In brief: Retailers will recall 150,000 baby recliners

WASHINGTON – Four national retailers agreed to recall more than 150,000 Nap Nanny baby recliners after at least five infant deaths and dozens of reports of children nearly falling out of the recliners, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.

The recall covers Nap Nanny Generations One and Two, and the Chill model infant recliners. All were sold between 2009 and 2012.

The four retailers – Amazon.com, Buy Buy Baby, Diapers.com and Toys R Us/Babies R Us – agreed to voluntarily participate in the recall of the Nap Nanny because its manufacturer is unable or unwilling to participate, the government agency said in a statement.

The manufacturer, Baby Matters LLC of Berwyn, Pa., said it had gone out of business.

Ships to be rerouted to protect whales

LOS ANGELES – Ship traffic off the California coast will be rerouted under new rules designed to protect slow-moving endangered whales from ship collisions.

The International Maritime Organization has approved vessel lane changes on approaches to San Francisco Bay and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and in the Santa Barbara Channel. The changes take effect next year after the Coast Guard goes through the rulemaking process.

Migrating blue, fin and humpback whales are prone to ship strikes since they are often lured to the California shoreline by plentiful krill. All three species are endangered.

Apple likely to pay to use iPhone in Brazil

SAO PAULO – Apple Inc. likely will have to pay a Brazilian company for the right to use the iPhone brand in Latin America’s biggest country, a Brazilian telecommunications analyst said Thursday.

Brazil’s Gradiente SA started selling Android smartphones with the iPhone brand last week after winning the legal right to use the name in Brazil.

“The most likely scenario” is that the two companies will reach an agreement whereby Apple will pay Gradiente for the use of the brand, said Eduardo Tude, president of Brazilian telecommunications consultancy Teleco.

He said Apple will probably agree because it “doesn’t want to stop selling its product in Brazil.”

Unilever to phase out use of plastic beads

AMSTERDAM – Unilever, the maker of Vaseline, Axe deodorants and Dove soaps, among other cosmetic and hygiene products, said Thursday it will phase out the use of microplastics by 2015.

Many soaps, skin scrubs and shower gels contain microplastics, which are tiny polyethelene beads. Scientists and environmental groups are concerned that they contribute to polluting oceans.