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McDonald’s will reopen some branches in Ukraine to support ‘important sense of normalcy’

The US fast-food giant closed its restaurants in Ukraine when Russia invaded the country almost six months ago. McDonald’s also “de-arched” in Russia and sold its outlets to a franchise owner.

Following Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February, McDonald’s closed its restaurants in Ukraine, but has continued to pay more than 10,000 staff employed in the country, while it closed and sold branches in Russia.

It said on Thursday that it will slowly start to reopen some of its branches in the capital Kyiv and western Ukraine. Other major Western companies have also reopened their businesses in Ukraine recently, including Nike, KFC and Mango. “We’ve spoken extensively to our employees who have expressed a strong desire to return to work and see our restaurants in Ukraine reopen,” Paul Pomroy, corporate senior vice president of international operated markets, said in a message to employees. Advertisement “In recent months, the belief that this would support a small, but important sense of normalcy has grown stronger.” Ukraine’s economy has been severely impacted by the war, with the International Monetary Fund expecting its economy to shrink by 35% in 2022, in part due to businesses halting operations because of the war.

McDonald’s has 109 restaurants in Ukraine, but Mr Pomroy didn’t say how many would reopen, when it would happen or the locations.

The company said it would start working with vendors to get supplies into branches, prepare stores, bring employees back and launch safety procedures due to ongoing fighting in the east.

McDonald’s has sold its 850 restaurants in Russia to local franchise owner Alexander Govor, who held a licence for 25 branches in Siberia and who has begun reopening former McDonald’s locations under the name Vkusno-i Tochka or Tasty-period.

McDonald’s opened its first Russian location in Moscow three decades ago. Selling its Russian business was the first time the fast-food giant has “de-arched” or left a major market.

McDonald’s closed hundreds of locations throughout Russia in March, costing the company $55m (£45m) a month.

By: Amar Mehta

News reporter @Amarjournalist_

SOURCE: SKY NEWS

Tonnes of dead fish pulled from River Oder in Poland as officials warn of possible contamination

At least 10 tonnes of dead fish have been pulled out of the River Oder which flows along part of Poland’s border with Germany – as officials warn people not to enter the water due to possible contamination.

Anglers and volunteers removed the dead fish from the 200km (124 mile) stretch of the river north of Olawa in southwest Poland, the head of the agency which manages the country’s national waters has said.

Przemyslaw Daca, head of State Water Holding, also called the situation a gigantic ecological catastrophe.

Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has vowed to punish those responsible after environmental authorities said they notified prosecutors about potential contamination of the country’s second longest river.

Ewa Drewniak, a biologist working with opposition political group Civic Coalition, has accused the government of not responding quickly enough. Advertisement “Dead fish have been flowing in the Oder for the past two weeks and people have not been informed about it, I’ve seen scores of people bathing in the river a week and a half ago, they were not aware of the danger, this is scandalous,” she said. Regional environmental protection authorities in the Polish city of Wroclaw said Oder water samples taken on 28 July showed an 80% probability that they contained mesitylene, a toxic substance, although this was not present in samples taken after 1 August.

Low river levels due to the drought in Europe might have aggravated possible contamination, Mr Daca said on Wednesday.

He added they suspected a strong oxidizing agent might have gotten into the water causing oxygen levels to spike, which can harm fish.

Mr Daca also said there was no reason for panic and the situation was improving.

Several German districts bordering Poland warned locals to avoid the river water and not to eat fish from the Oder as long as the cause of the fish deaths was unclear.

“The reports from the Oder are simply terrible,” Michael Kellner, a senior politician of Germany’s The Greens party, said on Twitter.

SOURCE: SKY NEWS

More than 1,000 firefighters struggling to tackle huge forest blaze in France

Around 6,800 hectares (26 square miles) in the Gironde region and neighbouring Landes have been burnt by the blaze, which began on Tuesday.

At least 16 houses have also been destroyed, and emergency services have forced around 10,000 people to evacuate the area.

Photographs released by firefighters showed flames raging through pine forests, sending clouds of smoke in the air and illuminating the sky with intense orange light.

It comes after the region was ravaged by flames last month and as France tackles its fourth heatwave following its worst drought ever.

“The conditions are particularly difficult: the vegetation and the soil are particularly dry after more than a month without rain,” local officials said in a statement.

“The scorching temperatures are expected to continue until Saturday and combine with very dry air to create very severe fire risk conditions.”

On Thursday, temperatures were due to reach 40C (104F) across the region.

Four firefighting planes, based in Sweden and Greece, have been sent to the country by the European Commission to help put out the blaze.

Nine other aircraft and two helicopters have also been mobilised.

Commission spokesperson Miriam Garcia Ferrer also said firefighting teams from Germany, Poland, Austria and Romania were on their way to help French crews.

“The EU continues to monitor the situation across Europe and stands ready to help the affected countries,” she added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and interior minister Gerald Darmanin are due to visit the evacuated small town of Hostens to meet crews, rescuers, local officials and volunteers.

SOURCE: SKY NEWS