The Human Price: Bangladesh Fire Exposes Safety Gap in Supply Chain

Andrew Biraj/ReutersDEATHTRAP  A worker at the burned factory in Ashulia. Fire safety preparations were woefully inadequate, and violations were cited before the fire. More Photos »ASHULIA, Bangladesh — The fire alarm shattered the monotony of the Tazreen Fashions factory. Hundreds of seamstresses looked up from their machines, startled. On the third floor, Shima Akhter Pakhi had been stitching...

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L.A. council votes to regulate valet parking operators

Valet parking operators in Los Angeles would be regulated for the first time under an ordinance the City Council approved unanimously...

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Google Now Delivers Travel Forecasts, Boarding Passes Before You Search

Google’s Search App has received a travel-focused update just in time for the holidays. Wednesday’s update adds new capabilities to Google Now, the app’s feature set designed to deliver frequently searched-for information before you even think to search for it.Previously, opening the Google Search App on any Android phone running Jelly Bean (versions 4.1 and newer), would pull up a Google...

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Obama leads heads of state atop Forbes 2012 power list

NEW YORK (Reuters) – When it comes to power, politics trumps business, according to a new Forbes ranking on Wednesday that found heads of state occupying six of the top 10 spots among the world’s most powerful people, led by President Barack Obama.The annual list selected what Forbes said were the world’s 71 most-powerful people from among the roughly 7.1 billion global populace, based on factors...

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Extended Use of Breast Cancer Drug Suggested

The widely prescribed drug tamoxifen already plays a major role in reducing the risk of death from breast cancer. But a new study suggests that women should be taking the drug for twice as long as is now customary, a finding that could upend the standard that has been in place for about 15 years. In the study, patients who continued taking tamoxifen for 10 years were less likely to have...

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Europe Fines Electronics Makers $1.92 Billion

BRUSSELS — For a decade, senior managers at some of the world’s largest electronics companies met at golf courses, mostly in Asia, for what they called “greens meetings.” Besides golf, the business at hand was a price-fixing scheme that affected millions of consumers, the top European antitrust regulator said on Wednesday. Joaquín Almunia, the European competition commissioner, imposed...

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Mediators may spur a quick resolution in port strike

Standing with a picket sign in hand, clerical worker Manny Garcia gestured his thanks to motorists honking in support as they...

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The Coolest Vertigo Comics, From <em>Sandman</em> to <em>Swamp Thing</em>

DC Comics has lost one of its most influential tastemakers with the news that executive editor Karen Berger will be stepping down from Vertigo Comics, the DC Comics imprint she founded and ran since its inception in 1993. In her nearly 20 years running Vertigo, Berger helped birth numerous legendary comics, like Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Alan Moore's V for Vendetta, which often reached beyond the...

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‘Dr. Phil”s stolen classic Chevy recovered

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles police say they’ve recovered a stolen 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible that belongs to talk-show host Phil McGraw.Detective Jess Corral said Tuesday that investigators recovered McGraw’s classic car, along with 13 others, after law enforcement began targeting auto theft rings.McGraw is known as television’s “Dr. Phil. His car was stolen from the RODZ shop in Burbank...

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Generic Drug Makers Facing Squeeze on Revenue

They call it the patent cliff. Brand-name drug makers have feared it for years. And now the makers of generic drugs fear it, too. This year, more than 40 brand-name drugs — valued at $35 billion in annual sales — lost their patent protection, meaning that generic companies were permitted to make their own lower-priced versions of well-known drugs like Plavix, Lexapro and Seroquel...

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