Your commercial news round-up: Israel and Palestine, IVF, Barclays, Barbie sales
updated on 26 October 2023
Reading time: three minutes
In this week’s commercial news round-up, we look at some updates on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Plus, IVF laws are changing and Barclays share prices have dropped while Mattel’s prices have soared. Find out more in the round-up below.
- The Israeli military group has said 224 hostages are being held in Gaza by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group. An American mother and daughter are among four hostages who’ve been released. As of 26 October 2023, at least 7,000 people in Gaza have been killed since Israeli air strikes on Gaza began. In the Gaza strip, hospitals are taking only emergency cases due to a lack of fuel. At the time of writing, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had published a list of medical supplies waiting to cross the border into Egypt, which include:
- surgical equipment for 3,700 trauma patients;
- basic and essential health services for 110,000 people; and
- medical equipment for 20,000 patients suffering from chronic diseases.
Aid agencies commented that at least 100 truckloads of aid are needed each day, but only 74 trucks, at the time of writing, have entered Gaza since Israel declared a “complete siege” on the territory.
- Ministers are scrapping IVF laws that deny access to people with HIV and force lesbians to pay extra for tests. This will improve the chances of hundreds of couples hoping to become parents. The Department of Health and Social Care said that same sex couples with undetectable HIV, where the viral load is too low for transmission, can access fertility treatment. Head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, Debbie Laycock, said: “There’s no reason for people living with HIV who have an undetectable viral load to be denied the same fertility treatment as everyone else and it’s right the law reflects that.” Previously, lesbian couples had to pay for an expensive screening before taking IVF. The screening, which costs up to £1,000 and isn’t required for heterosexual couples, scans for hepatitis B, hepatitis C or rubella. The government said it’s “scrapping this outdated law to ensure female same-sex couples have the same rights as a man and woman when trying to conceive”.
- Barclays share prices have dropped after reporting a decline in third-quarter profit by 16%. The bank also warned that there’ll be major cost cutting measures in next year’s strategic review. Chief Executive CS Venkatakrishnan said that there’ll be an investor update in the new year, which will provide new financial targets, relocate capital and result in restructuring changes. The bank also announced a drop in its net interest margin (NIM). Citygroup analyst, Andrew Coombs, commented: “We expect the lower NIM guidance to be met with significant disappointment today.”
- After the release of the Barbie movie, Mattel’s sales have soared. Following the release of the film, overall Mattel sales rose by 9%, compared with the same quarter in 2022, marking its first quarter of growth since last year. Mattel said that it had expected the movie to provide a boost of at least $125 million. Despite its recent growth, the company hasn’t changed its forecast for Christmas sales due to concerns about the economic challenges present at the moment.
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