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Global air travel remains severely disrupted after the war in Iran forced the closure of key Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, stranding tens of thousands of passengers. Below is the latest on flights, in alphabetical order: AEGEAN AIRLINESGreece's largest carrier cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Amman until April 22, and to Erbil and Baghdad until May 24. Flights to Dubai were cancelled until April 19 and to Riyadh until April 18. AIR BALTICLatvia's airBaltic said all flights to Tel Aviv had been cancelled until April 5. All flights to Dubai have been cancelled until October 24. AIR CANADAThe Canadian carrier cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until May 2 and all flights to Dubai until March ‌28. AIR EUROPAThe Spanish airline ⁠has cancelled ⁠all flights to Tel Aviv until April 10. AIR FRANCE KLMAir France has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut until March 21 and to Dubai and Riyadh until March 20. KLM said flights to Riyadh, Dammam and Dubai were suspended until March 28 and flights to Tel Aviv were suspended for the remainder of its winter season. CATHAY PACIFICThe Hong Kong airline said it had cancelled all passenger flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh, as well as cargo freighter flights to Dubai and Riyadh, until April 30. DELTAThe U.S. carrier has cancelled flights from New York to Tel Aviv until March 31 and from Tel Aviv to New York until April 1. The restart of its Atlanta to Tel Aviv service has been delayed, with flights to Tel Aviv now paused until Aug 4 and flights from Tel Aviv paused ⁠until Aug 5. EL ‌AL ISRAEL AIRLINESThe Israeli flag carrier said regular flights were cancelled until March  21. EMIRATESThe UAE airline said it was operating a reduced flight schedule following a partial reopening of regional airspace. ETIHAD AIRWAYSThe UAE carrier said it was operating a limited commercial flight schedule between Abu Dhabi and ⁠a number of key destinations. FINNAIRThe Finnish carrier cancelled its Dubai flights until March 29 and Doha flights until April 2, continuing to avoid the airspace of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Israel. FLYNASSaudi Arabian budget airline Flynas extended its suspension of flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Syria until March 31. IAGIAG-owned British Airways cancelled all flights to Abu Dhabi until later this year and all flights to Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv until later in March. INDIGOThe Indian airline suspended operations to Doha, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dammam, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah until March 28. JAPAN AIRLINESJapan Airlines suspended Tokyo-Doha flights scheduled from February 28 to March 31 and Doha-Tokyo flights until April 1. LOTThe Polish airline said all flights to Dubai were cancelled until March 28 and to Tel Aviv until April 18. LOT also cancelled flights to Riyadh until March 24 and to Beirut from March ‌31 to April 30. LUFTHANSA GROUPThe German airline group, which includes Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines as well as ITA Airways, suspended flights to Tel Aviv through April 2, and to Beirut, Dubai, Amman, Erbil, and Abu Dhabi until March 28. Flights to Tehran were suspended through April 30 and to Dammam until March 17. MALAYSIA AIRLINESThe Malaysian ⁠carrier suspended all flights to Doha until March 20. NORWEGIAN AIRThe Nordic airline plans to fly to Tel Aviv and Beirut from June 15, instead of April 1 and April 4, respectively, as it had previously planned. PEGASUSPegasus Airlines cancelled its Iran, Iraq, Amman, Beirut, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah flights until April 12. Flights to Riyadh were cancelled until March 23. QATAR AIRWAYSThe carrier said its scheduled flight operations were still temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace and that it would operate a revised limited number of flights from March 18 to March 28. TURKISH AIRLINESThe Turkish transport ministry said Turkish Airlines cancelled flights to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bahrain and Dammam until March 19, while flights to Iran were cancelled until March 20. WIZZ AIRThe low-cost airline suspended flights to Israel until March 29 and to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman and Jeddah from mainland European destinations until the middle of September.

