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/ 26 September 2003

Chatroom closure panned

Rival companies have accused Microsoft of cynical commercialism for pulling the plug on its Internet chatrooms. MSN — the Internet arm of Bill Gates’s Microsoft empire — said it took the decision after a series of high-profile cases involving children being abused by adults they had met in chatrooms.

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/ 26 September 2003

Politics that fail the people

With the end of apartheid, many hoped that life for the people of Southern Africa would begin to yield something entirely different from the unhappy past. Unfortunately things have not turned out this way and the daily news from the hole in the region we still call Zimbabwe underlines this. So, what did happen to Southern Africa’s post-apartheid moment?

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/ 26 September 2003

No patience with US at UN

Old transatlantic wounds within the UN’s Security Council were reopened this week, as France condemned American unilateralism and demanded a rapid transition to democracy, and the US defended the war and insisted the move to Iraqi sovereignty would not be rushed.

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/ 26 September 2003

Stein makes a stand on racism

Mark Stein, the South African-born former Chelsea striker who has demanded a transfer from Dagenham & Redbridge because of the manager’s alleged racism, claims that other black players may follow his example. ”Black players have more confidence in their ability and they will not tolerate racism,” he says.

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/ 26 September 2003

Bill of no rights

According to some hacks who go out and get the news when and where it happens (as opposed to those who merely sit in the Dorsbult and wait to hear about it), following Bill and Melinda Gates around on their PR funding exercise last week was an enormously frustrating experience. As regular readers of this column will know, Oom Krisjan holds deep and dark suspicions about the Microsofted one.

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/ 26 September 2003

UN faces Southern African food aid shortage

The United Nations’s food agency has warned that despite an urgent appeal made in the summer, it faces a ”significant” funding shortfall that could leave millions in Southern Africa facing food shortages. The agency asked for -million to feed people in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho and Malawi.