A Thai court issued arrest warrants yesterday for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife over their alleged violations of stock-trading laws.

It is the second set of warrants issued in the past month against Thaksin, who has been living abroad since he was ousted in a bloodless coup almost a year ago. The other case involved conflict of interest related to the sale of Bangkok real estate.

Sunai Manomaiudom, director-general of the Department of Special Investigation, said the Bangkok Criminal Court had issued the warrant at his agency's request.

Thaksin has denied all allegations against him, and has said he will not return to Thailand until after new elections are held at the end of this year.

Thaksin was deposed last September after the country fell into a political crisis due to mass demonstrations demanding he step down because of alleged corruption and abuse of power.

He became a billionaire in the telecommunications sector before entering politics and serving as prime minister since 2001. A controversial business deal by his family, the sale early last year of its telecommunications company Shin Corp to a Singapore state investment company, was a major cause of public discontent.

The new warrants for Thaksin and his wife, Pojamarn, involve charges of violating regulations requiring disclosure of corporate information to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Pichit Chuenban, a lawyer for Thaksin's family, said he would inform the former prime minister of yesterday's court action, and advise him not to return to fight the case for the time being "because the situation in the country is not normal."

"We think he should return only after we have an elected government," Pichit said. Thailand is currently administered by an interim civilian government, but a military council exercises power behind the scenes and is intensely hostile toward Thaksin.

Sunai had earlier said Thaksin and other family members controlled nearly 80 percent of SC Asset, a real estate company, both directly and through nominee companies, and sold their interests to outside parties last year.

They are charged with violating disclosure rules, both by failing to report their ownership and failing to report the sale of shares.

Each violation of the exchange's regulations carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine of US$15,500.

Sunai said Thaksin is also suspected of violating a law on Cabinet members holding company shares, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a US$31,000 fine.

The plaintiffs accuse Sanofi-Aventis US management of sex discrimination, saying they were not promoted because of their gender and were paid significantly less than their male colleagues.

The women are seeking more than 300 million dollars in compensation.

Sanofi-Aventis denied the allegations.

The original plaintiff, Bellifemine, started working at Sanofi-Aventis US in 1995 and is still employed there. The three others -- Amy Zeoli, Michelle Popa and Sue Sullivan -- said they resigned in 2006-2007 over the situation.

All four plaintiffs said their bosses had sexually harassed them, in words or unwelcome gestures. Some said they suffered repeated incidences of harassment after reporting the offensive behavior to management.

"We'll be moving for class certification on behalf of approximately 6,000 women in the next few months, after we obtain the statistical data which shows that Sanofi pays its female pharma reps less than men, and fails to promote women at the same rate as men," said a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Steven Wittels of Sanford Wittels & Heisler LLP.

"We are confident that the data will support these claims," he said.

Wittels said the 300 million dollars sought was modest because "each woman is entitled to up to approximately 500,000 dollars in damages for compensatory back and future wages and punitive damages."

Sanofi-Aventis US issued a terse statement denying the women's allegations.

"We are confident that the suit lacks merit and that all of our employees are treated fairly and in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws," the company said.

BRITISH Airways could be forced to pay out hundreds of millions of pounds to settle a class action lawsuit relating to cargo price-fixing, it emerged yesterday.

Several European blue-chip companies, including Ikea, Volvo and TNT, are said to have joined the lawsuit and noted that BA has set aside £350 million to pay fines.

The airline has already paid out $300m (£174m) levied by the US department of justice (DoJ). Two thirds was related to cargo price-fixing and $100m concerned price-fixing related to passengers.

According to documents filed to a US district court, the class action suit concerns shipments valued at $29 billion. Ten present and former BA executives, including the current director of operations, have not received protection from prosecution under a plea agreement between the airline and US prosecutors investigating the price-fixing conspiracy.

BA said four of the ten still worked for the airline.

Three weeks ago, Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, assured customers and the media that only a "very limited number of individuals" were involved in the two illegal cartels through which BA had fixed the fuel surcharges.

Yet papers released by the DoJ have confirmed that the corruption inquiry into BA went beyond Martin George, its former commercial director, and Iain Burns, its former head of communications, the only two named in the press before this weekend.

The DoJ said it was "carving out" ten current and former senior BA executives from an immunity deal that will settle BA's criminal liability in the US. The individuals, who have yet to be charged, could face criminal prosecution and, ultimately, jail.

