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 …