AP - Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person, jumping past Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the first person from a developing nation to top the list, according to Forbes magazine.

AP - Brazil's president came under withering criticism Wednesday at home and in Cuba for his deference to the island's communist government over political prisoners and hunger strikes for human rights.

AP - An open diplomatic row during the visit of Vice President Joe Biden has shined a spotlight on the U.S. failure to rein in Israeli settlement ambitions and deepened Palestinian suspicions that the United States is too weak to broker a deal.

AP - President Michelle Bachelet leaves office Thursday with a chunk of her country in ruins — and her popularity in the clouds.

AFP - Australian tourism authorities are seeking five foreign couples to take part in what is touted as the world's longest, and most extraordinary, taxi ride.

AFP - Myanmar's ruling junta has used new election laws to officially annul the result of polls in 1990 that were won by Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, state media said Thursday.

AP - China's inflation spiked higher in February, adding to pressure on Beijing to prevent overheating and keep the recovery in the world's third-largest economy on track.

AFP - In their plumed helmets, dark blue tunics with shiny brass buttons, trousers and rubber gumboots, Mumbai's firefighters cut a dash as they ride the streets on their ageing red engines.

Reuters - Chinese officials have reacted with anger to a speech by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in which he said Buddhists were living in prison-like conditions and expressed sympathy with the people of Xinjiang.

Reuters - India's ruling Congress party officials met on Wednesday to resolve a political standoff over a contentious women's quota bill after two of its allies quit and left the government less elbow room to pass economic legislation.

Reuters - Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person, knocking Microsoft founder Bill Gates into second spot, as the wealth of the world's billionaires grew by 50 percent over the last year, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.

Reuters - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday that a group of national science academies would review U.N. climate science to restore trust after a 2007 global warming report was found to have errors.

Reuters - Google expects an outcome soon from its talks with China over a censorship and hacking dispute, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday.