Four years after launching a major initiative to increase so-called diversity in the company’s various sectors, McDonald’s management suddenly announces that it is ending several of its politically correct initiatives.
Citing a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned affirmative action at the nation’s universities, management says the “shifting legal landscape“ is behind the decision.
The alleged diversity measures have mainly involved McDonald’s itself and its suppliers and partners placing quotas on members of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities in various management positions. However, critics say the real aim has been to remove white people in general – and white men in particular – from positions of power and influence.
The fast-food chain is just the latest in a series of large companies that have recently revised or completely stopped their DEI (diversity, equality and inclusion) initiatives. Harley-Davidson and Toyota, among others, have made similar decisions.
In the case of the motorcycle manufacturer, the change took place after a large number of customers and motorcycle enthusiasts got tired of the company management’s “politically correct transformation” and left-wing political activism and threatened to boycott the company completely.
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Although several DEI initiatives are now disappearing, McDonald’s management is careful to point out that the company’s “commitment to inclusion is steadfast“.
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The US has deployed at least three warships to waters off Venezuela in what it claims is an operation against drug trafficking. However, Bolivian President Luis Arce argues that the real purpose is geopolitical control over Latin America and its natural resources.
The US has recently expanded its military presence in the Caribbean by positioning three Aegis-class destroyers – USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham and USS Sampson – in waters off Venezuela’s coast, according to several media reports. The amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima is also reportedly part of the force.
The operation reportedly involves approximately 4,000 American military personnel, including Marines, and is officially described by the US as part of the fight against drug trafficking to America. Specifically targeting drug trafficking originating from the Venezuelan drug cartel “Cartel de los Soles” (Cartel of the Suns).
The American administration emphasizes that preventing and limiting drug flows to the US are high-priority objectives. In addition to the destroyers, reconnaissance aircraft and an attack submarine are being used in the area to monitor and combat drug smuggling.
Meanwhile, Venezuela has responded by mobilizing more than 4.5 million members of the country’s militia forces to defend national sovereignty. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro calls the American presence a “provocation” and a threat to Venezuela’s territorial integrity.
‘ Thousands of US Marines and destroyers are approaching the Venezuelan coast today.
President Maduro warns of the risk of “military terrorist attacks to overthrow the regime” under the guise of a drug war.
Washington regards Nicolás Maduro as an illegitimate leader and has offered a $50 million bounty for his capture. The Venezuelan government dismisses US accusations as politically motivated and unfounded.
From Bolivia, President Luis Arce has criticized the US military escalation during a video address at the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) summit.
— We know that behind this failed international war on drugs lies the real objective to geopolitically control Latin America for its natural resources and to dismantle organized peoples, so that we cannot follow our own sovereign path, says the Bolivian president.
He argues that the international “war on drugs” is actually a cover story for America’s ambition to geopolitically control Latin America and exploit the region’s natural resources, as well as to crush the peoples’ independence and sovereignty. Arce emphasized that Bolivia stands firm in its sovereignty and peaceful cooperation within the region.
The American military buildup has created concern in Latin America, as critics argue that the measure risks escalating tensions and contributing to destabilization in an already troubled region.
Today, the AfD is the largest party in large parts of eastern Germany - largely due to the policies pursued during Angela Merkel's tenure as German Chancellor.
In a new documentary, Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel admits that her borderless migration policy from 2015 onwards caused many Germans to abandon the establishment parties and instead turn to the nationalist Alternative for Germany.
Despite her migration policy having far-reaching negative consequences for the German people and society, Merkel emphasizes that she regrets nothing.
“Wir schaffen das” – we can do it. Angela Merkel’s words from August 2015 became the symbol of Germany’s borderless mass immigration policy when the country received nearly one million asylum seekers during a single autumn. The decision, which was made without broad political support, fundamentally changed German society according to many observers.
Now, nine years later, the former Chancellor is forced to admit in a documentary on the public service channel ARD that her policy also had major political consequences – and that many Germans abandoned the old established parties and instead sought alternatives that better represented their interests.
— Of course my decision caused people to join AfD. And in that way AfD definitely became stronger, says Merkel in the documentary.
“Major task”
The EU- and immigration-critical Alternative for Germany (AfD) today runs almost neck-and-neck with Merkel’s own Christian Democratic CDU/CSU in opinion polls – a dramatic development that can be directly linked to the mass immigration wave of 2015 and the societal problems that followed.
Despite this, Merkel refuses to acknowledge any mistakes. In the documentary, she stubbornly defends both her policy and her controversial statement.
— It wasn’t meant to express anything other than that we face a major task, she says about the infamous words “Wir schaffen das” – a promise that many Germans today consider naive, deceptive and detached from reality.
Stifled debate during Merkel’s era
Under Merkel’s leadership, Germany pursued perhaps Europe’s most borderless immigration policy, while all criticism was systematically dismissed and opponents routinely labeled as “racists” and “Nazis” – a smear campaign strategy that remains common ten years later.
Germany also has some of the Western world’s harshest laws regarding opinion crimes. People who publicly criticize immigration policy in strong terms risk substantial fines and prison sentences – an arrangement that free speech activists say has created a culture of self-censorship and fear of expressing what one really thinks about the consequences of immigration.
