WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Pager explosions, Kate's comeback, and Instagram's new 'teen accounts'

 
today's international story

Hezbollah vows retaliation for exploding pagers

What happened 
Hezbollah has promised to exact revenge on Israel after nine people – including an eight-year-old girl – were killed and almost 3,000 more left wounded when handheld pagers used by members of the militant group exploded across Lebanon almost simultaneously. Among the wounded are Hebollah fighters, doctors and even Iran's envoy to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani.

Who said what
Hezbollah blamed Israel for what it called "criminal aggression" and vowed to retaliate. The Israeli military has so far declined to comment. 

Hours before the attack the Israeli security cabinet had said returning displaced residents to the disputed north of the country was an official war goal.

If it was conducted by Mossad, the operation may have been revenge for a salvo of rockets that were fired at the Israeli spy agency's headquarters near Tel Aviv, said Richard Spencer in The Times. But the "extraordinary attack" could not have come at a "less auspicious moment", said Andrew Roth in The Guardian, and may result in an escalation that the US and others have been desperately seeking to avoid.

What next? 
The incident will only "pour fuel on a fast-spreading fire in the region" as it heads towards the anniversary of the war in Gaza, said Bel Trew in The Independent. It could also be the trigger that sees the near daily cross-border fire between Israel and Lebanon "morph into a war on a scale the two countries haven't seen in nearly 20 years".

 
 
today's royal story

Princess of Wales returns to work

What happened
The Princess of Wales has held her first official meeting since she announced the end of her cancer treatment a week ago.

Who said what
Kate held a meeting at Windsor Castle yesterday with her early years team, a project described as "her life’s work", which aims to improve the lives of children under five.

The meeting is part of the princess's "carefully managed return", said the BBC, which also includes public appearances later this year at Remembrance events in November and her annual Christmas carol concert.

There is still "great caution about her health", however. In her video message last week Kate said her "path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes".

What next?
The Princess of Wales has begun working from home, said The Times, and, if she feels well enough, will begin attending more meetings to check in on the progress of her projects with the royal foundation.

 
 
Today's technology story

Instagram begins rolling out 'teen accounts'

What happened
Tens of millions of teenagers will have their Instagram accounts changed to "teen accounts" in order to tackle online safety and mental health concerns, Meta has announced.

All teens on the social media platform aged between 13 and 17 will see their accounts become private by default, with content and messaging restrictions. Teens aged 13 to 15 won't be able to change these settings without parental consent.

Who said what
Meta's president of global affairs Nick Clegg called the change a "significant moment".

"This really tries to very meaningfully shift the balance in favour of parents by basically putting teens into the strictest default settings over what content they see," he said.

What next?
Teenagers on Instagram in the UK, US, Canada and Australia will be migrated to the new accounts within the next two months, while those in the EU will be moved later in the year. Early next year Meta will begin using AI tools to identify teenagers it thinks have lied about their age.

 
 

It's not all bad

Eating flavonoid-rich foods and drinks, such as berries, tea and red wine, could lower the risk of dementia by 28%, according to a study by Queen's University Belfast. Flavonoids, which are found in plant-based foods, are linked to improved cognitive function and reduced chronic disease risk. With global dementia cases projected to triple by 2050, experts believe preventive measures like dietary changes can help reduce the burden of the disease.

 
 
under the radar

What's wrong with Pakistan's cricket team?

A cricketing powerhouse for decades, Pakistan's national team has suddenly found itself on a sticky wicket. This month Pakistan suffered a shocking 2-0 home Test series defeat at the hands of Bangladesh, a country it had beaten in every previous Test encounter.

And that outcome is far more than an unlucky fluke. The Pakistani men's side has not won a Test match at home since February 2021, amounting to "a winless streak of 10 games", said Al Jazeera.

Following its defeat by Bangladesh, Pakistan fell to No.8 in the ICC Test rankings: its worst position in nearly six decades. Its recent performances have "nosedived across all formats" of cricket, with poor management, political instability and the chaotic churn in coaches and captains all blamed for the downfall.

The "Pakistan team's rapid downward spiral has been alarming, to say the least", said the Express Tribune. The recent series of high-profile losses "makes the mind boggle". But for critics of the game, "the pattern has been all too obvious for nearly two decades".

"Ad hocism has taken root" in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) – little surprise in a nation "increasingly shorn of democratic values", added the Karachi-based English language newspaper. The ruling regime has "hand-picked" favourites to lead the PCB, to "run the game in their own clueless manner, only to ruin it".

Meanwhile, Pakistan's cricket bosses are "sitting pretty in their cushy jobs, handed to them on a platter by the respective regimes". They have no time nor inclination to "set things right", said the Express Tribune. They are "busy working on their own respective agendas": saving "their own skin and seat, or making good money at the expense of the country's cricket".

 
 
on this day

18 September 1970

Jimi Hendrix was found unresponsive by his girlfriend at the Samarkand Hotel in London. The legendary guitarist was pronounced dead at the age of 27, with a barbiturate overdose identified as the cause. His rise to stardom in 1960s London and return to the US for his breakthrough Monterey Pop Festival performance will feature in an upcoming authorised documentary, "Jimi".

 
 
Today's newspapers

The Middle East is "holding its breath" following the pager attack in Lebanon, says the Daily Mail. "Exploding pager hell", says The Mirror. The Telegraph says that Israel is suspected of being behind the "audacious" strike and The Guardian says that Hezbollah has vowed to "strike back". Meanwhile, says the Daily Star, the living dead could be real after a study showed zombie-like cells in a dead organism can keep working. It is the "age of the zombies", it remarks.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Horn of contention

The unicorn: beloved mythical creature, Scotland's national symbol ... and the centre of a neighbourhood dispute. London resident Anna Smith wrote on social media that her neighbours had threatened legal action over a toy unicorn stored on the roof of her garden shed. The neighbours reportedly called the toy, as well as a visible children's tricycle and stepladder, a "major eyesore and nuisance". One response to the post suggested the complainants should "get a grip".

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Sorcha Bradley and Chas Newkey-Burden.

Image credits, from top: Anwar Amro / AFP via Getty Images; Frank Augstein – WPA Pool / Getty Images; Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images; Aamir Qureshi / AFP via Getty Images.