The ​Trump administration said in a Tuesday court ​filing that the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic was justified and lawful, ​opposing the artificial intelligence lab's high-stakes lawsuit challenging the decision.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic, the maker of popular AI assistant Claude, a national security supply chain risk on March 3 after the company refused to remove guardrails ‌against its ⁠technology being ⁠used for autonomous weapons or domestic surveillance.The Trump administration's filing says Anthropic is unlikely to succeed on its ​claims that the U.S. action violated speech protections under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, asserting the dispute stems ​from contract negotiations and national security concerns, not retaliation.Also Read | Anthropic invests $100 million into Claude AI program"It was only when Anthropic refused to release the restrictions on the use of its products - which refusal is conduct, not protected speech - ​that the President directed all federal agencies to terminate their ⁠business relationships ‌with Anthropic," the administration's legal filing said. The filing, from the U.S. ​Justice Department, said "no ​one has purported to restrict Anthropic's expressive activity." Anthropic's lawsuit in California ⁠federal court asks a judge to block the Pentagon's decision while ​the case plays out. Some legal experts say the company appears ​to have a strong case that the government overreached. President Donald Trump backed Hegseth's move, which excludes Anthropic from a limited set of military contracts but could damage the company's reputation and cause billions of dollars in losses this year, according to its executives.The designation came after months of negotiations between the Pentagon and Anthropic reached an impasse, prompting Trump and Hegseth ‌to denounce the company and accuse it of endangering American lives with its usage restrictions.Also Read | Anthropic launches 'Anthropic Institute', expands public policy teamAnthropic has disputed those claims and said AI is ​not yet safe enough ​to be used in ⁠autonomous weapons. The company said it opposes domestic surveillance as a matter of principle. In its March 9 lawsuit, Anthropic said the "unprecedented and unlawful" designation violated its free speech and due ​process rights, while running afoul of a law requiring federal agencies to follow specific procedures when making decisions.The Pentagon separately designated Anthropic a supply chain risk under a different law that could expand the order to the entire government.Anthropic is challenging that move in a second lawsuit in a Washington, D.C. appeals court.

Mumbai: India's IPO boom is increasingly being used by companies for repairing leveraged balance sheets instead of funding growth, with debt repayment emerging as the single largest end-use of the proceeds from recent share sales. Data compiled from Prime Database showed that of the approximately ₹1.47 lakh crore earmarked across all stated fund utilisation categories by IPO-bound companies in 2024, 2025 and 2026 so far, around ₹35,055 crore has been allocated toward repayment of borrowings. Debt repayments by 95 companies constitute nearly a quarter of funds raised in the latest share sales.129644878 Balance Sheet Needs A deleveraged capital structure emerges as the top goal of an initial share sale. Indeed, debt repayment trumps even capital expenditure and expansion, which accounts for Rs 34,458 crore, or 23.3%, of the funds garnered at nearly 200 issuers, the data showed. "On the face of it, it begins to look like promoters and lenders are using a hot IPO market to offload risk at full price to the public," said Pradyumna Nag, founder, Prequate Advisory, an investment banking advisory firm. "From a purely technical point of view, it shows that these offers are being engineered around an issuer's balance sheet needs and building liquidity for insiders - both of which are not focused on building investor wealth or much needed oxygen for productive new projects." The data showed that working capital requirements form the next large bucket - at Rs 26,928 crore across 71 issuers, while general corporate purposes, often seen as the least transparent category, accounted for Rs 16,355 crore across 145 companies. The tilt toward deleveraging is evident in issuance trends. In 2024, 39 of the 93 IPOs included debt reduction as an objective. That number climbed to 51 out of 103 IPOs in 2025. In 2026 so far, 5 of the 12 IPO launches have already earmarked funds for paring debt. IPO advisory firms said that this trend is not a positive sign from a capital markets standpoint as this also means the multiplier effect of an IPO's proceeds is taking place outside the company's balance sheet rather than within it. "Until disclosure and investor scrutiny shifts from 'who is the IPO of' or 'how big is the IPO' to fundamentals such as 'what share goes into projects earning more than the cost of equity', India's IPO boom will keep amplifying the mismatch between subsequent earnings releases and the price at IPO a few years back," said Nag. Recent Trend To be sure, the data showed that this tilt toward deleveraging is a relatively recent phenomenon. In 2020 and 2021, capital expenditure comfortably outpaced debt repayment as the primary use of IPO proceeds. The crossover came in 2024, when allocations toward debt repayment at Rs 12,014 crore exceeded capex spending of Rs 9,807 crore for the first time. In 2025, capex regained ground at Rs 21,839 crore compared with Rs 16,733 crore for debt reduction, but the aggregate trend for 2024-2026 still leaves debt marginally ahead. Not all market participants see this shift as a cause of concern, however. Many view it as a prudent financial strategy in a buoyant equity market. "This reflects a conscious move toward optimal capital restructuring, enabling firms to swap debt for equity in a bullish market and de-risk their financial profiles," said Samir Bahl, CEO, Anand Rathi Advisors. "Companies are able to increase their PAT margins by lowering interest costs, resulting in savings flowing directly to the bottom line," Bahl said. "Also, deleveraging strengthens coverage ratios and boosts credit ratings. Ultimately, this positions firms for resilient, efficient, and sustainable growth with a stronger financial runway and greater autonomy." The shift toward debt reduction is also driven by its immediate impact on financial metrics. Lower leverage reduces interest burden, improves profitability and strengthens cash flows, while also enhancing valuations.

