ISTANBUL — Istanbul Airport (IST), one of the world’s busiest aviation hubs, is fully open and operating normally on Saturday, March 21, 2026, with no widespread closures, major shutdowns or emergency restrictions reported, according to official airport data, live flight trackers and Turkish authorities.

The massive facility — handling over 1,400 scheduled flights daily — shows active arrivals and departures across domestic and international routes. Real-time dashboards from the official iGA Istanbul Airport website display check-in counters open, boarding gates active and passenger processing moving smoothly. Live waiting times remain low: terminal entrance checkpoints at 1-3 minutes, passport control at 13-14 minutes in busiest areas, and domestic controls at 1-2 minutes. Weather conditions are mild with broken clouds, 7-9°C (45-48°F) temperatures, and north winds at 16-18 knots, posing no significant operational threats.

Flight tracking platforms like Flightradar24, FlightStats and FlightAware confirm ongoing activity. Arrival and departure boards list hundreds of flights in progress, including Turkish Airlines services from Guangzhou, Moscow, Ashgabat and Delhi landing or departing as scheduled. Delay indices stand at very low to low levels (0.25-0.4 arrival delay index), with no systemic cancellations or ground stops. Turkish Airlines’ flight status page and third-party aggregators like Skyscanner and Trip.com show real-time updates without blanket alerts for IST.

The airport has maintained operations throughout the ongoing regional tensions stemming from the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, now in its seventh week. While airspace restrictions over Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and parts of the Gulf have forced route diversions, increased congestion in Turkish airspace and temporary suspensions for certain Middle East destinations, Istanbul Airport itself has not faced closure. Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu extended flight halts to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan until March 9 (with some carriers like Turkish Airlines and Pegasus extending to March 12-20), but emphasized that domestic and non-restricted international traffic continues unimpeded.

Earlier disruptions peaked around March 5-6, when airspace closures diverted 15 flights (nine to IST) and caused scattered delays. By mid-March, reports indicated 141 delays and nine cancellations across Istanbul airports on select days, primarily affecting carriers like Pegasus, Qatar Airways, Gulf Air and others on Gulf routes. However, these were route-specific rather than airport-wide shutdowns. Istanbul Airport absorbed diverted traffic efficiently, with no evidence of capacity overload or operational halts.

Officials stress that Turkish airspace remains safe and open, with air traffic services maintained without major interruptions. Istanbul Airport’s role as a global transfer hub has continued, though passengers on affected routes face longer flight times due to rerouting around closed corridors.

Travel advisories from airlines and governments recommend checking individual flight status before heading to the airport. Turkish Airlines and Pegasus have issued notices for suspended or adjusted services to certain Middle East cities, advising passengers to monitor updates via official channels. No new advisories indicate IST-specific closures or major disruptions as of late March 21.

The airport’s live stream and operation center feeds show normal activity in terminals, with passengers moving through security, retail and gates without unusual congestion. Exhibition spaces, including artist Beyazıt Öztürk’s “Things” display, remain open, underscoring the facility’s focus on passenger experience amid external challenges.

Experts note that Istanbul Airport’s design — with three parallel runways, advanced ATC systems and vast capacity — has enabled it to handle increased traffic from diversions while maintaining high on-time performance (around 75-89% in recent metrics). The hub’s strategic location continues to make it a preferred rerouting point for international carriers.

Travelers planning to use IST today or in coming days should verify their specific flight via airline apps, the official airport site (istairport.com) or trackers like Flightradar24. Allow extra time for potential minor delays from regional airspace adjustments, but the airport remains fully accessible for departures, arrivals and connections.

As geopolitical tensions persist, Istanbul Airport’s resilience highlights its critical role in global aviation. No immediate threats to full operations have emerged, and authorities continue monitoring the situation in real time.

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TONTITOWN, Ark. — Kendra Duggar, wife of former “19 Kids and Counting” star Joseph Duggar, was arrested Friday, March 20, 2026, on misdemeanor charges including four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment, authorities in Tontitown, Arkansas, announced.

The arrest came just two days after her husband was taken into custody on separate allegations of child molestation stemming from a 2020 incident in Florida. Both face the new Arkansas charges, which are misdemeanors, amid an ongoing multi-state investigation involving alleged offenses against minors.

