FirstFT quiz: the week in news
Ten topical questions to test your news nous
Israel strikes Lebanese targets as Hizbollah chief warns ‘red lines’ crossed
Hassan Nasrallah says pager and walkie-talkie detonations are ‘major security and military blow’
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney — an engrossing study of the male psyche
The Irish writer’s keenly intelligent new novel swaps her formidable female leads for two brothers summoned together by grief
Brazil to impose fine on Musk’s X if service is not cut off
Platform says temporary restoration was ‘inadvertent’ but will keep fighting court order that banned it in the country
S&P hits record high after jumbo Fed cut
Global stocks rally as investors bet half percentage point cut will support US economic growth
BASF’s conglomerate structure can’t take the strain
German chemicals group has been buffeted by high energy prices and hamstrung customers
Six films to watch this week
‘The Substance’ stars Demi Moore in a satire on celebrity’s fixation with female youth; ‘His Three Daughters’ unites a trio of sisters in their dying father’s home; French courtroom drama ‘The Goldman Case’ revisits a 1976 murder trial; ‘The Vourdalak’ is based on a Gothic vampire tale that pre-date
Nigel Farage to give up ownership of Reform UK
Leader will ‘surrender’ shares in efforts to normalise party structure
The Vourdalak — vintage vampire yarn delightfully skewed
Gothic novella by AK Tolstoy, cousin of Leo, about a French noble among bloodsuckers becomes a sly comedy
The Goldman Case — pulsing account of a 1976 murder retrial
Arieh Worthalter excels as a brittle but charismatic French leftwing intellectual mounting a dogged defence
His Three Daughters — starry tale of imminent death brims with life
Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne play sisters brought together in their dying father’s home
AI risks making some people ‘uninsurable’, warns UK watchdog
FCA’s Nikhil Rathi says insurance sector should still ‘experiment’ with the technology
Titans’ AI alliance is a bid to dominate the next tech frontier
BlackRock, Microsoft and Abu Dhabi may not be the benevolent consortium they are depicting
Oxford endowment fund boss Sandra Robertson to give up investment role
Neamul Mohsin will take over chief investment officer position at university’s £6.5bn fund
Bank of England holds rates at 5%
MPC indicates it may lower borrowing costs again as soon as November
VW audit of Xinjiang plant failed to meet international standards
Leaked report, which the carmaker claimed cleared it from forced labour allegations, shows audit fell short, according to experts
Could North Carolina be in play for the Democrats?
Also in today’s newsletter, Teamsters opts against presidential endorsement and what the Fed’s rate cut means for the election
Lloyd’s of London appoints Roxburgh as chair
Insurance market names successor to Bruce Carnegie-Brown
Hizbollah walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon in second day of blasts
At least 25 dead and more than 600 wounded in explosions a day after thousands of pagers detonated
Tunisia jails presidential candidate in pre-election crackdown
Potential rival to authoritarian leader Kais Saied imprisoned for 20 months ahead of October poll
Time is running out for TikTok in the US
The social media platform is threatened with a ban but remains wildly popular among users, including Kamala Harris and Donald Trump
Activists have fallen hard for dating apps. Investors shouldn’t
Match and rival Bumble have struggled with post-pandemic slowdown in growth
Hot property: five city homes on the market for around £2.5mn
Historic metropolitan residences in New York, London, Paris, Barcelona and Edinburgh
Inflation and interest rates tracker: see how your country compares
Inflationary pressures are beginning to wane but not all central banks have taken action yet. See how this affects you