Daimler to pay $1.5 billion to settle U.S. diesel cases

Daimlerhas reached an agreement to settle U.S. proceedings relating to investigations into software to cheat diesel emissions tests that will result in costs of about $1.5 billion (1.2 billion pounds), the German carmaker said on Thursday.The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars said it expects an impact on its free cash flow over the next three years as a result, with the main impact within the next 12 months.German carmakers, among the global leaders in diesel technology, have been caught in the crossh