Author: Steven Sahiounie

Israeli forces have reportedly retaliated with artillery shelling and rocket fire Air raid alarms sounded across northern Israel on Thursday afternoon amid reports of a rocket barrage fired from Lebanon. At least one projectile was intercepted by the Iron Dome system, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said at least one person was lightly injured by shrapnel, while a woman was hurt while running for a bomb shelter. There were no immediate reports of material damage. Shortly after the rocket attacks, the Israeli military shelled southern Lebanon with artillery, two Lebanese security sources told…

China’s banks and insurers have become the latest focus of a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown that is ensnaring top officials and risks rattling the already fragile nerves of investors and entrepreneurs. The Communist Party’s top anti-graft agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), has investigated more than a dozen senior executives at the country’s most important financial institutions so far this year, according to a CNN analysis of statements posted on the CCDI’s website. Three big names at the very top of China’s financial system have been probed or charged, according to the CCDI, including Li Xiaopeng, the former chairman of China…

A slowing economy may lead to a decline in sales of pricey beef cuts, but don’t look for any bargains just yet. Market forces that have been building for a long time, including devastating droughts, will likely keep hamburger and steak prices steady — and relatively expensive. In part, that’s because there’s less beef. A contraction in beef supplies “has been coming for a while,” said David Anderson, a professor in Texas A&M University’s agricultural economics department. “We’re starting to see the effects that we knew were going to be coming for a couple of years.” When extreme drought hit the United States…

The total locked value of assets on the platform has risen over 300% since the start of this year, DeFiLlama data shows. Yield management protocol Pendle Finance has attracted over $50 million amid renewed interest from traders looking to passively capture market returns. The total locked value (TVL) of assets on the platform has risen over 300% since the start of this year, DeFiLlama data shows. $26 million of which has been captured on the Ethereum network, $21 million on the Arbitrum network and just under $1 million on Avalanche. Staked ether (stETH) dominates the holdings, taking up 27% of all capital on Pendle,…

Memecoins outperformed the broader crypto markets in recent days, but there may be cause for caution ahead as some warn of imminent profit-taking. Tokens fashioned after the Shiba Inu dog breed may see imminent selling ahead after days of outperforming the broader crypto market. Monday saw the Elon Musk-owned social media app Twitter replace its popular blue bird logo with that of Dogecoin’s Shiba Inu mascot. Dogecoin (DOGE) prices surged almost immediately – with its futures markets setting a record – as some bet on the increased use of dogecoin within the Twitter platform. That rise caused several other Shiba…

ASIC has been conducting a targeted review of Binance’s businesses, the press release said. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has cancelled Binance Australia’s derivatives license, according to a press release on Thursday. Binance Australia, an arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, has been ordered by the regulator to close all client’s open derivatives positions by April 21. ASIC has been conducting a targeted review of Binance’s businesses, the press release said. “It is critically important that AFS licensees classify retail and wholesale clients in accordance with the law. Retail clients trading in crypto derivatives are afforded…

Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Thursday as Wall Street digested the latest ADP private payrolls report, which showed slowing job growth in March. India’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate, or its policy repurchase rate, at 6.50%, defying expectations for the Reserve Bank of India to hike 25 basis points. The Indian rupee weakened 0.15% shortly after the announcement. The Nifty 50 gained 0.26% – an outlier as benchmark indexes across the region continued to see declines. South Korea’s Kospi led losses in the region as it closed 1.44% down at 2,459.23, and the Kosdaq dropped 0.78% to finish at 865.58. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.22%…

Malaysia is determined to work with both the U.S. and China, Malaysia’s trade minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz told CNBC Thursday, amid ongoing tensions between the two economic giants. His comments come as tensions between the U.S. and China escalate in recent years, over concerns ranging from trade sanctions to tech rivalry and alleged spy balloons. “The top two investors and trading partners of Malaysia are both China and the U.S.,” Zafrul told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” in an exclusive interview. “What we’re seeing today is Malaysia is back on the global investors’ radar screen. And we have had good productive discussions with both investors and…

The Israeli occupation forces assault Palestinian protesters amid a pro-Al-Quds rally in the territories occupied in 1948. Palestinians took to the streets in occupied Palestine late Wednesday to condemn the Israeli occupation’s crimes against the Palestinians stationed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the desecration of the holy site. The protestors expressed their solidarity with their compatriots in occupied Al-Quds, raising banners expressing their solidarity with Al-Aqsa Mosque and those stationed in the Mosque, while the occupation forces suppressed the rally and beat the participants, confiscated their banners, and arrested a Palestinian girl. Simultaneously, similar marches took place in separate areas…

On April 6, a Ukrainian light-engine plane crashed in the Klintsovsky district of the Russian border Bryansk region. According to the border department of the Federal Security Service of Russia, “the plane crashed near the village of Butovsk for unknown reasons.” The pilot, who tried to escape to Ukrainian territory, was detained. He was armed with an AKS-74U assault rifle and he had a bulletproof vest. According to media reports, the A-22 Flying Fox airplane that landed in an emergency was flying towards the Druzhba oil pipeline to drop a bomb. The private pilot Morozov Alexandr was famous in the…