New York — McDonald’s, which has been focusing on upgrading its core items to boost sales, is rolling out a series of changes designed to improve its signature burgers. Buns will be softer. Cheese, gooier. Onion will be added to patties right on the grill. And the Big Mac sauce? There will be more of it. “We found that small changes, like tweaking our process to get hotter, meltier cheese and adju...
New York — McDonald’s, which has been focusing on upgrading its core items to boost sales, is rolling out a series of changes designed to improve its signature burgers. Buns will be softer. Cheese, gooier. Onion will be added to patties right on the grill. And the Big Mac sauce? There will be more of it. “We found that small changes, like tweaking our process to get hotter, meltier cheese and adjusting our grill settings for a better sear, added up to a big difference in making our burgers more flavorful than ever,” said chef Chad Schafer, senior director of culinary innovation of McDonald’s USA, in a statement Monday. The upgrades apply to the Big Mac and the McDouble burger as well as the classic cheeseburger, double cheeseburger and hamburger. The Big Mac will come with more Big Mac sauce. McDonald's USA The improvements were first made to burgers in international markets, the company said, and have already arrived in some US cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas. They’ll be available nationally by early next year. The changes follow other improvements to key menu items. In 2018, McDonald’s announced that it was switching to fresh beef for its Quarter Pounders, a complicated move with a big sales payoff. In 2021, it launched a crispy chicken sandwich to replace previous iterations — a relatively late arrival in the chicken sandwich wars, but one that seems to have resonated with McDonald’s customers. . “We are gaining market share in both chicken and beef,” thanks to improved burgers and items like the chicken sandwich, said McDonald’s (MCD) CEO Chris Kempczinski during a January analyst call. “In an environment where our customers are looking for the simple and familiar, our core menu items have never been more relevant,” he said. In the US, sales at stores open at least 13 months jumped 5.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022, rising 10.3% for the whole year. Even the humble cheeseburger is getting an upgrade. McDonald's USA Focusing on promotin...
Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life. Gobbling up too many refined wheat and rice products, along with eating too few whole grains, is fueling the growth of new cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide, according to a new study that models data through 2018. “O...
Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life. Gobbling up too many refined wheat and rice products, along with eating too few whole grains, is fueling the growth of new cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide, according to a new study that models data through 2018. “Our study suggests poor carbohydrate quality is a leading driver of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes globally,” says senior author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University and professor of medicine at Tufts School of Medicine in Boston, in a statement. Another key factor: People are eating far too much red and processed meats, such as bacon, sausage, salami and the like, the study said. Those three factors — eating too few whole grains and too many processed grains and meats — were the primary drivers of over 14 million new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2018, according to the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine. In fact, the study estimated 7 out of 10 cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide in 2018 were linked to poor food choices. Unhealthy carbs and processed meats are two leading contributing factors to global cases of diabetes, a new study said. djgunner/E+/Getty Images “These new findings reveal critical areas for national and global focus to improve nutrition and reduce devastating burdens of diabetes,” said Mozaffarian, who is also the editor in chief of the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter. Too many processed foods Mozaffarian and his team developed a research model of dietary intake between 1990 and 2018 and applied it to 184 countries. Compared with 1990, there were 8.6 million more cases of type 2 diabetes due to poor diet in 2018, the study found. Researchers found eating too many unhealthy foods was more of a driver of type 2 diabetes on a global level than a lack of eating wholesome foods, especially for men c...
For all the interest in big-name witnesses and eye-opening private text messages, at the core of the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News are 20 specific broadcasts and tweets in which the voting company says Fox knowingly promoted lies, destroying its reputation. According to the lawsuit, all 20 statements took place between November 8, 2020, and January 26, 2021, ...
