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/ 29 June 2007

Out of love with online shopping

The latest research from the United States suggests that consumers are falling out of love with online shopping. The frantic growth of the one-click habit that has transformed the way Americans obtain their daily bread — not to mention their books, clothes and entertainment too — has stalled and may soon start to decline.

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/ 29 June 2007

Lessons from Chile

A national pension system should be managed by a competitive private sector subject to ­market-friendly regulation by government, says Jose Pinera, the architect of the world-renowned Chilean pension fund system and founder and president of the International Centre for Pension Reform.

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/ 29 June 2007

First step to peace in Delta

Most people get perhaps one chance in a lifetime to make a truly grand entrance. Not so Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the Ijaw leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force who was released on bail and returned to Port Harcourt in late June after spending 20 months in detention on charges of treason. Asari was arrested in 2005 after he said during a newspaper interview that he would work for the break-up of Nigeria.

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/ 29 June 2007

From the Asian Tigers to Kerala

Predictions that the African National Congress (ANC) would shift its policies leftwards were confirmed by the outcomes of the commissions at the ANC policy conference on strategy and tactics this week. The ANC will formally adopt the interventionist strategies that the state has been taking recently.

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/ 29 June 2007

Renaming history

An urgent revamp and strengthening of the powers of the South African Geographical Names Council and its provincial committees may be the tonic for divisive municipal street renaming processes. In Durban, the process has been marred by violent protest, political bickering and a DA legal challenge to the eThekwini municipality.

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/ 29 June 2007

Health workers remain dismissed

The Western Cape department of health has refused to reinstate the Khayelitsha healthcare workers who were dismissed on June 11 during the public strike, despite high court Judge Siraj Desai’s ruling that healthcare facilities be restored to a functional state. If an agreement is reached with National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union the department will be obliged to reinstate the workers.

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/ 29 June 2007

Côte d’Ivoire PM’s plane attacked

Attackers fired a rocket on Friday at a plane carrying Côte d’Ivoire Prime Minister Guillaume Soro as it landed at an airport, killing at least three people, but Soro survived, a top adviser told the media. The plane was landing at Bouake in the centre of the strife-torn country, Soro’s stronghold, when it came under attack.