BEST BUY CUTS TIES WITH CHINESE FIRM
Best Buy Co., the large consumer electronics retailer, plans to sever ties with Huawei amid U.S. government criticism of the Chinese phonemaker, according to people familiar with the matter.
The U.S. retail giant will stop selling all Huawei phones, laptops and smartwatches in the coming weeks, they said. In addition, Best Buy won’t sell phones under the Honor brand, a Huawei subsidiary that was supposed to help the Chinese phone maker sell in lower-cost smartphone markets globally, including in the U.S.
House panel wants Zuckerberg to testify.
WASHINGTON»
The leaders of a key House committee say Facebook officials failed to answers questions about a privacy scandal involving a Donald Trump-connected data-mining company, and they want CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before the panel. Reps. Greg Walden of Oregon and Frank Pallone of New Jersey say the “latest revelations regarding Facebook’s use and security of user data raise many serious consumer protection concerns.”
Record 965 million passengers flew in U.S. in 2017.
A record 965 million airline passengers flew in the United States last year, a 3.4 percent increase over 2016. Figures from the Transportation Department show that air travel has been rising since the Great Recession that ended in 2009. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport had the most passengers. Southwest Airlines carried the most passengers.
City of Atlanta hacked.
ATLANTA» Officials say the city of Atlanta’s computer network has been the victim of a ransomware cyberattack. Chief Operating Officer Richard Cox told reporters that city officials learned there was an outage affecting various internal and customer-facing applications at 5:40 a.m. Thursday.
Court loss for Trump company.
NEW YORK
» A judge in New York has given the owners of a formerly Trump-branded hotel in Panama a victory over the U.S. president’s company. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos has blocked Trump International Hotels Management LLC from pursuing a conspiracy claim against the majority owner of the Bahia Grand Panama, a 70story luxury high-rise that was once run by Trump. After a bitter dispute, the hotel’s owners evicted Trump’s management team and stripped his name from the hotel.
Nike posts loss.
YORK» Nike reported a loss in its third quarter due to a $2 billion tax expense related to recent changes in the U.S. tax law. But its results beat expectations and its shares jumped in after-hours trading.
The company also said Thursday that it saw higher demand for its swooshbranded sneakers and apparel in China. Demand was also strong in other parts of Asia, as well as Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
College gets $ 5 million Koch Foundation gift.
George Mason University in Virginia will use a $5 million gift to its Department of Economics from the Charles Koch Foundation to create three faculty positions, the school announced Thursday.