| SWITZERLAND: Davos Scales Back Glitz by Associated Press, New York Times January 25th, 2009 The economic crisis that emerged out the collapse of securities based on shaky U.S. mortgages poses challenges for the Davos World Economic Forum, an arena that has championed market-driven approaches. |
| US: In Factory Sit-In, an Anger Spread Wide by MONICA DAVEY, New York Times December 7th, 2008 In a glimpse at how the nation’s loss of more than 600,000 manufacturing jobs this year is boiling over, workers laid off from Republic Windows and Doors, said they would not leave, after company officials announced that the factory was closing. The workers were owed vacation and severance pay and were not given the 60 days of notice generally required by federal law in lay-offs. |
| EU: Glass Makers Are Fined $1.7 Billion in Europe’s War on Price Fixing
by James Kanter, The New York Times November 12th, 2008 The European Commission fined companies controlling the Continent’s auto glass market a record 1.4 billion euros ($1.77 billion), on Wednesday for price-fixing over five years. |
| US: An Inconvenient Bag by ELLEN GAMERMAN , Wall Street Journal September 26th, 2008 It's manufactured in China, shipped thousands of miles overseas, made with plastic and could take years to decompose. It's also the hot "green" giveaway of the moment: the reusable shopping bag. |
| SOUTH AFRICA: Apartheid lawsuit back in US court SABC News September 25th, 2008 After six years of battling, the plaintiffs must prove whether certain multinationals enabled the apartheid government to commit acts of gross human rights violations. Among the 21 defendants are oil, vehicle and financial companies which continue to operate in South Africa -- the likes of BP, Shell, Chevron Texaco, Barclays, Daimler Chrysler and Rio Tinto. They stand accused of supporting the former regime with arms and ammunition, financing, fuel, transportation and military technology. |
| COLOMBIA: To die for by Mark Thomas, Guardian (UK) September 20th, 2008 Being a trade union organiser in bottling plants used by Coca-Cola in Colombia is a dangerous business - they are prime targets for death squads. Can Coke be held responsible? Mark Thomas follows the trail from Bogotá to New York |
| INDIA: India Grapples With How to Convert Its Farmland Into Factories by Somini Sengupta, New York Times September 17th, 2008 On the eve of opening a new auto factory in West Bengal, arranged via secret contract with the government, Indian industrial giant Tata is facing massive protests by local farmers determined not to be pushed off their land. |
| US: Files Show Governor Intervened With Court by Ian Urbina, New York Times August 13th, 2008 West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III filed a friend-of-the-court brief in June, arguing the State Supreme Court should review a $382 million judgment against DuPont. The case involves thousands of residents in the area of a DuPont-operated zinc-smelting plant, and the largest civil penalty ever levied against the company, for the dumping of toxic arsenic, cadmium and lead at the plant. |
| UK-Zimbabwe: BAE linked to Zimbabwean arms dealer by Christopher Thompson and Michael Peel , Financial Times/UK July 31st, 2008 According to documents seen by the Financial Times, BAE Systems has been linked to Zimbabwean arms trader John Bredenkamp. BAE reportedly paid at least £20m to Bredenkamp via offshore entities in the British Virgin Islands between 2003 and 2005. The payments raise fresh questions about bribery in BAE's dealings. |
| US: Toxic Smoke and Mirrors by Jim Morris, Mother Jones Filed in federal District Court in Cleveland, their claim joined thousands of others pending against welding-products manufacturers in state and federal courts. (Employers have not been among the targets because lawyers generally concluded they were ignorant of the metal's dangers.) |
| EUROPE: Chemical Law Has Global Impact by Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post June 12th, 2008 Europe this month rolled out new restrictions on makers of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems. The changes follow eight years of vigorous opposition from the U.S. chemical industry giants like DuPont, and the Bush administration. |
| FRANCE: Ex-EADS chief charged in French probe by INGRID ROUSSEAU, Associated Press May 30th, 2008 A former co-CEO of Airbus parent company EADS, Noel Forgeard, was hit with preliminary insider trading charges Friday in an extensive probe into stock sales by more than a dozen former and current executives at the European planemaker. |
| US: BAE chief detained as US turns up heat in bribes case by Nick Clark and Stephen Foley, The Independent (U.K.) May 19th, 2008 BAE Systems admitted yesterday that American authorities investigating corruption claims over an arms deal with Saudi Arabia had issued a series of subpoenas to senior executives, as the investigation continues to gather pace. Two bosses of the defence giant were also detained after they landed at a Houston airport last week |
| CHINA: In China City, Protesters See Pollution Risk of New Plant by Edward Wong, New York Times May 6th, 2008 Residents took to the streets of Chengdu to protest a $5.5 billion ethylene plant under construction by PetroChina, reflecting a surge in environmental awareness by urban, middle-class Chinese determined to protect their health and the value of their property. |
| US: America for Sale: 2 Outcomes When Foreigners Buy Factories
by PETER S. GOODMAN, The New York Times April 7th, 2008 As foreign buyers descend upon the United States, capturing widening swaths of the industrial landscape and putting millions of Americans to work for new owners, these two cities offer sharply competing narratives for a nation still uneasy about being on the selling end of the global economy. |
| INDONESIA: Indonesia's Commodity Boom Is a Mixed Bag by Tom Wright, Wall Street Journal March 24th, 2008 Indonesia's economy is riding the recent wave of high global commodity prices. But local pressure is arising towards steel makers and power producers in China and India who have diverted coal supplies abroad by locking in 20-year supply contracts with Indonesian miners. |
| CHINA: Solar Energy Firms Leave Waste Behind in China by Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post March 9th, 2008 The Luoyang Zhonggui High-Technology Co. of Henan, China, is a green energy company, producing polysilicon for solar energy panels. But the byproduct -- silicon tetrachloride -- is a highly toxic substance that poses environmental hazards. |
| CHINA: China Plant Played Role In Drug Tied to 4 Deaths
by ANNA WILDE MATHEWS and THOMAS M. BURTON, The Wall Street Journal February 14th, 2008 A Chinese facility that hasn't been inspected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made the active ingredient in much of the widely used Baxter International Inc. blood-thinner that is under investigation after reports of hundreds of allergic reactions and four deaths among the drug's users, the agency said yesterday. |
| GLOBAL: False 'Green' Ads Draw Global Scrutiny
by Tom Wright, Wall Street Journal January 30th, 2008 With companies eager to tout their "green" credentials to consumers, advertising watchdogs are stepping up efforts to rein in marketers that make false or exaggerated claims. |
| US: Giuliani Had Ties to Company Trying to Sell Border Technology by RUSS BUETTNER, New York Times January 18th, 2008 On the presidential campaign trail, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani often promotes the installation of electronic monitoring devices at the border to stem illegal immigration, without mentioning that until a few months ago, he was partner in a company trying to market such technology. |