News

  Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, known as the “father of the Prius” for his work on the world’s best-selling hybrid car, said fuel-cell vehicles will take longer than gasoline-electric autos to become popular because of the need to build infrastructure. “The hybrid sold much faster than we had anticipated,” Uchiyamada, 70, told Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua at ...

  Bloomberg Smallpox, syphilis, plague, cholera – some of the planet’s most notorious scourges dramatically expanded their reach thanks to unsuspecting travelers. With a record 3.77 billion air passengers worldwide last year, new disease-causing microbes have never traversed the planet faster. The recent case in Reno, Nevada of a woman who died from a rare bacterial infection is a tragic ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May will plow 170 million pounds ($210 million) into setting up new technology institutes, placing scientific education at the heart of her drive to boost Britain’s productivity through a new industrial strategy unparalleled since the 1980s. The institutes will specialize in teaching science, technology, engineering and math, providing high-school graduates with the skills demanded by ...

  Bloomberg Twitter Inc. is showing other Silicon Valley firms it’s possible to set public goals for a more diverse workforce and actually meet them, especially if those goals are modest. In December, 30 percent of the people in Twitter’s leadership positions—defined as those director-level and above—were women, the San Francisco-based company said. That compares with 22 percent in 2015—and ...

  Bloomberg Revlon Inc., the beauty giant that bought Elizabeth Arden Inc. last year, aims to reach $5 billion in sales within five years by reinvigorating brands and stepping up marketing. Chief Executive Officer Fabian Garcia, speaking to employees in a video memo, said Revlon would become a top 10 global beauty brand by hitting that target. Including Elizabeth Arden, ...

  Bloomberg French billionaire Vincent Bollore’s push into electric vehicles has been a huge success, at least in terms of publicity and eye-catching contracts. For investors, it hasn’t worked out so well. Shares of his battery company, Blue Solutions SA, have plunged by more than two thirds since peaking 2 1/2 years ago, wiping out 775 million euros ($823.5 million) ...

  Bloomberg American International Group Inc. agreed to pay $9.8 billion to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to take on long-term risks from commercial policies written in prior years. The reinsurance deal transfers liabilities on certain US policies from 2015 and earlier, representing reserves of about $34 billion as of Jan. 1, 2016, New York-based AIG said in a statement. ...

  Bloomberg French lensmaker Essilor International SA agreed to buy Luxottica Group SpA, the maker of Ray-Ban sunglasses, for about 22.8 billion euros ($24 billion) in stock, combining the largest manufacturer and retailer in eyewear. Leonardo Del Vecchio, who created Luxottica in 1961 and controls 62 percent of its stock, will be executive chairman and chief executive officer of the ...

  SARASOTA / AP Goodbye to death-defying feats — daring young men (and women) on the flying trapeze, whip-wielding lion tamers, human cannonballs. Goodbye to the scent of peanuts and popcorn, the thrill of three rings, the jaunty bum-bum-dadadada of circus music. Send out the clowns. The Big Top is coming down — for good. Officials of the company that ...

  Bloomberg Hitachi Ltd. said Britain’s vote to quit the European Union may become more of a concern when the Japanese conglomerate’s train factory in northern England becomes more reliant on exports after 2019. For the next few years the Newton Aycliffe plant will be busy making the vehicles it was set up to build when Hitachi won Britain’s biggest ...