Bloomberg Global investors can’t get enough of Taiwan. Overseas funds poured $5.4 billion into the island’s equities last month, taking inflows for the year to $11.6 billion and making Taiwan the most popular destination for investors among nine Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg. That’s helped send both the benchmark stock gauge and the currency to one-year highs. Fueling gains ...

  AFP When Indian artist Dattadri Kothur saw the pollution caused by an annual Hindu tradition of immersing elaborately decorated idols of the elephant-headed god Ganesha in the sea, he decided to do something about it. The 30-year-old has come up with an environmentally friendly alternative that will make its debut during this year’s festival in the western city of ...

  Bloomberg Aluminum climbed as inventories tracked by exchanges in London and Shanghai declined, signaling tighter supplies. Most other industrial metals rose, while copper posted its biggest weekly loss in a month. Stockpiles of aluminum held in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses fell this week to the lowest since 2011 and those tracked by the London Metal Exchange had the biggest ...

  Bloomberg Kirin Holdings Co. snapped four days of losses after reporting first-half operating profit beat its own forecast by 25 percent. Operating profit rose 1.5 percent to 58.8 billion yen ($581 million) for the six months ended June from a year earlier on increased sales of soft drinks domestically and growth in its pharmaceuticals and bio-chemicals operations, the Tokyo-based ...

Beirut / AFP Syrian regime forces were on the defensive around Aleppo on Sunday after a rebel alliance said it inflicted a major setback by breaking a three-week government siege of the battered city. A coalition of rebels and fighters surged through regime territory on Saturday to open a new route into Aleppo’s besieged eastern neighbourhoods, home to an estimated ...

  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 ...