Tontitown Police Department issued arrest warrants for Joseph, 31, and Kendra, 27, on Friday. Kendra turned herself in at the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville around 4:56 p.m. local time, according to jail records viewed by multiple outlets including People and Us Weekly. She posted $1,470 bond and was released at 6:19 p.m. Her mugshot shows a 5-foot-3 woman with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Police did not release detailed allegations tied to the new counts, citing Arkansas laws restricting disclosure in cases involving minors. The Tontitown department stated the investigation remains active and declined further comment. The charges appear separate from Joseph’s Florida case, where he faces felony counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 and lewd conduct by a person 18 or older.

Joseph Duggar was arrested Wednesday, March 18, in Tontitown after Bay County, Florida, sheriff’s investigators accused him of molesting a 9-year-old girl during a family vacation in Panama City Beach in 2020. The accuser, now 14, told police Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap, then under a blanket on a couch where he allegedly manipulated her underwear, grazed her genitals and rubbed her thighs. Duggar reportedly admitted the conduct to the girl’s father and later to Tontitown detectives during a March 17 confrontation.

He waived extradition Friday in Washington County court, clearing the way for transfer to Florida within 30 days. He remains in Washington County Detention Center pending that move.

The Arkansas charges against both Duggars surfaced amid the Florida probe’s fallout. Tontitown officers served warrants at the Duggar family compound Friday afternoon but initially found Kendra absent. She later surrendered.

The couple, married since 2017, have four children together. They live in Tontitown, part of the Duggar family’s extended network in northwest Arkansas. The family gained fame through TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” which ended in 2015 amid scandals involving eldest son Josh Duggar, who is serving a federal prison sentence for child pornography convictions.

Joseph and Kendra have largely stayed out of the spotlight compared to other family members, though they appeared on spin-off shows and shared family updates on social media before stepping back in recent years.

No formal statements have come from the couple or the Duggar family as of March 21. Kendra’s arrest drew immediate media attention, with outlets like TMZ, People and NBC News reporting her mugshot and bond details. Public reaction online has been swift and critical, with many linking the charges to broader family controversies.

Legal experts note the misdemeanor nature of the Arkansas counts carries lighter penalties than Joseph’s Florida felonies, which could bring years in prison if convicted. Second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor in Arkansas typically involves knowingly placing a child in a situation risking serious harm, while false imprisonment involves unlawfully restraining someone.

The cases highlight ongoing scrutiny of the Duggar family following Josh Duggar’s 2021 conviction and related fallout. Authorities have not indicated connections between the current allegations and prior family scandals, but the timing has intensified public interest.

As investigations continue in Arkansas and Florida, both Joseph and Kendra Duggar face court proceedings in the coming weeks. The Tontitown Police Department urged anyone with information to contact them, emphasizing the active status of the probe.

The developments add another chapter to the Duggar family’s turbulent public saga, drawing renewed attention to their once-prominent reality TV legacy.

Lai Chee Ma
General Manager of Corporate Business Development Department

Good afternoon. Welcome to the CK Asset Holdings Limited 2025 Annual Results Analyst Presentation. My name is Gerald. On my right are two of my fellow ExCo members, Simon Man and Yue Seng Chiu. Our Chairman, Mr. Victor Li, will join us shortly for the Q&A session after the presentation.

So we’ll quickly go into it, 2025 results highlights. Revenue came to HKD 85.85 billion, up 19.9%. Profit before investment property revaluation, HKD 11.96 billion or HKD 3.42, up 2.7%. We recorded an IP revaluation deficit of HKD 1.11 billion last year or HKD 0.32, leading to a profit attributable to shareholders of HKD 10.85 billion or HKD 3.10, down 20.3%. We declared a final dividend of HKD 1.39, making full year dividend HKD 1.78. Dividend per share, hence up 2.3% over last year. Net book value per share also has risen by 2.3% to HKD 113.28.

Turning to our principal activities. 76% of our revenue and 85% of our profit contribution are now recurring in nature. By geography, 31% of contribution from Hong Kong, 11% from the Mainland and 58% from overseas, making us a very different company compared to other property companies in Hong Kong.

