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/ 13 August 2004

The authorised version

Suresh Roberts has spent the best part of the last decade on Nadine Gordimer’s authorised biography. Now it is no longer "authorised" and the contract has been cancelled. Gordimer’s disagreement with her biographer is an issue of authority, writes Shaun de Waal.

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/ 13 August 2004

The African western

"The Awakening Film Festival is so-called because we believe this programme of films will evoke powerful memories of the past and stimulate imagination of possible futures." A showcase of African film provides an antidote to the Hollywood propaganda machine, writes Nadine Botha.

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/ 13 August 2004

Californian court declares gay marriages void

The California Supreme Court on Thursday declared the marriages of thousands of same-sex couples in San Francisco void, after ruling that the city’s mayor exceeded his authority by granting them marriage licences. The ruling was the latest setback to efforts by the gay community to challenge laws that restrict the institution of marriage to heterosexual couples.

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/ 13 August 2004

Don’t honour wise guy De Niro, say US Italians

To millions of moviegoers around the world, Robert De Niro is the epitome of the Italian man. But the tough guy image and parts in blockbusters such as The Godfather II have not endeared him to some Americans of Italian descent. On Thursday, it emerged that an influential Italian-American organisation had appealed to Silvio Berlusconi, asking the prime minister to cancel Italy’s plan to award De Niro honorary citizenship.

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/ 13 August 2004

Mugabe plans to starve voters

The government of Zimbabwe may be planning to use food scarcity as a political weapon in next year’s elections, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Millions of Zimbabweans are in danger of famine because the president, Robert Mugabe, has refused to ask for international aid, and there is increasing evidence to contradict his government’s claim that the country has sufficient food.

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/ 13 August 2004

A measure for corporate citizenship

Ever since the publication of the second <i>King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa (King II)</i> in 2002, South African corporates have sharpened their focus on their commitment to the "triple bottom line", an expanded baseline for measuring a company’s performance which includes an accounting of the impact of their activities on society and the environment.

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/ 13 August 2004

Lowering your sites

When International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Jacques Rogge walks into a room and introduces himself, people instantly spring into action. This is because they think he’s choking to death on a herring-bone. But apart from having a glottal seizure for a surname, he is, by most accounts, a fairly popular fellow.

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/ 13 August 2004

Ruck makes presence felt

JSE Securities Exchange-listed Liberty Life has been on the operational high road for the past year — and it shows in its interim results to end-June. Headline earnings are up by 29,4% to R460,4-million, and headline earnings per share increased to 167,2c from 130c. Operating profit from life insurance business is up 32,6% to R335-million — but it’s not all good news.

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/ 13 August 2004

Zanu chiefs crack down on Moyo

Zimbabwe’s Information Minister Jonathan Moyo is being reined in by the Zanu-PF supreme decision-making body, the Politburo, for publicly attacking his rivals in the party leadership. This is the second time in two months that the Politburo has asked party boss President Robert Mugabe to deal with Moyo. But the president needs his out-of-control minister to win the coming elections.