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/ 6 April 2005

Bob’s Your Owner?

<i>The Herald</i>, Zimbabwe’s largest government daily – which, incidentally, is also 20% owned by local giant Old Mutual – is about to be distributed and sold in South Africa. Kevin Bloom speaks to the editor.

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/ 6 April 2005

The genius of Amazon

Jeff Bezos has always taken the long view so, in 2001, when the analysts were panicking and traditional retailers were crowing about the dive in the Amazon share price from a high of $110 to $11, he was the first to point out that not only had the value of the shares increased tenfold since 1997, but the real growth was yet to come.

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/ 6 April 2005

An African Anomaly

Their listenership figures outperform all other radio brands in the country and their power to change corporate fortunes is indisputable, so why aren’t the African-language stations in SABC’s PBS portfolio doing better? Kevin Bloom reports.

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/ 6 April 2005

Is childbirth an absolute right?

Nicola Spurr asks if it is morally responsible for HIV-positive women to become pregnant deliberately. About one-third of HIV-positive women will transmit the virus to their infants during pregnancy, if untreated. Will they be held accountable if they pass the virus on to their children?

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/ 6 April 2005

Zero tolerance for UN troops involved in sexual abuse

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone may be preparing for the final pullout of its peacekeeping force by the end of the year, but it seems, the mission wants to leave behind a clean record, in so far as sexual exploitation and abuse is concerned. This follows a number of of cases of sexual exploitation in the four years that the peacekeepers have been staying in Sierra Leone.

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/ 6 April 2005

Got blog?

The concept of blogging, to me, is much like the debate over public art or graffiti: either it’s meaningless vandalism from no-hopers with an urge to scribble or paint over other people’s property, or it’s a valid form of creative expression, using public spaces as a canvas. I tend to go with the idea, generally, that it’s vandalism by no-hopers making visual pollution — unless there’s a political statement being made.

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/ 6 April 2005

Stark warning to the world

The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1 360 scientists from 95 countries — some of them world leaders in their fields — last week warned that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure. The study contains what its authors call ”a stark warning” for the entire world.

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/ 6 April 2005

Inn love

My boyfriend and I checked into a love hotel for the hour. It was Friday night and we were on an errant mission in an erogenous zone. ”Love hotels are big in Japan,” said Jaco, the hotel owner to whom we introduced our legit selves. ”Your name is hot on the porn sites now — there’s a country and western chick called Shani,” he said with adulation.