A helium crisis is brewing in the Persian Gulf, where 200 containers holding 41,000 liters of the precious gas are stranded. With no refrigeration and insulation as their only lifeline, these containers will start venting helium into the atmosphere in 35-48 days. The situation's critical: Qatar's North Field, a major helium supplier, is offline after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, sending prices soaring. This shortage spells trouble for industries relying on ultra-pure helium, like EUV lithography in semiconductors, with no substitute in sight.
Since Pi Day 2026, Pi Network has continued its gradual rollout of second migrations, opening the door for Pioneers to bring additional Pi to Mainnet and further participate in the ecosystem. This means that Pioneers who’ve already migrated their Pi balance once may now be eligible to migrate their second transferable Pi balance.
As stated in the Mainnet migrations roadmap, second migrations will include referral mining bonuses attributable to Referral Team members who fully passed KYC. Pioneers should therefore remind their Referral Teams to complete KYC so these bonuses can be migrated.
Since its release, over 119,000 Pioneers have completed second migrations of their transferable balances, including their referral mining bonuses, as the gradual rollout continues.
Gold rose over 1% on Friday, buoyed by a weaker dollar and bargain hunting, but was on track for a fourth straight weekly decline as surging energy prices fuelled inflation concerns and raised expectations of higher global interest rates.
Spot gold rose 1.1% to $4,428.30 per ounce as of 0228 GMT, but bullion has fallen about 1.3% so far this week.
US gold futures for April delivery gained 1.1% to $4,423.40.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman sent a message of congratulations to President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari on the occasion of Pakistan Day.
US introduces new visa rules to require $15,000 bond from 12 more countries
President Donald Trump’s administration will require citizens from 50 countries to post a $15,000 bond when applying for US entry. The bond applies specifically to B-1 (business) and B-2 (tourism) visas.
However, the expanded program, which added 12 new nations to an existing list of 38, goes into effect on April 2. The Trump administration aims to use these bonds as a financial deterrent to prevent visitors from overstaying their visas.
Under the refund terms, the $15,000 will be returned to recipients if they comply with their visa terms and return home, or if they choose not to travel at all after receiving the visa.
The newly added countries include Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia.
The Federal Reserve's FOMC will announce its rate decision at 2:00 PM EDT on March 19 (2:00 AM Beijing time, March 20). Heading into the meeting, macro data paints a classic divergence: inflation is falling but not fast enough, while real economic momentum is softening at the margin.
Inflation: February CPI eased to 2.8% YoY, with core CPI slipping to 3.1%. While both readings are well off their peaks, they remain stubbornly above the Fed's 2% target — particularly in services and shelter, where the "last mile" of disinflation continues to prove difficult.
Employment: February nonfarm payrolls came in at just 151K, missing the 170K consensus; the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%, and prior months were revised lower. The labor market hasn't cracked, but the cooling trend is becoming harder to ignore.
Growth: Q4 2024 real GDP growth slowed to an annualized 2.3% (down from 3.1% in Q3). Combined with weakening consumer confidence, the economy's resilience is facing a real test.
All three data points converge on one central question: with inflation still above target, is the Fed willing to signal earlier easing to prevent the economy from tipping into a more serious slowdown?
Bitcoin Fails To Break $74,000 Resistance: Analyst Predicts ‘Structural Bottom’ Yet to Form
Bitcoin (BTC) made a notable recovery on Friday, witnessing a 4% surge that led the leading cryptocurrency to retest the critical $74,000 resistance level, which has remained unbroken for the past month.
However, even with this upward movement, the cryptocurrency has retraced to approximately $72,215, establishing itself at the upper boundary of its ongoing consolidation range.
Israel says Iran's security chief Ali Larijani has been killed in strike
Israeli media are reporting that Ali Larijani was attacked with his son in a hideout apartment.
Israel’s Minister of Defence Israel Katz said Larijani had been “eliminated” and that he and the prime minister had instructed the military to “continue hunting down” Iran’s leadership.
The Iranian security chief had been seen in public last Friday taking part in Quds Day rallies.
He was a former nuclear negotiator for Iran and a close ally of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war.
There’s been no confirmation of his death from Iran.
UAE joins Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and more in granting emergency extensions to their citizens stranded abroad and waiving visa overstay fines for travelers from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, China, India, and Bangladesh as the Middle East crisis traps numerous passengers at both ends of their journey. Mass flight cancellations, sudden airspace closures, and widespread aviation disruption across the Gulf have left travelers unable to depart or return before visas expired. In response, governments across the region have introduced immigration relief measures, including visa extensions, overstay fine waivers, and special re-entry provisions for affected residents and visitors. These coordinated actions aim to protect stranded travelers, stabilize tourism flows, and reduce legal penalties while airlines gradually restore routes and international travel networks.
Oil hovers around $100, stocks mixed as Iran war rages
Iran war moves into third week with both sides showing no sign of backing down
Oil prices hovered around $100 a barrel Monday and stocks fluctuated as the Iran war moved into a third week with both sides showing no sign of backing down and diplomats trying to ensure safe passage for tankers through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
War, oil and alliances: Trump seeks global backing to reopen Strait of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump has escalated his campaign to enlist international support in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, warning that the future of NATO could be at risk if European and Asian allies fail to assist.
#GoldPrices Market Summary (as of March 15, 2026) Local Prices (Pakistan):
24K Gold per Tola: Decreased by Rs 8,700, settling at Rs 524,562. 24K Gold (10 Grams): Fell by Rs 7,459 to reach Rs 449,727. 22K Gold (10 Grams): Dropped by Rs 6,838 to Rs 412,264.
International Prices:
Spot Gold: Fell by $87 per ounce to settle around $5,018. This represents a notable correction from the all-time high of $5,608 recorded earlier in January 2026. #GOLD #XAU
United States President Donald Trump has nominated former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to head the US central bank when current Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May.
Pakistan and World Liberty Financial have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance innovation in digital payments.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of the Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, and other senior officials.
On the other hand, the World Liberty Financial USA delegation, led by Chief Executive Officer Zachary Witkoff, also met with the Prime Minister.
At the event, the Prime Minister briefed the delegation on the vision of Digital Pakistan, stating that digital connectivity, transparency, and public access are government priorities, and digital payments and financial innovation are key components of a digital economy.
Shehbaz Sharif said that growing global interest in Pakistan's digital financial markets is encouraging, and Pakistan is becoming an integral part of the global digital finance landscape.
At this occasion, Zachary Witkoff expressed interest in working with Pakistan to establish a secure and transparent foundational framework for digital payments, including innovations in cross-border settlements and foreign exchange acquisition and payment processes.
The longest-ever US government shutdown has ended after 43 days.
The fallout forced around 1.4 million federal employees to go without pay for weeks, suspended food to many low-income Americans and delayed or cancelled thousands of flights for airline passengers.