Flour and baked goods manufacturing

Police bike officers patrol on the empty waterfront promenade as the country starts a new lockdown, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. Lebanese authorities began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round the clock curfew Thursday, hoping to limit the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

At virus tipping point, Lebanon imposes all-day curfew

Jan. 14, 2021 12:45 PM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — It was a choice between containing a spiraling virus outbreak and resuscitating a dying economy in a country that has been in steady financial and economic meltdown over the past year. Authorities in Lebanon chose the latter. Now, virus patients struggling to breathe wait outside hospitals...

A child carries palm kernels collected from the ground across a creek at a palm oil plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Child labor has long been a dark stain on the $65 billion global palm oil industry. Though often denied or minimized as kids simply helping their families on weekends or after school, it has been identified as a problem by human rights groups, the United Nations and the U.S. government. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Child labor in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies

Jan. 3, 2021 12:33 PM EST

They are two young girls from two very different worlds, linked by a global industry that exploits an army of children. Olivia Chaffin, a Girl Scout in rural Tennessee, was a top cookie seller in her troop when she first heard rainforests were being destroyed to make way for ever-expanding palm oil plantations....

FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2017, file photo, a child collects palm kernels from the ground at a palm oil plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia. Indonesia is the world's largest palm oil producer. The Girl Scouts of the USA said Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, that child labor has no place in its iconic cookies and called on the two companies that bake them to act quickly to address any potential abuses linked to the palm oil in their supply chains. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara, File)

Girl Scouts call on cookie bakers to address child labor

Dec. 30, 2020 8:46 PM EST

The Girl Scouts of the USA said Wednesday that child labor has no place in its iconic cookies and called on the two companies that bake them to act quickly to address any potential abuses linked to the palm oil in their supply chains. The comments were sent in the form of a tweet to Associated Press reporters...

Italian Carabinieri officers check vehicles in front of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. Italians are easing into a holiday season full of restrictions, and already are barred from traveling to other regions except for valid reasons like work or health. Starting Christmas eve, travel beyond city or town borders also will be blocked, with some allowance for very limited personal visits in the same region. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

Italy enters Christmas lockdown amid signs of resurgence

Dec. 24, 2020 12:19 PM EST

ROME (AP) — Police in Italy enforced new COVID-19 travel restrictions aimed at limiting Christmas get-togethers involving far-flung family members as public health officials appealed Thursday for a “drastic reduction" in social contacts to prevent new infections over the holidays. A modified...

Google, Amazon fined $163 million by French privacy watchdog

Dec. 10, 2020 9:56 AM EST

PARIS (AP) — France’s data privacy watchdog said Thursday it has fined Google 100 millions euros ($121 million) and Amazon 35 million euros ($42 million) for breaching the country’s rules on advertising cookies. The CNIL said in a statement that the French websites of both companies did not...

People wearing face masks walk past as barber Matthew Jones stands inside his temporarily closed 'Sharpes Barbers' whilst putting up Christmas lights in the front windows in readiness for when he will be allowed to reopen for business when England's second coronavirus lockdown is due to end on December 2, on Broadway Market in Hackney, east London, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. Small businesses around the world are fighting for survival amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Whether they make it will affect not just local economies but the fabric of communities.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

On London street, virus forces small shops to adapt or close

Nov. 30, 2020 2:32 AM EST

LONDON (AP) — In late October, Matthew Jones was enjoying a rare “bit of normality” at his London barber shop in a year that has been short on that. He was cutting hair and laughing with colleagues — when the news landed that the business would have to close for the second time. Jones,...