New York | Wednesday A NEW York woman was battling for her life Tuesday in a new confirmed case of inhalation anthrax as authorities remained stumped over the source of the deadly germs. The 61-year-old hospital worker is on a respirator and ”struggling for survival” in the city’s first case of often lethal inhalation anthrax, […]

Harare | Monday ZIMBABWE’S tobacco production dropped 35,3-million kilos in 2001, to 201,7-million kilos, after last year’s record-high crop, the state-run Herald said on Saturday. With an average price of 175 Zimbabwe dollars (US$3,18) per kilo, tobacco sales totalled 35-billion Zimbabwe dollars ($630-million) when the auction season closed on Friday, producers said. Prices were higher […]

TOGOLESE President Gnassingbe Eyadema has pardoned a journalist close to the opposition who was sentenced to prison in June for fraud, officials said on Monday. Eyadema on Wednesday signed a decree pardoning Lucien Djossou Messan, who was given a 12-month jail term in June. Messan, editor of the Combat du Peuple weekly, is known for […]

London | Tuesday ABOUT 7 000 sick and dying South Africans claiming compensation for asbestos-related ailments from the London-based insulation and building materials company Cape Plc, may settle for UK25-million (R330-million), their British lawyers said. “This is substantially less than the claimants may expect to receive after a trial, if Cape could have afforded to […]

BURUNDI’S national assembly has adopted by acclamation the transitional constitution that will guide the workings of the three-year government due to begin functioning on 1 November. The ABP news agency reported that the “status and restoration of the monarchy can only occur by referendum” and that “all authorised political parties or movements” can take part […]

BRITAIN’S Princess Anne arrived on Monday in the Nigerian capital Abuja for a week-long visit, airport officials said. Princess Anne (51) is scheduled to meet President Olusegun Obasanjo in his office, according to her official programme. The six-day working visit “will highlight the range and scope of the United Kingdom’s engagement throughout Nigeria”. A particular […]

THE Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources is considering not granting a pelagic quota next year, even though the full quota was caught by the end of the season in August this year. The total allowable catch (TAC) for the past season was 10 000 tons. The season started very slowly with only 700 […]

ROBERT MACPHERSON, Luxembourg | Tuesday EU foreign ministers set the wheels in motion on Monday to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe if it fails to make immediate progress towards greater democracy. Meeting in Luxembourg, they put into action Article 96 of the Cotonou agreement that governs relations between the European Union and its African-Caribbean-Pacific partners. That […]

Maputo | Tuesday SOUTH African financial giant Absa will take over Mozambique’s scandal-plagued commercial bank Banco Austral after months of difficult negotiations, the government announced on Tuesday. Banco Austral was Mozambique’s largest bank until its privatisation three years ago. A Malaysian-led consortium bought 51% of the bank, but then it quickly racked up more than […]