■Franchises
McDonald's rehires Cantalupo
As head of McDonald's Corp's international division, James Cantalupo opened restaurants from Moscow to Beijing as he presided over a more than six-fold expansion in the number of overseas restaurants. Now, the 28-year McDonald's veteran must try to reverse a two-year profit slide and revive sales in the US after the world's biggest restaurant chain lured him out of retirement to replace Jack Greenberg as chief executive. Greenberg, 60, said yesterday he would leave at the end of the month. Cantalupo, 59, who lost the race for the top job to Greenberg four years ago, is considered by investors and franchisees to have a firmer grasp of McDonald's operations than Greenberg, a former chief financial officer. They say Cantalupo will need to improve food, decrease customer waiting times and slow expansion.
■ Digital cameras
US sales beat expectations
Sony Corp and Sanyo Electric Co, the world's two biggest makers of digital cameras, said holiday season sales of the cameras in the US over Thanksgiving weekend beat expectations. Sales on the first weekend of the holiday season were "more than we expected and very encou-raging," said Mina Naito, a Sony spokeswoman. Sanyo's camera sales also rose, said chief executive Satoshi Iue. "I don't think we need to worry about consumer spending in the US," Iue told reporters yesterday. "We saw a slowdown in October, but sales came back in mid-November." Gift buyers are increasingly attracted to digital cameras that can match the quality of photos from regular film cameras, said Hisashi Moriyama, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities Asia Ltd. Consumers now pay less for better quality shots, said Moriyama. These savings are "finally prompting more people to make the switch" from film cameras, Moriyama said.
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Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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