Talk is cheap, unless you are a charismatic former United States president with a notorious personal history. Since leaving office in 2001, Bill Clinton has amassed an estimated -million from speaking fees. Last year was his best yet, raking in between -million and -million from speeches around the world.

For millennia the Indian Ocean atoll known as Aldabra has bloomed in the absence of man. Now that may change because a luxury hotel is being planned for Aldabra. But the South African company that has tendered to build the resort, Wilderness Safaris, says its environmental record is impeccable.