24/7 Wall St.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) likely will fight back against the government’s request that it sell CNN as part of a deal to buy Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX). According to Reuters:

Antitrust regulators and AT&T sparred over whether the wireless carrier would be required to sell Time Warner’s CNN cable network as a condition of approval of its deal to buy the media company.

Bakery Panera is on an expansion drive. According to reports from Bloomberg:

JAB Holding Co., the investment firm backed by Austria’s billionaire Reimann family, is expanding its U.S. food empire.

The firm’s Panera Bread business has agreed to acquire the Au Bon Pain bakery chain, adding about 200 U.S. cafes — and another 100 abroad — to a sprawling portfolio that includes coffee, doughnuts and bagels. Terms of the transaction, which unites restaurant brands that were part of the same company until the late 1990s, weren’t disclosed.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stepped up its effort to produce original programming as a challenge to industry streaming leaders Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). A reporter at the Guardian writes:

Apple has announced a major scripted series, winning a bidding war for an untitled drama starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.

The show will focus on the lives of people working in the world of morning television. Apple has given the go-ahead to a two-season order, 20 episodes in total. Witherspoon and Aniston will also produce the show.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) will not change its holiday hours from last year. According to CNBC:

Wal-Mart isn’t making any big changes to its Black Friday store hours this year, as some other retailers have, and you won’t need a wristband to snag the biggest deals.

In line with last year, the big-box retailer’s website on turkey day will kick off its online Black Friday sale at 12:01 a.m. ET. That’s hours before its in-store doorbuster deals begin at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving evening. Wal-Mart stores will remain open all day Friday.

Select deals will also go live on Walmart.com this Thursday. Those deals, available until Nov. 12, include an Acer Aspire ES Laptop for $479, a Sky Rider Falcon 2 Pro Drone for $29.97, and a Kingsford 32-inch charcoal grill for $99.

TripAdvisor will start to post information on hotel safety. CNNMoney editors report:

TripAdvisor is making it easier for users to see if any safety concerns have been flagged about hotels they’re researching. The travel site has added a new warning message for businesses where sexual assault and other significant safety incidents have been reported. It has so far put the message, which it calls a “badge,” on the pages for three resorts in Mexico. The badges are meant to flag all health, safety and discrimination issues, including theft, sexual assault and rape, TripAdvisor spokesman Brian Hoyt told CNNMoney.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) signed a huge deal to sell jets to China. According The New York Post:

Boeing signed $37 billion in commercial deals in China as part of a trade mission traveling with United States President Donald Trump during his state visit to Beijing, Chinese state TV reported on Thursday.

U.S. and Chinese companies also signed $4 billion in chip industry deals during a signing ceremony, China Central Television reported.