Despite more than one in five Germans today voting for AfD – and the party being largest in large parts of eastern Germany – its opponents still try to criminalize it by claiming its policies violate the German constitution.
AfD leader Alice Weidel is very popular in many parts of Germany. Photo: X/@Alice_Wiedel
Rhetorical shift
In recent years, Germany and several other European countries have drastically changed their rhetoric around migration. Talk of open hearts and boundless solidarity has been replaced by demands for stricter border controls and tougher asylum rules.
In practice, however, the tougher rhetoric has not resulted in any comprehensive change. Mass immigration continues, albeit at a somewhat lower pace, while promised large-scale deportation programs repeatedly get bogged down in bureaucratic processes without ever being realized.
In Sweden, for example, the current government often speaks of a migration policy “paradigm shift” – despite mass immigration continuing at historically high levels and Sweden receiving almost 100,000 migrants last year.
Following the arrest of a Ukrainian man in Italy, Moscow is now requesting an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. Russia accuses Germany of lacking transparency in the investigation of the 2022 gas pipeline explosions.
Russia has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council regarding the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. The request comes after Italian police on Thursday arrested a Ukrainian citizen suspected of being involved in the explosions in September 2022.
The arrested individual has been identified in media reports as Sergej Kuznetsov, a former military officer. According to prosecutors, he allegedly led a group that rented a yacht and placed explosives on the gas pipelines using commercial diving equipment.
Moscow has repeatedly criticized the German investigation and accused Germany and neighboring countries of both delaying the process and excluding Russia from the investigative work.
“We will highlight the delays in the German investigation and the absence of transparency”, wrote Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky on Telegram. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
The explosions in September 2022 registered magnitudes of 2.1 and 2.3 on the Richter scale. The blasts destroyed pipelines that were intended to transport Russian gas directly to Germany, with one pipeline filled with gas at the time of the explosion.
German investigators reportedly suspect that a small group of Ukrainians was behind the attack – a theory that Moscow has dismissed as “ridiculous”.
USA and Norway pointed out
President Vladimir Putin has previously suggested that the United States most likely was behind the sabotage, and last year Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service claimed they had “credible information” that American and British agents were involved in the plot.
The Nordic Times has previously highlighted how Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Seymour Hersh in February 2023 published a report where he, using sources, reached the conclusion that the United States, with help from Norway, was behind the explosions.
According to Hersh’s sources, US Navy divers allegedly placed the explosives during the NATO exercise Baltops 2022 in June of the same year, only to remotely detonate them three months later.
Both the United States and Norway have categorically rejected Hersh’s claims as groundless, while Western establishment media have chosen not to closely examine his allegations but instead focused on the less politically sensitive narrative that the attack was carried out by an independent group of Ukrainian actors without any official support from Kiev.
Sjunde AP-fonden (Seventh AP Fund) owns shares worth €9 million in Israeli ICL Group, which manufactures white phosphorus. Human rights organizations have long warned about the company’s links to war crimes against civilians – and now the fund’s officials claim they will review the investment.
Swedish public radio Sveriges Radio Ekot reveals that Swedish pension funds are invested in the Israeli company ICL Group, a manufacturer of white phosphorus that has previously received harsh criticism from several human rights organizations.
The investigation shows that the Seventh AP Fund (one of Sweden’s national pension funds) owns shares worth €9 million in the company. During 2025, the pension fund’s holdings have also increased from 1.2 million to 1.6 million shares.
White phosphorus may be used in conflict zones under international law to illuminate targets or create smoke screens. However, the substance is prohibited for use in ammunition near civilians as it causes severe burns.
Israel has been accused by several human rights organizations of using white phosphorus in densely populated areas during attacks in Gaza. According to the radio station, it is not established whether phosphorus from ICL Group specifically was used in these attacks, but the company has previously listed the U.S. Army – which has close cooperation with Israel – as a customer.
“Difficult to verify”
Mikael Lindh Hök, communications director at the Seventh AP Fund, says that they do not plan to immediately sell the holdings, but that the investment will be reviewed.
— If it’s true and you can actually verify that their product, in this case white phosphorus, is used by the Israeli military in the conflicts, then that is grounds for blacklisting, as it constitutes a violation of human rights, he says.
Lindh Hök simultaneously points to the difficulties in obtaining evidence.
— But there we have the problem that it has been very difficult to verify this, as there are contradictory reports. No one has admitted, so to speak, that they have used it. But if we manage to get it verified, then that is grounds for exclusion.
Amnesty: Suspicions are enough
He emphasizes that the fund manages money for six million Swedes and therefore requires clear evidence before acting.
— Then we want to get it verified so that it doesn’t become arbitrary. Sometimes it can be a rumor that a company has violated something, and then it later emerges that it hasn’t violated an international convention. And since we are the default option for six million Swedes, we have set the threshold at: what international conventions has Sweden signed? he explains further.
Astri Sjoner, political advisor at Norwegian Amnesty, believes that the suspicions alone should be enough to act.
— Now several parties have pointed out that they suspect it is this company’s white phosphorus that has been used in Israel’s warfare in Gaza. When there is this type of suspicion, it is important that those who invest in it take on extra responsibility to assess the risk of human rights violations.
