It looks more and more like all-out war. On Tuesday Israel launched several rounds of strikes on south and east Lebanon, where the death toll has already passed 500. Highways leading to Beirut and the north are jammed with tens of thousands of civilians fleeing the bombardment. Meanwhile Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shia militia that is the declared target of Israel’s attacks, fired about 100 projectiles at northern Israel.

Still, both sides are holding something back. There are no signs yet that Israel is making ready for a ground offensive: it has not called up a large number of reservists, for example. Hizbullah has kept its longer-range missiles in check, firing just a single one at Tel Aviv. But the signs point towards continued escalation. Hizbullah insists it will not stop firing until Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza. America has given up trying to stop the fighting in the north. Its main aim now is to prevent an Israeli ground invasion.

Mark Zuckerberg will unveil the latest collection of headgear incorporating generative artificial intelligence at Meta’s Connect conference on Wednesday. The social-media giant’s boss wants to challenge Apple, maker of the Vision Pro, a headset for virtual and augmented reality, and OpenAI, the producer of ChatGPT. He may show off an AI-capable Quest headset that is cheaper than the Vision Pro.

Meta’s boss will also try to show growth in users of Meta AI, a virtual assistant, both on apps and in headgear such as the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. That might help justify the enormous sum his firm is spending on training its AI models. He will probably suggest that eyewear is capable of rivalling smartphones in the AI era. With a camera, microphone and speakers in the frames, they enable Meta AI to see and hear what the wearer does. Meta could even be mulling a deeper partnership with Essilor Luxottica, maker of Ray-Ban glasses.

After nearly defaulting on its debt last year, Pakistan’s economy is on the mend. GDP grew by an estimated 2.4% in the year to June, following a contraction in the previous year. The annual inflation rate, which peaked at 38% in May 2023, is easing. Last month it fell to 9.6%, the lowest level in nearly three years.

The International Monetary Fund aided the recovery with a bail-out of $3bn in June 2023. It has since praised Pakistan’s government for “consistent policymaking”. But Pakistani officials are hoping for more. On Wednesday the multilateral lender’s board meets to approve a new loan programme worth $7bn. It would be the 24th bail-out Pakistan has received since 1958.

As part of the deal Pakistan will have to raise tax revenues by 3% of GDP over the next three years. Many Pakistanis believe the conditions are onerous. But ruling technocrats are unlikely to be moved by protests, which they have faced down before.

After more than 17 months of civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, a militia, the country is on the brink of collapse. Perhaps more than 150,000 people have been killed and 10m (about one fifth of the pre-war population) have fled their homes. Famine has already been declared in Zamzam, a refugee camp in Darfur holding over 400,000 people. More than 2m people could die of hunger and related diseases by the end of the year, according to the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think-tank.

On Wednesday the United Nations will plead with member states to give more humanitarian aid. The UN had asked for $2.7bn but has received little more than half that amount. It is exploring other options, too. One is to insert military observers to support local ceasefires. That won’t stop the war, but it could reduce the death toll.

Last year Yayoi Kusama dethroned David Hockney as the highest-earning contemporary artist in the world. The 95-year-old Japanese artist, known for her polka-dot paintings and mirrored installations, sold more than $80m at auction in 2023. Galleries from New York to Hong Kong have put on extravagant exhibitions of her work.

On Wednesday the Victoria Miro gallery in London opens an exhibition of her recent works. “Every Day I Pray For Love” showcases a range of styles. Bright, spotted paintings fill the walls and red soft-sculptures hang like tendrils from the ceiling. The main attraction is an instagrammable mirrored room filled with multicoloured lights. (It induces dizziness after a few minutes, your correspondent can attest.) On the gallery’s outdoor terrace a reflective ladder reaches up to the sky and several snail-like sculptures sit on the floor. It is bizarre. But that doesn’t seem to put off art buyers.