A post template

No image available
/ 13 October 2004

‘Sleeping dragon’ links dinosaurs to birds

A fossil of an apparently sleeping dinosaur found in north-eastern China may provide new evidence that dinosaurs had similar behaviour patterns to those later evolved in birds, the British-based magazine Nature reports. The Mei Long fossil is a young dinosaur curled up in what appears to be a sleeping position typical of birds.

No image available
/ 13 October 2004

‘Women agreed to form two suicide groups’

Japan’s internet-arranged group suicides, in which nine people died, were organised by two women who had earlier tried to kill themselves together but failed. The nine who were found asphyxiated in two rented vehicles near Tokyo on Tuesday included a housewife, a college student and unemployed young people who had little in common save frequent use of the internet, reports said.

No image available
/ 13 October 2004

Zim police evict ‘new peasant farmers’

Hundreds of families made homeless by a police raid in which their huts were burnt down on a farm in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West province have accused President Robert Mugabe’s sister Sabina of exploitation. In recent weeks police have begun evicting ”new peasant farmers” from farms in a move the settlers say is designed to clear land for senior members of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

No image available
/ 13 October 2004

No change in interest rate expected

The two-day meeting of the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee started as scheduled at 9am in Pretoria on Wednesday. The consensus view is that there will be no change in rates due to surging oil prices and economists say the possibility of a rate hike is very remote.

No image available
/ 13 October 2004

Zim opposition claims voters’ roll cut

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party on Tuesday told Parliament that authorities have reduced the number of registered voters in urban centres, the party’s traditional stronghold, ahead of next year’s parliamentary polls. The party believes the number of voters in Bulawayo has been cut by 15% since elections in 2002.

No image available
/ 13 October 2004

SABC fined R15 000 for airing beheading

The South African Broadcasting Corporation was found guilty of contravening the broadcasting code for airing footage of the beheading of a hostage in Iraq, SABC news said on Tuesday. The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA fined the SABC R15 000 for broadcasting the beheading on its Nguni television news.