The toys recalled Tuesday were all made in China and posed a choking hazard or contained unsafe levels of lead, according to the CPSC. But the agency said there were no reports of injuries from the toys, which also included a "Barbie Doll and Tanner" play set and the car Sarge from the Pixar movie "Cars."

"I apologize for the situation we are all facing," Mattel Chairman and CEO Robert Eckert told CNN. "We'll continue working very hard on the standards, and if we see more issues, we'll promptly notify people."

The recall affects 9.58 million imported toys sold at toy stores, discount stores and other retailers nationwide dating back as far back as May 2003. Worldwide, Mattel said the recall includes nearly 19 million toys.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Eckert said more recalls may be coming as the nation's biggest toymaker tightens its quality-control standards,

During the call, Mattel characterized the magnet problem as a design issue, and blamed a Chinese subcontractor for the presence of lead paint.

"They did not do their own due diligence," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the consumer group U.S. PIRG."They relied on Chinese subcontractors - that doesn't cut it."

Mattel said it was recalling 72 different products, including 7.3 million "Polly Pocket" dolls and accessories, 345,000 "Batman" action figures, 253,000 "Sarge" die-cast cars, 683,000 "Barbie and Tanner" magnetic toys and 1 million "Doggie Day Care" play sets. An additional 2.4 million "Polly Pocket" play sets were recalled in November.

Retailers including Wal-Mart (down $0.02 to $43.58, Charts, Fortune 500) ordered their stores to pull the affected toys from shelves and stopping them from being sold at registers.

Tuesday's announcement marks another devastating blow for Mattel. Two weeks ago the company recalled 1.5 million toys made in China for its Fisher-Price unit due to the presence of lead. The company said the recalls would cost about $30 million.

It also followed Monday's news that the boss of a Chinese factory that produced the lead-tainted Fisher-Price toys had committed suicide.

Some 70 to 80 percent of all the toys sold in the United States are made in China, according to the CPSC. The agency estimates that hundreds of millions of toys are imported into the United States every year.

"The point is when a toy come into the U.S., it must meet U.S. safety standards," Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the CPSC, told reporters after Mattel's announcement. "What I would like to see, at the end of the day, is toys tested in China before they are imported into the U.S."

The recall is the latest development in the growing crisis over the safety of Chinese products. Chinese officials have gone out of their way to stress the safety and quality of its exports, blaming the problems on a small number of companies.

Earlier this month, China's Commerce ministry blacklisted 400 export firms following the recent product safety scares.

Mattel said consumers should stop using the affected toys immediately and contact the company for instructions about how to receive a replacement.

Mattel's launched a Web site (www.mattel.com/safety/) that includes a full list of the recalled toys. Or consumers can also visit the CPSC site to learn which "Polly Pocket", "Batman", "Sarge", "Barbie and Tanner" and "Doggie Day Care" toys are affected.

Millions of toys have also been recalled in the United States due to hazards from small, powerful magnets and lead paint. Shares in the largest U.S. toy company fell as much as 6 percent.

The European Commission, which oversees consumer safety across the European Union, said it had not been notified of any recalls under RAPEX, the bloc's rapid alert system under which countries must immediately report any cases of unsafe products.

A spokesman for Mattel in Belgium said the company had issued a "voluntary recall" of products across the 27-member bloc. He could not say how many products in total would have to be returned across the whole of the EU.

Mattel in Germany said it was recalling 1 million toys from the German market. Nearly 2 million toys sold in Britain and Ireland were being recalled due to concerns linked to small magnetic toys.

Recalls of thousands of toys were also confirmed in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

A total of 18.2 million toys around the world are being recalled, the company said.

In 2006, 48 percent of all products notified under RAPEX originated in China and Brussels warned Beijing last month that the 27-nation bloc would take measures and even ban Chinese products if the situation did not improve.

Earlier this month Mattel recalled 1.5 million of its toys worldwide sold through its Fisher-Price unit and made in China, including popular Sesame Street characters Elmo and Big Bird, over concerns their paint might contain too much lead.

Tuesday's recall concerned a number of Mattel products also sold through Fisher Price including Batman, Polly Pocket, Doggie Day Care, Dora and Pixar Sarge die-cast toy cars, also due to concerns over lead paint linked to health problems in children.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said there had been reports of three children swallowing more than one magnet and suffering intestinal perforations that required surgery.

When more than one magnet is swallowed, the magnets can attract each other and cause intestinal perforation or blockage, which can be fatal.