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/ 16 January 2008

Spider-Man loses a wife and upsets comic fans

Spider-Man fans are outraged that Marvel Comics has turned back the clock and dissolved the marriage of its wall-clinging superhero. While followers of the movie version know the character is single with a sweetheart, as far as comic-book fans are concerned Spider-Man has been married to Mary Jane Watson for the past 21 years.

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/ 16 January 2008

China’s booming budget hotels profit from no frills

German engineer Michael Bosch is not fazed by the lack of a gym and other creature comforts at his budget hotel in a converted Shanghai office building. He’s stayed at such hotels on nearly a dozen trips to Chinese cities. ”All I need is a clean, warm place to sleep. I don’t care so much about service,” the 32-year-old said as he waited for 10 minutes for a distracted receptionist to attend to him at a Motel168 on the edge of Shanghai’s financial district.

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/ 16 January 2008

Germany’s hotels bar neo-Nazis

Late last year a hotel in Dresden sent an unambiguous message to two prospective neo-Nazi guests — please do not come. "Since I would not know how to encourage my staff to greet you or serve you, I beg you to cancel your stay," Johannes Lohmeyer, manager of a Holiday Inn in the picturesque east German city, wrote to the two men.

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/ 16 January 2008

Eskom’s place in the sun

An Eskom subsidy for solar-powered water heaters is finally ready and is expected to launch in the next week or two. But the solar power industry itself remains unsure of key details. The subsidy was expected to come into play last year, following a Central Energy Fund pilot project, but was delayed. Suppliers complain of a lack of communication and uncertainty over key details, including launch dates.

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/ 16 January 2008

Bizos and Chaskalson cannot claim to be neutral

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has the greatest respect for former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson and Mr George Bizos. The two played a valuable role in the struggle for freedom. They made an important contribution to the drafting of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and we fully agree with them that the separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive is an essential cornerstone of our democracy.

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/ 16 January 2008

Musicians in Kenya lead push for alternative protests

A catchy ”song for peace” crackling over Kenyan radio is breaking pace with the litany of doom and gloom and bloody fallout from last month’s elections that dominates the air waves these days. WaKenya Pamoja (Kenya Together) carries a different message, and maybe a reason not to give up on a vote meant to uphold this nation as a beacon of democracy in a troubled region.