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/ 23 September 2005

A spinner’s paradise

Crime statistics have proven to be as malleable as the hands of the spin doctor who holds them. Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula this week said the statistics, showing an average decrease of 5%, indicated that the battle against crime was being won and that ”the future was rosy”, while political parties have either shot down the figures as nothing to crow about.

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/ 23 September 2005

Change is fear

When ministers, spin doctors and police officers talk about crime, one is often struck by their tone of exasperation. They have what they believe to be a genuinely good news story — that crime is coming down — but the public simply refuses to believe it.

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/ 23 September 2005

The superb Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 coupé

"I experienced an epiphany half way through my first drive in the Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 recently. Cruising along the highway with the climate control helping me keep my cool and the radio turned off so that I could listen to the lovely V6 exhaust note, I suddenly found a most uncharacteristic thought ricocheting around in my skull," writes Gavin Foster.

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/ 23 September 2005

Chuffed China basks in glory of Tibetan railway

Like exhausted but triumphant climbers, pudgy Chinese officials wheezed between smiles atop Kunlun mountain pass before their oxygen-outfitted locomotive whisked them southwards along bare-backed snowy peaks to the Tibetan border. At 4 780m, Kunlun in China’s western Qinghai province is one of the highest passes along the new Tibet railway that is rapidly nearing completion.

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/ 23 September 2005

The sound of cancer

British electronic music whizz Matthew Herbert is hoping to become the first musician ever to use the sound of cancer in a dance track. The London-based musician is working on the follow-up album to <i>Plat du Jour</i>, released worldwide this year, which was made using sampled recordings of food to raise awareness about the industrialisation of modern farming methods.

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/ 23 September 2005

The banking juggernaut

The party the South African banks have enjoyed over the past three years may have reached heady heights, but looks to be far from over. Figures released by FirstRand last week, and the boundless optimism expressed by the likes of Investec, suggest that good times lie ahead for a while yet.