McDonald’s boycotts: McDonald’s sturdy 2023 gross sales slumped barely on the finish of the 12 months. The quick meals big claims that its operations in Israel, run by an area franchisee, introduced plans to supply free meals to Israeli troopers. The transfer prompted boycotts and restricted retailer hours at some areas, leaving world same-store gross sales to rise 3.4% over October-December, falling under expectations of 4.7% development. The fallout comes as U.S. firms like Starbucks additionally faced boycotts at its Center East areas for its seeming pro-Israel sentiment because the Israel-Hamas conflict rages on. Full story.
Snap layoffs: Within the newest spherical of tech layoffs, Snapchat’s mum or dad firm introduced that it’s going to layoff 528 staff, saying it was restructuring to help future development. The cuts come as virtually 32,000 tech workers have confronted layoffs because the begin of 2024, together with at tech giants like Amazon and Alphabet. Full story.
Meta oversight board’s findings: Meta’s manipulated media coverage is “incoherent” in halting disinformation on-line, an oversight board stated. The listening to comes after an altered video of President Biden went viral on Fb, prompting issues on the unfold of political disinformation forward of greater than 50 elections around the world deliberate for 2024. The board stated Meta’s coverage ought to goal each AI-generated movies and fake audio recordings, and may add clarifying labels to manipulated content material reasonably than totally take away it. Full story.
El Salvador’s president: El Salvador’s voters reelected president Nayib Bukele throughout Sunday’s election, with early outcomes exhibiting Bukele earned 83% of the vote. Bukele, who positions himself as a pacesetter centered on ending gang violence, has confronted backlash previously for his encroachment on democracy. Together with his New Concepts Celebration prone to win practically the entire nation’s legislative seats, his opponents worry he’ll overhaul the structure and minimize time period limits. Full story.
World Cup 2026: FIFA introduced the 16 cities throughout Canada, the U.S. and Mexico that may host video games for the 2026 World Cup. It’s the primary time that three international locations are internet hosting the event, and comes after Japan and South Korea have been the primary co-hosts in 2022. Eleven of the introduced cities are within the U.S., and the ultimate will happen at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19, 2026. The event kicks off June 11, 2026 in Mexico Metropolis. Full story.
