TECHNOLOGY

Congress should settle issue of unlocking phones, FBI chief says

The head of the FBI, battling Apple on unlocking an iPhone used by one of the killers in a December rampage in San Bernardino, Calif., called on Congress to settle the question of when law enforcement officials should get access to citizens’ private data. Apple has argued that granting the government’s request to build software to unlock the phone would compromise the security of all the devices used by its hundreds of millions of customers. But James Comey said the case was “unlikely to be a trailblazer’’ because encryption technology is changing so quickly. He said Congress was in the best position to establish clearer lines on such issues.

AVIATION

New airline at Logan will bring service to Lisbon

Another airline will join Logan International Airport’s fleet of international carriers, this one offering nonstop daily flights to Lisbon. TAP Portugal will begin flying from Logan’s Terminal C on June 11. TAP introductory fares will start at $799 round trip, tax included, the airline said. The new service is a homecoming of sorts for David Neeleman, TAP’s co-owner and founder of JetBlue Airways Corp., which ousted him as chief executive in 2007. Neeleman brought JetBlue, now the largest carrier at Logan, to Boston in 2004.

INSURANCE

Drivers in low-income communities could face higher rates

Drivers in low-income and minority communities in Massachusetts could face higher ­auto insurance costs if a long-running incentive program for insurance companies is scaled back, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office warns. The incentive program is designed to encourage insurance companies to offer coverage in underserved communities such as Chelsea, Brockton, and East Boston, as well as to riskier drivers. But an industry group wants the program to be reduced by more than 20 percent statewide, arguing it is not as necessary in a competitive market. That move could push more drivers into what’s known as the high-risk pool.

RECREATION

Ski season melts away

Even for representatives of the eternally optimistic ski industry, there’s just no sugar-coating it: This winter stinks. At ski areas, resorts, and related businesses across New England, revenues and visits have slumped during an unusually warm and snow-starved winter. Business at Vermont’s Mad River Glen is off more than 40 percent from last year. At Killington Resort in Vermont, fewer than half the trails were open Monday; two hours north, Stowe Mountain Resort’s business is down 15 to 20 percent. Closer to Boston, Wachusett Mountain is down 20 percent.

RETAIL

Wayfair beats expectations on quarterly sales

Shares of Wayfair Inc. jumped Thursday after the Boston online retailer reported booming sales in the fourth quarter and a narrowing loss that easily beat Wall Street expectations. Analysts had expected a loss excluding certain costs of 14 cents per share in the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, according to Bloomberg; Wayfair reported a loss of 7 cents per share. All told, Wayfair, which specializes in furniture and home goods, lost $15.5 million in the fourth quarter, down from $72.5 million during the same period a year ago, according to its filing. In the last three months of 2015, Wayfair sales rose 81 percent to $740 million.

BIOTECH

Top scientist to stay with Astellas

Robert Lanza, one of the most prominent scientists in the field of stem cell biology, on Monday said he will lead global regenerative medicine research at Astellas Pharma Inc., the Japanese drug maker that acquired his Massachusetts company earlier this month. Lanza said he will also remain in his current role of chief scientific officer at Astellas-owned Ocata Therapeutics Inc. in Marlborough, which is developing stem cell therapies for a broad range of diseases. Lanza’s announcement answered one of the most pressing questions posed by the Ocata takeover: What role, if any, would he play in the company following the $379 million buyout?

REAL ESTATE

Prime property on the water

A rare deepwater dock in Nantucket’s quaint harbor sold last month for $4.75 million, to an entity with ties to Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet, and his wife, Wendy, a prominent Nantucket philanthropist. It’s one of just three deepwater slips in the harbor, at the edge of a picture-postcard old whaling wharf. It’s long enough to dock a 156-foot yacht. It even comes with a parking space. “It’s such a rarity. There were multiple interested parties,’’ said Jen Shalley, the agent who brokered the deal. Shalley wouldn’t name the buyer, but it appears to be the Schmidts, who Forbes magazine estimates are worth $10.6 billion.

TRANSPORTATION

Uber opposes fingerprinting of drivers

A day after Boston police started fingerprinting the city’s 6,000 taxi drivers to check their criminal backgrounds, a top Uber official said the fast-growing taxi alternative remains strongly opposed to taking the same step. At a gathering of Uber drivers and community groups in Roxbury, senior company adviser David Plouffe repeated the company’s contention that fingerprint-based criminal background checks are unnecessary hurdles that would crimp the company’s ability to sign up new drivers. The debate over driver screening follows a pair of high-profile assault convictions of Boston-area men who had driven for Uber.

INSURANCE

MassMutual in talks to buy unit, with agents, from MetLife

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Thursday it is negotiating an acquisition that would nearly double its sales force of agents, a move that analysts said could help the Springfield company grow both its core life insurance business and the retirement and other financial products it offers. MassMutual confirmed talks with MetLife Inc. to buy the New York-based insurer’s US retail adviser group, which includes a sales force of about 4,000 agents. MassMutual now has about 5,600 agents. Both companies said there is no timetable for concluding a deal.

BIOTECH

Nicholas to retire from Boston Scientific board

Pete M. Nicholas (left), who cofounded Boston Scientific Corp., will retire from its board at the annual shareholders meeting in May, the medical device maker said. The 74-year-old Nicholas, who served as Boston Scientific’s chief executive from its founding in 1979 to 1999, has continued to play a leading role in the company. Its other cofounder, John Abele, retired in 2005 and has not played an active role since. Boston Scientific, based in Marlborough, said its board named the company’s current chief executive, Michael F. Mahoney, as chairman when Nicholas retires.