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Business Highlights

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Questions linger over investigation into Jeff Bezos’ hacking

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Cybersecurity experts say there are many questions still unanswered from an investigation commissioned by Jeff Bezos that concluded the billionaire’s phone was likely hacked after receiving a video file with malicious spyware from the WhatsApp account of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince. Several cybersecurity experts say a closer look at the privately commissioned report did not reveal decisive evidence. For starters, the investigation does not say with certainty that his phone was hacked, much less how it was compromised or what kind of malware was used. A report on the investigation, which was managed by FTI Consulting, was made public Wednesday.

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U.S. stocks close mostly higher, led by tech, industrials

Stocks closed mostly higher Thursday as gains in technology and industrial companies offset declines elsewhere in the market. Investors continued to monitor developments in the international effort to keep a deadly new virus outbreak in China from spreading further and potentially hurting the global economy. Health care stocks, banks and insurers were among the biggest losers. The S&P 500 index inched up 0.1% to 3,325 after falling as much as 0.6% earlier in the day. The Nasdaq gained 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, weighed down by a steep drop in shares of Travelers Cos.

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Former Wells Fargo CEO fined $17.5M for sales scandal

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal regulators have slapped former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf with a $17.5 million fine for his role in the bank’s sales practices scandal. They’re also suing five other former Wells Fargo executives for a total of $37.5 million, for their individual roles in the bank’s practices. This is the first time regulators have punished individual executives for Wells Fargo’s wrongdoing. The bank has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and penalties for encouraging employees to open up millions of fake accounts in order to meet aggressive sales goals.

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First stage of extradition hearing for top Huawei exec ends

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A Canadian judge says she will announce her decision at a later date after she ended the first phase of an extradition hearing that will decide whether a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is sent to the United States. This week’s hearings dealt with the question of whether the U.S. charges against Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, are crimes in Canada as well. Her lawyers argued the case is really about U.S. sanctions against Iran. They maintain since Canada does not have similar sanctions against Iran, no fraud occurred. Canada arrested Huawei’s chief financial officer in December 2018.

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What we know, and don’t, about the alleged Bezos phone hack

BOSTON (AP) — U.N. human rights experts are asking Washington to investigate a suspected Saudi hack that may have siphoned data from the personal smartphone of Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post. But the forensic evidence they cite comes from an incomplete study of Bezos’s phone, raising multiple questions. As a result, the findings that tie the hack to a WhatsApp account used by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aren’t conclusive. That has many experts puzzled. The forensics report comes from FTI Consulting, where it was overseen by a former FBI agent and White House cybersecurity official. FTI declined comment.

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Key events leading to statement on Jeff Bezos phone hack

Experts at the United Nations said Wednesday that the phone of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was likely hacked through a file sent from an account used by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The experts called for an “immediate investigation” by the United States and alleged that the Saudis wanted to “influence” coverage of Saudi Arabia by The Washington Post. The U.N. report says Bezos and the Saudi prince exchanged numbers when they met in April 2018. About a month later, an encrypted video file was sent to Bezos’ iPhone from the Saudi prince’s WhatsApp account, according to U.N. experts. Within hours, there was a spike in data exiting Bezos’ phone.

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Grounded Boeing jet holds back profits, growth at airlines

DALLAS (AP) — It looks like the three big U.S. airlines that own Boeing 737 Max jets will have to go through another summer without the planes. That means Southwest, American and United will likely cancel thousands more flights during their busiest time of year. Still, the airlines are remaining very profitable thanks to strong demand for travel, which is pushing up average prices and leaving fewer empty seats on planes. American Airlines earned $414 million in the fourth quarter, and Southwest earned $514 million.

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Why that green fund you bought might include a coal miner

NEW YORK (AP) — Environmentally conscious investing received a lot of attention last week after the world’s largest asset manager said it plans to put climate change and sustainability at the centre of its investment approach. Green investing isn’t as simple as it sounds, however. Just because BlackRock or any other fund manager slaps an ESG or sustainable label on a fund doesn’t necessarily mean it completely syncs with an investor’s priorities. Even some actively managed sustainable funds can include fossil fuel companies in their portfolio, and an index fund will own such companies as long as they remain in the indexes they track.

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Easing trade tensions bode well for emerging market stocks

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Several factors are pointing to a possible rebound in emerging market stocks this year. Stocks in China and other developing economies notched solid gains in 2019, but lagged the blockbuster market returns delivered by publicly traded companies in the US and other developed economies. The US-China trade war and signs of slowing global economic growth clouded the outlook for emerging market stocks last year. But now Wall Street analysts are bullish on emerging markets. Washington and Beijing signed a preliminary trade deal this month that has eased trade tensions and raised expectations for improved economic and company earnings growth in China and other emerging markets.

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North Dakota signals no new conditions on pipeline expansion

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota regulators have signalled that the state won’t impose conditions beyond those required by the federal government on a proposal to double the capacity of the Dakota Access Pipeline. An attorney for the North Dakota Public Service Commission said requiring additional measures could draw a legal challenge from the Texas-based pipeline’s owner, Energy Transfer. The company wants to double the capacity of the pipeline to as much as 1.1 million barrels daily to meet growing demand for oil from North Dakota. It’s seeking permission for additional pump stations in the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois.

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The S&P 500 index inched up 3.79 points, or 0.1%, to 3,325.54. The Dow fell 26.18 points, or 0.1%, to 29,160.09. The Nasdaq gained 18.71 points, or 0.2%, to 9,402.48. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks rose 0.55 points, or less than 0.1%, to 1,685.01.

The Associated Press