For all the interest in big-name witnesses and eye-opening private text messages, at the core of the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News are 20 specific broadcasts and tweets in which the voting company says Fox knowingly promoted lies, destroying its reputation. According to the lawsuit, all 20 statements took place between November 8, 2020, and January 26, 2021, and came in the form of on-air comments from Fox hosts Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo; interviews with prominent pro-Trump election deniers Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell; and several of Dobbs’ tweets. The wild allegations in the statements fell into four broad categories: that Dominion conducted election fraud, that it used algorithms to flip votes, that it had ties to Venezuela and that politicians received kickbacks to use the company. The judge overseeing the defamation trial has already ruled that these allegations were false, saying it is “CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.” At trial, it will be a jury’s job to determine if the statements were made with “actual malice” – a high bar based on knowing falseness or having a reckless disregard for the truth – and potentially award damages. Dominion has asked for $1.6 billion in damages and additional punitive damages, a number Fox says is wildly overblown. Fox has denied wrongdoing and said the case is a meritless assault on press freedoms. Lawyers for Fox have argued that Dominion hasn’t come close to clearing the high bar to prove defamation. Here’s a closer look at those 20 specific broadcasts and tweets of alleged defamation. Broadcast 1: Bartiromo interviews Powell Maria Bartiromo is involved in three broadcasts that Dominion says were defamatory. Roy Rochlin/Getty Images The broadcast: “Sunday Morning Futures” on November 8, 2020. What they alleged: Election fraud and algorithm flips. Key false quote: “Sidney, we talked about t...
Shares of Google-parent Alphabet fell more than 3% in early trading Monday after a report sparked concerns that its core search engine could lose market share to AI-powered rivals, including Microsoft’s Bing. Last month, Google employees learned that Samsung was weighing making Bing the default search engine on its devices instead of Google’s search engine, prompting a “panic” inside the company, ...
Shares of Google-parent Alphabet fell more than 3% in early trading Monday after a report sparked concerns that its core search engine could lose market share to AI-powered rivals, including Microsoft’s Bing. Last month, Google employees learned that Samsung was weighing making Bing the default search engine on its devices instead of Google’s search engine, prompting a “panic” inside the company, according to a report from the New York Times, citing internal messages and documents. (CNN has not reviewed the material.) In an effort to address the heightened competition, Google is said to be developing a new AI-powered search engine called Project “Magi,” according to the Times. The company, which reportedly has about 160 people working on the project, aims to change the way results appear in Google Search and will include an AI chat tool available to answer questions. The project is expected to be unveiled to the public next month, according to the report. In a statement sent to CNN, Google spokesperson Lara Levin said the company has been using AI for years to “improve the quality of our results” and “offer entirely new ways to search,” including with a feature rolled out last year that lets users search by combining images and words. “We’ve done so in a responsible and helpful way that maintains the high bar we set for delivering quality information,” Levin said. “Not every brainstorm deck or product idea leads to a launch, but as we’ve said before, we’re excited about bringing new AI-powered features to Search, and will share more details soon.” Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Google’s search engine has dominated the market for two decades. But the viral success of ChatGPT, which can generate compelling written responses to user prompts, appeared to put Google on defense for the first time in years. In March, Google began opening up access to Bard, its new AI chatbot tool that directly competes with ChatGPT and promises to help users ...
Editor’s Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him @DeanObeidallah@masto.ai. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. On Monday, the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee — chaired by Donald Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan — is set to hold a field hearing in New York City call...
Editor’s Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him @DeanObeidallah@masto.ai. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. On Monday, the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee — chaired by Donald Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan — is set to hold a field hearing in New York City called “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan.” A statement bills the hearing as an examination of how, the Judiciary Committee says, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s policies have “led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents.” Dean Obeidallah CNN In response, Bragg’s office slammed Jordan’s hearing as “a political stunt” while noting that data released by the New York Police Department shows crime is down in Manhattan with respect to murders, burglaries, robberies and more through April 2, compared with the same period last year. In reality, this Jordan-led hearing isn’t about stopping crime but about defending Trump — who was recently charged by a Manhattan grand jury with 34 felonies. Trump pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges stemming from an investigation into a hush-money payment to an adult film actress. The former president also is facing criminal probes in other jurisdictions over efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Bragg sued Jordan and his committee last week in federal court, accusing the Judiciary Committee chairman of a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” his office for its investigation and prosecution of Trump by making demands for confidential documents and testimony. While Jordan and his committee appear focused on discrediting the investigation into Trump, why aren’t they looking into two recent bombshell reports by ProPublica that raised red flags about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ financial relationship with GOP megado...
Editor’s Note: The following contains major spoilers about the fourth episode of “Succession’s” fourth season, “Honeymoon States.” After the shock came the aftershocks, the power vacuum, and perhaps most significantly and impressively, the laughs, as “Succession” pivoted to face life after Logan Roy, in an episode that finally put the HBO show’s title into full flower. Logan Roy’s abrupt demise le...
