Thailand referendum gets under way as military seeks to cement power
Yes vote on new constitution backed by junta would hand control of senate to commanders, granting them a veto on decisions by elected lawmakers
Thailand votes on Sunday in a referendum on a new junta-backed constitution that would pave the way for a general election in 2017 but require future governments to rule on the military’s terms.
The referendum is the first major popularity test for the junta led by Prayuth Chan-ocha, who as prime minister has suppressed political activity during the two years since he seized power in a coup in 2014.
Polls suggest a small lead in favour of accepting the new constitution but most voters remain undecided. There are 50 million eligible voters and the Election Commission is targeting a turnout of 80%. Preliminary results are expected in the evening.
Iran 'executes’ nuclear scientist who claimed he was abducted by the CIA
Shahram Amiri claimed he escaped US captors and received hero's welcome in Iran prior to arrest
An Iranian nuclear scientist who returned to Iran from the US in 2010 after claiming he had been abducted by the CIA has been executed, his family has claimed.
Shahram Amiri’s body was returned to his family five years after he was purportedly arrested in Iran for treason.
Mr Amiri initially went missing in 2009 while on a pilgrimage to Mecca. A year later, videos apparently made in the US surfaced, in which Mr Amiri claimed he had been kidnapped and held in a house where he was put under “intense psychological pressure to reveal sensitive information”.
How Indian citizens saved a polluted lake
OBSERVERS
The lake located near the Akshaya Nagar neighbourhood in Bangalore, India, had a severe pollution problem and the local population was suffering from its effects. Then, one man decided to take things into his own hands.
Polluted lakes are a major problem in India. Another nearby lake, Bellandur lake, was so full of sewage and toxic waste of all different sorts that its water was coated with a thick foam. Last November, the situation got even worse when the lake overflowed and a thick white toxic foam flooded entire streets.
Then, last March, thousands of fish died after sewage water was dumped in Ulsoor lake, which is also near Bangalore.
Our Observer, Ramesh, was terrified of a similar environmental disaster happening in his own neighbourhood, Akshaya Nagar, so he enlisted the help of a group of motivated young people to try to save their local lake.
Archbishop uses pulpits to slam Duterte's Philippines crime crackdown
Lindsay Murdoch
Bangkok: The Catholic Church has warned the Philippines is becoming a nation of murderers as President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the hunting down of 158 officials he alleges are involved in the drugs trade, including judges, police, soldiers and politicians.
"In our dream to wipe out drug addiction, are we not becoming a killing fields nation?" Archbishop Socrates Villegas said on Sunday in the church's strongest condemnation yet of Mr Duterte's anti-crime campaign.
"The humanity in me cries each time I see a parent and child grieve over loved ones killed on the sidewalk or thrown in grassy areas, hogtied or masked with tape," the archbishop said in a statement read in churches across the predominantly Catholic nation.Japan: Company builds exoskeleton to help elderly staff
A Japanese hauling company has built an exoskeleton to take the strain off its elderly employees.
Sohail Rahman
Nara, Japan - A Japanese hauling company which employs many elderly people has invested in an exoskeleton to take the strain off its staff.
Tatsumi Shokai Logistics - which employs more than 700 people in total across its sites - has been building the robot since 2014.
The exoskeleton helps employees to carry out their jobs, which include constantly loading, unloading, carrying and bending.
"The burden on my back and legs has been lessened by half," Kenji Takemura, an employee at the company for more than 34 years, told Al Jazeera.Why did the US provide more than 1,000 spies to Rio Olympics?
The US provided more than 1,000 intelligence operatives and analysts to assist in security for the 2016 Olympic games. About 350 are working in Rio, the rest are working remotely.
The United States sent more than 1,000 analysts, law enforcement and special operations personnel from all 17 American intelligence agencies to provide additional security for the 2016 Olympics in the form of human intelligence, spy satellites, electronic eavesdropping, and social media monitoring.
Although security is most prominently a combined effort between the US and Brazil, there are 51 other countries supplying intelligence to the counter-terrorism effort. The majority of American intelligence agents are working remotely, while about 350 are actually on the ground in Rio.
"U.S. intelligence cooperation with Brazil has been excellent since 9/11," a senior intelligence official told NBC News. "We consider the Brazilians to be well-prepared and highly professional."
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