Since civil war broke out in 1990, Somalia has been divided into some two dozen warring fiefs. But Mr Jimale is undaunted. "Tourists can still go and see the former beautiful sights," he says. "The only problem is they're all totally destroyed." Your correspondent admired what was left of the cathedral. Graffiti outside warned "Beware of landmines".

Mr Jimale wants donors to help rebuild Somalia's national parks, though they mainly lie in areas the government does not control. "Most of the animals have disappeared too," he concedes, "Because we have eaten them."

Data analysts Experian contend that the old class system isn't flexible enough to be of use to supermarkets when deciding such matters as where to put their stores, what kind of music to have on the PA, or whether to move the beer next to the nappies after 6pm (as some stores do) so after-work booze-hound fathers will remember there's something in their lives other than themselves. The old A-E classes are tied to occupation, which is insufficient data for a supermarket which is trying to lure cash-rich plumbers to buy their poncy coffees, rather than molecular biologists (say) who can only afford gruel and coarse toilet paper.

To deal with this, Experian has devised a consumer classification system called Mosaic UK, which many supermarkets use to help make key decisions (where to put a store, what to fill it with, etc). Using the 2001 Census figures and data on such things as county court judgments, credit ratings, qualifications, car ownership, age and background, and working on this data with geodemographic software, Mosaic UK divides the country into 11 groups, each of which is given an evocative name and a stereotypical - and determinedly heterosexual - couple to match. These 11 master categories break down into 61 delightfully named sub-groups (Golden Empty Nesters, Dinky Developments, White Van Culture, Town Gown Transition etc).

Britney Says ...

'Have you ever been to the bookstore at MOMA in New York? Man, that's just about my favourite store in the whole world. I can get lost in there for hours. It's great because there's so much to look at and no one ever recognises me because I have this image of being a dumb uncultured blonde. Anyway, I was in there the other week, just doing some browsing, when I saw this great little book titled 'They Called Her Styrene'.