Saudi Arabia – A senior aide to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has dropped further hints that the country is planning to turn its Gulf rival Qatar into an island by digging a canal that will cut the peninsula off from the mainland.

Japan – Japanese manufacturers have been introducing new, clear drinks that taste like unhealthy drinks consumers love, perhaps prefiguring a growing trend in America.

RIO DE JANEIRO  – A massive fire raced through Brazil’s 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, probably destroying its collection of more than 20 million items, ranging from archeological finds to historical memorabilia.

Interest in salary transparency isn’t new, but the motivation for it is evolving.

• A new sedan and limousine modeled after the state-vehicles used by Russian President Vladimir Putin were unveiled at the Moscow Auto Show Wednesday.
• The Aurus Senat is a luxury line of armored sedans and limousines developed in conjunction with a Russia state-sponsored research institute agency.
• The Aurus Senat sedan and the Aurus Senat limousine show striking similarities to the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard, Chrysler 300, and Rolls-Royce Phantom.

ExxonMobil found oil off Guyana’s coast in 2015, and believes the reserves are big. Conservative estimates project to about 4 billion barrels. Some experts think there’s more to be found in the country’s 6.6 million-acre Starbroek Block.

India’s economy is racing ahead, shrugging off global trade tensions and a sharp fall in its currency.

In an unexpectedly early announcement, the European Commission has decided to end EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on solar PV cells and modules from China at midnight on September 3.

California’s biggest boondoggle just broke the bank.

London’s new train line announced Friday it was delaying launching services through the city centre from December until late 2019, in a blow for Europe’s biggest infrastructure project.