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The chief executive of McDonald’s has revealed the company has suffered a “meaningful business impact” following controversy surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.

Chris Kempczinski said the fast-food giant had been negatively affected in both Middle Eastern markets and “some outside the region” following calls for a boycott of the chain.

It comes after a row in October when McDonald’s Israel announced it had donated thousands of free meals to Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops involved in the conflict.

The move sparked a furious backlash from critics of Israel’s military action in Gaza, including calls from some for a consumer boycott.

McDonald’s franchises in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Turkey also issued statements distancing themselves from the move, with many of them pledging aid to Gaza.

At the time, sources at the company’s US headquarters were keen to keep out of the controversy by stressing its franchises were independent businesses licensed under the McDonald’s brand.

Writing on Linkedin on Thursday, Mr Kempczinski blamed both the war and “associated misinformation”, saying: “We abhor violence of any kind and firmly stand against hate speech, and we will always proudly open our doors to everyone.”

He added: “I also recognise that several markets in the Middle East and some outside the region are experiencing a meaningful business impact due to the war and associated misinformation that is affecting brands like McDonald’s.

“This is disheartening and ill-founded. In every country where we operate, including in Muslim countries, McDonald’s is proudly represented by local owner operators who work tirelessly to serve and support their communities while employing thousands of their fellow citizens.

“That local community connection is the genius of the McDonald’s System.”

Mr Kempczinski did not go into details of how the company had been affected.

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However, last month McDonald’s Malaysia blamed a boycott from pro-Palestinian activists for a dip in its profits, which it said had resulted in closures and job cuts.

It came as the company announced legal action against Malaysia’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign over social media posts which urged consumers to avoid the fast-food chain over Israel’s “genocidal war”.

In October, McDonald’s Israel also hit out at “false information” as it denied on social media that it had been supporting Palestinian organisations.

It wrote on social media that more than 100,000 meals had been given to “all those who are involved in the defence of the state, hospitals, and surrounding areas”.

As well as boycott calls, McDonald’s has also been hit by protests, while live rodents were thrown into at least two McDonald’s branches in Birmingham in incidents apparently linked to the row.

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Red Sea crisis hits high street brands

According to figures from 2022, McDonald’s franchised and operated more than 40,000 branches in over 100 countries, reporting a total annual revenue of $23bn (£18bn) for the year.

The fast-food firm is among a string of companies to be hit by controversy related to the war, including cosmetics retailer Lush and clothing chain Zara.

The conflict has also had an impact on shipping in the Red Sea following attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

It comes after around 1,200 people were killed when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, according to the country’s officials.

Since then more than 22,400 people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, amounting to almost 1% of the region’s population of 2.3 million.

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs scheduled for release from prison in 2028

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs scheduled for release from prison in 2028

Sean “Diddy” Combs is expected to spend around three years in prison, federal inmate records show.

The 55-year-old music mogul was given a 50-month sentence and a $500,000 fine earlier this month for flying people around the US and abroad for sexual encounters, including his then-girlfriend and male sex workers, in violation of prostitution laws.

According to Sky News’ US partner NBC News, his expected release date is 8 May 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Prosecutors had pushed for Combs, serving his first criminal conviction, to serve 11 years in prison.

Combs, who has been detained since his arrest in September 2024, was acquitted on more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.

He pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence.

‘Disgusting, shameful and sick’

Combs, who told a federal district court in New York he admitted his past behaviour was “disgusting, shameful and sick”, is set to appeal the conviction and sentence.

During a seven-week trial, four days of testimony was heard from Cassie, now Cassie Venture Fine, who told the court she was coerced and sometimes blackmailed into sexual encounters with male workers.

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Jurors were also shown video clips of Combs dragging and beating Ms Fine in a Los Angeles hotel hallway, following one of those encounters.

She submitted a letter to the judge, ahead of the sentencing, calling Combs a “manipulator” and would fear for her safety if he was immediately released.

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Trump raises tariffs on Canada by 10% in response to Reagan advert

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Trump raises tariffs on Canada by 10% in response to Reagan advert

Donald Trump has announced he will be raising tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an extra 10% because of an anti-tariff advert aired in Ontario.

The advert used the words of former US president Ronald Reagan to criticise US tariffs.

A furious Mr Trump on Friday cancelled “all trade negotiations” with Canada.

Doug Ford, Ontario’s premier, said he would pull the advert from Monday, but it continued to run over the weekend, including during the first World Series game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mr Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform: “Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD.

“Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.”

