Israel Conducts Ground Operations in Lebanon

Travel Tuesday: Lithuania

Lithuania is one of the oldest Baltic national identities. Its nascent form carved out by the Teutonic knights in 1237, the territory of Lithuania officially became its namesake after the second Treaty of Vilnius in 1561 – crowing Mindaugas, as its first Grand Duke. Lithuania would later form a commonwealth with Poland forming the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the preeminent European land power in the 16th century. Lithuania lost its independence after the partitions of the Commonwealth in 1772,1793 and 1795, falling under Imperial Russia. Briefly gaining independence from 1918-1940, Lithuania soon fell under the Soviet Union’s control, until finally forming its modern and independent nation state in 1991.

GDP $70.97 billion

Biggest Export Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products

Biggest Trading Partners Latvia, Poland, Germany

Political System Semi-presidential republic with a unitary structure. The president is the head of state, while the prime minister is the head of government

National Animal The white stork (gandras)

Next Election 13 October

Israel Conducts Ground Operations in Lebanon

Overnight, Israel have conducted what they describe as a “limited, localised and targeted” operation in southern Lebanon which aims to target key Hezbollah infrastructure. The operation has come with the assistance of air force and artillery units, though it’s unclear how many personnel have been involved. The IDF have since said that “intense fighting” has taken place in southern Lebanon, close to the Israeli border.

In retaliation, Hezbollah have fired rockets into Northern Israel this morning.

The ground invasion follows weeks of the IDF conducting airstrikes across parts of Lebanon, the highest profile of which killed Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in a southern district of Beirut.

Fears have again been voiced that the latest developments raise the prospect of a regional conflict, though Iran signalled that it would not send troops into Lebanon to fight against Israel. Notwithstanding this, tensions between Israel and Iran remain elevated with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying that Nasrallah's killing "shall not go unavenged". Meanwhile when speaking on a televised address, Benjamin Netanyahu said that “There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach”.

With tensions rising across the fragile region, all eyes remain focused on how members of the international community have responded – or could respond to the latest developments.

According to the US State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller, the White House had been informed of Israel’s plans. Such information was passed on shortly after President Biden telegraphed that he opposed such a ground invasion while simultaneously calling for a ceasefire.

Last week, a 12-member bloc made up of the UK, US, Australia, Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar called for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

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BRC Shop Price Index Falls

The British Retail Consortium’s shop price index has indicated that prices have fallen for the second consecutive time. Following last month’s print, this marks only the second time that prices have eased in almost three years. This comes as prices fell at 0.6% on annualised basis for the month of September.

The fall in the index comes as prices eased across furniture and clothing, though much of this was offset by food prices edging up.

Following the print, the CEO of the BRC said that “Easing price inflation will certainly be welcomed by consumers, but ongoing geopolitical tensions, climate change, and government-imposed regulatory costs could all reverse this trend.”

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Rightmove Reject Takeover Bid

Yesterday, Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group withdrew its bid to take over Rightmove following the rejection of its ￡6.2bn offer. The proposal marked the fourth time that REA Group had submitted an offer to Rightmove with the latter saying that “We respect REA and the success they have achieved in their domestic market. However, we remain confident in the standalone future of Rightmove.” Rightmove’s share price dropped around 9% on yesterday’s close.