Tuesday, August 26, 2008
CANADA
12 Dead in Food-Poisoning Outbreak
Twelve people have now died out of 26 confirmed cases of food poisoning linked to deli meats produced at a plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods, Canadian health officials said yesterday.
There are another 29 suspected cases of listeriosis, officials told reporters, and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the government expected more cases in coming days. Previously, four deaths had been attributed to the outbreak.
Maple Leaf has voluntarily pulled about 220 products made at the plant in one of the biggest food recalls ever in Canada, with direct costs to the company of about $19 million.
CHILEPresident Pushes Equal Pay for Equal Work
President Michelle Bachelet is urging the Chilean Senate to pass a bill to equalize wages between men and women.
Women make up 40 percent of Chile's 6.7 million workers. A 2006 survey says that they earn only 72 percent of what men make doing the same work.
The equal-pay measure has been pending before the Senate since 2006. Bachelet is raising the issue to coincide with an international conference on equality.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean says that pay equality in Chile is ahead of Mexico and Bolivia, where women make 63 percent of men's salaries. But Chile trails Honduras and Venezuela, where women make 81 percent and 79 percent respectively. U.S. women make roughly 80 percent of men's salaries.
SECURITIESU.S., Australian Regulators Sign Accord
U.S. and Australian stock exchanges and brokers could be allowed to operate in each other's countries without being subject to most local regulation, under a new agreement between regulators.
Wall Street interests praised the announcement made yesterday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. But Barbara Roper, director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America, called it a "radical" deregulatory move.
Proposed exemptions under the Australian agreement will be examined and debated by the SEC commissioners before they vote to approve them, agency officials said.
MEXICOTransport Prices May Rise 20% on Fuel Costs
Mexico's taxi and trucking companies may raise prices by as much as 20 percent in response to higher costs for diesel fuel.
Operators will charge 15 to 20 percent more to help blunt the effect of a 7.4 percent increase in the price of diesel this year, Conatram, a transport industry group, said in an e- mailed statement yesterday.
The government should reduce the taxes paid by the industry to offset the rising price of fuel, the group said. Conatram represents 200,000 businesses.
AUTOMOTIVEFord Canada Names Mondragon President
Ford Motor's Canadian unit named David Mondragon as its president and chief executive to replace Barry Engle, who is leaving to join a unit of Fiat. Mondragon will assume the post Sept. 1, Ford said. He is general manager for the company's Southwest region and is a 23-year veteran at Ford. Engle's departure was announced Aug. 19.
Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
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