FirstFT: Israel targets Hizbollah commander in Beirut strike

Good morning. Today we’re covering:

• Facial recognition at Indian airports

• Temu’s unhappy suppliers

• The race to make the ‘super shoe’

But first, Israel has targeted a senior Hizbollah figure in an air strike on Beirut, saying the operation was retaliation against the individual responsible for a deadly rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

A large explosion ripped through the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs yesterday evening. Footage from the scene showed several floors of a residential building collapsed and large plumes of smoke rising above it. This area of Beirut is a Hizbollah stronghold.

The Israeli strike targeted Fuad Shukr, who is believed to be close to Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group. It was not immediately clear if he was in the residential building, or whether he was killed or wounded in the attack.

It comes amid mounting fears that intensifying clashes between Israel and Hizbollah could trigger a full-blown war. Here are more details.

• Israel-Hamas war: Far-right protesters have stormed two army bases in Israel after the military police detained nine soldiers as part of an investigation into the alleged “serious abuse” of a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman prison camp.

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

• Economic data: China releases its official purchasing managers’ index for July, Taiwan and Hong Kong report advance second-quarter GDP and Australia publishes second-quarter inflation data.

• Monetary policy: The Bank of Japan and US Federal Reserve make rate-setting announcements.

• Results: HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, Samsung Electronics, Meta, Boeing, Hitachi, Tata Steel, Rio Tinto and Panasonic report.

Five more top stories

1. India is rapidly rolling out facial recognition technology at airports, streamlining security checks amid concerns that the country is transforming into a surveillance state. The FT spoke to the chief of the digital initiative, who claimed the technology had halved queueing times and pledged transparency on passenger data.

2. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for faster measures to boost domestic consumption amid rising concern over weaker growth. A statement from China’s leadership gave no hint of new measures to stimulate demand but focused on speedier implementation of those already announced, such as bond issuance and upgrades to industrial equipment.

3. Sales of lipstick and skincare products in China fell in the second quarter at L’Oréal, weighing on the beauty group’s growth as conditions in the country remain “challenging”, the French company said.

4. Microsoft’s artificial intelligence-fuelled cloud growth fell slightly short of investors’ lofty expectations in the three months to the end of June. The results sent its shares lower as investors scrutinise how AI will impact Big Tech’s earnings.

5. Bill Ackman has slashed the amount he is seeking to raise in the initial public offering of his US investment fund Pershing Square USA to $2bn. The figure is a fraction of the $25bn the billionaire hedge fund manager had initially targeted.

News in-depth

Temu wants to recruit Amazon merchants who hold goods in warehouses in the US and EU, according to several suppliers approached by the Chinese online marketplace who spoke to the FT. The move would cut delivery times by storing goods closer to shoppers, and comes as Temu challenges rivals Shein and Amazon. But the company’s aggressive effort to reshape its business model has sparked a backlash from its Chinese suppliers.

We’re also reading . . . 

• ‘Super shoes’: To understand what makes certain shoes so fast, the FT worked with experts to dissect the technology behind record-breaking footwear.

• Citi feels the heat in India: The government’s denunciation of the bank after its less-than-rosy jobs forecast points to the political sensitivity of research in the country, writes Chris Kay.

• ‘Other Rivers’: In his fourth book on China, Peter Hessler uses his time in Sichuan as a teacher to build a more subtle understanding of a changing country.

Chart of the day

Starbucks’ chief executive Laxman Narasimhan has been facing criticism from many sides: the coffee house chain’s former boss, a barista union and aggressive activist investor Elliott Management. Inflation, mass boycotts over its perceived position on the war in Gaza and flagging performance in China have stalled sales. Is there a way back for the company?

Take a break from the news

Once practically non-existent in Tokyo, vegan eateries are now sprouting up across the metropolis. FT Globetrotter shares some of the cafés and restaurants pioneering the Japanese capital’s small but powerful plant-based revolution.

Additional contributions from Harvey Nriapia and Camille De Guzman

Source: Economy - ft.com