United Technologies to
produce F-35 enginesUnited Technologies and the Pentagon have reached an "agreement in principle" for the company to produce the next batch of engines for the F-35 fighter, the Defense Department's largest weapons program. The company's Pratt & Whitney unit will supply 32 engines, spare parts and engineering support for the fifth lot of the Joint Strike Fighter made by Lockheed Martin, according to the Pentagon, which didn't announce a value for the deal. -- Bloomberg NewsU.S. seeks $5 billionfrom Standard & Poor'sThe U.S. government says Standard & Poor's knowingly inflated its ratings on risky mortgage investments that helped trigger the 2008 financial crisis. The credit rating agency gave high marks to mortgage-backed securities because it wanted to earn more business from the banks that issued the investments, the Justice Department alleges in civil charges filed in federal court in Los Angeles. The government is demanding that S&P pay at least $5 billion in penalties.-- The Associated PressHome prices climb8.3% in DecemberU.S. home prices jumped by the most in 61/2 years in December, spurred by a low supply of available homes and rising demand. Home prices rose 8.3 percent compared with a year earlier, according to data Tuesday from CoreLogic, a real estate data provider. That is the biggest annual gain since May 2006. Prices rose last year in 46 of 50 states. Home prices also rose 0.4 percent in December from the previous month. That's a healthy increase given that sales usually slow over the winter months.-- The Associated PressJapan finds 'thermalrunway' in 787 batteryAn investigation into a lithium ion battery that overheated on a Boeing 787 flight in Japan last month found evidence of the same type of "thermal runaway" seen in a similar incident in Boston, officials said Tuesday. The Japan Transportation Safety Board said CAT scans and other analysis found damage to all eight cells in the battery that overheated on the All Nippon Airways 787 on Jan. 16, which prompted an emergency landing and investigations by both U.S. and Japanese aviation safety regulators. They also found signs of short-circuiting and "thermal runaway," a chemical reaction in which rising temperature causes progressively hotter temperatures.-- The Associated PressHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
