First Glance

LOS ANGELES

Grocers warn agreement unlikely by union deadline

It is "increasingly unlikely" that negotiators for three supermarket operators and their Southern California workers will reach a contract deal in time to meet a deadline set by the employees' union because labor talks have stalled, the grocers said Tuesday.

Earlier this month, union negotiators set a noon Thursday deadline for reaching an acceptable contract deal with the employers — Supervalu Inc.'s Albertsons, Kroger Co.'s Ralphs and Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Pavilions.

In their statement Tuesday, the supermarkets accused union negotiators of delaying the talks and failing to engage in discussions of funding levels for the workers' health plan, wages and other issues.

The United Food and Commercial Workers, however, blamed the contract talk delays on the supermarkets.

New York

Upcoming Rockstar game Manhunt 2' raises hackles

An upcoming video game from the maker of the "Grand Theft Auto" series came under fire Tuesday in United States and Britain, where the government's ratings board banned sales for what it called an "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone."

Rockstar Games' "Manhunt 2" was scheduled for a July 10 release on Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 consoles.

Players of "Manhunt 2" assume the role of an escaped mental institution patient who goes on a killing spree as he fights his way to freedom.

It includes special death moves players can perform by moving the Wii's wireless, motion-sensitive controller at just the right moment.

The British Board of Film Classification last banned a game in 1997, when it barred the sale of "Carmageddon," in which players rack up points by driving vehicles over pedestrians.

Judge blocks sale of cheap generic blood thinner Plavix

A Canadian company's cheap generic version of the blood thinner Plavix has been blocked from the U.S. market until at least 2011.

U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein said Tuesday that Apotex Inc. had failed to prove during a three-week trial in New York earlier this year that the patent protecting Plavix was invalid.

Plavix, used by 48 million Americans, is Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s best- selling product. It is the world's second best-selling drug after Pfizer Inc.'s cholesterol-lowering agent Lipitor.

The ruling also was a victory for the French patent-holder, Sanofi-Aventis, which sells Plavix in the United States through Bristol-Myers.

— From wire reports