Source: Huffington Post
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
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
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 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
Tuesday 25 May 2021 12:09:08
Classic 'Charlie Bit My Finger' Video Leaving YouTube After $761,000 NFT Sale
The hilarious “Charlie Bit My Finger” home video featuring a toothy baby in England and his startled big brother is getting yanked from YouTube after the boys’ parents auctioned it off for a hefty $760,999.
The clip, posted so the boys’ godparents could see it in America, is a moment of internet history. It’s one of the most popular videos ever and has been watched 883 million times on YouTube. (It was still posted Monday night.)
In it, big brother Harry Davies-Carr, 3, sticks his finger into year-old Charlie’s mouth as the two smile. When Charlie chomps down, Harry begs him to stop. “Chawley! That weally hurt!” he cries. Charlie giggles. (Check it out up top.)
The clip was sold at auction over the weekend as a non-fungible token (NFT) — a unique, verifiable digital object — to an unidentified buyer (3fmusic) who now has sole control of the popular vid. Bidding started at $1,000, and there were 11 bidders.
“Bid to own the soon-to-be-deleted YouTube phenomenon, ‘Charlie Bit My Finger,’ leaving you as the sole owner of this lovable piece of internet history,” the family pitched on an auction website it created to sell the treasure.
The buyer will also “have the opportunity to create their own parody of the video featuring the original stars, Harry and Charlie,” the family noted. The boys are now 17 and 14.
The money will be used for Harry, Charlie and their two younger brothers, dad Howard Davies-Carr told Time magazine. The family used income from YouTube views to help pay for the boys’ education.
The family was initially stumped by the runaway popularity of the film.
Matthew Liu, a product manager at YouTube when the clip was first posted, called it “literally the definition of a viral video” and recalled the company’s fascination with it. The video “really captivated the entire world’s imagination,” Liu told Time.
As for the money the video just earned, “this could make the difference between [the brothers] having cheaper student loans, nicer accommodation, not having to get a bar job,” said their dad.
NFT sales have exploded. More than $2 billion was spent on NFTs in the first quarter of 2021, a 2,100% surge over the previous quarter, according to NonFungible.com, which tracks transactions.
The “Disaster Girl Meme” — a picture of a young girl smiling with a fire in the background — was recently sold as an NFT for more than $450,000.