Bloomberg Daimler AG said its financial targets have become harder to achieve after a tough start to the year, forcing the auto manufacturer to step up efforts to drive down costs. The Mercedes-Benz maker’s first-quarter profit slumped 16 percent after a decline in deliveries combined with the rising cost of developing new models. While earnings met analyst estimates, Chief Executive ...

Bloomberg Advertising giant WPP Plc reported a fall in first-quarter sales after its agencies in North America lost work with top clients, in another reminder of the challenge facing Chief Executive Officer Mark Read. Revenue less pass-through costs, WPP’s measure of organic sales growth, fell 2.8 percent, the London-based company said in a statement, in line with the average estimate ...

Bloomberg Oracle Corp. will continue to fight the terms of the Pentagon’s $10 billion winner-take-all cloud computing contract after being kicked out of the bidding process this month, according to the company’s chief lobbyist. Oracle Executive Vice President Kenneth Glueck, who leads the company’s Washington policy shop, said in an interview with Bloomberg News that the company will continue to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump revved up his campaign pitch to voters in key Rust Belt states by touting the US economy, saying he’s working to stop jobs from moving to neighbouring countries, and mocking his Democratic opponents. “We’re now the No. 1 economy anywhere in the world and it’s not even close,” Trump said at a rally in Green Bay, ...

Bloomberg Theresa May is still pursuing a Brexit deal that would get the UK out of the European Union before elections next month. With negotiations with the opposition Labour Party set to continue next week, there’s still time for parliament to settle on a deal before the May 23 vote, Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis said in an interview with ...

Bloomberg Spanish voters deliver their verdict on Sunday on whether Socialist PM Pedro Sanchez should form a new government after the collapse of his administration less than a year after he took power. Turnout by Sunday afternoon was higher than in the 2016 general election, with 41 percent of the 37 million eligible voters casting ballots for the 350 seats ...

Bloomberg PM Scott Morrison’s government pledged to freeze Australia’s refugee intake for the next three years as it thrust immigration to the heart of its campaign for re-election. The number of asylum-seeker visas granted each year will be kept at 18,750 for the next term of government if the Liberal-National coalition retains office on May 18, Minister for Cities Alan ...

Bloomberg One of Joko Widodo’s top political opponents said he’s open to working with the Indonesia president following a disputed election this month, raising hopes for a peaceful outcome. Prabowo has refused to accept unofficial quick counts that show Widodo, known as Jokowi, has won a second term in office. Election authorities have until May 22 to release official results. ...

Bloomberg Fugitive Lam Wing-kee has been protected by rules dating back to the time of the former British colony’s handover to China that prevent extradition of Hong Kong citizens to the mainland. Now, that protection could be lifted by a proposed amendment to the law, and Lam is not the only one who is worried. “The impact would be huge” ...

Joe Biden’s limitations as a presidential candidate are so obvious that they’re almost a litany: He’s too old, too white, too male, too touchy-feely, too loquacious. But he has one huge plus: He may be the person who could move Donald Trump out of the White House. Biden rightly put the obligation of replacing Trump at the center of his ...