MALAYSIAMalaysia's Appeal Court has ruled that US fast food giant McDonald's cannot claim an exclusive right to the 'Mc' prefix in the country, allowing a local food outlet to keep its name, a report said.
A three-member Appea
l Court panel overturned a 2006 High Court ruling, saying there was no evidence to show that McCurry Restaurant was passing off McDonald's business as its own.
Appeal Court Judge Gopal Sri Ram said the High Court had "erred" in assuming that McDonald's had an exclusive right to the use of the prefix.
He said the McCurry's sign has white and grey letters against a red background with a picture of a smiling chicken giving a double thumbs-up, in contrast to McDonald's red and yellow 'M' logo. McCurry also serves only Indian food, he said.
"McCurry's Restaurant signboard would not result in reasonable persons associating McCurry with the McDonald's mark," he said.
McCurry has said its name was an abbreviation for Malaysian Chicken Curry.
SAUDI ARABIA"Let her get fat!" is the slogan women in Saudi Arabia are using to challenge a clampdown on female-only gyms.
Unhappy at the growing number of unlicensed female gyms, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs recently closed two in the Red Sea city of Jeddah and one in the city of Dammam on the Gulf Arab coast for not having a licence. In response, newspaper columnists and bloggers are promoting the sarcastic slogan as a way of fighting back, though it is likely to be a losing battle.
Female participation in sports has long been a controversial issue in the kingdom, with physical education banned from public girls' schools and clerics issuing religious prohibitions on female participation in sports.
While male gyms get licences from a government sports body, female gyms have no official authority overseeing them.
"The idea of female fitness is non-existent within our government," said Fouziah Alouni, a prominent women's rights campaigner.
"Depriving women of this is yet another way of marginalising them. Give us a justifiable reason or leave woman alone. This is unbearable."
INDIAIndian election officials set up a polling station last week to collect just one vote.
Guru Bharatdasji Darshandasji Maharaj, a priest in a Shiva temple, was the sole voter in a village in Gujarat's Gir forest, famous for being the only place in the world where Asiatic lions roam in the wild.
The 58-year-old arrived to vote in Banej, where the booth was set up at an ashram, a religious lodging, and cast his vote on Thursday.
The polling officials, however, remained there until the official closing time. As per election rules, they were required to see whether there was any "challenge vote", where political party agents can challenge the credentials of a voter.
"They remained in the ashram from 8am to 5pm even after I had voted. They said it was the rule," the priest told the Hindu newspaper.
KENYAThe wife of Kenya's prime minister has said she will join thousands of women in a week-long sex strike to protest about divisions between her husband and the country's president. Members of the Women's Development Organisation say Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki are squabbling over protocol instead of ending corruption and poverty.
Ida Odinga said she supported the boycott, which began last week, and would "definitely" participate. It was not clear whether the president's wife was participating in the boycott.
OH, REALLYA German driver who pulled over to help a heart attack victim was given a parking ticket.
Trained first-aider Steve Schiltenwolf saw the woman collapse as he was driving through the town of Wolfrathausen and stopped at a metered parking bay in order to rush to her assistance.
"I waited for the ambulance to arrive, but when I got back to my car I found a traffic warden writing the ticket. She could see why I had stopped but it made no difference," he said.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
VERONICA BERLUSCONIPrime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's wife has said his party's selection of women to run in European elections is a "shamelessly trashy" process.
Veronica Berlusconi, who has publicly lamented her husband's eye for younger women in the past, also accused him of going to the birthday bash of an 18-year-old woman in Naples but not attending the coming-of-age-parties of his own children.
Veronica, 52, who rarely appears with her husband, said she agreed with Italian newspapers' descriptions of her husband's party's choice of female candidates as "entertainment for the emperor".
JONATHAN THOMASHe may have broken the law, but a Nebraska inmate still can't change his name to "Sinner Lawrence Bilskirnir".
Court documents say 23-year-old Jonathan Thomas cited his Norse religion in seeking the name change. He says he "is a heathen and Thor is his High God". But Lancaster County District Judge Steve Burns denied the request. He said government agencies will need to closely track Thomas because of his criminal record for burglary and drugs offences and three child-support cases against him. He is due to be released in 2014.
KELLY McGILLISThe US actress has ended speculation about her sexuality by coming out as a lesbian on the website shewire.
McGillis, 51, noted for her performances in Top Gun, Witness and The Accused, has wed twice and has two daughters from her second marriage to Fred Tillman.
The full article contains 916 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
