In the news: January 19, 2007

Are Wal-Mart's 'organics' organic?- A year after Wal-Mart laid out ambitious plans to become a much bigger player in the organic foods business, the giant retailer is running into trouble over its organic effort with consumer activists and government regulators.

How cellphones are getting greener- Cellphones that contain toxic chemicals are still being sold in Latin America and other developing regions. But thanks to strict European regulations, there are progressively fewer phones being made with cadmium, lead and other dangerous materials. Ex-workers ask HLL to accept liability for mercury deaths- The death of a man who had worked for a Hindustan Lever thermometer factory for 18 years brought hundreds of ex-employees, who had also been exposed, to the streets. The factory has been ordered shut and 300 tonnes of mercury waste sent back to US.

Global warming emerges as 2008 election issue-Presidential candidates for 2008 mostly agree that global warming is a problem that merits government action, a signal that debate on the issue will be more practical than conceptual. American weather forecasters do battle over mankind's role in global warming- A leading climatologist on the Weather Channel in the United States has caused a squall in the industry by arguing that any weather forecaster who dares publicly to question the notion that global warming is a manmade phenomenon should be stripped of their professional certification.

Study on Nicotine Levels Stirs Calls for New Controls- A Harvard study concluding that cigarette makers have for years deliberately increased nicotine levels in cigarettes to make them more addictive led to renewed calls Thursday for greater federal oversight of the industry.

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