Ford expanding recall of Windstar minivansFord Motor Co. hasn't done enough to tell owners about its recall of Windstar minivans, according to the family of a Massachusetts man killed when his rear axle cracked in half. Sean Bowman's relatives told the Associated Press that they got a safety recall notice from Ford in October, a week after the fatal accident. Ford said in August it was recalling 575,000 1998-2003 Windstars over concerns the rear axles can corrode and break, but the recall wasn't well publicized. Ford said Wednesday that it was expanding its recall and is cooperating with government investigators.
McDonald's slapped with Happy Meal suitAfter months of threats, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has sued Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's Corp., alleging that its practice of giving toys with children's meals is deceptive advertising. The complaint was filed Wednesday in the Superior Court of California in and for San Francisco County. In a call with reporters, plaintiff Monet Parham, a Sacramento, Calif., mother of two, said she was bringing the case because of the constant requests for McDonald's Happy Meals.
Nation's CPI didn't budge much last monthThe Labor Department reported that inflation remained tame with consumer prices barely increasing in November. Small increases in food and energy costs pushed the consumer price index up 0.1 percent. Excluding food and energy costs, core consumer prices rose 0.1 percent, the first increase in four months. In the past year, the core index rose 0.8 percent.
Factory output moved up in NovemberU.S. factory output grew for the fifth straight month in November. The Federal Reserve said that output by the nation's factories, utilities and mines increased 0.4 percent last month, after falling 0.2 percent in October. Overall industrial production has risen 9.8 percent since its low point of the recession in July 2009, according to Steven Wood of Insight Economics. But output is down 6.9 percent from its peak in September 2007.
Dynegy agrees to Icahn offer, with an asteriskDynegy Inc., the third-largest U.S. independent power producer, agreed to be acquired for $665 million by Icahn Enterprises after shareholders rejected a lower bid from Blackstone Group. Icahn Enterprises' offer of $5.50 a share is 10 percent higher than Blackstone's November bid of $5 a share. The agreement lets Dynegy pursue a better offer until Jan. 24. Icahn agreed not to oppose another buyer if Dynegy gets a higher bid.
U.N. report: Wage growth slowed in the WestThe global financial and economic crisis led to a "considerable slowdown" in the growth of real wages in the West last year, while accentuating gaps between the highest and lowest earners in many countries, according to a United Nations report released Wednesday. The International Labor Office, a U.N. agency based in Geneva, estimated that growth in average monthly wages worldwide was 1.6 percent in 2009 and 1.5 percent in 2008, compared with 2.8 percent in 2007, before the crisis. The Global Wage Report covered 115 countries and territories.
Dannon to pay $21M in FTC settlementThe Dannon Co. agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it had improperly claimed that some of its popular yogurt and dairy drinks could help prevent common illnesses and relieve irregularity, the commission said Wednesday. The FTC said it had worked with 39 state attorneys general and that Dannon had agreed to pay $21 million to those states.
FROM NEWS SERVICES
