Nine killed and thousands injured as Hizbollah pagers explode in Lebanon

Good morning. We have several pieces below on the EU antitrust and competitiveness debate, including an exclusive story about a huge fine expected for Meta, an interview with Margrethe Vestager, and both Martin Wolf and Janan Ganesh weighing in on the Draghi report.

But first, in the latest serious escalation to the Middle East crisis, pagers belonging to Hizbollah members exploded across Lebanon yesterday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 2,700.

The blasts took place in several areas of the country including the capital Beirut, the southern city of Tyre and the western area of Hermel, as well as in parts of Syria. Images circulated on social media of explosions and of people with bloodied pocket areas, ears or faces being taken to hospital.

Iran-backed Hizbollah blamed Israel for what it described as a “criminal attack”. It said “this treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive its just punishment”. The militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had earlier this year implored his fighters to jettison their smartphones to avoid Israeli surveillance and assassination attempts, prompting many to switch to older technologies such as pagers and landlines.

Israel’s military declined to comment, but the incident is likely to heighten tension between two forces that have been locked in intensifying border clashes for almost a year. It also comes just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet expanded the objectives of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to include securing the northern front against Hizbollah. Here’s what we know so far about the blasts.

And here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• US interest rates: The dollar is languishing near one-year lows with Wall Street split on whether the Federal Reserve will make a more aggressive half-point cut today.

• UK economy: Inflation figures and the house price index are published ahead of the Bank of England’s rate decision tomorrow, where the central bank is expected to lower borrowing costs.

For more insight into what rate-setters are thinking, sign up for our Central Banks newsletter by Chris Giles if you’re a premium subscriber, or upgrade your subscription here.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Meta faces a hefty EU fine over its alleged efforts to dominate the classified advertising market, in one of the final probes overseen by outgoing competition chief Margrethe Vestager. People familiar with the matter said that regulators would claim the group links its free Marketplace services with its social media app Facebook in an effort to undermine rivals. Javier Espinoza has more details from Brussels.

• ‘Pandora’s box’: Speaking to the Financial Times, Vestager hit back at calls to loosen the EU’s merger rules after her successor was appointed with a brief to be “more supportive of companies scaling up”.

• Opinion: Mario Draghi’s plan for Europe to catch up with the US is politically and culturally improbable, writes Janan Ganesh

2. Exclusive: BlackRock is preparing to launch a more than $30bn artificial intelligence investment fund with Microsoft to build data centres and energy projects to meet growing demands stemming from AI. Nvidia will advise on factory design and integration. The partnership would be one of the biggest investment vehicles ever raised on Wall Street.

3. Exclusive: The Swiss stock exchange is exploring the creation of a venue in Europe for trading cryptocurrencies in a bid to use its reputation and Switzerland’s advanced crypto laws to muscle in on a market dominated by the likes of Binance, OKX and Coinbase. Read the full story.

4. Bangladesh has asked the UK for help probing the overseas wealth of allies of Sheikh Hasina, as Dhaka investigates whether the former prime minister’s ousted autocratic regime diverted at least £13bn from the banking system. Here are the other countries where diverted assets could be stashed.

5. Business leaders have warned that the UK risks undermining its efforts to boost private sector investment with its tax-raising plans and negativity about its economic inheritance. The CBI lobby said politicians should be “talking up the UK’s status as a place to live, work and do business”, and urged the government to be “more positive”.

Visual investigation

The start of the Israel-Hamas war has sent ripples into the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians live in fear of violent settlers. With much of Israel’s regular army now deployed to Gaza or the border with Lebanon, settlers that locals insist have previously acted with impunity have now been called up and given powers of the state. The FT spoke to more than 20 villagers and activists about the situation and reviewed hours of footage in our latest visual investigation.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Sudan war: Senior intelligence officers from the African state say that Russian and Ukrainian fighters have both been helping to train the same side in Sudan’s civil conflict.

• Frequent flyers: Airline loyalty programmes have been testing customer patience, and now face US government probes, writes Brooke Masters.

• ‘Shein village’: Thousands of workshops in Panyu, China, have helped build a retailer that relies on speed and thin margins. But the business model is now coming under pressure.

• Fashion takeover: Regulators are trying to block an $8.5bn deal between the owners of Michael Kors and Coach that would put several well-known brands under one roof.

Chart of the day

Mario Draghi’s recent report into the EU’s competitiveness is an attempt to save the European project from what he has called an “existential challenge”. Read Martin Wolf’s take on the former Italian premier’s diagnosis of Europe’s many frailties.

Take a break from the news

The shortlist has been announced for the FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award. The pursuit of better growth, the purpose of technology, the economy of tribal instincts and improving longevity are among the topics tackled by the six finalists.

Additional contributions from Gordon Smith and Benjamin Wilhelm