Chief-Exec.com

Israel races to supply anti-missile shield
Israel faces a looming shortage of interceptor missiles as it shores up air defences to protect the country from attacks by Iran and its proxies, according to industry executives, former military officials and analysts. The US is racing to help close gaps in Israel’s protective shield, announcing on Sunday the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) antimissile battery, ahead of an expected retaliatory strike from Israel on Iran that risks further regional escalation. “Israel’s munitions issue is serious,” said Dana Stroul, a former senior US defence official with responsibility for the Middle East. “If Iran responds to an Israel attack [with a massive air strike campaign], and Hizbollah joins in too, Israel air defences will be stretched,” she said, adding that US stockpiles were not limitless. “The US can’t continue supplying Ukraine and Israel at the same pace. We are reaching a tipping point.” Financial Times, October 15

UN says it will not withdraw peacekeepers from Lebanon
The United Nations says its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon will stay in their positions, despite repeated demands by Israel that they should move out of the way of its forces there. The head of UN peacekeeping operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told journalists in New York that the decision to keep the Unifil force in place had the full backing of both the UN Security Council and the member states contributing troops to the force. On Sunday Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly warned the UN to move from its bases in southern Lebanon, which he said were providing a human shield to Hezbollah fighters. But the UN is standing firm. Its head of peacekeeping said it was essential that the blue helmets stay in place, to carry out the mandate they were given by the UN Security Council and to assist the civilian population. BBC news, October 15

US presidential election: a close race gets closer
With three weeks to go to election day, The Times’s polling average shows Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump essentially tied across seven battleground states. “It’s hard to think of any election when so many critical states were so close in the polls at this stage,” according to NYT writer Nate Cohn. In such a tight race, even the slightest movement in the polls takes on outsize significance. For that same reason, even a modest error in the polls could yield a very different result. Either candidate could win decisively. New York Times, October 15

Canada and India expel top envoys in dispute over assassination of Sikh activist
India and Canada each expelled the other's ambassador and five other top diplomats, after New Delhi said its envoy had been named among "persons of interest" following the killing of a Sikh separatist leader. New Delhi said it was withdrawing its six diplomats from Canada, but Ottawa said it had served them notices of expulsion. "Subsequent to those notices, India announced it would withdraw its officials," a statement from the Canadian foreign ministry said. The 2023 murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar crashed the country's diplomatic relations with India after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were "credible allegations" linking Indian intelligence services to the crime. France 24, October 14

UK: unemployed could be given weight-loss jabs to get back to work
New weight-loss jabs could be given to unemployed people to help them get back into work, Wes Streeting has suggested. The health secretary said “widening waistbands” were placing a burden on the NHS. The latest generation of weight-loss medicine, such as Ozempic or Zepbound, could be administered to people in order to get them back into employment, and to ease costs to the health service, he added. Streeting’s suggestion, in the Telegraph, comes as the government announced a £279m investment from Lilly - the world’s largest pharmaceutical company - on the day the prime minister hosted an international investment summit. The plans announced at the summit will include real-world trials of weight-loss jabs’ impact on worklessness, according to the Telegraph. A study by Health Innovation Manchester and Lilly will examine whether being put on the drugs will reduce worklessness and the impact on NHS service use, and will take place in Greater Manchester. The Guardian, October 15

New treatment regimen cuts cervical cancer deaths by 40%
Deaths from cervical cancer have been shown to fall by 40 per cent under a new treatment regime, in the biggest breakthrough against the disease for two decades. Research led by a team at University College London found that survival rates are transformed simply by changing the order in which women are given existing drugs. The study, published in The Lancet, looked at 500 patients over 10 years from hospitals in the UK, Mexico, India, Italy and Brazil. Half were given standard treatment of a course of chemoradiation (CRT), in which chemotherapy and radiotherapy are delivered together, and the other half had a new treatment option, a short course of chemotherapy before CRT. The new approach led to a 40 per cent reduction in the risk of death and a 35 per cent reduction in the risk of cancer coming back within five years. The results have been hailed as the biggest improvement in cervical cancer treatment in more than 20 years, as the standard treatment of chemoradiation has not changed since 1999. The Times, October 15

Global investors and CEOs head to London for investment summit
Sir Keir Starmer will pledge today to scrap regulation that holds back company investment, as the UK welcomes major business leaders and investors to the new government’s first international investment summit. Today’s summit will see Labour pitching the UK as a place where economic stability has been restored, creating the right conditions for growth and investment. Starmer will address CEOs and investors at London’s Guildhall this morning, and vow to do “everything in my power to galvanise growth”. He’ll pledge to end the “chop and change” that has riddled Britain in recent years, deterring investment. And on the issue of regulation, the PM is expected to promise to look at rules that “needlessly” hold back the investment the country needs. The Guardian, October 14

Britain is ready for investment, say big banks and companies
Britain is ready for investment and has a “very real opportunity” to grow its economy, some of the world’s biggest banks and companies have said before the start of major business talks in London. In a letter to The Times, five of the world’s biggest banks joined private ­equity firms, insurers and tech giants to say it was “time to invest in Britain”. They said universities, legal expertise and financial services already provided the “bedrock of a strong investment proposition”, and that growth in the technology and energy sectors had “further enhanced Britain’s position”. They also said that Britain’s greater stability had increased its attractiveness to investment, a reference to ­Labour’s election victory at a time of uncertainty in many large economies. “We are optimistic about the future of the economy, and believe it is time to ­invest in Britain,” they said. The Times, October 14

Gambling stocks hit by fears of UK Budget tax grab
Shares of UK-based bookmakers fell sharply on Monday on concerns that the government could raise taxes on gaming companies at this month’s Budget. Entain, the London-listed gambling group that owns Ladbrokes, plunged 14 per cent in early trading after The Guardian reported on Friday that chancellor Rachel Reeves was weighing possible tax increases on the sector worth up to £3bn. However, one government figure told the FT that ministers are not planning such a tax raid on the gambling industry in the Budget on October 30. London-listed shares of rival Flutter, which owns brands including Betfair and Paddy Power, slipped 7 per cent, while Evoke, owner of William Hill and 888, lost nearly 15 per cent. Casino operator Rank Group fell 7 per cent. Entain, Flutter, Evoke and Rank have lost a combined £3.25bn of market capitalisation. Financial Times, October 14