­­­­­­­­­­­Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc., racing to fend off Amazon.com Inc. and a fresh attack from European grocery discounters, gave a lukewarm earnings forecast for the third quarter, a sign that heavy spending aimed at maintaining its edge is taking a toll. The shares slid recently after the retail giant said that profit will be 90 cents to 98 cents a ...

Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc.’s co-founder Travis Kalanick fired back at investor Benchmark, saying its lawsuit seeking to oust him from the ride-hailing company’s board is based on “a fabrication” and accused the firm of threats and intimidation. Upping the ante on his fight with the venture capital firm, which holds a 13 percent stake in Uber, Kalanick said that Benchmark ...

­­­­­­­­­­­Bloomberg The UK is preparing to give further details of its approach to Brexit next week when it lays out positions in at least three different areas that it wants to negotiate with the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government will publish two papers on Monday with more expected in the following days, as Britain and the EU gear ...

Bloomberg Medopad Ltd., backed by pharmaceuticals giant Bayer AG, is looking to raise new funds, joining the clutch of fast growing UK startups that are mixing artificial intelligence and health care. A London-based mobile platform for health-care companies, insurers, doctors and patients, Medopad is working with UBS Group AG to raise up to $30 million from private investors, according to ...

Bloomberg McDonald’s Corp. workers at two restaurants in England have voted in favour of a strike, in what would be the first industrial action by staff of the American fast-food chain in the UK. Employees at one site in Crayford, near London, and a second in Cambridgeshire were balloted following a dispute over the use of zero-hour contracts and the ...

SINGAPORE / Reuters Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) on Asian routes will remain under pressure for at least the next month, facing strong headwinds from a glut of tonnage, brokers said. “There are around 80 to 90 ships available for charter in the first 10 days in September – that’s about three ships for every cargo,” a ...

Bloomberg Libya’s getting better at resolving stoppages in its oil industry, underpinning a growing perception that the OPEC member is closer to becoming a stable producer again. That’s because of the duration of the incidents. While in prior years protests could shutter fields for months and years, now the stoppages are being resolved within days and barely hindering flows. Sharara, ...

Bloomberg The market for physical barrels of crude from places as far apart as Oman and Colombia is strengthening beyond the traditional seasonal peak in demand, a positive indicator for global benchmark futures prices that remain stuck near $50. Physical differentials — the price gap between individual grades of crude and widely traded markers like Brent or West Texas Intermediate ...

UNITED NATIONS / Reuters Saudi Arabia said it was installing four cranes at three ports in Yemen to help boost humanitarian aid deliveries and was ready to assist with installing cranes at the key port of Hodeidah once it was under control of a neutral party. The Saudi mission to the United Nations said in a statement that the cranes ...

CAIRO / Reuters GB Auto, the Egyptian automotive assembler and manufacturer, expects demand for cars to pick up by the end of 2017 as dealers run down inventories, the company’s CEO said. Consumer demand in Egypt took a hit in November last year, when the central bank floated the pound currency to secure a three-year $12 billion International Monetary Fund ...