In the World

INDONESIA

Court to rule on forced land sale

Indonesia's top court will rule whether the state can forcibly purchase land from farmers refusing to make way for a power plant, a test of President Joko Widodo's efforts to get stalled infrastructure projects moving.

Construction of the $4 billion Batang coal-fired station on Java island was supposed to begin in 2012 but has been held up by villagers unwilling to sell their land.

Delays on the plant have undermined Widodo's image, after he was elected last year promising to overhaul Indonesia's power supply and transport network to help revitalize economic growth. The government announced in June it will apply a never before-used law that allows for compulsory land purchases for projects in the public interest, and villagers backed by Greenpeace are challenging that in the Supreme Court. - Bloomberg

BURKINA FASO

Ballot count begins

Burkina Faso voted Sunday in the first election since mass protests last year forced Blaise Compaore to step down as president after ruling Africa's fourth-biggest gold producer for almost three decades. Officials began counting the ballots Sunday night; results could be announced in a few days.

The elections will mark the first democratic handover of power in the history of Burkina Faso. - Bloomberg

CANADA

'Engaged' against IS

Canada will remain "fully engaged" in combating Islamic State even without carrying out airstrikes, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday. The recently elected Trudeau, in Paris, didn't say when Canada would cease air operations against the Islamist group, which was one of his campaign promises.

- Bloomberg