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FAA says Boeing can start training 787 pilots

Boeing Co. said Monday it’s been given approval by the Federal Aviation Administration to start pilot training courses for its new 787.

The Chicago company called the approval a “significant milestone” as it ramps up to start flight training.

China becomes No. 2 economy ahead of Japan

Reporting from Beijing and Tokyo –  China’s economy surpassed Japan’s as the world’s second-largest –  a highly anticipated milestone rich in symbolism for a developing country that began market reforms only three decades ago.

The news came Monday when Japan’s government said its economic output in the second quarter slowed to $1.28 trillion, short of the $1.33 trillion China reported for the same period.

Fed sees easing in lending standards

The Federal Reserve said Monday that bank lending standards eased somewhat over the last three months while demand for business and consumer loans was largely unchanged.

In its quarterly Senior Loan Officer Survey, taken in July, the Fed found that tight lending conditions, which some economists have linked to the weak economic recovery, were starting to ease. Get the full story »

Barclays Bank to pay $300M over deals with Cuba, Iran

Barclays Bank Plc has agreed to pay nearly $300 million to settle criminal charges that it violated U.S. sanctions in dealings with Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Myanmar, according to U.S. court documents filed Monday.

The London-based bank was charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act in its dealings that involved $500 million from 1995 until September 2006, according to the documents. Get the full story »

French morning-after pill wins U.S. approval

A French drugmaker says it has won U.S. approval for a new type of morning-after contraceptive that works longer than the leading drug on the market.

The pill Ella from HRA Pharma reduces the chance of pregnancy up to five days after sex. Plan B, the most widely used emergency contraceptive pill, is effective only if women take it within three days of sex. Get the full story »

Nordic Energy wins natural gas contract from Chicago

Nordic Energy Services LLC said Friday that it had been awarded a contract to manage the natural gas deliveries and storage inventories for the City of Chicago’s Department of General Services, which manages the maintenance and operation of city properties.
Get the full story »

‘Medical home’ saving Ill. Medicaid millions

The “medical home” appears to be saving Illinois taxpayers tens of millions of dollars from the state Medicaid program, a new study shows.

Illinois health officials four years ago began steps to link people enrolled in the state Medicaid health insurance program for the poor to a medical home where treatment and patient referrals are coordinated centrally as a way to keep costs down. From 2006 to 2007, Illinois Medicaid assigned nearly 2 million people to primary care doctors who agreed to coordinate these patients health care for an extra monthly payment under a program called Illinois Health Connect. Get the full story »

FDIC puts out new call for ShoreBank bidders

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has told ShoreBank that it has begun the process in which it ultimately seeks bidders for the undercapitalized bank, according to a report Tuesday afternoon from Fox Business.

Brian Berg, a ShoreBank spokesman, would neither confirm nor deny the report that the bank’s days as an independent institution are numbered. The bank continues to try to look at options to raise capital to stave off seizure by regulators. Get the full story »

3 United flights at O’Hare June’s only long tarmac waits

Only three commercial flights among the thousands that operated nationwide in June sat on the ground loaded with passengers for three hours or longer, the Obama administration said Tuesday, touting the effect of a controversial new consumer-protection rule that threatens stiff fines against airlines for excessive tarmac delays.

The bad news for Chicago was that all three overly tardy flights involved the home-town carrier, United Airlines, at O’Hare International Airport. Get the full story »

U.S. probe limits Toyota woes to gas pedals

A government investigation into runaway Toyotas has found no new safety defects beyond problems with accelerator pedals that explain reports of sudden acceleration in the vehicles, according to preliminary findings released Tuesday.

Safety experts have said vehicle electronic systems could be to blame for the problems that have led to Toyota’s massive recalls but the review by the government, while still at an early stage, has not found any evidence of those problems. Get the full story »

HUD files race-bias suit in Bridgeport home sale

Comedian George Willborn (Tribune file)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has filed a charge of housing discrimination against a Bridgeport family and a prominent realty firm for refusing to sell a million-dollar-plus home to local comedian and radio personality George Willborn and his family.

HUD alleges that Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia and their real estate agent, Jeffrey Lowe of Prudential Rubloff Properties, violated the Fair Housing Act when they discriminated against Willborn, his wife, Peytyn and their family for not following through with the sale of an amenity-filled 8,000-square-foot home at 3300 S. Normal Ave. in the Bridgeport neighborhood. Get the full story »

Fed turns to government bonds to boost economy

The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that it would begin funneling proceeds from its maturing mortgage bonds into longer-term government debt in an effort to support a sputtering economic recovery.

The Fed, which left benchmark overnight interest rates steady in a zero to 0.25 percent range, also renewed its pledge to keep them low for an extended period, as widely expected. Get the full story »

Investor hope for reassurance from Fed today

Federal Reserve policymakers are pondering ways to jump-start the economic recovery. The trick: making sure whatever they do or say doesn’t rattle Wall Street.

U.S. stocks closed higher Monday as investors anticipated reassuring words or action Tuesday by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee. Asian shares were mixed in early trade Tuesday.

San Fran Fed sees new likelihood of recession

There is a “significant” chance the U.S. economy will slip back into recession in the next two years though a reversal is unlikely in the next few months, researchers at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank said Monday.

The probability of another recession over the next 18 to 24 months is higher than that of expansion, researchers said in the latest issue of the regional Fed bank’s Economic Letter. Get the full story »

428,000 Hondas recalled; may roll in park

2003 Honda Civic is involved in the ignition interlock recall.

Honda Motor Co. said Monday it was recalling more than 428,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada because of a defect that could cause the cars to roll away if they are parked incorrectly.

The Honda recall covers Accord, Civic and Element models from the 2003 and 2004 model years in the U.S. That recall includes 384,220 vehicles. Get the full story »