A bicycle bomb aimed at a vehicle carrying Nao-led peacekeepers exploded on Monday east of the Afghan capital Kabul, wounding at least seven Afghan civilians, some seriously, police and officials said. The remote-controlled bomb was set on a bicycle left on the side of the main road from Kabul to the eastern city of Jalalabad and detonated at about 9.30am.
South African financial services group Alexander Forbes on Monday reported a 16% decline in headline earnings per share to 113 cents for the year ended March 31, from 135 cents a year ago. Excluding non-recurring restructuring costs, headline earnings per share were 132 cents, down 2% from 135 cents a year earlier.
South African’s biggest retail bank, Absa — in which British banking group Barclays is acquiring a 60% stake — boosted headline earnings by 23,3% from R4,447-billion to R5,484-billion for the year to the end of March. This translated into headline earnings per share of 841 cents, which represents a 22,1% increase on last year’s 688,5 cents.
Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer blasted his batsmen on Sunday after the West Indies sealed a convincing 276-run victory with more than a day to spare, calling the team’s first innings performance ”spineless”. Woolmer said the catalyst for the defeat was Pakistan being bowled out for 144 in their first innings.
Dan Wheldon overcame an electrifying run by Danica Patrick and ended 35 years of fabled Andretti bad luck to win the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Wheldon took team co-owner Michael Andretti with him to Victory Lane, ending years of frustration for the Andretti family, which last got a taste of the Indy winner’s jug of milk when Michael’s father, Mario, won in 1969.
South Africa’s third mobile operator Cell C would "wait and see" before it went ahead with the issuance of €625-million (about R5-billion) worth of high yield bonds, adviser to the unlisted company’s CEO Jonathan Newman said on Monday. He stated that although there were signs that the market was improving, the Saudi-backed operator had decided to wait until the bond market stabilised
A group of disgruntled Cape fishermen spent the whole of Sunday night chained to Parliament’s gates in a protest against fishing policies. The fishermen contend that the proposed new fishing policies unveiled recently by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, amounted to ”subtle genocide”.
Zimbabwean church representatives on Sunday denounced the week-long crackdown against street traders and shack dwellers, while police continued arrests and demolition work.
Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Mswati III, has married a young woman who has become his 11th wife, a newspaper report said on Sunday. The 37-year-old monarch secretly married Noliqwa Ntentesa last Thursday, The Times of Swaziland reported.
France’s voters on Sunday night decisively rejected the new European Constitution, plunging the country into political upheaval and the European Union into the deepest crisis in its 50-year history.