Rich Pickings for the World's Media

Who is the world's richest man? The question prompted much head-scratching this week as a Spanish-language website, Sentido Comun, declared that Mexico's very own Carlos Slim had overtaken Bill Gates to seize the top spot.

Sentido Comun, which means "common sense", calculated that a 27% surge in the share price of Slim's America Movil group had pushed the cigar-chomping billionaire's wealth up to a staggering $67.8bn - a country mile ahead of Bill Gates' $59.2bn.

The figures appear simple enough - Slim owns a third of America Movil's equity and share prices, after all, are in the public domain. But nobody was quite sure whether to believe the story which went unnoticed outside Mexico for three days before Reuters picked it up on Monday evening.

For no particularly good reason, the American magazine Forbes is generally accepted as the font of all wisdom in ranking the mega-rich. Like a stately galleon, Forbes takes time to switch its course and as yet, there has been no indication that the venerable New York publication is taking any notice.

Earlier this year, Sentido Comun's editor, Eduardo Garcia, was the first to point out that Slim had overtaken Warren Buffett to slot into second place in the global league. After a brief pause for breath, Forbes agreed and updated its own rankings.

This time, Garcia admits the issue is less certain - because he has not taken into account any increase in Bill Gates' worth from holdings outside Microsoft which represent half the technology tycoon's portfolio.

Much of the American media duly ignored the Slim story, presumably waiting for Forbes to move. But many international news services, including Guardian Unlimited, opted to crown the Mexican as the planet's wealthiest being.

Slim's nationality, incidentally, seems just as negotiable as his bank balance. Arabian Business magazine laid claim to him as a "Lebanese businessman", citing his parentage. More tenuously still, the Turkish Daily News triumphantly announced that the world's richest man was a "businessman of Ottoman descent". When you're that rich, everybody has a claim on you.

More crap service on US airlines

Nobody in America needs much reminding that travelling on the nation's airlines can be a dismal experience. With sheer military-style rudeness, overstretched airline staff often making flying akin to being in a boot camp.

Official figures out this week from the US Bureau of Transport Statistics revealed that on-time arrivals slumped to their worst level for 13 years during the first five months of 2007, with just 73% turning up within 15 minutes of schedule - a record which makes Virgin Trains look like a Swiss metronome.

The worst of a poor bunch, US Airways, only managed to get 67% of its planes to their destination on time. And wise passengers should avoid the carrier's flight 1569 from Boston to Philadelphia, which was late on a stunning 95.6% of occasions during May.

The airline horror story of the month surfaced in the New York Times, which told of a Continental Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Newark on which the lavatories spilt sewage into the aisle forcing an unscheduled landing in Ireland. The next day, the plane took off again - and sanitary problems recurred.

According to one passenger, the hapless flight attendants mopped the carpet over the Atlantic and urged passengers not to eat or drink too much, offering the memorable advice that those on board should "control your intake so you can control your output".

How many journalists does it take to watch someone change a lightbulb?

Spare a thought for Conrad Black and his co-accused, patiently awaiting a verdict over whether they embezzled $60m from the peer's former Hollinger media empire.

A motley collection of 40 or so British, Canadian and American journalists has been hanging around the city's Everett McKinley Dirksen federal courthouse hoping for a decision from a decidedly languid jury.

The panellists aren't in much of a hurry - for no obvious reason, they took Tuesday afternoon off ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday. On Thursday, they went home 45 minutes earlier than schedule, leaving a note indicating that they only plan to ruminate for a half day on Friday.

The judge, Amy St Eve, demonstrates little sympathy. Every so often she walks past the media encampment outside the courtroom, cheerfully asking: "Aren't you bored?"

Notable events have included a workman changing a lightbulb outside the court. At one point, a delivery man turned up with an impressive bouquet of flowers for judge St Eve, prompting a brief frenzy of speculation over her suitor.

If it's tedious for us, it's hard to imagine just how nerve-racking it must be for the noble lord. To his credit, however, Black isn't showing it.

The writer Mark Steyn, who knows the peer well, reports on his blog that the fallen media mogul was out painting the town a conservative blue until the early hours this week for the 25th birthday of his daughter, Alana . And Black is such a good customer at one Chicago eaterie that the maitre d' is planning to name a booth after him. How about calling it the regret-table?