Business

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan; 13 Jan 2019; AA: Saudi Minister for Petroleum and Energy Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz confirmed that his country will establish an oil refinery in Pakistan's southwestern strategic port city of Gwadar at a cost of $10 billion, local media reported on Sunday.

The agreement is likely to be signed during a proposed visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to Pakistan in February, daily Dawn reported.

BERLIN (AP) — A German labor union has expanded a planned strike by security staff at Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday to include several other airports, including Hamburg.

News agency dpa reported that the ver.di union on Sunday announced the one-day walkout at Hamburg, two days after calling the strike at Frankfurt, Germany’s busiest hub.

Walkouts are also expected Tuesday at the smaller Hannover, Bremen, Leipzig-Halle, Dresden and Erfurt airports.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline has dropped 12 cents a gallon (3.8 liters) over the past three weeks to $2.31.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey says Sunday that falling crude oil costs are the main reason for the decrease at the pump.

The average gas price has dropped 66 cents over the past 3 ½ months.

The highest average price in the nation is $3.46 a gallon in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The lowest average is $1.80 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

13 Jan 2019; AFP: French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday spelled out the questions underpinning his "great national debate", a public consultation aiming to quell "yellow vest" anger after nearly two months of sometimes violent protests.

Macron made his appeal in a "letter to the French" released on Sunday, following the ninth consecutive Saturday of nationwide "yellow vest" rallies which saw an uptick in turnout.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. space technology firm SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, will lay off about 10 percent of its more than 6,000 employees, according to media reports.

The cuts were cited in an email sent to employees.

In a statement, a company spokesman confirmed the layoff without specifying how many employees will be released.

"To continue delivering for our customers and to succeed in developing interplanetary spacecraft and a global space-based Internet, SpaceX must become a leaner company," said the statement of the company.

LONDON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday that a failure to support her Brexit deal will be catastrophic for Britain.

In a strongly worded plea to politicians, May described the vote due to be taken in the House of Commons on Tuesday as the biggest and most important decision MPs will be taking in a generation.

Writing in the Sunday Express newspaper, May told the people of Britain: "You have delivered your instructions. Now it is our turn to deliver for you. We cannot, and must not, let you down."

Beijing, Jan 13 (PTI) India plans to achieve electric mobility by 2030 and welcomes Chinese industries participation and investment in the expansion of Indian Electric Vehicles (EV) Market, NITI Aayog Principal Advisor Anil Srivatsava has said.

Srivastava, who led an industry delegation from India and addressed summit forum 'Global Zero Emission and All Electric Vehicle' held from January 11-13, met Chen Qingtai, President of China EV100, and invited China's participation in India's ambitious plans to go for full electric mobility.

13 Jan 2019; AFP: Europe is giving US-led calls for a boycott of Huawei 5G telecoms equipment a mixed reception, with some governments untroubled by spy suspicions against the Chinese giant, but others backing a ban.

In the latest setback for Huawei, Poland said Friday it had arrested a Chinese telecoms executive suspected of spying for China, with local media identifying him as a Huawei director.

PARIS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- After showing signs of fatigue during the holidays, "yellow vest" social movement drew more people on Saturday in the ninth consecutive weekend protests, as the government is seeking public consultations in a bid to end the unrest.

Citing police sources, BFMTV news channel said 32,000 protesters took to the streets by 1300 GMT across France. The turnout was up from a week ago when 26,000 people demonstrated.

Ukrain had signed an agreement on the purchase of 12 Turkish Bayraktar Tactical Block 2 (TB2) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) for the Ukrainian army.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on facebook, "As we previously agreed with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we signed an agreement on purchasing Turkish armed drones Bayraktar TB2s for the Ukrainian army,"