Bloomberg Rocket Lab USA Inc. launched its first rocket to space from the Virginia coast. At 6 pm local time, an Electron rocket took off from the company’s new launchpad, located on Wallops Island, Virginia, carrying a trio of small satellites to orbit. Rocket Lab, based in Long Beach, California, is mainly focused on launching small satellites. It has conducted ...

  Bloomberg Airbus SE is seeking outside investment for its high altitude solar-powered drone program called Zephyr in order to accelerate the commercialisation of the technology. The planemaker has hired Morgan Stanley to lead to the process of finding investors, a spokesman said in an email. Airbus will continue to own a stake in the unit, which will be renamed ...

Bloomberg 3M Co. said it plans to cut about 2,500 manufacturing jobs, citing persistent economic hurdles, and forecast profit for this year that fell short of Wall Street estimates. The stock tumbled. “We expect macroeconomic challenges to persist in 2023,” Chief Executive Officer Mike Roman said. The planned job cuts are “a necessary decision to align with adjusted production volumes,” ...

  Bloomberg UK factories’ fuel and raw material costs are rising at their slowest pace in almost a year, further evidence that pipeline inflationary pressures are easing. Input prices rose 16.5% in December from a year ago, down from a peak of 24.6% in June, Office for National Statistics figures published Wednesday show. That was the slowest pace since February ...

Bloomberg The US Justice Department and eight states sued Alphabet Inc.’s Google, calling for the break up of the search giant’s ad-technology business over alleged illegal monopolization of the digital advertising market. “The lawsuit we have filed today seeks to hold Google to account for what we allege are its longstanding monopolies in digital advertising technologies that content creators use ...

  Bloomberg Rupert Murdoch said he was abandoning plans to explore a merger of Fox Corp. and News Corp., two media companies he controls, after investors pushed back on the deal. Fox said Tuesday that it had received a letter from Murdoch saying that he and his son Lachlan, the chief executive officer of Fox, had determined a combination was ...

  Bloomberg Italy is bracing for two days of disruptions after gas station operators across the country started a strike late Tuesday to protest against a new policy introduced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government. A last-ditch attempt by the government to convince unions to call off the strike failed. But some of the groups organizing the protest decided to ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. shares declined after the company warned that revenue growth in its cloud-computing business will decelerate in the coming months and corporate software sales will slow, fueling concern about demand for the products that have driven its momentum in recent years. Shares fell as much as 2.7% to $235.51 in pre-market trading. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said ...

Bloomberg Germany pledged to supply Ukraine with more than 100 Leopard 2 battle tanks in a joint effort with allies, providing Kyiv’s forces with a significant upgrade in firepower and earning effusive praise from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. In a first step, Germany will make a company of 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks available from stocks held by its armed forces, ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he would consider an invitation extended by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to visit Ukraine, as Japan’s ruling party No. 2 publicly urged the premier to go ahead with the trip. Kishida told lawmakers Wednesday a decision would be based on the circumstances. Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi told parliament it would be desirable ...