By Matthew Green and Serajul Quadir SAVAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Bangladeshi lawmaker Towhid Jung Murad was guest of honor at the August 2010 inauguration of a five-storey building in his constituency named Rana Plaza. Three years later he was back, this time helping pull survivors from the rubble. Now, two weeks after the block collapsed [...]
By Serajul Quadir and Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) – Eight people were killed when a fire swept through a clothing factory in Bangladesh, police and an industry association official said on Thursday, as the death toll from the collapse of another factory building two weeks ago climbed above 900. The fire, in an industrial district [...]
By Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Monday to give states the power to enforce their sales tax laws on online purchases, but the legislation faces a tougher fight in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 69 to 27 to back the measure, which pits [...]
By Nandita Bose MUMBAI (Reuters) – Hong-Kong entrepreneur Ramesh Tainwala spent 18 months operating branded clothing retail stores in India before deciding it was impossible to succeed without paying bribes. Tainwala, a 55-year-old expatriate Indian, owns Planet Retail, which held the India franchise rights for U.S. fashion labels Guess and Nautica as well as UK [...]
By Edward McAllister NEW YORK (Reuters) – When the conversation between President Barack Obama and his newly elected Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto turns to the controversial topic of energy during their meeting this week, both are apt to step carefully. The two countries have abruptly changed positions over the past decade: Mexico, once the [...]
By Dhanya Skariachan NEW YORK (Reuters) – Best Buy’s move to exit Europe has many on Wall Street hoping the big box retailer does the same in China. The company sold its stake in a European joint venture to Carphone Warehouse Group this week for less than half of what it paid five years ago. [...]
By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) – The European Union is considering trade action against Bangladesh, which has preferential access to EU markets for its garments, to pressure Dhaka to improve safety standards after a building collapse killed more than 400 factory workers. Pope Francis condemned the conditions of workers who died in the disaster as [...]
By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Ride-sharing service Uber is raising a new funding round at a valuation of $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the situation. If the company succeeds, it will join an elite group of start-ups that command 10-figure valuations. The situation underscores investors’ desire to pay premiums for [...]
By Ross Kerber BOSTON (Reuters) – One tourist wanted to eat at a restaurant as close to the Boston Marathon finish line as possible. Other well-wishers made a point of buying shoes at the running store just a few steps away from a bomb blast site. With their dining and shopping dollars, throngs of visitors [...]
By Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Jessica Wohl (Reuters) – The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 300 people this week is a stark reminder of the risks in the global retail industry’s search for cheap production. But there have been few signs that safety issues and other questionable labor conditions are sending shockwaves through the [...]
