Mexico City / DPA Many people think of archaeologists as people who excavate dry earth at scorched sites, or dust off relics with small paintbrushes under piercing sunlight, perhaps donning hats in the style of Indiana Jones. This is not the case with Pilar Luna’s team. Their gear consists of air tanks, wetsuits, diving fins and dive tables for ...

  Frankfurt / DPA There was a time when postal services were about gathering heavy sacks full of letters, painstakingly sorting the mail manually and delivering letters on heavy-duty bicycles. Not any more – with everything from drones and self-driving cars coming up, postal services are rushing into a robotic future. In some nations, today’s sorting offices are dominated by ...

  Bloomberg US refiners exported record amounts of oil products last week, taking market share from struggling competitors in Mexico and the Caribbean. Almost 4 million barrels a day of gasoline, distillates like diesel and heating oil, and propane left the country as refiners in Texas and Louisiana processed the most crude in at least 24 years. Demand has grown ...

    MUSCAT/ Reuters Oman’s government released a 2017 budget plan on Sunday that projected a smaller deficit but included fresh austerity steps and tight curbs on spending because of low oil prices, which are hurting state revenues. Government spending this year is projected to total 11.7 billion rials ($30.4 billion) and revenues 8.7 billion rials, which would result in ...

  Reuters Turkmenistan stopped gas exports to Iran on Sunday in a long-running dispute over arrears, Iran’s state gas company said, days after Tehran said the issue had been temporarily resolved. “Türkmengaz suddenly and … in an illogical manner, contradictory to the agreement, halted gas deliveries to Iran this morning, demanding quick payment of the disputed amount,” the National Iranian ...

  Doha / Reuters Qatari construction firm Investment Holding Group (IHG) will launch an initial public offer of its shares next week in a boost for the country’s stock market, which has seen only two new listings since 2010. The contracting and trading business will offer 49.8 million shares, or 60 percent of its capital, at a price of 10.1 ...

  Bloomberg Libya was producing 685,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), up from around 600,000 a day last month, an official from the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said. Output has risen after a two-year blockade was lifted two weeks ago on major pipelines leading from the western fields of Sharara and El Feel. Production has been resuming gradually at ...

  Bloomberg Mexico is bracing for a series of protests as the opposition threatens a “peaceful revolution,” after the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto announced plans to raise gasoline prices by the most in two decades. Gasoline will soar as much as 20 percent in January as the nation moves away from subsidies that have burnt a hole in ...

  Bloomberg A polar blast that’s poised to sweep the US has turned natural gas into the year’s best performer among major commodities. Frigid weather will sweep the western two-thirds of the nation in the second week of January, stoking gas demand for heating, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC. The deep freeze comes as output from shale basins slows, ...

  Bloomberg Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s largest automakers, forecast sales to climb 4.7 percent this year as they count on new model introductions to counter intensifying competition amid global uncertainties. Hyundai and Kia are targeting to deliver a combined 8.25 million vehicles in 2017 from 7.88 million units a year earlier, according to regulatory filings. ...