Editor’s Note: The following contains major spoilers about the fourth episode of “Succession’s” fourth season, “Honeymoon States.” After the shock came the aftershocks, the power vacuum, and perhaps most significantly and impressively, the laughs, as “Succession” pivoted to face life after Logan Roy, in an episode that finally put the HBO show’s title into full flower. Logan Roy’s abrupt demise left his grown children and subordinates scrambling, with each seemingly humbly offering themselves up to fill the void, while fretting about how the various candidates would play with the company’s board. At the same time, they mourned the larger-than-life figure they had lost, taking into account that he had treated many of them abysmally. And the fourth hour also marked the return of Logan’s wife, Marcia (Hiam Abbass), in what felt like “Marcia Strikes Back,” while his current and much younger girlfriend, Kerri (Zoe Winter), was bluntly shown the door. (The latter evoked memories of the musical “Evita,” when the title character boots Peron’s mistress, who sings about another suitcase in another hall.) More than anything, the episode underscored just how brutally funny “Succession” can be, with Shiv (Sarah Snook) reading her father’s obituary and musing, “Dad sounds amazing. I would like to have met dad,” while brothers Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) hilariously translated the language, with references to Logan having been “a man of his time” equaling “racist.” The episode also showcased the executives at Waystar Royco, who uncomfortably wondered what to do with a document that included not only Logan’s posthumous wishes but hand-written notes that seemingly specified who he wished to succeed him. They joked, feebly, about tossing the paper in the toilet, while making very clear how much they really wanted to toss the paper in the toilet. All the knives came out, with Carl (David Rasche) brutally insulting Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), scarcely hiding behind t...
Jeremy Renner is continuing his recovery after his devastating snowplow accident in January, and recognizing those who’ve helped him along the way. The “Rennervations” star posted to the Stories portion of his verified Instagram account ahead of the weekend, showing his recent visit to Renown Regional Medical Center, a Reno, Nevada hospital. “I got to revisit the amazing group of people who saved ...
Jeremy Renner is continuing his recovery after his devastating snowplow accident in January, and recognizing those who’ve helped him along the way. The “Rennervations” star posted to the Stories portion of his verified Instagram account ahead of the weekend, showing his recent visit to Renown Regional Medical Center, a Reno, Nevada hospital. “I got to revisit the amazing group of people who saved my life,” Renner, 52, wrote over a photo of himself posing in the center of a group of people standing in front of a screen that displayed the words “Welcome back!” He included two other photos with staffers from the medical center, including one outside in front of a Renown sign. Renner was crushed by a snowplow on New Year’s Day near his Nevada home while trying to clear snow for a relative, and broke several bones including eight ribs, an eye socket, a knee and shoulder. His liver was also pierced, and one of his lungs collapsed. Last week, the “Hawkeye” star made his first red carpet appearance since the life-threatening incident, for the premiere of his Disney+ series “Rennervations.” In the show, he and his team help refurbish and repurpose service vehicles to help communities and children in need. Three episodes are currently streaming, with a fourth, set in India, to premiere soon.
New York — Few women will be surprised to learn that even when wives earn about the same as their husbands or more, a new Pew Research Center study finds that they still spend more time on housework and child care, while their husbands spend more time on paid work and leisure. “Even as financial contributions have become more equal in marriages, the way couples divide their time between paid work ...
New York — Few women will be surprised to learn that even when wives earn about the same as their husbands or more, a new Pew Research Center study finds that they still spend more time on housework and child care, while their husbands spend more time on paid work and leisure. “Even as financial contributions have become more equal in marriages, the way couples divide their time between paid work and home life remains unbalanced,” Pew noted. So who’s earning what? Pew found that in 29% of heterosexual marriages today, women and men earn about the same (roughly $60,000 each). “Husbands in egalitarian marriages spend about 3.5 hours more per week on leisure activities than wives do. Wives in these marriages spend roughly 2 hours more per week on caregiving than husbands do and about 2.5 hours more on housework,” the study notes. In 55% of opposite-sex marriages, men are the primary or sole breadwinners, earning a median of $96,000 to their wives’ $30,000. Meanwhile, in 16% of marriages the wives outearn their husbands as the primary (10%) or sole breadwinner (6%). In these marriages women earn a median of $88,000 to their husbands’ $35,000. Of all of these categories, the only one in which men are reported to spend more time caregiving than their wives is when the woman is the sole breadwinner. And the time spent per week on household chores in those marriages is split evenly between husbands and wives. In all instances, it’s a big change from 50 years ago — when, for instance, husbands were the primary breadwinner in 85% of marriages. These are the women most likely to be the biggest earner Today, which women are most likely to be the primary or sole breadwinners can vary by age, family status, education and race. For instance, Pew found Black women are “significantly more likely” than other women to earn more than their husbands. For instance, 26% of Black women bring home more than their husbands, while only 17% of White women and 13% of Hispanic women do. But Blac...
