Source: CNBC
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
My Hope for Lebanon
A company of Lebanese soldiers assigned to maintain order in this anxious wartime capital is gathered at its headquarters 100 yards from the Mediterranean. I make the blunder of asking their commander how many of his men are Shiites, Sunnis, Christians and Druze.
Monday, November 4, 2024
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
Sports
FC Barcelona Fears First Team Star Will Be Banned From Playing, Reports SPORT
FC Barcelona is concerned that one of its main first-team stars will be banned from playing at the turn of 2025 because of issues related to his registration and Financial Fair Play (FFP) limits according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
Friday, November 1, 2024
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Wednesday 29 June 2022 15:56:27
Bitcoin Briefly Drops Below $20,000 Again as Pressure Continues to Mount on Crypto Market
Bitcoin fell below $20,000 on Wednesday as a number of factors from macroeconomic worries to issues with cryptocurrency companies continue to weigh on the market.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading down more than 4% at around $20,056.48 at 07:36 a.m. ET, according to CoinDesk data. Earlier on Wednesday, bitcoin fell as low as $19,841.
Other digital coins including ether were also sharply lower.
Bitcoin has been trading within a tight range in the last two weeks unable to make a major move much above $22,000.
“A narrative that could well play out for the rest of the year and beyond is guiding bitcoin lower today, one of looming recession and mushrooming levels of inflation,” analysts at cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex said in a note on Wednesday.
Inflation continues to remain high while central banks are also aiming for further rate hikes, sparking fears of a recession in the U.S. and elsewhere.
On Tuesday, U.S. stock markets fell and futures remained under pressure on Wednesday. Bitcoin has been closely correlated to movements in U.S. stock markets and tend to follow them lower or higher.
Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC that bitcoin is likely going to trade between $17,000 and $22,000 “for a while, given the current market sentiment” and another expected interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve in July that continues to “weigh down all risk assets.”
“Most bounces are being sold off for the past few weeks, typically categorized as bear market bounces, aiming to trap late buyers, only to have them sell off positions lower,” Ayyar said.
Crypto liquidity issues
The crash in prices over the last few weeks, which has wiped off billions of dollars of value from the cryptocurrency market has exposed major liquidity issues at firms across the industry.
This month, crypto lender Celsius halted withdrawals for users citing “extreme market conditions.” Crypto exchange CoinFlex also paused withdrawals for customers after a single client failed to repay a debt to the company.
Meanwhile, prominent crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital defaulted on a more than $670 million loan from Voyager Digital.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has stepped in to rescue struggling firms including BlockFi and Voyager Digital by offering credit lines.
“The market is taking a breather after the falls. There are still systemic issues as people prop up various dominoes from triggering knock on effects,” Charles Hayter, CEO of website CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email.
