

A US pastor’s plan to burn Korans on September 11 must be taken seriously because it could cause “profound damage” to US troops and interests around the world, President Barack Obama said today.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates ordered military officials to clear interviews and other contacts with the news media with the Pentagon after President Barack Obama fired the top general in Afghanistan for embarrassing comments in a magazine interview.

EUROPEAN countries were accused of having an anti-war attitude that is threatening world security by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates yesterday.

US defence secretary Robert Gates said the US would not have an expanded policing role in quake-ravaged Haiti, but troops could defend themselves and civilians or foreigners if lawlessness boiled over.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates flew to Iraq today to meet Iraqi officials amid a wave of bombings which have killed 127 people and rattled the country’s government.

A Harvard professor and the police officer who arrested him have agreed to meet with US President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday.

A WHITE police sergeant who arrested renowned black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jnr said yesterday he’s disappointed President Barack Obama said officers acted “stupidly,” despite acknowledging he didn’t know all the facts.

A distinguished Harvard scholar is at the centre of a race row after he was arrested by police responding to a call about “two black males” breaking into his own home near the university.

Former rival Hillary Clinton was today formally named as Barack Obama’s new secretary of state.

Iraq’s political leaders are showing promising new signs of progress towards reconciliation, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said today.

An American TV host who travelled to the Himalayas to film a show on the mysterious yeti today said he took castings from three footprints that could prove the legendary giant ape exists and is living on Mount Everest.

US defence secretary Robert Gates, making his first official visit to China, is expected to press the country to do more to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities.

MEXICAN telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helú has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the world’s richest person, Mexican financial website Sentido Comun has reported.

AMERICAN Defence Secretary Robert Gates slipped into Iraq yesterday to warn Iraqi leaders that the US commitment to a military buildup there is not open-ended.

US troops are to serve up to 15 months in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of the usual 12-month tours under new rules.

The US Defence Secretary has called on the US government to look for ways to enable the closure of the Guantanamo Bay military facility in Cuba.

US Army Secretary Francis Harvey resigned after a row broke out over a scandal involving the treatment of wounded soldiers.

Serial numbers and other markings on bombs suggest Iran is supplying deadly explosives to Iraqi militants, US defence secretary Robert Gates says.

Robert Gates is taking over as US secretary of defence at a crucial juncture in the Iraq war, a conflict that cost Donald Rumsfeld his job and likely will define Gates’ Pentagon tenure.

A slip of the tongue by prime minister Ehud Olmert about Israel’s nuclear policy ballooned into a domestic crisis today for the already embattled Israeli leader.

A long-awaited study expected to call for a US change of course in Iraq is intensifying pressure on President George Bush to find a way out of a war that has lost favour with the American public.

Robert Gates, picked by President George Bush to take over from US secretary of state Donald Rumsfeld, received initial endorsements from Republican and Democratic Senate leaders after a meeting on Capitol Hill.

GEORGE W BUSH’S sudden selection of former CIA Director Robert Gates as US defence secretary brings back a member of the team that waged the successful first Gulf War with just two years to resuscitate the faltering US policy in Iraq.

BERKSHIRE Hathaway, the insurance and investment firm run by billionaire Warren Buffett, has said second-quarter profit rose 62% as investments benefited from higher US interest rates and a weakening dollar.

Rival Google may be nipping at its heels, but Microsoft wasn’t flashing any defeatist signs as it showcased its latest plans to help make living in the digital world safer, easier and more fun.

Reworked 80s soul classic Make Luv stormed in at number one today after captivating audiences on a television advert where a geeky guy attracts two girls with his funky dancing.

Many of the world’s richest people saw their fortunes shrink again during the last year, but US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey’s grew enough to put her on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires – the first black woman to join the ranks.

BILL GATES, the world’s richest man, said yesterday he remains committed to putting his personal fortune back into society, not his children’s bank accounts.

Bill Gates is still a multi-billionaire, but not quite as wealthy as he was a year ago.