Editor’s Note: Sign up to get this weekly column as a newsletter. We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. In 1917, British analysts deciphered a coded message the German foreign minister sent to one of his country’s diplomats vowing to begin “unrestricted submarine warfare” and seeking to win over Mexico with a promise to “reconquer the l...
Editor’s Note: Sign up to get this weekly column as a newsletter. We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. In 1917, British analysts deciphered a coded message the German foreign minister sent to one of his country’s diplomats vowing to begin “unrestricted submarine warfare” and seeking to win over Mexico with a promise to “reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona” if the US entered the world war. When it became public, the Zimmerman Telegram caused a sensation, helping propel the US into the conflict against Germany. “Never before or since has so much turned upon the solution of a secret message,” wrote David Kahn in his classic 1967 history of secret communications, “The Codebreakers.” The Germans had taken great pains to keep their intentions confidential, and the codebreakers in London’s “Room 40” had to do a lot of work to decipher the telegram. Their efforts stand in stark contrast to the ease with which secrets came tumbling out of a Pentagon intelligence network when 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard cyber specialist Jack Teixeira allegedly posted hundreds of documents on a Discord chatroom known as “Thug Shaker Central.” The disclosures likely won’t start a war, but they could prove extremely damaging to the US and several of its allies, including Ukraine. Clay Jones Teixeira is one of more than one million people who have Top Secret clearance. “The Pentagon has already started taking steps to limit the number of people who have access to such sensitive information,” wrote Brett Bruen, a former US diplomat and Obama administration official. “But much more can be done. … Why do so many people, especially those working short stints in government, have access to information that can shape the fate of nations and their leaders?” Writing in the Financial Times, Kori Schake saw “some good news.” “While specific details will be incredibly valuable to Russia and other adversa...
“Barry” has taken chances from the very beginning, which is certainly true of a fourth and final season that picks up where the third left off, with its hitman-turned-wannabe actor getting arrested. That paves the way for an even darker season that accentuates the show’s ensemble aspect while leaning a little too heavily on blurring lines with flights of fancy. Thanks to “Succession,” “Barry” won’...
“Barry” has taken chances from the very beginning, which is certainly true of a fourth and final season that picks up where the third left off, with its hitman-turned-wannabe actor getting arrested. That paves the way for an even darker season that accentuates the show’s ensemble aspect while leaning a little too heavily on blurring lines with flights of fancy. Thanks to “Succession,” “Barry” won’t be the highest-profile goodbye on HBO this spring, but the Emmy-nominated series isn’t chopped liver either. It’s fair to say, in fact, that while these episodes don’t quite measure up to what’s gone before, even a less-lethal “Barry” is still very, very good. Bill Hader’s auteur turn as director-producer-star remains one of TV’s most unpredictable series, and the new season has a strong “Better Call Saul” vibe to it, triggered by fallout from the seemingly inevitable fact that Hader’s Barry couldn’t maintain his double life forever. The consequences of his arrest flare out to both sides of that equation, from his acting teacher Gene Cousineau (as played by Henry Winkler, still a towering mixture of ego and need) and girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg) to the rogues gallery of petty criminals in his orbit, including Fuches (Stephen Root) and NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan), who has improbably found love in the course of his travels, while somehow turning “Barry” into a four-syllable name. “Barry” has always wrestled with the discomfort of having a protagonist who murders people, and the question of empathizing with its namesake becomes particularly acute in these episodes with the character in prison. When Barry asks, “Are you mad at me?” with an almost-childlike naivete, it’s easy to forget, at least momentarily, some of the horrible things he’s done, even if the revenge-minded Jim Moss (Robert Wisdom) can’t. Hader (who directed every episode) also excels at darkly comic visual gags, which are augmented in the new season with a few hysterical cameos by actual Hollywood figure...
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