Business

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook’s ambitious plan to create a financial eco-system based on a digital currency faces questions from lawmakers, as it’s shadowed by negative comments from President Donald Trump, his treasury secretary and the head of the Federal Reserve.

Congress begins two days of hearings Tuesday on the currency planned by Facebook, to be called Libra, starting with the Senate Banking Committee. Meanwhile, a House Judiciary subcommittee will extend its bipartisan investigation of the market power of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple.

15 July 2019; AFP: Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, which is subject to US sanctions over concerns about its ties to the government in Beijing, is planning to make major job cuts at its US operations, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The layoffs are expected at Huawei's US-based research and development arm, Futurewei Technologies, the paper reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation.

15 July 2019; MEMO: Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani said his country’s foreign debt has fallen by 25 per cent to $9.5 billion down from $12.4 billion reported more than two years earlier.

Iran’s Fars news agency quoted Rouhani during a public event in the northeastern city of Shirvan, sayint that the 25 per cent drop in foreign debt “indicates that, despite US pressure, we did not ask for outside help, we depended on ourselves, reduced expenses and paid back part of the debt”.

15 July 2019; MEMO: Saudi Aramco announced, Saturday, that domestic gasoline prices will increase on Sunday, July 14.

The company said in a statement that the price for Octane 95 gasoline will be increased to SR2.18 from SR 2.10 last quarter and Octane 91 to SR1.53 from SR1.44 per litre.

Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, explained its decision citing plans to reform energy prices sold in the domestic market.

15 July 2019; DW: Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has urged the Greek Cypriot government to accept a cooperation plan on drilling. The discovery of gas in the eastern Mediterranean has complicated attempts to reunify the divided island.

Turkey is determined to continue drilling for gas in waters off Cyprus despite opposition from the Greek Cypriot government and the European Union, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.

Washington, Jul 14 (AFP) Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, which is subject to US sanctions over concerns about its ties to the government in Beijing, is planning to make major job cuts at its US operations, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The layoffs are expected at Huawei's US-based research and development arm, Futurewei Technologies, the paper reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation.

Lahore, Jul 14 (PTI) Pakistan and India agreed "80 per cent and beyond" on the draft agreement and operationalisation of the landmark Kartarpur corridor, a senior Pakistani official said Sunday after a marathon meeting between the officials of the two countries in Wagah.

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed Monday in Asia, led by gains in Chinese markets after the government reported that the economy grew at the slowest pace in a decade in the last quarter.

Analysts said the 6.2% annual rate of growth reported for April-June suggests the trade war between the U.S. and China is hammering industries.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s economic growth slowed to its lowest level in a decade in the quarter ending in June, adding to pressure on Chinese leaders as they fight a tariff war with Washington.

The world’s second-largest economy grew 6.2% over a year ago, down from the previous quarter’s 6.4%, government data showed Monday. That was the weakest growth since the first quarter of 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Islamabad, Jul 13 (PTI) Pakistan and Afghanistan have resumed the transit treaty negotiations, which collapsed in 2015 after Kabul insisted on including India in the talks, according to a media report.

Pakistan's exports to Afghanistan, which was at its peak at USD 2.4 billion in 2010-11, continued to fall and reached USD 1.3 billion in 2018-19 after the talks between the two sides broke down.