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/ 20 August 2004

McDonald’s fights back against hit film

At first glance the text of the advert running in national newspapers on Friday reads like an attack on the burger and fries giant McDonald’s. The advert says it supports the core argument of a film where a man who eats burgers for 30 days piles on weight to such a health damaging extent that his doctors order him to stop eating them.

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/ 20 August 2004

One, two, … er, too many

Researchers claim to have solved the mystery of the people who simply do not count. It could be because they are lost for words. The Piraha of the Amazon have almost legendary status in language research. They have no words at all for number. They use only only three words to count: one, two, many.

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/ 20 August 2004

Sudan accused of breaking its word

The United Nations refugee agency accused Sudan on Thursday of breaking its promises in Darfur, as more refugees fled to neighbouring Chad from a fresh wave of attacks on civilians. Hundreds have crossed the border in recent weeks after assaults on 11 villages which fitted the pattern of the government-sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing in the westerrn region.

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/ 20 August 2004

Solidarity on screen

This year’s 3 Continents Film Festival features an exciting line-up that includes <i>Original Child Bomb</i> — a poetic and contemplative film about the nuclear bomb and its cost to humanity — and the controversial documentary <i>Zimbabwe Countdown</i>.

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/ 20 August 2004

Nuts about Graskop

The first thing I notice when I arrive at Graskop in Mpumalanga is the serenity that embraces this small town. Contentment is lodged in the atmosphere. Even first-time visitors realise that there is something about this town. The weather, the people and the vibe add to the mystery. Here is a story begging to be told.

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/ 20 August 2004

Isle of writers

As Athenians sweated to finish the Olympic stadiums, an Orthodox priest on the island of Paros, about three hours away, was intoning over a modest dwelling that may yet crown Greece’s cultural Olympiad. He was inaugurating the country’s first House of Literature.

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/ 20 August 2004

Billiton’s dividends ‘disappoint’

Mining group BHP Billiton’s financial results this week were in line with market expectations, but the dividends were disappointing, one analyst said. The Johannesburg-based analyst, who refused to be named, said while the earnings of the world’s largest diversified resources group were "broadly" as the markets had expected, no special dividends were paid.

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/ 20 August 2004

A ‘year of two halves’

Mining magnate Patrice Motsepe this week unveiled the first full-year results of his new company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) while revealing the next, and probably most interesting, chapter in his career. The results show how far Motsepe has come as a mining entrepreneur — and the hard work that lies ahead in turning ARM into a world-class diversified resources company.