Israeli strikes kill almost 500 in deadliest day for Lebanon in decades

Today’s agenda: French debt worries; Commerzbank deal; Kyiv’s plea for missiles; and the “silent” superbug pandemic

We turn first to the escalating crisis in the Middle East. Israel launched a relentless wave of air strikes against what it said were Hizbollah targets yesterday, killing nearly 500 people in Lebanon’s deadliest day for decades.

What happened: Israeli warplanes struck hundreds of targets across the country, including Beirut’s southern suburbs, with the military saying about 1,300 Hizbollah targets were hit. The resultant death toll was the highest since Israel launched a ground offensive against the militant group in 2006. Lebanon’s health ministry said 58 women and 35 children were among the dead, with a further 1,645 injured.

Looking ahead: Concerns about a full-scale regional war are now higher than ever after yesterday’s strikes, which came despite US warnings against escalation. Hostilities are likely to continue, with Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel was “pre-empting” the threat from Hizbollah and warning of “complex days” ahead. The Israel Defense Forces have also said they would continue to strike buildings where they believed the group was storing weapons. We have the latest details here.

• ‘Leave your homes now’: The strikes came hours after Israel sent warnings through texts and calls. Raya Jalabi reports on yesterday’s chaotic exodus from Beirut.

• Netanyahu’s popularity: The Israeli prime minister’s standing in national polls has recovered from post-October 7 lows after he launched more aggressive operations in Lebanon and Iran.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: Ifo publishes its business climate index for Germany, while the UK has household income data for the financial year ending 2023.

• UK Labour: In a speech at his party’s conference, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will warn that tough decisions are needed for “national renewal”.

• United Nations: The General Assembly debate opens in New York. Ahead of the event, Gideon Rachman asks secretary-general António Guterres in his podcast: does the UN still matter?

• Companies: The US justice department could file an antitrust lawsuit against Visa as early as today after a years-long review into the payments company’s business practices. AG Barr, Raspberry Pi and Smiths report results.

Thank you for reading FirstFT. We’ve tweaked how we write the day’s top story to hopefully make it easier and quicker to digest the key points. Let us know what you think about this new format at [email protected], or simply hit “Reply”. — Tee

Five more top stories

1. France’s borrowing costs have converged with Spain’s and widened against Germany’s as investors worry about Paris’s ability to close its yawning budget deficit. Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s new government asked the EU yesterday for another extension to submit its spending plans to comply with fiscal rules. Read the full story.

2. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has come out against a UniCredit takeover of Commerzbank after the Italian lender said it was raising its stake from about 9 per cent to 21 per cent. The emergence of UniCredit as a major shareholder has ignited political opposition in Berlin against a cross-border tie-up. Here’s what’s driving the uproar.

3. Donald Trump’s plan to gut the Biden administration’s sweeping climate legislation would give China the advantage in a global cleantech race, the US energy secretary has said. Jennifer Granholm told the Financial Times that the Inflation Reduction Act had spurred a “tsunami of investment” and scrapping it would be like “stabbing ourselves”.

• ‘Assassination attempt’: Ryan Wesley Routh, the man suspected of plotting to kill Trump in Florida, wrote in a letter: “I failed you.”

4. Volodymyr Zelenskyy will again try to convince Joe Biden of Ukraine’s need for long-range missiles when the leaders meet at the White House on Thursday. Despite increasing support from other allies, Washington has been wary of green-lighting the request. Here’s how Kyiv has been navigating Vladimir Putin’s red lines and western indecision.

5. The US commerce department yesterday proposed banning Chinese software and hardware for vehicles with a built-in internet connection, in a move that would in effect ban Chinese vehicles from the US market. The rule was prompted by concerns from the Biden administration that Beijing could collect data on drivers and hack cars.

The Big Read

The World Health Organization chief warned last week that antimicrobial resistance endangered a “century of medical progress” and could turn infections treatable today into a “death sentence”. Drug-resistant tuberculosis is estimated to already account for about a third of the millions of deaths annually associated with AMR, and tackling TB could become crucial to averting the “silent pandemic” of superbugs.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Tech regulation: Lawmakers should resist lobbyists’ assertion that “regulation stifles innovation”, writes Stanford University’s Marietje Schaake.

• No 10 infighting: Recent unforced errors point to a lack of political judgment in Downing Street, with one minister saying Sir Keir Starmer should “get a grip”.

• Huawei: Ryan McMorrow peers into the Chinese company’s bestselling laptop, and what it reveals about Beijing’s dream of tech self-sufficiency.

• Tim Walz: Every successful leader needs a running mate like him, writes Stephen Bush, because getting the country to love you is telling it that you love it, too.

Chart of the day

UK sales of low-alcohol beer increased more than in any other market last year thanks to a post-Brexit overhaul of alcohol duties, as brewers took advantage of lower rates by launching new or revamped products.

Take a break from the news

From the US to the UK and even in France, sex is at an all-time low. Rosanna Dodds speaks to sexologist and intimacy coach Michaela d’Artois, who has ideas on how to end this “epidemic of loneliness”.

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and David Hindley