Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) Israel launched airstrikes on targets across southern Lebanon, killing nearly 500 people in one of the deadliest days of fighting in nearly two decades and fanning fears of all-out war.

(2) China’s central bank unleashed an unprecedented blitz of policy support for the economy, as authorities made their boldest swing so far to hit this year’s annual growth target of about 5%, after a flurry of Wall Street banks downgraded their forecasts.

(3) Prime Minister Keir Starmer will try to reset the UK political narrative by promising “light at the end of this tunnel,” amid criticism that his Labour government’s gloomy economic messaging has made things worse.

(4) UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel used Barclay and Bank of America to help him quietly build up a stake in Commerzbank, a move that has shaken European finance and triggered a backlash from the German government.

(5) A handful of Federal Reserve officials on Monday left open the door to additional large interest-rate cuts, noting that current rates still weigh heavily on the US economy. 

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