(Crain's) — Six weeks after Executive Chairman Christopher Begley retired amid product safety concerns, CEO F. Michael Ball rolls out a half-dozen new hires, including a former Abbott Labs exec in charge of quality. ...

(Reuters) — The U.S. Navy would save $5.2 billion through fiscal 2017 by buying 10 fewer Boeing Co. P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance planes under the Pentagon's proposed budget for fiscal 2013, according to Pentagon budget documents. ...

(Reuters) — Google Inc. won unconditional EU regulatory approval on Monday for its planned $12.5 billion purchase of mobile handset maker Motorola Mobility. ...

(Crain's) — Automakers are bringing more than just cars to Chicago, they're also bringing jobs. ...

(AP) — Chicago-based health care private-equity firm Linden Capital Partners has agreed to pay about $78 million for a Massachusetts company that performs contract research services. ...

(Crain's) — Fans of chef Grant Achatz's Next Restaurant can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the tough-to-get-into eatery has announced that seats for its 2012 menus will go on sale today. ...

(Crain's) — Jeffery Zaslow, who once took over Ann Landers' advice column at the Chicago Sun-Times, died today in a car accident in northern Michigan. ...

(Crain's) — Charter National Bank & Trust of northwest suburban Hoffman Estates on Friday became the area's first bank failure of 2012. ...

(Crain's) — Illinois health insurance companies reacted with caution today after President Barack Obama announced they would be picking up the tab for birth control if religious hospitals and universities refused to. ...

(Crain's) — This year's Chicago Auto Show is the biggest in the history of the event, a strong indicator that the auto industry is on its way back to firing on all cylinders. ...

(Crain's) —Spurred by the MF Global debacle, the Securities and Exchange Commission has given the exchange more authority to suspend a firm's trading privileges immediately. ...

(Crain's) — The utility veteran, who will succeed John Hooker, will be the first non-African-American to lead Commonwealth Edison's lobbying in Illinois in at least two decades. ...

(AP) — Archer Daniels Midland Co. is cutting 43 jobs at its polymer plant in Clinton, Iowa, eliminating half the facility's workforce after ending a joint venture with Metabolix Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. ...

(Reuters) — The U.S. Justice Department will approve Google's $12.5 billion bid to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., according to sources close to the antitrust review. ...

(Reuters) — Don't expect a new round of mega-mergers to sweep the global exchange industry, the chief executive officer of the biggest U.S. futures exchange operator said on Thursday. ...