Category News

Following a backlash sparked by prominent right-wing figures, including US President Donald Trump, the US restaurant chain Cracker Barrel has decided to stop serving the restaurant chain.

After its announcement of a simplified design sparked a storm of criticism online, the Lebanon, Tennessee-based chain announced on Tuesday that it would bring back its decades-old logo.

“We promised to listen, and we have,” Our “Older” will still be present, according to the company in a statement.

It’s always been and always will be the goal of serving up delicious food, warm welcomes, and the kind of country hospitality that resembles family at Cracker Barrel. Our 70, 000 dedicated employees, who are proud to be an American institution, look forward to welcoming you soon.

As part of the “fifth evolution” of its brand, Cracker Barrel, which has more than 600 locations worldwide, switched from the traditional image of a seated man leaning against a barrel to a simpler, text-only logo.

Some commentators claimed the company had gone “woke,” a term used by conservatives to mock what they believe to be an excessive fixation on racial and gender diversity, after the redesign caused a swift backlash in right-wing circles.

Following the reversal, Cracker Barrel’s shares increased by about 7% in after-hours trading, which had sharply decreased as a result of the backlash.

Trump called on the company to revert to its previous logo and “admit a mistake” shortly before Cracker Barrel’s announcement on Tuesday.

If they play their cards correctly, they could get a billion dollars worth of free publicity. On his platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Very challenging, but a great opportunity.”

Trump praised the chain for the change following the chain’s U-turn.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Everyone very much appreciates it.”

“Good luck in the near future.” Make a lot of money and, most importantly, delight your customers once more”!

Trump has used his presidency to have an extraordinary amount of influence over private companies since resuming his presidency in January.

Days after confirming that chip tycoons Nvidia and AMD had agreed to pay 15 percent of chip sales to China into the government’s hands, Trump announced last week that the US government had acquired a 10% stake in Intel.

After instructing a group of local journalists to “act civilized,” a top US diplomat has sparked outcry and demands for an apology in Lebanon.

After meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Beirut to discuss plans for the disarmament of Hezbollah, American ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack made the remarks.

Barrack, who is Lebanese, chided reporters for yelling questions at once and appeared to link their behavior to Middle Eastern conflict after briefing local media following the meeting.

Please be quiet for a moment while we have a different set of rules, Barrack said.

“And I want to tell you that we are gone as soon as this starts to become chaotic, like animalistic.” You want to know what’s going on, then. Because of the regional situation, act civilized, kind, and tolerant.

We’ll respond to your questions in accordance with your kindness, interest, and thoughtful questions, Barrack continued. We’re gone if that’s not how you’d like to run.”

Commentators accused the diplomat of displaying arrogance and a colonial mentality after hearing Barrack’s remarks in Lebanon and elsewhere.

The Lebanese Presidency expressed regret for the remarks, saying in a statement on X that it “extended its highest regards for all journalists’ efforts and dedication to carrying out their professional and national duties.”

The envoy’s Lebanese and Arab media outlets were instructed to abstain from coverage of upcoming events until he publicly apologizes in person.

The media union said in a statement that Barrack’s comments against journalists reflect an unacceptable superiority in dealing with the media and an implicit disdain for the work of journalists. They are not just a slip of the tongue or a personal stance.

Additionally, his remarks “reflect ing ingrained colonial arrogance toward the peoples of the region” and “represent a blatant violation of fundamental principles of diplomacy, including respect for press freedom and people’s right to know.”

According to Mohamad Hasan Sweidan, a columnist for The Cradle in Beirut, Barrack’s comments reflect Washington’s attitude toward the area, according to Hasan Sweidan.

By defining their actions as animalistic, “Tom Barrack is reminding us how they view people in the region,” Sweidan said.

On Wednesday, August 27, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

• In the Donetsk region of Ukraine, governor Vadym Filashkin reported that one person was killed and six others were hurt as a result of Russian attacks.
• According to the energy company DTEK, which claimed the attack damaged buildings and caused a power outage, one worker was killed and six others were hurt in a Russian attack on a Ukrainian mine. The company claimed that 146 miners were underground at the time, and that their ascent to the surface is still going on.
• According to the newly elected Governor Vladimir Saldo, one person was killed and three others were hurt in Ukrainian attacks in the Russian-occupied Kherson region of Ukraine.
• According to the Ukrainian battlefield monitoring organization DeepState, Russian forces have taken control of Zaporizke and Novoheorhiivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine. According to DeepState, Russian forces also advanced close to Ukrainian settlements Shevchenko, Bila Hora, and Oleksandr-Shultyno.
• In a single day, Russian air defenses destroyed 191 Ukrainian drones, six guided aerial bombs, and a long-range guided missile, according to the Russian state-run news agency TASS.
• Despite the ongoing implementation of martial law, which had previously prevented such movement, Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 22 are now able to cross Ukraine’s borders freely in either direction, according to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
• More than 200 000 cases of soldiers who were absent without leave (AWOL), including some 50 000 who were detained, have been opened, according to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, according to the Ukrainska Pravda news site.

Peace talks

• Donald Trump, the president of the United States, said he wants an end to the conflict in Ukraine. “We want an end to it,” he said. Economic sanctions apply. Because there won’t be a world war, I’m talking about economic issues.
• In the event of a peace deal with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged governments to work quickly to improve security guarantees for Ukraine. He urged governments to “ensure the highest level of our work and ensure the highest level of transparency and clarity in everything related to security guarantees.”
• According to an unnamed source in the United States and an unnamed source in Ukraine, the US may provide intelligence and battlefield oversight to aid Western powers in providing security guarantees to post-war Ukraine and participate in a European-led air defense shield for the nation, according to the Financial Times on Tuesday.
• Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy’s staff, and Rustem Umerov, the head of Kyiv’s national security council, met in Doha for a “substantive conversation” on subjects like “the details of security guarantees for Ukraine,” Yermak wrote on X.
• According to a source with knowledge of the secret discussions between Exxon Mobil and Rosneft, the Russian energy company Rosneft and Moscow’s Pacific coast oil and gas production project would resume operations if Moscow and Washington give their consent as part of a peace agreement in Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

diplomacy and politics

Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of a bill granting Ukrainian refugees in his country could cost the country 8 billion zlotys ($2.20 billion), in part because thousands of Ukrainians would lose the right to work legally, according to the Polish Ministry of the Interior.