WASHINGTON \ AP Consumer spending and home construction are helping sustain modest U.S. economic growth despite problems caused by a strong dollar, low oil prices and an excess of business stockpiles. The economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the October-December period, the government said. That was better than the 1 ...

MUSCAT \ Reuters Oman will encourage households to generate electricity with solar panels and feed it into the national grid, Qais al-Zakwani, executive director of the Authority for Electricity Regulation, said on Monday. The policy could put Oman in the forefront of Middle East nations promoting widespread use of solar power. Its finances severely damaged by low oil prices, the ...

Seoul / AFP A South Korean constructor that jointly won a $20 billion housing deal with Saudi Arabia said on Monday it was confident the project would go ahead despite the impact of slumping oil prices on the Gulf nation’s coffers. Under the deal, for which a memorandum of understanding was signed in Seoul last week, a three-party consortium will ...