PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for October 11, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders

[Amman / Jerusalem, 9 October 2026] – Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warns that Israel is progressively asphyxiating Gaza and continuing its genocide: the space in which people can live is vanishing, while the conditions people need to survive are being systematically destroyed through continued violence, the deliberate blockade of essential supplies, and the destruction of healthcare and vital infrastructure.

In the past year, the physical trapping of people in Gaza has been made increasingly definitive by the establishment of Israel’s Yellow Line. Originally presented as a temporary, first-phase military withdrawal position and a key part of maintaining the so-called ceasefire – it is now reinforced by military positions, berms and ongoing demolitions and has continued to move west, squeezing people into a smaller and smaller area. Israeli forces now occupy approximately 65 per cent of Gaza, using the line to draw a clear border around this area.

As the Yellow Line moves, the threat to people living nearby becomes increasingly immediate, compounded by the uncertainty of approaching a line that is not clearly or consistently demarcated. People risk being shot by Israeli forces when they approach it, and MSF teams continue to treat people with gunshot wounds sustained nearby. Its encroachment is also disrupting the delivery of essential assistance: MSF water trucking has had to stop when shooting occurs near communities living close to the Yellow Line.

“The Yellow Line cannot be treated simply as a line on a map.” says Amande Bazerolle, MSF head of emergency response in Gaza, Palestine. “It has become a mechanism of encirclement and ethnic cleansing, while cutting communities off from the infrastructure, healthcare, water and other essentials they need to survive.”

Nor is violence confined to the areas around the Yellow Line. In June and July alone, despite a so-called ceasefire, MSF teams treated more than 1,200* cases of violent trauma across Gaza, including blast injuries, burns, gunshot wounds and injuries resulting from physical assault. Over the past three years, our teams have treated more than 200,000 trauma cases*, including injuries resulting from intentional physical violence, while Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 74,000 people, including more than 20,000 children.

As Israel confines Palestinians into increasingly limited areas, families are being pushed into overcrowded and unlivable conditions, without sufficient access to clean water, sanitation, shelter or healthcare. These conditions are contributing to the spread of disease. MSF teams have treated more than 11,000 cases of skin diseases such as scabies this year alone, while seeing more than 1,500 cases of chickenpox in June and July. MSF distributed around 2.1 million litres of drinking water per day in August, yet the scale of need remains far beyond what can be met under these restrictions.

“Most people have less than six litres of domestic-use water per day and limited access to basic hygiene items such as soap and detergent,” says Dr Murad Asaliyya, medical activities manager in Gaza. “We are treating gastroenteritis, acute respiratory infections, a lot of skin conditions, hepatitis, bacterial skin infections, scabies and lice. At the same time, we are facing severe shortages in terms of medical supplies. Even the cream we need to treat scabies has been restricted by the Israeli authorities.”

Over the past three years, access to healthcare has deteriorated dramatically, with hospitals increasingly running out of basic supplies and patients unable to access essential medicines and treatment. Restrictions on essential supplies such as engine oil and spare parts are also crippling the infrastructure needed to keep hospitals, ambulances and water systems running, with generators already breaking down and water-trucking operations reduced.

The destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, damage to more than 80 per cent of all structures in Gaza, alongside the lifelong physical and mental health impacts of repeated violence and displacement, will extend far beyond the present and prevent any meaningful recovery for years to come.

Nor is this crisis limited to Gaza. Since 2023, violent settler attacks, military operations and raids on homes, displacement camps and agricultural land, illegal settlement expansion, displacement, home demolitions and movement restrictions have rapidly escalated across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, particularly this year. Patients at MSF clinics tell teams about homes being demolished by Israeli forces, attacks by settlers and livestock being stolen. The policies of violence, harassment and forced displacement affecting Palestinians extend beyond Gaza, causing further fragmentation of the occupied Palestinian territory.

“It will take generations to recover from the harm that has already been done over the past three years, and in the preceding decades, while the excruciating consequences of Israel’s ongoing genocide are still being felt every day,” says Bazerolle. “Destruction, displacement and deprivation have become normalised – practices Israel is carrying out with impunity. Governments must act now to ensure Israel stops the destruction and killing, prevents ethnic cleansing, and stops denying Palestinians the means of survival.”

* This refers to cases not patients, including new or follow up consultations.

MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. Every year more than 120 Australians and New Zealanders go on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières working as: doctors, midwives, psychologists, laboratory technicians, human resource/finance coordinators, pharmacists, mental health specialists and logisticians. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit https://msf.org.au

Strategically located in Kota Damansara, SMCD serves communities across the Klang Valley, with a greater focus on the northern, northwestern and western regions. The hospital was established to bring high-quality specialist healthcare closer to these growing communities, while also serving local patients, expatriates and international health tourists seeking care in Malaysia.

Officiating the ceremony, the Chief Minister of Selangor YAB Dato’ Seri Amirudin bin Shari, said that the establishment of private hospitals such as SMCD supports the state’s Rancangan Selangor Kedua (RS-2) development plans to build a state that is caring, livable, sustainable and resilient.

“The healthcare needs of our population are becoming more complex. An ageing population, the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and increasing demand for specialized care require us to continuously strengthen the capacity and capabilities of our healthcare system. For this reason, the State Government welcomes investments that strengthen healthcare capacity and increase accessibility to quality healthcare,” he said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dato’ Lau Beng Long, President of Sunway Healthcare Group, said, “Sunway Medical Centre Damansara brings together a comprehensive range of specialties and subspecialties, supported by advanced diagnostic and therapeutic medical technologies, including AI-enabled and robotic-assisted solutions. As the hospital continues to grow, we are focused on deepening these capabilities and strengthening multidisciplinary care, so that patients can access more complex treatments closer to home.

“Looking ahead, we are evaluating the next phase of SMCD’s development, with approximately four acres earmarked for future expansion. Our proposed plans include a standalone Sunway Sanctuary focused on senior living and a dedicated Cancer and Nuclear Medicine Centre.

“The proposed Cancer and Nuclear Medicine Centre is envisioned to incorporate advanced diagnostic and treatment capabilities, including a cyclotron, PET-CT, linear accelerators and CT simulator, as well as Proton Beam Therapy Centre, which would be the first of its kind in Malaysia. These proposed plans reflect our long-term vision to develop SMCD into a more comprehensive healthcare destination, bringing advanced and specialised care for Malaysians and international patients.”

Beyond strengthening its clinical capabilities, SMCD continues to improve accessibility and convenience for the surrounding community. The new ramp connecting Persiaran Surian to Jalan PJU 5/1 provides more direct access to SMCD and Bandar Sunway Damansara. Meanwhile, a link bridge to Sunway Nexis connects patients, visitors and the surrounding community to Surian MRT station, as well as nearby retail, dining and lifestyle amenities, complementing the hospital’s broader efforts to bring advanced healthcare closer to the communities it serves.

In line with Malaysia’s growing healthcare tourism economy, SMCD is also well positioned to serve medical tourists by virtue of its location within an integrated township, giving patients and accompanying family members convenient access to various amenities. Its connectivity further supports international access, with Subang Airport located nearby and KLIA accessible via a direct drive along the North-South Expressway.

The hospital’s International Patient Centre supports patients throughout their healthcare journey, with dedicated nurses and translators assisting with specialist appointments, treatment coordination, admissions and communication. SMCD also serves the expatriate community living and working in Malaysia, providing access to specialist care, preventive health services, advanced surgery, rehabilitation and multidisciplinary treatment within the Klang Valley.

Reflecting on the hospital’s journey, Jasmine Lau Mooi Hun, Chief Executive Officer of SMCD, said, “In a relatively short period, SMCD has grown tremendously in both the breadth of services we provide and the trust that patients, partners and the wider community have placed in us.

“This progress reflects the dedication of our people and the support of our healthcare partners and stakeholders. As we enter our next phase of growth, we remain committed to strengthening our capabilities, enhancing the patient experience and making comprehensive specialist care more accessible to the communities we serve.”

SMCD achieved its first EBITDA-positive month within nine months of commencing operations, reflecting its strong operational performance and clinical capabilities, and significantly outperforming the industry’s typical ramp-up period of three to five years.

Building on this strong foundation, SMCD will continue to expand its continuum of care. The hospital will be complemented by ambulatory services at Sunway Specialist Centre Damansara, located across the road, and the planned opening of the Sunway Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre in the first quarter of 2027.

Together, these services will form a more holistic and integrated healthcare ecosystem, while SMCD continues to strengthen the quality, efficiency and coordination of care to deliver better health outcomes.

To learn more about Sunway Medical Centre Damansara and its services, visit www.sunwaymedicaldamansara.com.my.

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About Sunway Medical Centre Damansara

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2026

Five stars might catch your eye, but it’s how a review is written that determines how helpful it actually is, according to new University of Auckland research.

