An “older cousin” of Earth has been discovered orbiting a distant sun-like star more than 1,000 light years away.

Physicist Stephen Hawking has teamed up with a Russian billionaire to launch a new quest to discover life on other planets.

THE global ranks of billionaires grew by 199 people in the past year, but none came close to unseating Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, who added $20.5 billion (€14.83bn) to his coffers, according to Forbes magazine’s annual tally.

Moscow: Facebook, the most popular social-networking website, can take more time to decide on an initial public offering after Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies bought a stake, the head of the investment group said.