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News In Brief

MID-DAY UPDATE: Unrest in Jordan, Finding "Radio Shangi-La," McDonald’s works the recession

Katharine Crnko Feb 8, 2011
News In Brief

MID-DAY UPDATE: Unrest in Jordan, Finding "Radio Shangi-La," McDonald’s works the recession

Katharine Crnko Feb 8, 2011

Marketplace’s Alisa Roth is in the Middle East covering the political unrest in Egypt and the surrounding countries. Roth spoke with Jeremy Hobson today from Amman, Jordan, about how Jordanians are demanding political reform and more “economic opportunity.” Roth spoke with Nimr al Assaf of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is demanding an end to political corruption in Jordan.

It’s been nearly four years since Lisa Napoli first traveled to the isolated, under-explored region of Bhutan. The former Marketplace reporter set up a student radio station there, and has written a book on her experiences, called “Radio Shangri-La.” Steve Chiotakis spoke with Napoli about her new book, and adventures in Bhutan — often called the Happiest Kingdom on Earth.

And now for news on the kingdom of happy meals: McDonald’s this morning reported a 3.1 percent growth in same-store sales in January. Juli Niemann, analyst at Smith Moore and Company, attributes the increase to a new base of returning customers, who are responding to aggressive product testing and new menu items, such as oatmeal and coffee.

Finally — online coupon site Groupon is feeling some backlash from China after its infamous Super Bowl ad.

The commercial made light of the political controversy between China and Tibet. Rob Schmitz reports on how this ad could hurt Groupon’s chances of expanding to the world’s biggest market.

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