Supermarkets and clothes chains alike have realised that shoppers view the ethics of sustainability and ecological responsibility as core to their buying decisions, writes Elizabeth Rigby

By Elizabeth Rigby

When Sir Terry Leahy stood up in May and declared that Tesco, the UK supermarkets group of which he is chief executive, was putting local and ethical sourcing, recycling and greener energy production at the heart of its corporate culture, the retail world's ears pricked up.

By Ylan Q. Mui

POCO FUNDO, Brazil -- Rosevaldo Jose Pereira has never been to Wal-Mart. The name doesn't mean anything to the lifelong coffee farmer in this remote village in southeastern Brazil.

But Wal-Mart Stores Inc. knows who he is. And the world's largest retailer is changing his life.

By Paul Garwood

Twelve-year-old Adnan Nazir spent three years working, literally, until his fingers bled from hand-stitching footballs that the world's soccer elite prefer.

But on a recent sweltering day, he got to play with one of these balls for the first time in a team of other boys who, like Nazir, were taken from sweatshops where they had worked and enrolled in schools as part of a U.N.-led project against child labor.

The Texas Republican had blocked earlier efforts to raise wages in the Northern Marianas, reportedly on lobbyist Jack Abramoff's behalf.

By Walter F. Roche

WASHINGTON — Billing it as a fitting "going-away present" for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), three Democratic House members Wednesday filed a bill to raise the minimum wage in the Northern Marianas and tighten immigration standards for the U.S. territory, which critics say has become a haven for apparel industry sweatshops.