Looking at divisional performances, property sales. So we recorded much stronger sales recognition this year — last year, but margins were low due to provisions for properties for sale. Revenue came to HKD 20.45 billion, up 105.3%. Profit contribution after provisions at HKD 2.7 billion, up 24%. Overall margin post provision was 13.4%.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal jury in San Francisco found Elon Musk liable Friday, March 20, 2026, for misleading Twitter shareholders by deliberately driving down the company’s stock price in the months leading up to his $44 billion acquisition in 2022, though it absolved him of broader fraud claims including an intentional scheme to defraud.

The nine-person jury deliberated for three days after a three-week trial that featured Musk’s in-person testimony earlier in March. Jurors concluded that two specific tweets from May 2022 — including one claiming the Twitter deal was “temporarily on hold” — contained false statements that caused a plunge in Twitter’s share price, harming investors who sold based on those statements. The jury cleared Musk on other allegations, such as podcast comments and a wider conspiracy to mislead.

The verdict in the class-action securities lawsuit could expose Musk — the world’s richest person with a net worth near $850 billion — to damages potentially in the billions, though the exact amount will be determined in a separate phase. Plaintiffs sought up to $2.6 billion in some calculations. Musk’s legal team vowed to appeal, calling the decision disappointing but limited in scope.

The ruling caps a years-long saga stemming from Musk’s chaotic 2022 pursuit of Twitter (now X), which began with a $44 billion offer, included attempts to back out over bot concerns, and ended with a forced completion under court pressure. Musk has long maintained his statements were protected speech or accurate reflections of due diligence issues, particularly fake accounts.

On X Saturday, Musk posted lightly amid the fallout, offering to cover TSA salaries during a hypothetical funding impasse and engaging in unrelated banter about physics, AI and Grok. He made no direct comment on the verdict in visible recent posts.

The decision comes amid other major developments in Musk’s empire. SpaceX, his rocket company, is advancing confidential IPO preparations, with filings potentially as early as March and a mid-2026 listing targeting a valuation exceeding $1.75 trillion — potentially the largest ever. Starlink, its satellite internet arm, drives most revenue, while February’s merger with Musk’s xAI (valuing the combined entity at $1.25 trillion) integrates Grok AI, orbital data centers and compute resources for massive-scale artificial intelligence.

Tesla, meanwhile, pushes aggressive timelines for robotaxi rollout. Musk stated Thursday that driverless services will become “very, very widespread” across the U.S. by year’s end, expanding from pilot cities to Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Las Vegas in the first half of 2026. He tempered expectations on Cybercab and Optimus humanoid robot production, calling early rates “agonizingly slow” before eventual rapid scaling.

Tesla converted its $2 billion xAI investment into a SpaceX stake following the merger, formalizing ties among Musk’s companies ahead of potential SpaceX public debut. Musk has described orbital AI infrastructure as the path to unlimited compute powered by solar energy in space, predicting 2026 as a pivotal year for the “singularity” — where machine and human intelligence converge.

Neuralink continues human trials for brain-computer interfaces, with plans for high-volume production and automated implantation in 2026. Musk’s political involvement persists, including past support for Republican causes and commentary on government efficiency via DOGE initiatives.

The Twitter verdict adds legal pressure as Musk juggles Tesla’s autonomy push, SpaceX’s IPO ambitions and xAI’s rapid growth. While the ruling is civil and not criminal, it could impact investor confidence in Musk-led ventures and fuel ongoing scrutiny of his public statements on X.

As Musk navigates these crosscurrents, his influence spans transportation, space, AI and policy. The jury’s finding — that he misled investors in a landmark deal — marks a significant setback in his storied business career, even as his companies race toward transformative milestones in 2026.

By BeiChen Lin, CFA, CPA, Director, Head of Canadian Strategy

Energy volatility persists

Geopolitical developments in the Middle East drove market attention this week, with reports of energy infrastructure being targeted leading to sharp

Gold prices have remained unexpectedly weak even as geopolitical tensions in West Asia intensify—a stark contrast to gold’s traditional reputation as a safe-haven asset during global crises. Since 01 March, international gold prices have dropped nearly 13%, while domestic prices in India have fallen about 10%. Silver has corrected even more sharply, with global prices down 25% and domestic prices lower by 21%. This unusual divergence between rising geopolitical risk and falling precious metal prices highlights deeper macroeconomic forces at play. It also raises the question: Is this merely a short-term consolidation, or does it signal a structural shift in investor behaviour?

