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But after waging an aggressive public relations campaign against Wal-Mart for three years, the company's full-time, union-backed critics, who once vowed never to let up, are lowering their pitchforks.

Pharmacy-benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. agreed Tuesday to pay $9.5 million to settle allegations that the company asked doctors to switch drugs primarily to get bigger rebates from pharmaceutical companies.

Wal-Mart Stores has put out a press release
patting itself on the back for promising the equivalent of about
$430,000 for disaster relief and reconstruction for the area of China
hit by a massive earthquake this week. The gesture was laudable but the
amount was less than impressive.

Worried about a repetition in Italy of the violent protests that occurred at a European Union meeting in Sweden last weekend, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said today that he wanted to open a dialogue with demonstrators who are planning to march at the Group of 8 summit meeting in Genoa next month.

Gap has begun an effort to rebuild its reputation after a child-labor scandal in India.

Child workers, some as young as 10, have been found working in a textile factory in conditions close to slavery to produce clothes that appear destined for Gap Kids.

In what would be the biggest commitment to ending child labour ever undertaken by a major retailer, Gap Inc is drawing up plans to label its products 'Sweatshop Free'.

Supermarkets open across the country and international big box stores partner with smaller local stores to gain a toehold in the market.

Wal-Mart workers in Pennsylvania who previously won a $78.5 million class-action award for working off the clock will share an additional $62.3 million in damages, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Wal-Mart, in a struggle to expand its global reach, is trying to enter India through the back door, but many consumers here have taken notice.

Wal-Mart prides itself on cutting costs at home and abroad, and its Mexican operations are no exception. Wal-Mart is Mexico's largest private-sector employer in the nation today, with nearly 150,000 local residents on its payroll. An additional 19,000 youngsters between the ages of 14 and 16 work after school in hundreds of Wal-Mart stores, mostly as grocery baggers, throughout Mexico-and none of them receives a red cent in wages or fringe benefits.

Nine days ahead of this month's G8 summit in the Italian city of Genoa, an ever-developing anti-globalization movement prepares to make its presence felt.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci last week signed into law a measure requiring developers of retail stores exceeding 75,000 square feet to conduct studies gauging the project's impact on municipal services, the environment and local businesses. Similar measures have been passed in other states.