Bangkok / AFP Thailand began voting on a junta-crafted constitution on Sunday in a referendum where open debate has been banned, as opponents warned the document will perpetuate military power and deepen divisions. The poll offers Thais their first chance to vote since generals toppled the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014. The kingdom is split after a ...

  Montreal / AFP Organizers of the World Social Forum set for next week in Montreal said that Canadian authorities have denied travel visas to more than 200 delegates invited to the anti-globalization event. Others are still waiting for a word from Canada’s immigration ministry, which issues travel documents. The summit is set to open on Tuesday. Currently “234 guests ...

  Istanbul / AFP Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Istanbul on Sunday for a pro-democracy rally organised by the ruling party, bringing to an end three weeks of demonstrations in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after last month’s failed coup. Followers of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) have taken to the streets every night since the ...

  AGENCIES Revenue from Egypt’s Suez Canal reached $3.183 billion in the period between January 1 and August 6, up 4 percent from $3.059 billion in the same period last year, the Suez Canal Authority Chairman said. Mohab Mameesh, who was speaking at a one-year anniversary celebration of the opening of an expansion to the canal, said the canal’s revenues ...

  AP The oil industry has left a big footprint along the Gulf Coast, where a Delaware-sized stretch of Louisiana has disappeared. But few politicians would blame Big Oil for ecosystem abuse in a state where the industry employs up to 300,000 people and injects $73 billion into the economy. Following the lead of Gov. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana political ...

  AP More than 1,000 Navajos who live without electricity in their homes soon could get power for the first time as the tribal utility buys a system of rural Utah substations and electrical lines under the terms of a decades-old deal with a power company. Across the 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation, an estimated 15,000 people live off the grid ...

  Reuters Singapore’s long hangover from a near-record fuel oil trading binge in March is ending as tonnage traded that month and held offshore moves into landed tanks, signalling a tighter market in the world’s biggest trading hub for the shipping fuel. The excess floating storage taken up in March is now virtually empty. With fuel oil supplies coming into ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. acquired artificial intelligence startup Turi Inc. for about $200 million, according to people familiar with the situation, in the latest deal by the iPhone maker to accumulate advanced computing capabilities for its products and services. Turi helps developers create and manage software and services that use a form of AI called machine learning. It also has ...

  London / Bloomberg Britons living close to fracking wells could be paid some of the proceeds under proposals being considered by the UK government. Prime Minister Theresa May has added an option to proposals to be consulted on this week that money from the fund set up to compensate areas hosting shale gas extraction sites be paid directly to ...

  California / Bloomberg The chief executive officer of the Nordic region’s biggest road transport company predicts the trucks he relies on can start operating without drivers within the next 5-10 years. Jens Bjoern Andersen, who drives a Tesla to work every day, giving him a first-hand view of how the technology is advancing, says the know how is already ...