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/ 22 February 2006
A rare and prized fossil of the feathered Archaeopteryx — thought to be Earth’s first bird — has become something of an albatross to a small Wyoming museum. While the scientific significance of the fossil is unquestioned and its monetary value thought to be in excess of -million, the fact that it is bound for a private museum has drawn scorn from some scientists.
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/ 22 February 2006
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Jobs, housing and municipal services are what most residents in the Dihlabeng local municipality want from their new municipal leaders one week before the March 1 local government elections. Topsie Masweu (60) of Bohlokong, who works as a domestic worker in Bethlehem, said on Wednesday that jobs were the most urgent need in the town.
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/ 22 February 2006
Listed South African fashion retailer Truworths International has reported a 33% increase in its fully diluted headline earnings per share for the 26 weeks to the end of December 2005, to 90,4 cents from 68 cents in the year-earlier period. The company declared an interim dividend of 44 cents per share.
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/ 22 February 2006
The South African Revenue Service has issued a tender for a proof of concept Linux desktop solution for the tax-collecting government department with a R355-billion revenue. A successful proof of concept could see 14 000 desktops running Windows migrated to Linux.
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/ 22 February 2006
Haitian leader Jean Bertrand Aristide, who is living in exile in South Africa, on Wednesday defended his decision to return home, saying it is his right as a citizen of the Caribbean nation. ”I have the right to be back,” he said in an interview with international news agencies in Pretoria.
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/ 22 February 2006
Arguments that a moratorium on foreign land ownership will scare off investors are ”ideological and hysterical”, the chairperson of the panel of experts that recommended the moratorium said on Wednesday. He said the panel’s recommendation is important and informed by previous policy initiatives.
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/ 22 February 2006
The current Transnet workers’ strike will continue if management refuse to engage unions constructively, the United Association of South Africa (Uasa) said on Wednesday. ”We are receiving conflicting messages from the trade and industry minister [Alec Erwin],” said Uasa official Leon Grobler.
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/ 22 February 2006
Ocean scientists can now plunge into the middle of the sea without leaving their offices. Two-metre, 45kg, underwater gliders are swimming the oceans of the world and dutifully sending data home on everything from whale calls to the massive waves produced by hurricanes.
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/ 22 February 2006
The FBI’s latest attempt to modernise its computers is running behind schedule and its budget already has exceeded the cost of the last failed effort. FBI Director Robert Mueller and other officials have refused to disclose the anticipated cost of the Sentinel program, which will not be fully in place until 2009.
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/ 22 February 2006
Oscar has developed a social conscience this year, with weighty real-life themes, ranging from ethics in big business and media to racial tensions, dominating the movies vying for the big prizes. ”All of these films reflect the concerns that the filmmakers have for our society,” said Marty Grove, columnist for the Hollywood Reporter.