Suicide bombing kills at least 19 in Kabul

KABUL • A suicide bomber attacked Afghanistan's Supreme Court just as staff were leaving work yesterday, killing at least 19 people and injuring 41 in the second attack on government institutions in under a month.

The bomber, who was on foot, detonated the device in the carpark as employees were boarding a bus to go home, interior ministry spokesman Najibullah Danish said. Women and children were among the wounded, according to a Health Ministry spokesman.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Ex-Tata chairman ousted from board

MUMBAI • Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was ousted from the board, bringing a formal end to the corporate side of a governance battle within India's largest conglomerate.

A group of charitable trusts that are the largest shareholders of Tata Sons called an AGM on Monday to oust Mr Mistry from the board, where he remained after being axed as chairman of the group.

The trusts own about 66 per cent of the shares.

BLOOMBERG

Thai king names new Buddhist leader

BANGKOK • Thailand's king has appointed a new Buddhist supreme patriarch, the prime minister said yesterday, ending more than a year of tussling over the position that had been fuelled by politics and allegations of corruption.

Mr Somdet Phra Maha Muniwong, 89, the abbot of Wat Rajabopit, will be the head of more than 300,000 monks in the country, where 95 per cent of people are Buddhist.

REUTERS

Japanese Christian samurai beatified

TOKYO • A Japanese Christian samurai who died in exile about 400 years ago after refusing to renounce his faith was beatified by the Catholic Church in an elaborate mass yesterday.

About 12,000 people attended the ceremony for Takayama Ukon in Osaka which was conducted by Cardinal Angelo Amato, representing Pope Francis.

Takayama, born in 1552, was a renowned feudal warlord who protected Christians at a time when the authorities attempted to stamp out all vestiges of the religion. He died in Manila in 1615.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE