GERMAN billionaire Jurgen Harksen, who has fought a running battle to avoid extradition to in Germany, lost his bid to remain in South Africa on Monday and was taken into custody. Harksen faces criminal tax evasion charges in Germany. Cape Town Magistrate Michael Wagner ordered that Harksen be committed to prison pending his extradition. Harksen […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 4.50pm. LAWYERS on Monday launched what is expected to be a lengthy defence in the Cape Town High Court of disgraced anti-apartheid cleric Allan Boesak, who is facing 27 charges of fraud and theft. When the trial, which began in August, adjourned for the summer break on December 18, […]

THE Rhino and Elephant Foundation is involved in discussions over the possibility of shipping some of the Tuli elephants to zoos and parks in China and Japan. In a statement on Sunday, the foundation said it held a meeting recently with interested parties, including the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Convention for […]

WERNER MENGES, Windhoek | Tuesday 4.15pm. THE Namibian economy quietly made history last year when the official average inflation rate for the year sunk to its lowest level since independence, the National Planning Commission’s Central Statistics Office said on Monday. The annual Namibian inflation rate, as measured in the capital, Windhoek, averaged 6,21% last year […]

NIGERIA’s military government set up a 16-man committee on Monday to organise the formal arrangements for hand-over of power to a civilian ruler, a top official said. Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, the chief of general staff and number two man in the Nigerian regime, said the committee — part military and part civilian — will […]

THE bid for SA Druggists by a United States drug firm, Argyll Scientific, has collapsed as local firm Macmed which was connected to the deal has withdrawn from the negotiations. Macmed claims it gave Argyll time to come up with an acceptable proposal but that it failed to do so timeously. Macmed is now likely […]

POLLS opened in Niger on Sunday for the election of 2053 local, municipal and regional officials, the last phase of the West African country’s process of restoration democratic insitutions. President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara and his government voted at Niamey town hall when polling stations opened. The government has warned against troublemaking and cautioned foreign oberservers […]

TWO people were killed and about 10 injured in last week’s crash of an Antonov-26 cargo plane in Angola and the Russian pilots, said to have been drunk, will be tried. Angolan aviation officials said on Tuesday that a pregnant woman was among those killed when the transport plane, owned by the Airangol company, crashed […]

THE International Monetary Fund has approved a $58,76-million loan for Tanzania to support the government’s 1998/99 economic programmes, the IMF said on Monday. The credit, known in IMF parlance as an enhanced structural adjustment facility, will be available in two semi-annual installments. The IMF said Tanzania aims to achieve growth of at least 4% in […]

THE treason trial of the 77 Zambia army men accused of attempting to overthrow President Frederick Chiluba’s government on October 28 in 1997 resumes on Monday after a three-week recess. Defence lawyers are expected to begin oral submissions for a “no case to answer”. After the defence close their case, the prosecution will also submit […]