CHICAGO, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - Fast-food behemoth McDonald's Corp. on Friday reported net third-quarter profits rose seven percent to 1.07 billion dollars as overall sales strengthened worldwide.

The profit excluding one-time gains and losses was in line with Wall Street forecasts at 83 cents per share.

Revenues for the July-September quarter increased seven percent to 5.9 billion dollars as same-store sales rose 6.9 percent.

CHICAGO, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - A US jury awarded 6.1 million dollars Friday to a McDonald's employee who was strip searched in a hoax that had been played on dozens of fast food restaurants across the country, local media reported.

Louise Ogborn, who was 18 at the time of the strip search, sued McDonald's for failing to warn its employees of the persistent trickster even after it had been sued by other employees, the Louisville, Kentucky Courier Journal reported.

BERLIN, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) - McDonald's, the world's biggest fast food chain, will invest up to 800 million euros (one billion dollars) in Europe this year because it sees the continent as its biggest growth market, company chief Ralph Alvarez said in an interview published Tuesday.

'Europe is the most exciting region for us at the moment,' Alvarez told the Financial Times Deutschland.

'We will invest as much money there this year as we will invest in the US market, despite the fact that there are only half as many restaurants in Europe.'

SHANGHAI, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - McDonald's is raising wages in China by up to 56 percent, a company spokesman said Tuesday, following allegations earlier this year that the US fastfood giant was underpaying local part-time workers.

George Gu, Shanghai-based spokesman of McDonald's China, confirmed reports Tuesday that McDonald's will raise salaries for 95 percent of its more than 50,000 staff in China by 12 to 56 percent as of September 1.

'The average salary increase will be around 30 percent,' he told AFP.

CHICAGO, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - McDonald`s Corp., the world`s biggest fast-food chain, reported Tuesday a 711.7-million-dollar loss in the second quarter under the weight of a major spinoff of businesses in Latin America.

The loss compared with a profit of 824.1 million dollars in the 2006 second quarter, and the company emphasized the negative impact of the pending sale of franchises across 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.