The number of millionaires in the world increased by 8.3 percent in 2006, with about 9.5 million individuals now estimated to have more than a million dollars in financial assets, a report said Wednesday. The survey by financial services group Capgemini and US investment bank Merrill Lynch said strong global economic growth and gains on the stock market explained the expansion of the exclusive club of ‘High Net Worth Individuals’ (HNWIs). The financial assets owned by the group totalled 37.2 trillion dollars (27.7 trillion euros), an increase of 11.4 percent from 2005, with Singapore, India, Indonesia and Russia producing the greatest number of new millionaires. ‘Real GDP and market capitalisation growth rates, two primary drivers of wealth generation, accelerated throughout 2006, which helped to increase the total number of HNWIs around the world as well as the amount of wealth they control,’ the report said. The number of Ultra-HNWIs — individuals with financial assets exceeding 30 million dollars — increased by 11.3 percent in 2006, with the global population of this extremely affluent group now estimated at 94,970 people. The financial assets of Ultra-HNWIs increased by 16.8 percent compared with 2005, illustrating a trend whereby […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin is making an astonishing bid to grab a vast chunk of the Arctic – so he can tap its vast potential oil, gas and mineral wealth. His scientists claim an underwater ridge near the North Pole is really part of Russia’s continental shelf. One newspaper printed a map of the ‘new addition’, a triangle five times the size of Britain with twice as much oil as Saudi Arabia. The dramatic move provoked an international outcry. The U.S. and Canada expressed shock and environment campaigners said it would be a disaster. Observers say the move is typical of Putin’s muscle-flexing as he tries to increase Russian power. Under current international law, the countries ringing the Arctic – -Russia, Canada, the U.S., Norway, and Denmark (which owns Greenland) – are limited to a 200-mile economic zone around their coasts. Putin claims that an underwater Russian ridge is linked to the North Pole Enlarge the image A UN convention says none can claim jurisdiction over the Arctic seabed because the geological structure does not match the surrounding continental shelves. But Russian scientists have returned from a six-week mission on a nuclear […]
Scientists could create the first new form of artificial life within months after a landmark breakthrough in which they turned one bacteria into another. Craig Venter likened the process to ‘changing a Macintosh computer into a PC by inserting a new piece of software’ In a development that has triggered unease and excitement in equal measure, scientists took the whole genetic makeup – or genome – of a bacterial cell and transplanted it into a closely related species. This then began to grow and multiply in the lab, turning into the first species in the process. The team that carried out the first ‘species transplant’ says it plans within months to do the same thing with a synthetic genome made from scratch in the laboratory. If that experiment worked, it would mark the creation of a synthetic lifeform. advertisement The scientists want to create new kinds of bacterium to make new types of bugs which can be used as green fuels to replace oil and coal, digest toxic waste or absorb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. But this pioneering research also triggers unease about the limits of science […]
CHICAGO — Doctors could soon be storing essential medical information under the skin of their patients, the American Medical Association says. Devices the size of a grain of rice that are implanted with a needle could give emergency room doctors quick access to the records of chronically ill patients, the nation’s largest doctors group said in a report. The association adopted a policy Monday stating that the devices can improve the ‘safety and efficiency of patient care’ by helping to identify patients and enabling secure access to clinical information. These radio frequency identification tags (RFIDs) are already used by Wal-Mart and other businesses to speed up their shipping systems by sending out small signals that can be scanned more easily than bar codes. Implanting them in people ‘can improve the continuity and coordination of care with resulting reductions in adverse drug events and other medical errors,’ said the report prepared by the association’s ethics committee. But the devices ‘also may pose some physical risks, compromise patient privacy, or present other social hazards.’ The main concern is protecting the privacy of the information stored on the devices. There are also health concerns. While […]
LONDON — Most of humanity will be living in cities by next year, raising the threat of increased poverty and religious extremism unless the needs of growing urban populations are met, the U.N. said Wednesday. Some 3.3 billion people will live in cities by 2008, a report by the U.N. population agency report said. By 2030, the number of city dwellers is expected to climb to 5 billion. Without proper planning, cities across the globe face the treat of overwhelming poverty and limited opportunities for youth, said U.N. Population Fund Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. ‘In 2008, half of the world’s population will be in urban areas, and we are not ready for them,’ said Obaid told The Associated Press in London. A revival in religious interest has been a surprising characteristic of rapid urbanization, according to the report. Urbanization is often associated with a shift toward secular values. But the growth of new religious movements-such as radical Islam in the Middle East, Pentecostal Christianity in Latin America and the cult of Shivaji in India-has been a primarily urban phenomena, the report said. When cities fail to meet the needs of growing populations, religious […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
