Editor of Chicago Tribune Resigns

Ann Marie Lipinski, a widely admired figure in the newsroom who has run the paper since 2001, did not cast her decision as a protest against the Tribune Co.'s continuing cutbacks, which are shrinking the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun and eight other papers. But Tribune staffers say the timing and abruptness of her resignation -- it takes effect Thursday -- made clear that Lipinski wanted no part of the fourth round of cutbacks in three years, which will eliminate 80 of the paper's 578 editorial jobs.

"It's the hardest decision I've ever made," Lipinksi, 52, said in an interview. "I helped build this newsroom. I have a fierce affection for the staff and their work and believe in this newspaper. I've grown up here. I came in through the mailroom. ... It's been a glorious run."

Lipinski only alluded to the cutbacks in a memo to the staff, saying that "this position is not the fit it once was."

Bombardier takes off after Boeing

FARNBOROUGH, England -- The day before the largest air show of the year opened, Canada's Bombardier announced the bold launch of a new single-aisle jet family.

Called the CSeries and partly funded by the governments of Canada and Britain, it will go head to head with the smallest jets in the 737 and A320 lines built by Boeing and Airbus.

"To my friends in Seattle I would only say, this airplane's for real," said Gary Scott, president of Bombardier's commercial-aircraft division, at a news conference Sunday. Scott is a former Boeing Commercial Airplanes executive who led 737 and 757 single-aisle jet production.

The success or failure of the plane may depend on whether its radically new, fuel-efficient engine represents a definitive breakthrough or will be superseded by other engines in development.

The jet will seat five passengers abreast in a cabin that is just 6 inches narrower than the six-abreast 737. A mock-up of the interior on display in Farnborough featured wide coach-class seats. It comes in 110- and 130-seater versions, the size of a Boeing 737-600 or 737-700 respectively.

InBev snags Anheuser-Busch

ST. LOUIS -- The King of Beers, the folks who spent lavishly to bring you the Bud Bowl, the Talking Frogs, the Whassup Guys and the Clydesdales, is being swallowed by a Belgian brewer known for its frugality.

But InBev SA has an ambitious plan behind its $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch, hoping to tap into the U.S. company's massive marketing power and make the Budweiser and Bud Light brands into globally recognized products akin to Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

Leaving marketing untouched, though, will mean cuts elsewhere. InBev expects to wring out $1.5 billion in annual savings, most of which will come from better managing the supply chain. InBev keeps a sharp eye on costs, forcing managers to justify every cent spent.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. agreed to the sweetened $70 per share bid late Sunday to create the world's largest brewer and head off what was shaping up as an acrimonious fight. Swallowing Anheuser-Busch will give InBev, the maker of brands including Stella Artois, Beck's and Bass, half the U.S. beer market and a fifth of those in China and Russia.

Gaining control of an iconic beer brand -- Budweiser -- to sell into emerging markets such as China and Brazil was a key part of the deal, said InBev Chief Executive Carlos Brito, who will retain his position.