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/ 6 October 2004

Bush allies admit war blunders

Paul Bremer, who was America’s most senior official in Baghdad until the handover last June, said on Tuesday that the United States committed two major blunders which compromised the course of events in Iraq: it went to war without enough troops and it did not contain the looting and violence after Saddam Hussein’s regime fell.

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/ 6 October 2004

Blair seeks pledge from Sudan

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will on Wednesday fly to the Sudan to warn the Khartoum government that it must act swiftly to end the atrocities and refugee crisis in its western region of Darfur, mainly by allowing as many as 5 000 African Union peacekeeping troops free movement into the region this month.

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/ 6 October 2004

Bigger can be better

"And from the moment I rolled the throttle open words such as ‘overweight’, ‘underpowered’ and ‘slug’ were ripped from my lexicon — I suppose you could say it was disemvowelled." Gavin Foster puts the DL 650 V-Strom Suzuki to the test and finds that there’s no question about who has the finest engine in the range of two wheelers.

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/ 6 October 2004

Who needs black Oppenheimers?

AngloGold Ashanti CEO Bobby Godsell recently called for "black Oppenheimers". "We need enriched individuals and we need symbols or role models of dramatic success in the black community," he writes in <i>Voices for a New Democracy</i>. Who is "we"? That "we" is not us. It is white capitalists who need black capitalists.

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/ 6 October 2004

How to nail the speculators

The Belgian Parliament has passed legislation to introduce a currency transaction tax, otherwise known as a "Tobin Tax", after its original promoter 30 years ago. This is a step forward for the global Tobin Tax movement. Belgium follows Canada, which passed Tobin Tax-enabling legislation about five years ago, and is the first move towards getting a handle on speculative currency dealing.

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/ 6 October 2004

The rise and fall of English

Crumbling masonry, peeling paint and dusty patches where once were manicured lawns … The University of Khartoum has worn poorly under the searing Sudanese sun — as much as the language that the buttoned-up colonialists who built it came to spread. There are no official statistics for the number of English speakers in the country, but it is safe to say that they are few and far between. Change is in the air, however.

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/ 6 October 2004

Country music and King Kong

Deep-fried Oreos, the US Presidential debates, methods of restraining one’s spouse, little-known <i>Star Wars</i> facts, quotes from <i>King Kong</i>, kidnappings in Iraq, David Hasselhof and country music, PC protection advice and a pinch of porn. There’s something for everyone this week in Fraser’s bag.

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/ 6 October 2004

Help, I’m leaking friends

Why do old people have fewer friends than young people? Is it because they’re choosier? Or less entertaining company? Could it be that they just can’t work their cellphones? This is something I found myself wondering the other day when I noticed that, family excepted, there was not one person in my phone book whom I had met before I was 18. Making friends is easy enough — it’s staying in touch with them that’s the tricky part.