In Brief: Ikea Linked to Forced Labor, Google Gives for Green Buildings, Nike to Sell Cole Haan

• Fast furniture giant Ikea knowingly benefited from forced labor in the former East Germany to manufacture some of its products in the 1980s, according to an Ernst & Young investigation commissioned by the company. “Even though Ikea Group took steps to secure that prisoners were not used in production, it is now clear that these measures were not effective enough,” the company said in a statement released Friday. A related investigation into purchase practices in Cuba (as trade with Cuba was supposedly initiated by the former GDR state trade organization) concluded that Ikea has never had any long-term business relations with suppliers in Cuba and found no evidence that the IKEA Group was aware of the possible use of political prisoners in Cuba.

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