Strong U.S. Dollar Limits Safe-Haven Gains

One of the biggest factors suppressing gold is the renewed strength of the U.S. dollar. During periods of geopolitical stress, global investors flock not only to gold but also to the dollar, which offers superior liquidity and global acceptance.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has risen sharply from around 97 in mid-February to 100.15 by mid-March, reflecting strong safe-haven flows into the greenback. Since gold is dollar-priced, a stronger USD makes bullion costlier for other currency holders, dampening investment and physical demand. As a result, the usual geopolitical boost for gold has been overshadowed by the dollar’s resurgence.

Rising U.S. Treasury Yields and Higher Oil Prices Pressure Bullion

Gold has also faced pressure from rising U.S. Treasury yields. Higher yields increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like gold, making government bonds more attractive in comparison. At the same time, surging oil prices amid the Iran–Middle East conflict have intensified inflation worries. Investors now expect central banks, especially the U.S. Federal Reserve, to keep interest rates elevated for longer. This environment strengthens yield-bearing assets and weakens gold’s appeal, even during geopolitical upheavals.

Overvaluation and Heavy Profit-Taking

Gold had already staged a robust rally before the West Asia conflict erupted. After such a steep climb, the metal entered what many considered overvalued territory. Investors were reluctant to increase their exposure at elevated levels. When volatility spiked after the conflict intensified, traders seized the opportunity to book profits, leading to liquidation pressure instead of the typical safe-haven inflows. Markets tend to react this way after extended rallies, where investors prefer locking in gains rather than adding fresh positions. This wave of profit-taking diluted the potential upside from geopolitical tensions.

Liquidity-Driven Selling and Geopolitical Risk Already Priced In

During periods of sharp market stress, investors often prioritise liquidity above all else. Gold, being one of the most liquid assets globally, frequently becomes a source of cash to cover losses, meet margin calls, or rebalance portfolios. This liquidity-driven selling has been a key factor in the recent correction, overpowering safe-haven demand. Additionally, much of the geopolitical premium was already factored in gold prices at the start of 2026. Earlier conflicts, global recession fears, and currency volatility had kept gold elevated. With markets already positioned for ongoing instability and upcoming U.S. political developments, fresh upside triggers were limited.

Shift in Interest Rate Expectations and Overbought Technicals

Expectations around future U.S. interest rates have also influenced gold’s trajectory. Speculation surrounding potential changes in Federal Reserve leadership and delays in rate cuts have kept real yields high, reducing gold’s relative attractiveness.

On the technical front, both gold and silver were significantly overbought, which was reflected in elevated RSI readings. This indicated stretched speculative positioning and increased vulnerability to corrections. Traders took advantage of these technical signals to unwind bullish positions, adding to the downside pressure.

Why Indian Gold Prices Stayed Steady Despite a Weak Rupee

Despite the Indian rupee weakening to record lows, an event that typically pushes domestic gold prices higher by increasing import costs, gold prices in India have remained relatively steady. This unusual trend is largely due to the sharp decline in international gold prices, which has offset the higher landed cost caused by currency depreciation. At the same time, domestic demand has been subdued, as months of elevated prices have dampened jewellery buying and kept household budgets under pressure. Importers have also adopted a cautious stance, avoiding aggressive purchases amid volatile global conditions. These factors have prevented domestic prices from rising in proportion to the rupee’s weakness.

Outlook: Choppy Near Term, Constructive Long Term

Looking ahead, bullion is expected to remain choppy in the near term, with strong U.S. dollar conditions, elevated real yields, and uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook likely to dominate price movement. Periodic bouts of liquidity-driven selling may add to short-term volatility, keeping gold and silver rangebound. However, the long-term outlook for precious metals remains constructive.

Persistent geopolitical fragmentation, ongoing central bank diversification away from major reserve currencies, underlying inflation risks, and tightening supply, particularly in silver, continue to support a favourable multi-year outlook for precious metals. As global growth moderates and monetary authorities eventually shift toward easing cycles, both gold and silver are poised to strengthen their roles as strategic hedges. With structural demand remaining firm and supply constraints becoming more pronounced, the long-term upside potential for both metals appears increasingly compelling.

(The author of the article is Hareesh V, Head of Commodity Research, Geojit Investments Limited)