Bloomberg Airbus SE expects African operators to buy about 990 new planes over the next two decades to meet increasing demand for passenger and freight services on the continent. While making up only 3 percent of overall global demand, the planes will more than double the number of such aircraft on the continent, according to Airbus’ vice president for …

  Bloomberg J.C. Penney Co. plans to shutter as many as 140 stores and trim thousands of jobs, becoming the latest department-store chain to make big moves in a world of lower mall traffic and fierce online competition. The closings represent as much as 14 percent of the company’s store base and less than 5 percent of total sales, J.C. …

  Bloomberg After years of Amazon.com Inc. drubbing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in e-commerce, the brick-and-mortar chain is beginning to push back. Wal-Mart posted its third straight quarter of double-digit online growth, which helped its holiday results top estimates. The world’s largest retailer is benefiting from last year’s acquisition of Jet.com, a $3.3 billion deal that reinvigorated a flagging e-commerce business …