Apple said Monday that an independent group, the Fair Labor Association, has started inspecting working conditions in the Chinese factories where its iPads and iPhones are assembled.
Amid growing criticism over labor and environmental practices —especially in China— Apple, last month, disclosed a list of suppliers for its popular gadgets for the first time.
The FLA team began the inspections Monday morning at Foxconn City in Shenzhen, China, Apple said Monday. The complex employs and houses hundreds of thousands of workers.
A Chamber of Commerce study reported more than 100 new EPA rules have been forced by "sue and settle" tactics from environmental groups, The Hill reports.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Charlotte-area residents that a crack at a reactor at Duke Energy's Shearon Harris Plant did not pose a threat to safety, WSOC-TV reports.
An international group of solar trade groups issued a statement calling on the European Union and the U.S. to avoid a trade war over solar panels with China, The Washington Post reports.
The European Union has sent information requests to several commodity-trading firms as part of its investigation into potential energy-price manipulation, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser said a European Union investigation into possible price fixing has not found anything that could damage the company, The Wall Street Journal reports.
ExxonMobil Corp. said it would refocus its research on algae-derived biofuels after it invested $100 million over the last four years with few solid results, Bloomberg reports.
The U.S. Geological Survey said water levels in aquifers declined from 2000 to 2008 at a rate nearly three times greater than any point in the last century, Reuters reports.
