World News

The bosses of America's largest companies took a collective pay cut last year, for the first time since 2002.

Christina Settimi, Forbes.com
David Beckham's move to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer last summer was a big score for U.S. soccer and an even bigger one for Beckham, the former captain of England's national team.

Matt Woolsey, Forbes.com
While visiting New York in 2005, Nita Ambani was in the spa at the Mandarin Oriental New York, overlooking Central Park. The contemporary Asian interiors struck her just so, and prompted her to inquire about the designer.

Melanie Lindner, Forbes.com
Most business duos aren't as destined and dynamic and as Google's Larry and Sergey or even ice cream's Ben and Jerry. That's because finding a teammate you can work with and count on week in and week out is no mean feat--even if everybody is getting rich.

Nathan Vardi, Forbes.com
The whole world is the playground of today's criminal masterminds. The worst thieves and thugs have found the dark side of globalization, exploiting the same technologies that make the Earth seem small and ripe for legitimate international commerce and trade. They have unleashed an unprecedented crime wave that is truly borderless.

Do you want your boss gazing at your cleavage? Even worse, do you want a view of your boss' upper thigh?

Andrew Farrell, Forbes.com
April's been busy for George Soros. The billionaire traveled the world to plug his 10th book. He made headlines calling for tighter regulation of hedge funds. He's also reportedly looking into buying a top Italian soccer club.

Andrew Farrell, Forbes.com
At an age when most children learn division, Ernesto Bertarelli studied the pharmaceutical business. His father, head of the drug-making company Serono, took his son to company meetings and industry conferences starting when he was just seven years old.

Devon Pendleton, Forbes.com
When it comes to the ranks of the world's billionaires, the fairer sex is still very much the rarer sex. In 2008, Forbes counted 99 female billionaires, 16 more than last year, but still representing slightly less than 9% of the world's 1,125 billionaires.

The IT sector may look gloomy following the slowdown in US, but the hiring process is on in full swing in many leading companies, including Accenture and Infosys.

Melanie Lindner, Forbes.com
Dr. Mark Goulston thought himself a coward. At parties he would stand by the chip dip, never approaching people and rarely meeting anyone new. "My father was shy," says Goulston, "so I grew up thinking that 'assertive' meant 'pushy.' "

Erica Westly, Forbes.com
For years, traffic got all the attention: Cars in motion were exciting; cars at rest were boring. Hardly anyone talked about parking. In the past 10 years or so, though, parking has become a paramount concern among city planners and company heads. Space is limited, and yet the demand for parking places keeps increasing.

Andrew Farrell, Forbes.com
It was a stinging blow for Steve Jobs when a boardroom power struggle ousted him from Apple, the company he co-founded as a 21-year-old. A friend was so concerned over what the distraught Jobs might do that he drove to his house and sat with him for hours.

As other employers are wielding the axe, some companies are taking on tens of thousands of new staff.

Push wireless e-mail may not be good for your health or relationships. Tips to help you keep never-severed connectivity to work in check.

Of all stinging invectives, being called a liar is near the top. Fact is, though, if bona fide lie detectors existed, we'd all be guilty as charged.

One world; one gigantic marketplace. This year, 60 countries have global 2000 entries vs. 51 in our inaugural list in 2004. The Forbes global 2000 are public companies with the top composite scores based on their rankings for sales, profits, assets and market value. Our justification for using a composite ranking is simple: One metric alone can give a false impression about corporate size.

Although the worldwide real estate market is softening as credit reservoirs dry, some spots are poised for growth.

John J. Ray, Forbes.com
One needs to look no further than the collapse of Bear Stearns to recognize the importance of analytical techniques that can help investors identify companies with aggressive or risky accounting practices. For such advice, we have repeatedly turned to Audit Integrity, a financial analytics company headquartered in Los Angeles.