Looking for a top-rated movie or a captivating new book? Chances are you’ll check a few reviews first. You probably give some more weight than others, but why?

What makes a good review?

New research from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland suggests more formal reviews are generally considered more helpful.

Formal language is marked by precision, clarity, minimal self-reference and persuasiveness, and the study suggests it makes people take note compared to informally written reviews, typically resembling spoken conversation.

But there’s a catch, according to the paper published in the European Journal of Marketing – become too formal and perceived helpfulness starts to decline.

Business School researchers Dr Shohil Kishore and Associate Professor Laszlo Sajtos analysed over a hundred thousand movie and book reviews across retail site Amazon and non-retail sites Google and LibraryThing, which is a community-driven book review site. Their analysis considered ‘helpful votes’ from readers.

“The key takeaway is that there’s a sweet spot,” says Kishore, “being too informal online can make a review less useful to others, but being overly formal can have a similar effect.”

He says understanding what makes a review helpful is important for both online platforms and sellers, with previous research showing Amazon books with more ‘helpful votes’ on their reviews tended to have higher sales.

For movies, the academics looked at 67,560 Amazon reviews and 31,517 Google reviews of the same 94 films, including blockbusters like Jaws, Finding Nemo and The Matrix.

For books, they compared 4,409 Amazon reviews with 3,462 reviews on LibraryThing of the same 53 titles, including bestsellers, children’s literature, science fiction, mysteries and classics.

They say Google movie reviews were typically shorter, less formal and used simpler language than those on Amazon.

Amazon movie and book reviews were already around the level of formality associated with greater helpfulness, while the findings suggest Google movie reviews and LibraryThing book reviews could benefit from increased formality.

“Amazon reviews, especially book reviews, already exhibit high formality and are more difficult to read, which limits the marginal benefit of further increases,” they write.

“LibraryThing, shows formality and complexity levels comparable to Amazon, yet readers still respond positively to more formal writing.”

They also say formality had a stronger influence on perceived helpfulness than two other features of writing previously studied in online reviews: complexity and readability.

The three measure different things. Formal text is “precise, lucid, eloquent and persuasive”. Complexity includes factors such as the diversity of words and sentence structure, while readability is concerned with how difficult it is for a person to process the text, including word and sentence length.

The study suggests formal reviews that emphasise objective content and descriptive clarity, while minimising personal, context-specific details, such as who someone watched a movie with or where they read a book, are beneficial for readers.

So, if you want your review to have impact, focus on clear, objective information that will be useful to other readers, says Sajtos.

“Avoid too many personal details or first-person statements and concentrate on the book, movie, product or service itself.

“Online platforms might also help by encouraging this approach when people write reviews, with prompts or real-time feedback that steer reviewers towards clear, broadly relevant information.”

Source: Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners

8 October 2026

Almost half of specialist GPs’ work takes place outside funded face-to-face consultations. This work is essential to safe patient care, but the health system often relies on GPs and practices to absorb the cost or recover it from patients, creating further barriers to equitable access. The College is calling on the next government to fund the full range of clinical work that is required to provide safe, equitable, culturally safe and continuous care, and to meet its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The College is calling for the next government to:

• Fund the full range of clinical work, including work outside consultations.
• Address GP remuneration and working conditions compared with hospital-based specialties.
• Measure general practice need and use, including inequities for Māori, Pacific peoples, rural and underserved communities.
• Plan and adequately fund the workforce required to meet that need.

General practice is the entry point to the health system for most New Zealanders, with 90 percent of health conditions being managed in primary care. Specialist GPs provide early intervention, manage long-term conditions and help prevent illness from becoming serious enough to require hospital or emergency care. The demand is growing as the population ages and patients’ health needs become more complex.

Aotearoa New Zealand currently invests a low proportion of Vote Health funding in primary care, an average of about 6 percent.

However, the public funding model does not adequately fund the breadth of work carried out by GPs in the provision of culturally safe and clinically excellent patient care, including the time needed to respond to patients’ cultural, social and clinical needs. The College’s Your Work Counts project found that 44 percent of specialist GP work happens outside funded face-to-face consultations. This includes reviewing and acting on test results, writing and managing referrals, coordinating care with other services, and completing clinical follow-up.

Patients may never see this work, but their safety depends on it.

