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Pharmaceuticals

Ranbaxy Pays $500 Million Fine for Selling Bad Batches of Generic Medicines
Pratap Chatterjee
May 14th, 2013

Ranbaxy, a subsidiary of Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo, has paid a $500 million fine and pled guilty to selling adulterated drugs manufactured in India. The settlement comes 16 months after the company signed an agreement with U.S. authorities to change its ways.

Pills. Photo: e-magineart.com. Used under Creative Commons license


Spies for Hire

Food and Agriculture

Ukraine Egg King Global Plans Fail North Carolina Farmers
Puck Lo
May 10th, 2013

Farmers in North Carolina are regretting the day that they put their trust in the Egg King - Oleg Bakhmatyuk – a billionaire agricultural investor from the Ukraine. Over 100 farmers are suing a subsidiary of his global empire for almost $10 million for reneging on chicken sales contracts.
Ad for U.S. chicken exports on Chinese taxi. Photo: sinosplice. Used under Creative Commons license

Corruption

Neither Admit Nor Deny: Big Business Allowed To Pay Millions to Avoid Jail
Pratap Chatterjee
May 5th, 2013

Record fines adding up to $36 billion have been paid out in the last 12 years by multinational corporations to the U.S. government to settle charges of corruption and fraud. But are they getting away with a slap on the wrist to avoid prosecution for major crimes?
Occupy Wall Street protest. Photo: Michael Fleshman. Used under Creative Commons license.

Retail & Mega-Stores

Benetton, Others Tied to Bangladesh Factory Disaster: 400 Killed
Pratap Chatterjee
May 1st, 2013

Multinationals like Benetton have tried to distance themselves from Rana Plaza, a Bangladeshi building housing five clothing factories, that collapsed last week killing over 400. Activists argue that change will only come when workers get more political support to challenge them.
Collage of designer labels dug out of Rana Plaza (left) after the collapse. Photos: Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights

Natural Resources

Arch Coal Denied Permission to Blow Up West Virginia Mountain
Puck Lo
April 25th, 2013

A subsidiary of Arch Coal of St. Louis, Missouri, was denied permission to dump nearly three billion cubic feet of dirt into local headwater streams after blowing up a mountain in West Virginia. The object was to extract coal from a project known as the Spruce No. 1 Surface Mine.
Activists Dump Coal Waste at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington DC. Photo: Rainforest Action Network. Used under Creative Commons license.

Natural Resources

Alstom Officials Paid Bribes To Win Indonesian Coal Contracts
Pratap Chatterjee
April 22nd, 2013

Alstom, a French engineering company, has been accused of bribing Indonesian officials to win a lucrative contract to build coal power plans in Sumatra. Frederic Pierucci, a French employee of the company, was arrested and David Rothschild, a U.S. employee, has pled guilty.
Tarahan coal power plant. Photo: Syamsurrizal Mukhtar. Used with permission.

Natural Resources

Guatemalan Lawsuit Against Canadian Mining Giant May Set Precedent
Jennifer Kennedy
April 19th, 2013

A lawsuit against HudBay Minerals in Canada for human rights abuses in Guatemala is the next case to watch for corporate accountability activists after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a case against Shell for aiding and abetting human rights abuses in Nigeria.
Angelica Choc stands next to a sign that says “Adolfo Ich murdered by CGN. Mining is responsible.” Photo: Daniel Sosa

Natural Resources

U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Shell in Nigeria
Pratap Chatterjee
April 17th, 2013

In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit against Shell in Nigeria for human rights abuses in the Ogoni region. The ruling effectively blocks other lawsuits against foreign multinationals for human rights abuse that have occurred overseas from being brought in U.S. courts.
Project Underground poster on Shell

Natural Resources

Protests Against Posco Steel Plant Mount In India
Freny Manecksha
April 14th, 2013

For over a month, villagers in the eastern Indian state of Odisha have been conducting a sit-in to demand the withdrawal of armed police officers at the site of a proposed $12 billion steel complex to be built by Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) of South Korea.
Odisha villagers conduct sit-in to protest POSCO. Photo: PPSS