FAYETTEVILLE, Ark / AP Wal-Mart’s CEO urged employees to reimagine its future in a fast-shifting retail landscape. The company is at a crossroads, as its long-held dominance in pricing and convenience has been chipped away at by Amazon and dollar stores. But it’s fighting back on multiple fronts, growing more aggressive with prices and going after Amazon, both online ...

LONDON / Reuters Gucci is on course to top 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion) in revenue for the first time this year as the Italian luxury brand’s revival gathers speed under its new leadership duo. Sales of items designed by new creative director Alessandro Michele have accelerated since March as more have reached shelves, Chief Executive Officer Marco Bizzarri told ...

  Sofia / Bloomberg The Bulgarian government started a tender for a 35-year concession to operate Sofia Airport, the country’s biggest, demanding at least 660 million lev ($382 million) in initial payment. The concessionaire will be required to invest at least 307 million lev in the airport, which includes building a new terminal with an annual capacity of 3 million ...

  MENLO PARK / Tribune News Service With a microphone floating in zero gravity, three astronauts aboard the International Space Station chatted with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg via live video about life in space. The social media company has been ramping up its efforts in live video this year, taking on Twitter-owned Periscope. The recent event was the first time ...

  Reuters Gulf Arab investors, some of the biggest buyers of British real estate, are holding back from new deals because they fear a property price slump if Britain leaves the European Union, according to legal and investment sources. Sovereign and private investors from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have been prolific buyers of British assets ...

    Bloomberg Europe is rife with castles for sale—ancient dwellings with moats and gothic arches, stone walls, and magnificent gardens, decorated with elaborate wooden built-ins and a couple of armor suits flanking enormous fireplaces. Legit castles. Without a history to warrant such abodes, the United States has mostly had to make due with tacky, castle-themed McMansions. Still, there are ...

  WARSAW / AP Poland’s prime minister announced a new program to provide cheap housing for families on low income, the second project the conservative government has launched to support large households. Beata Szydlo said the “Home Plus” program, which still needs to be adopted by the government and parliament, will be largely financed from a National Housing Program that ...

  Bloomberg Toronto home sales shot to a record in May and prices surged amid fierce competition for single-family homes. There were 12,870 homes sold in May, 11 percent higher than last year, according to the real estate board in Canada’s biggest city. With listings falling 6.4 percent from last year, average prices rose 16 percent to C$751,908 ($581,207). Detached ...

  Bloomberg MCAP Corp., a Canadian mortgage finance company, will seek to raise about C$275 million ($212 million) through an initial public offering as soon as next month, according to people with knowledge of the company’s plans. The Toronto-based business, which has about C$55 billion of mortgages under administration, filed a preliminary prospectus with Canadian regulators last month for an ...

  Bloomberg China’s central bank will further adjust how it assesses the amount of deposits banks must set aside with it as reserves to help ease swings in cash markets. From July 15, the People’s Bank of China will check banks’ average deposit value during a certain period, instead of at the end of a period, it said in a ...