Expecting specialist GPs to provide this work without sufficient funding is not sustainable. It contributes to burnout, reduces the number of patients GPs can see and makes it harder to retain experienced specialist GPs. Patients experience longer waits, reduced continuity and greater difficulty receiving timely care. Pressure then shifts to hospital emergency departments and after-hours services.

Recruiting more GPs is important, but recruitment alone will not address the shortfalls of current primary care funding models. New Zealand must adequately fund those clinicians delivering primary care in a way that covers the breadth of their work. Clear career pathways in clinical leadership, teaching, supervision and practice ownership can support specialist GPs to maintain long-term careers in the communities they serve.

General practices also carry the costs of employing staff, maintaining premises and infrastructure, supporting training and sustaining services for their communities. Underinvestment can make practices financially fragile, particularly in rural and underserved communities where recruitment is already difficult and loss of local services can deepen inequities in access and continuity. Funding should support sustainable, culturally responsive models of care that reflect community need. If a practice reduces services or becomes unviable, patients lose access and continuity while demand moves to more expensive parts of the health system such as the hospital Emergency Department.

Policies intended to give more people access to care cannot succeed if general practice does not have the funded workforce capacity to deliver them. Training, teaching, clinical governance, patient follow-up and non-contact clinical time must be treated, and funded, as core components of care, rather than assuming this work will simply be absorbed into existing primary care workloads.

Properly funding this work will give specialist GPs more time for patients, support workforce retention and enable practices to plan for future demand. It can also support culturally safe care, Māori health equity, specialist GP clinical leadership and sustainable rural services. For the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, the benefit is straightforward: safer follow-up, better and more equitable access and more consistent care from a general practice team that can remain in the heart of their community.

This paper is part of a series of advocacy White Papers that set out our priorities for strengthening Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system through a sustainable general practice workforce. These papers will be released in the lead-up to the 2026 general election and outline the evidence, value and investment required to ensure the specialisms of general practice and rural hospital medicine can continue to deliver accessible, equitable care for all New Zealanders. Keep informed of our Budget and election advocacy on our website.

Source: Equinor

9 October 2026 14:00 (CEST)

Equinor and Shell have signed an agreement under which Shell will acquire a 30% interest in the Bay du Nord project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. The transaction supports the continued maturation of Bay du Nord towards an investment decision currently targeted for early 2027.

Equinor will retain a 70% interest and remain as the operator of the project.

“We are pleased to welcome Shell as a partner in Bay du Nord. This is a strategic project for Equinor, with a high-quality resource base and the potential to create significant long-term value. Shell’s entry strengthens the project as we continue to mature it towards a final investment decision,” says Philippe Mathieu, Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production International.

The transaction supports Equinor’s approach to portfolio management, capital allocation and risk sharing in large-scale developments.

Bay du Nord is located in the Flemish Pass basin, approximately 500 kilometres offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. The development concept is based on a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) with subsea tiebacks and broader resource potential across the basin.

The project is currently finalising the front-end engineering and design (FEED), with continued work focused on strengthening capital efficiency, execution planning, and overall project robustness. Constructive engagement with provincial and federal governments has supported progress through key milestones and will remain important as the project continues to advance.

Equinor and Shell will continue to mature the project towards an investment decision subject to market conditions, regulatory approvals and the companies’ internal decision processes.

Project facts

• Discovery: Bay du Nord 2013, Cambriol 2020
• Location: Approximately 500 km east of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Basin: Flemish Pass
• Water Depth: 600–1,170 metres
• Discoveries included in the initial phase: Bay du Nord and Cambriol
• Potential future tiebacks: Cappahayden, Harpoon, and Baccalieu
• Concept: Phased subsea development tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO)
• Estimated recoverable resources (initial phase): >400 million barrels of oil
• Investment: ~CAD $14 billion
• Final Investment Decision: planned early 2027
• First Oil (expected): 2031

Official release

Source: Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi

National’s plan to randomly drug test jobseekers is fundamentally wrong and unworkable and would put dangerous additional pressure on MSD staff who have already been cut back.

The policy says testing would be “integrated into MSD’s work-readiness and employment planning”, starting with 10,000 tests in the first year “with the programme expanding”. It says this will be “funded from MSD baselines”.

“This is populist rhetoric targeting the most vulnerable and will pile more pressure onto MSD workers who are already facing unacceptable levels of aggression and violence,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

“There is no thought for the impact on staff or how it would work in practice. MSD case managers are there to support people into work. This plan turns that into a punitive relationship. Ordering drug tests and handing out sanctions won’t build trust, and it won’t help anyone into a job.

