BASF is considering an offer to acquire the agriculture assets that Bayer is selling to win approval for merger with Monsanto, Markus Heldt, BASF’s global chief of crop protection, says in phone interview.
- Interest is driven by Bayer disposal of glufosinate and Liberty Link trait
- BASF studying how to build a seed platform, Heldt says
- BASF also has “high interest” in pesticide assets being sold to win clearance for merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont
- NOTE: Heldt is visiting Texas this week to open 50% expansion of dicamba production capacity
Wealth of global billionnaires climbs to $7.7tn
The global super-rich became even wealthier over the past 12 months, with figures from the latest Forbes billionaires list revealing that the total net wealth of the 2,043-strong members of the elite club rose to $7.7tn in 2017.
In 2016, there were 1,810 billionaires worth a total of $6.5tn, with an average wealth of $3.6bn. The 2017 list are richer, Forbes revealed, with the average billionaire now worth $3.8bn.
Bill Gates tops the list for the fourth consecutive year with an estimated $86bn fortune – an increase of $11bn since last year.
Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon, the online retailer, is the fastest gainer. His wealth increased by $27.6bn over the year to a total net wealth of $72.8bn.
Two hundred and twenty-seven women make the 2017 list, up from 202 a year earlier. Zhou Qunfei, founder of Lens Technology, the touchscreen manufacturer, is the wealthiest self-made woman, and Alexandra Andresen, 20, and her sister Katharina Andresen, 21, from Norway, are the youngest on the list, both worth $1.2bn.
The US has the most billionaires, with its 565 topping Europe’s 530. China individually now has 319, and the Asia-Pacific region can now claim to be home to the most super-rich, with 720 billionaires in total.
Man dies while charging iPhone in bath
A British man plugged his iPhone into an outlet via an extension cord and appears to have rested the charger on his chest in the bath.
Richard Bull was found dead in the bathtub.
His wife found him with severe burns to his body at their home in London.
As the Daily Mail reports, when police arrived at the scene they found an extension cord leading into the bathroom from the hallway.
"We found an iPhone plugged into the extension cable and then the charger element in the bath," PC Craig Pattinson told an inquiry into Bull's death.
He added: "The extension cable was on the floor and it appeared as though he had his phone charger on his chest and the part between the phone charger and the cable had made contact with the water."
The inquest concluded that 32-year-old Bull's death was caused accidental electrocution. However, the coroner, a public official who investigates suspicious, sudden or violent deaths, said he was extremely concerned that people didn't realize that phones were as dangerous near water as, say, hairdryers.
The coroner, Dr. Sean Cummings, told the inquiry: "They should attach warnings. I intend to write a report later to the makers of the phone."
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Mail quoted Bull's brother Andrew as saying: "I live in the US and they say it can't happen, and that there is not enough electricity. But in the UK it is enough. You don't think there is enough electricity but there is."