Her hours-long lecture is a mesmerizing romp of set pieces and extemporaneous patter, jumping from Christopher Columbus, to Egyptian pyramids, to the Great Wall, to Bill Gates.

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Long a gateway for investment into Asia, Mauritius now promotes itself as a stable jumping-board for investment into Africa.

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But that's no comfort if you're a boomer who spent your early years jumping from job to job, accruing few pension benefits, and then settled into a long-term corporate job, expecting you'd finally get yours--only to find the rules were being changed midgame.

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