“It means more work for staff who have already been cut back hard and under stress, with no new money to pay for it. Every hour spent policing drug tests is an hour taken away from helping people into work.

“Rushed policy is already causing mistakes at MSD. We saw it recently with the Winter Energy Payment. Stretched staff have been left to clean up the mess, and the people relying on those payments paid the price. Bolting on another poorly thought-out scheme will only make that worse.”

National’s policy leaves many questions unanswered:

• What will 10,000 tests a year really cost? National says $1.5 million a year, about $150 a test, before second tests, assessments, admin and sanctions.
• What will be tested? Will it be urine, or hair follicle testing which costs more?
• Who will do the testing? Will it be contracted out, and is there the capacity?
• Will addiction support be available? Addiction services already have long waitlists, so who will carry out the “mandatory alcohol and drug assessments”?
• What will be cut to pay for it? “Funded from MSD baselines” means taking money from other services.

“This is bad policy that won’t make a difference to outcomes, but like move on orders this is more of the same from National – slogans over policy that actually helps our most vulnerable,” said Fitzsimons.

Background on drug testing

Under current MSD rules, drug testing is done by employers, for jobs that require it, and jobseekers can be sanctioned if they fail or refuse. MSD does not record how many tests are carried out. National’s policy would have MSD itself order random tests of jobseekers, whether or not they have been referred to a job.

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

Source: New Zealand Hair and Beauty Industry Training Organisation (HITO)

Throughout September and October, HITO celebrated it’s return to industry ownership with stakeholders at events across New Zealand. Over drinks and nibbles, hairdressers, barbers, and beauty therapists connected with industry professionals, local schools, and HITO representatives to mark a new chapter of industry training for the hairdressing, barbering, and beauty industries.

“It has been wonderful to celebrate this milestone with our supporters across the country, says Kay Nelson, HITO Chief Executive. “We are delighted to bring industries together and are looking forward to continuing to support them as an industry owned Private Training Establishment.”

A welcome change for industry-led training

For businesses across the country, HITO’s move to industry ownership has been welcomed with open arms.

“Having ownership in the industry is a great change for young apprentices navigating their careers,” says Thao Nguyen, Salon Business Manager at Badaro Hair Salon, Wellington. “It’s a great way to keep the industry looking fresh, with new ideas, and keeping it real for the new generation that’s coming through.”

“HITO’s vision is still the same, 100% Qualified,” says Ali Al Mansori, Owner of One Eighty Barbershop in Upper Hutt. “The decisions are being made by the industry, which I’m happy about.”

“It’s a really positive move,” says Rachel Ryan, Clinic Manager and Senior Therapist at Skintopia Khandallah. “It’s being run by people who are actually in the industry, as opposed to a big organisation that doesn’t know a lot about what we do and who we are.”

Supporting industry for over 30 years

HITO’s history of supporting industry training for hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy spans over 30 years, with over 9,600 professionals gaining a HITO qualification over this time.

“HITO is, first and foremost, for industry and by industry,” says Ms. Nelson. “We are fully dependent on our employers and trainers, who play a huge role in training apprentices and investing in the future of the industry.”

Through apprenticeships and on-job training, HITO supports industry professionals to become qualified through their Level 4 programmes that have been designed in collaboration with industry, which ensures the skills learnt meet industry standards and fit industry needs.

“It is well known that industry-led training results in a highly skilled and experienced workforce,” she says. “With over 6,000 small businesses and 13,000 people working in hairdressing, barbering, and beauty therapy in New Zealand, HITO’s goal is to lift the standard of training and ensure a strong future for our industries.”

HITO transition

On 1 July 2026, HITO transitioned operations to the Hair Industries Support Opportunities (HISO), an independent charitable trust representing the hairdressing, barbering and beauty industries in New Zealand. HITO is now operating as an industry-owned Private Training Establishment and is continuing to offer work-based apprenticeship training in hairdressing, barbering, and beauty therapy.

“This transition means HITO can remain industry focused, with our stakeholders, including our current employers and their apprentices, as our priority,” says Ms. Nelson. “We are pleased to have a permanent home for HITO with HISO, creating certainty for apprenticeships and training in our industries.”

As part of the vocational education and training reforms, HITO transitioned from Te Pūkenga to the Services Industry Skills Board in January 2026, with a legislative requirement to transition from the Services Industry Skills Board before the end of 2027.