Etc...

Just call it collateral damage

March has not been a good month for the defense ministry in Norway, the host of a 15- nation NATO war game dubbed "Battle Griffin." First, one of its 40-ton tanks tangled on a highway with a Mercedes car that had only recently left the dealer's showroom , crushing it. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the insurance adjusters are toting up the cost of replacing the vehicle, which will be considerable. Days later, a resident of Vassbotna, a town 350 miles north of Oslo, was awakened before dawn by a loud crash and frigid air pouring into his home. He investigated and discovered another Norwegian tank ... in the bathroom. He said the driver told him he'd lost control of the heavy machine after skidding on a patch of ice. More insurance adjusters and, yes, another bill for damages.

If Bill Gates was the kind of person who hid his fortune under a mattress, he'd need a lot of beds. After all, Forbes magazine lists his net worth at $46.5 billion. No one else in the world is richer than that, according to the publication's latest rankings of 691 billionaires. Gates retained his lead over venture capitalist Warren Buffett, but not by much. Buffett increased his net worth by $1.1 billion to close the gap with Gates. India's Lakshmi Mittal, the owner of Mittal Steel Co. is a distant third. Joining the billionaire club for the first time is Martha Stewart, who benefited when the price of stock in her company, Martha Steward Living Omnimedia, rose even as she served a five-month jail sentence. The 10 richest people, according to Forbes, with the country and net worth of each (in billions):

1. Bill Gates (US) $46.5
2. Warren Buffett (US) 44.0
3. Lakshmi Mittal (India) 25.0
4. Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico) 23.8
5. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal al-Saud (Saudi Arabia) 23.7
6. Ingvar Kamprad (Sweden) 23.0
7. Paul Allen (US) 21.0
8. Karl Albrecht (Germany) 18.5
9. Larry Ellison (US) 18.4
10. S. Robson Walton (US) 18.3