Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

WASHINGTON - A federal judge has approved a $6.8 million settlement of a discrimination lawsuit involving Wal-Mart Stores and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Associated Press reports.

VIENNA - Austria today confirmed its first case of mad cow disease, leaving Sweden as the only country in the European Union without a reported case, Reuters reports.

BRUSSELS - A senior U.S. official told the European Union on Wednesday that it is "urgent" to end the EU's three-year-old ban on approvals of new genetically modified crops, Reuters reported.

NEW YORK - The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced it will not close meat processing plants that violate its salmonella safety standard, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives today is slated to push a $2.9 billion package that boosts vaccine stockpiles and protects food and water supplies as part of Congress' response to the terrorist attacks, The Associated Press reports.

NEW YORK - Dutch supermarkets group Koninklijke Ahold NV was given approval from the Federal Trade Commission on Friday to buy Bruno's Supermarkets Inc., but the company was told it must close two of its own regional groceries stores in two Georgia towns, Reuters reports.

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration on Friday recalled 16,000 packages of mini-cup gel candies sold nationwide because they were deemed a choking hazard, Reuters reports.

WASHINGTON - The government last week banned the import of the fruit Spanish clementines after larvae of the Mediterranean fruit fly were found in some of the fruit, Reuters reports.