Bloomberg Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison made an impassioned pitch for his center-right government to be re-elected for a fourth term less than one week from a national election, with polls pointing to an opposition victory. The Liberal National Coalition government held its official campaign launch in Brisbane, Queensland, a state that is crucial for Morrison’s party for any ...

Bloomberg California Governor Gavin Newsom said that his state has a record $97.5 billion operating surplus, as high tax rates on its wealthiest residents mean he has more cash to fund liberal priorities such as education and health care. The surplus is bigger than the entire 2020 spending of any other state except New York and Texas. Of that windfall, ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) cut its prediction for 2022 euro-area growth and almost doubled its estimate for inflation, according to new draft projections. In the first forecast since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the European Commission says gross domestic product will expand 2.7% in 2022 and 2.3% in 2023, according to a draft seen by Bloomberg. That’s down ...

  Bloomberg Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, is considering a visit to Indonesia to explore investment opportunities in the resource-rich Southeast Asia country. The chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the rocket manufacturer’s site in Boca Chica, Texas, on Saturday, during which Widodo extended an invite. “Hopefully in November, thank ...

  Bloomberg Technology companies including ASML Holding NV and Adyen NV called on the Dutch government to maintain a tax break that seeks to attract expatriates to the Netherlands. Ingrid Thijssen, head of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, said the government for budget reasons is considering shrinking or scrapping a rule that exempts 30% of an expat’s salary ...

  Bloomberg Bill Gates sold about $940 million of Canadian National Railway Co. shares, trimming one of the largest holdings of the investment firm that controls his $117 billion personal fortune. Cascade Investment unloaded roughly 12% of its shares in the Montreal-based company from April 27 to May 12, leaving it with a stake of about 9% or $6.8 billion, ...

  Bloomberg Allianz SE says car-shipping incidents are now a major cause of loss for the insurance industry after a cargo ship with about 4,000 Volkswagen AG vehicles caught fire and sank in the Atlantic two months ago. Fires on board car carriers have become a loss driver over the past decade, according to a report published by Allianz Global ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc is testing future iPhone models that replace the current Lightning charging port with the more prevalent USB-C connector, according to people with knowledge of the situation, a move that could help the company conform with looming European regulations. In addition to testing models with a USB-C port in recent months, Apple is working on an adapter that ...

  Bloomberg Google is staking its vision for the future on what it’s calling “ambient computing,” according to Rick Osterloh, Google’s hardware chief. “Computers should be able to help you with whatever you need seamlessly, and be all around you,” Osterloh said in a Bloomberg Television interview. At its annual I/O conference, Alphabet Inc’s Google introduced a fleet of product ...

  Bloomberg Microsoft Corp has an initial $1.3 billion at stake in a test beginning later this month on whether its HaloLens augmented-reality goggles can be turned into an effective combat system for the US Army. The month-long test from May 23 to June 17 will be evaluated by the Pentagon’s testing office to determine whether the headset is ready ...