US president Donald Trump’s fortune has fallen by about $1bn to $3.5bn over the past year, as measured by Forbes magazine in its annual list of the world’s billionaires.

However, overall it has been a good 12 months for the world’s wealthiest individuals, with a record 233 moving into the billionaire bracket, taking the global number of people with nine-zero fortunes to 2,043 – the most in the 31-year history of the list.

The billionaires in Forbes’ list are worth a combined $7.67tn (£6.18tn) – nearly three times the UK’s annual gross domestic product (GDP). Kerry Dolan, co-editor of the Forbes billionaires list, published on Monday, said the gains are mostly the result of booming stock markets and the rising price of oil over the past 12 months.(the guardian)…[+]

Pope Francis has asked for forgiveness for the Catholic church’s role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which 800,000 people were slaughtered in 100 days of violence. The “sins and failings of the church and its members” had “disfigured the face” of Catholicism, he said. Speaking after meeting the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, the Vatican acknowledged that some Catholic priests and nuns had “succumbed to hatred and violence” by participating in the genocide. According to the Vatican, Francis “expressed the desire that this humble recognition of the failings of that period, which unfortunately disfigured the face of the church, may contribute to a ‘purification of memory’ and may promote, in hope and renewed trust, a future of peace.”(the guardian)…[+]

Figures from all walks of life have paid tribute to rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Chuck Berry after the announcement that he had died at a home in Missouri. Berry’s hits were covered by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Beach Boys and many more, and members of all those bands posted messages on Twitter expressing their sadness.

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger wrote: “I am so sad to hear of Chuck Berry’s passing. I want to thank him for all the inspirational music he gave to us. He lit up our teenage years, and blew life into our dreams of being musicians and performers. His lyrics shone above others & threw a strange light on the American dream. Chuck you were amazing & your music is engraved inside us forever.”

Ronnie Wood, the Stones’ guitarist, said: “With the passing of Chuck Berry comes the end of an era. He was one of the best and my inspiration, a true character indeed.

“One of my big lights has gone out!” said Keith Richards.(the guardian)…[+]

An Afghan soldier opened fire on Sunday inside a base in the southern Helmand province, wounding three US soldiers before being shot dead, an Afghan official said.

Colonel Mohammad Rasoul Zazai, an army spokesman, said the soldier had made a “mistake” and had not fired deliberately. A coalition-run Twitter account said an Afghan soldier shot and wounded three American soldiers, without providing further details.Several US troops have been killed in Afghanistan in recent years in so-called insider attacks carried out by Afghan police or soldiers. In October, an Afghan man in a military uniform shot dead a US soldier and an American civilian contractor inside a military base in Kabul before being killed.(The guardian)…[+]

A US diplomat has been forced to leave New Zealand over allegations he was involved in a serious criminal incident in which he had his nose broken and sustained a black eye.New Zealand police said they were called in the early hours of last Sunday in the community of Lower Hutt, just outside Wellington, where the US embassy is based. Police said the US diplomat left the scene before officers arrived, and no arrests were made, nor “any person held in police custody”. The man was protected by diplomatic immunity, which the New Zealand police asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to waive on 13 March so they could proceed with an investigation. (The guardian)…[+]

PARAMARIBO – Een Braziliaanse is in Paramaribo beroofd en verwond. Twee mannen die in een auto zaten, overrompelden haar. Ze droegen haar op kostbare spullen af te staan. De criminelen wisten SRD 200, USD 100, een mobiele telefoon en persoonlijke spullen van de vrouw buit te maken. De daders hadden het slachtoffer steekverwondingen toegebracht waardoor zij met de ambulance moest worden vervoerd voor medische behandeling. Bij de politie is melding gemaakt van de beroving. De daders zijn nog voortvluchtig. Na de daad reden ze weg in de auto…[+]

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a loan of USD45.9 million to assist the Government of Antigua and Barbuda with the development and management of a reliable and sustainable road sector.

The loan will be used to rehabilitate 27.76 km of existing roads: Anchorage Road, Sir Sydney Walling Highway, Old Parham Road and Valley Road (north).

“A reliable road sector in Antigua and Barbuda is essential for economic development and the delivery of services to all parts of the country, particularly rural communities, which will be unable to develop without access to an efficient road network,” said Daniel Best, Director of Projects at CDB.

The four roads to be upgraded under the Project are currently used by 37 percent of the population of Antigua and Barbuda on a daily basis, and serve to connect the capital, St. John’s, agricultural zones in the south, prime tourism areas, heavily populated communities and the V.C. Bird International Airport. Rehabilitation work will include the upgrading of drainage structures, which are currently inadequate and contribute to high levels of flooding during heavy rainfall.

In July 2016, a CDB-funded study – Road Infrastructure Rehabilitation: Antigua and Barbuda – Informed the development of preliminary engineering designs, cost estimates, and specifications for six key sections of the road network. The recommended roads were chosen based on current and projected usage and potential to contribute to economic development. Rehabilitation of two of the roads is being funded under a previously approved Grant from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund, while the remaining four roads will be upgraded under this project…[+]

Abnormally high ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean have been blamed for one of Peru’s worst floods in recent memory, which killed 12 people, destroyed homes and swept away trucks and buses along the usually arid seaboard.

The disaster – which came after a period of severe drought – caught the authorities by surprise and fuelled criticism that the country is ill-prepared for the growing challenges of climate change. Over the past three days, the downpour has burst river banks, created mudslides, collapsed bridges, closed roads and forced school suspensions in swaths of the west and north of the country. Rains continued to lash the northern Piura region where streets remained flooded in the regional capital and homes had been washed away in poorer neighbourhoods.(the guardian)…[+]

A pre-emptive US military strike against North Korea may be necessary if the threat posed by its nuclear weapons programme reaches a level that “requires action”, the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has warned. Speaking in Seoul on the second day of a visit to the Asia-Pacific region, Tillerson said Washington’s policy of “strategic patience” towards the regime in Pyongyang had ended.

In his strongest comments yet on concerns that North Korea is moving closer towards developing a nuclear strike capability that could threaten the US mainland, Tillerson said “all options are on the table”. “Certainly we do not want to, for things to get to military conflict,” he said at a joint press conference with South Korea’s foreign minister, Yun Byung-se.(the guardian)…[+]

The Spanish emergency services have rescued 250 people from a volcano on Tenerife after a cable car service broke down, leaving dozens of passengers trapped in two gondolas and forcing more than 100 to spend the night at high altitude.Firefighters, Guardia Civil officers and other rescue workers were scrambled to the Teide volcano on Wednesday afternoon after the system suffered an apparent malfunction. More than half the passengers – including 70 who were lowered 40 metres (120ft) from the stranded cars to the ground using ropes, harnesses and pulleys – were rescued. The cable car’s failure meant 111 people, including eight children, had to spend the night in cabins on the volcano.(the guardian)…[+]