often unplanned boycotts because of their styles on the israel palestine conflict. this includes mcdonald s. the burger chamber came a target chain became a target after giving away thousands of free meals to the members of the israeli military. this resulted in boycotts of the brand. 0wners boycotts of the brand. owners and muslim majority countries such as kuwait and pakistan put out statements distancing themselves. in a message on linkedin, mcdonald s ceo wrote that the burger chain is experiencing a meaningful business impacted due to the war and associated misinformation. all of this in the middle east and beyond because of the war in gaza. he added, this is disheartening and ill founded, pointing that many of the restaurants are operated by local owners. he didn t elaborate on the scale of the impact, but mcdonald s has around 2000 restaurants in the region. it isn t the only global brand to face controversy over its response. others include starbucks, showing how
welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we start with the us secretary of state, antony blinken, who is headed to the middle east to visit israel, the west bank, and seven countries over the next week. the us state department says during mr blinken s trip, he will seek immediate increase in aid to gaza as the strip continues to deal with a humaniatarian crisis. the trip comes as the uk foreign secretary, david cameron, warns israel must allow more aid into gaza in order to avoid starvation and large outbreaks of disease. and there are reports of dozens more deaths from air strikes in southern gaza, as israel continues its military operation there. and in lebanon, people gathered for the funeral of deputy hamas leader saleh al arouri. he was killed earlier this week in an explosion. hezbollah a powerful iranian backed group in lebanon has blamed that attack on what it says was flagrant israeli aggression . israel has not commented, but
the devastating consequences from the politically charged war in the gaza strip spills over into into the business community. plus, travellers continue to spend big, undeterred plus, travellers continue to spend big, undeterred by the high cost of living. we ask why, and where. hello and welcome to asia business report. i m steve lai. we begin this hour with the war in middle east. in the months since hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented assault on israel in october, killing more than 1,000 people, the death toll on both sides have continued to rise. more than 21,000 people have been killed in the gaza strip by israeli bombardments, the consequences have now spilt over to businesses, as customers in the middle east and elsewhere boycott companies for their perceived support of israel. from new york, the bbc s michelle fleury reports. major western brands have found themselves hit by a grassroots
the devastating consequences from the politically charged war in the gaza strip spills over into into the business community. plus, travellers continue to spend big, undeterred plus, travellers continue to spend big, undeterred by the high cost of living. we ask why, and where. hello and welcome to asia business report. i m steve lai. we begin this hour with the war in middle east. in the months since hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented assault on israel in october, killing more than 1,000 people, the death toll on both sides have continued to rise. more than 21,000 people have been killed in the gaza strip by israeli bombardments, the consequences have now spilt over to businesses, as customers in the middle east and elsewhere boycott companies for their perceived support of israel. from new york, the bbc s michelle fleury reports. major western brands have found themselves hit by a grassroots