Gates Foundation makes $6.5 million in grants for library computer hardware

October 13th, 2009 Gates Foundation CFO to step down next yearSEATTLE — The chief financial officers of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation says he's leaving that post early next year to pursue other interests. The Seattle Times reports that Alexander Friedman made the announcement Monday in an e-mail to colleagues at the foundation.

September 24th, 2009 Gates Foundation to promote US global spendingWASHINGTON — The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is launching a campaign to highlight the U.S. government's efforts to improve global health.

August 21st, 2009 Wikipedia operator gets $500,000 foundation grantSAN FRANCISCO — The nonprofit organization that operates the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia has received a $500,000 grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to expand its work bringing free educational content to people around the globe. The Hewlett Foundation says Wikipedia plays an important role in making information freely accessible.

July 21st, 2009 Bill Gates: Better data mean better schoolsPHILADELPHIA — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says the U.S. needs better ways to measure student and teacher performance to improve its schools.

July 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A gun found in former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's foxhole when he was seized by Delta Force special troops in 2003 could become the centerpiece of an exhibition at the George W Bush presidential library in Dallas, Texas. According The Telegraph, the 9mm Glock 18C, presented to then-president Bush by Delta Force agents after their triumphant arrest of the Iraqi dictator, has become one of Bush's most prized possessions.

July 3rd, 2009 Warren Buffett makes gifts to charity worth $1.53BSEATTLE — Billionaire Warren Buffett has donated $1.25 billion in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

July 3rd, 2009 Warren Buffett makes gifts to charity worth $1.43BSEATTLE — Billionaire Warren Buffett has donated $1.25 billion in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

June 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Library of Congress has launched a Sikh Collection Initiative to bring together a wide range of literature and other research material on Sikh history at the prestigious institution. The initiative was launched last week with a two-day international conference on Sikhism at the Library in recognition of the significant place the Sikh-Americans have occupied among the immigrant communities in the US.

June 9th, 2009 Economic downturn hits world's richest foundationSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may be the world's richest charitable foundation, but that hardly shields them from the economic downturn. Between January 2008 and April 2009, the foundation saw its assets drop from $39 billion to $27.5 billion.

June 6th, 2009 Gates Foundation gets $10.4M in donationsSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's annual report says it brought in $10.4 million in individual donations in 2008, without making an effort at fundraising. That dollar amount does not include new money from Bill or Melinda Gates or their friend Warren Buffett, who gave the world's richest foundation's trust about $1.8 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock last year.

May 8th, 2009 Study of Gates Foundation shows global influenceSEATTLE — A new study of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation illustrates its global reach with spending on health issues, but notes a need for accountability on whether the money is being spent in the most effective way. The world's largest philanthropic foundation focuses its global health giving on eradicating diseases such as malaria and AIDS.

April 24th, 2009 New York Times Co. Foundation suspends new grantsNEW YORK — The New York Times Company Foundation will suspend new grant awards and matching gifts because of the financial strains brought on by the recession.

April 23rd, 2009 Colbert: Does Bill Gates ever talk about me?SEATTLE — Stephen Colbert had an important question for an official with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: "Does Bill Gates ever talk about me?" The host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" helped announce a $4.1 million donation from the foundation to donorschoose.org at a New York City high school Tuesday. Colbert is a board member of donorschoose, a Web site where teachers seek money for student projects and donors choose which projects they want to support.

April 23rd, 2009 Gates Found. pledges $57M to overseas librariesSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $57 million to improve Internet access at public libraries in Poland, Romania and Vietnam.

January 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - An international effort spearheaded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $635 million towards eradicating the crippling polio disease with focus on India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. The Gates Foundation has pledged $255 million, while the governments of Germany and Britain will together donate a total of $280 million, according to an announcement made in San Diego, California.