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TV advert deepens trade rift between Trump and Canada

Mr Trump claimed the advert misrepresented the position of Mr Reagan, a two-term president and a beloved figure in the Republican Party.

Mr Reagan had used much of his 1987 address, featured in Ontario’s ad, spelling out the case against tariffs.

Mr Trump said the advert was intended to influence the US Supreme Court ahead of arguments scheduled for next month which could decide whether the president has the power to impose his sweeping tariffs.

It was not immediately clear when the 10% hike would come into effect, or whether it would apply to all Canadian goods.

Canada – which is America’s closest ally, and one of their biggest trading partners – has been hit hard by US tariffs, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been trying to work with Mr Trump to lower them.

Mark Carney and Donald Trump. File pic: Reuters
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Mark Carney and Donald Trump. File pic: Reuters

More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the US, and nearly 3.6bn Canadian dollars (2.7bn US dollars) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.

Many Canadian products have been hit with a 35% tariff, while steel and aluminium face rates of 50%.

Energy products have a lower rate of 10%, while other goods covered by the US-Canada-Mexico Agreement are exempt. That trade agreement is slated for review.

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Mr Trump negotiated the deal in his first term but has since soured on it.

The US president and Mr Carney will both attend the ASEAN summit in Malaysia which started on Sunday, but Mr Trump has said he has no intention of meeting Mr Carney there.

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Trump’s Venezuela drug bust shows he’s either misinformed or has another motive

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Trump's Venezuela drug bust shows he's either misinformed or has another motive

The world’s largest aircraft carrier is steaming towards the Caribbean supported by the rest of its “carrier group” to add even more muscle to the US forces already threateningly close to Venezuela.

The question is simple – is this really all about President Trump‘s war on drugs in South America?

I doubt it. A sledgehammer to crack a nut isn’t even in it.

There are a few reasons to doubt the American government’s stated aim of wiping out these so-called “narco terrorist” gangs threatening the US from Venezuela, even after one takes out of the equation the sort of equipment the military is deploying – which isn’t what they would need for effective drug smuggling interdiction.

While the president acknowledges that the synthetic opioid fentanyl is a huge killer in the US (which it is) and is supplied by drug gangs (which it is), to blame Venezuela for fentanyl production is simply incorrect.

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Is Trump tackling cartels or trying to ‘control’ Venezuela?

Mexican cartels produce fentanyl with precursors largely supplied from China, and it is from Mexico – America’s neighbour – that the fentanyl is smuggled directly into the United States across its southern border.

Venezuela isn’t involved in this fentanyl business in any meaningful way, and I know this because I have reported from the Sinaloa cartel’s fentanyl production labs in Mexico.

The Mexican cartels are very proud of their business, and from my experience covering this story over the years, when the drugs cartels are proud of something, and it makes them a lot of money – which fentanyl does – they don’t share the market with anyone, and certainly not with Venezuela.

President Trump is right that Venezuela is now a large supplier of other illegal drugs, especially cocaine, but they come from countries like Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, which are the largest producers of the coca leaf in the world (the coca leaf is what cocaine is made from).

The world's largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford. Pic: Reuters
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The world’s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford. Pic: Reuters

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Venezuela, which borders Colombia, is largely a transit country to the Caribbean in the same way that Ecuador, which also borders Colombia, is a transit country to the Pacific.

Sailors work on a Venezuelan Navy patrol boat off the Caribbean coast. Pic: Reuters
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Sailors work on a Venezuelan Navy patrol boat off the Caribbean coast. Pic: Reuters

Neither Venezuela nor Ecuador are significant drug producers.

The drugs enter Venezuela overland, primarily from Colombia, and then mainly leave the country from ports on the northern coast of the country – and these are the departure points of the boats the US government has recently targeted and destroyed, along with the crews on board.

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Hegseth: US forces strike ‘narco-terrorists’

President Trump claims these boats from Venezuela are heading to the United States, but in reality they are mainly heading to the nearby islands of Trinidad and Tobago, and from there they largely go to West Africa and Europe – mostly Spain and Portugal.

Drugs heading to America either pass through Mexico over the border into the US or are transported via the Pacific Ocean route through countries like Ecuador. In this instance, Venezuela isn’t involved.

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It’s widely accepted the two most exported drugs from South America are cocaine and marijuana – and the volume of production is staggering.

But the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US says that synthetic opioids like fentanyl are responsible for most overdose deaths there – and fentanyl is not produced in South America, whatever the president says.

So one can only conclude he is either mistaken and misinformed, or he has another motive. I suspect it is the latter, and that regime change in Venezuela is top of the list.

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