Mumbai: Liquidity surplus in India's banking system, crucial for short-term borrowing rates, narrowed to ₹75,483 crore as of Monday, pushing money market rates up to 5.31% from 5.03% last week. The policy repo rate is currently at 5.25%. The surplus moderated primarily due to quarterly advance tax outflows, where about ₹2 lakh crore exited the banking system ahead of the March 15 deadline. Average system liquidity stood at ₹2.43 lakh crore in the previous week. Liquidity also came under pressure after central bank interventions in the foreign exchange market, with the rupee sliding about 1.5% since the start of the US-Israeli offensive on Iran. Economists estimate that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has likely sold more than $15 billion from its stockpile over the past couple of weeks. On Tuesday, too, the overnight call rate stood at 5.27%, suggesting tight liquidity. To counter this, RBI conducted a 7-day variable rate repo (VRR) operation to induce ₹1.5 lakh crore. However, it received bids for just ₹48,014 crore. "We have durable liquidity of above ₹5 lakh crore, so that means there is money with the government, and people expect this to come back into the banking system by next week. The institutions that would have borrowed in Tuesday's VRR would have been the ones that really needed funds for day-to-day operations," said Alok Singh, head of treasury, CSB Bank. RBI had likely anticipated the moderation in surplus liquidity in the banking system and accordingly conducted open market operations (OMOs) worth ₹1 lakh crore last week.

New Delhi: India's booming luxury real estate market is likely to sustain its momentum this year backed by the creation of a new set of wealthy entrepreneurs thanks to a slew of new-age company IPOs, adding to a record wave of listings in 2025, experts said. The growing base of affluent individuals would help drive continued demand for high-end realty assets despite the short-term uncertainty due to prevailing geopolitical tensions."The sheer scale of India's IPO cycle in 2025, with 103 companies raising nearly ₹1.76 lakh crore - the highest ever - has significantly accelerated wealth creation in the country," said Amit Goyal, managing director, India Sotheby's International Realty. "Historically, strong capital market phases translate into higher allocations to luxury real estate. We have already seen this play out in record luxury home sales across India's top seven cities."Sotheby's outlook survey reflects a similar sentiment - ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNIs) and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) were more measured but broadly positive on buying right assets at prime locations in key cities, and second homes."The luxury segment continues to witness high demand in India, and the liquidity generated by the record capital market activity and IPOs in 2025 is likely to act as a primary catalyst for the segment in 2026," said Anshuman Magazine, chairman and CEO - India, Southeast Asia, Middle East & Africa at CBRE. "As lock-in periods expire, a new generation of wealth creators, ranging from startup founders to senior corporate professionals, is increasingly prioritising lifestyle, longevity, and asset quality. This maturing buyer base is driving the high-end category to become a dominant force in the residential sector."Cities such as Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Bengaluru often see immediate spillover from stock market wealth generation into premium housing. Luxury homes offer status, portfolio diversification, and long-term value appreciation."India's record wave of IPOs in 2025 created a fresh pool of high-liquidity wealth among HNIs, founders, early investors, and senior employees with ESOP gains," said Ankush Kaul, president, sales and marketing and customer experience at Central Park. "Many of these newly affluent individuals tend to deploy capital into tangible, prestige assets, especially luxury real estate in prime urban markets."Experts, however, said recent geopolitical upheavals are creating short-term uncertainty in decision-making."Real estate remains an excellent wealth diversifier, and capital created in 2025 will continue to find its way into luxury assets, but decision-making will be calibrated and likely to take longer," said Goyal at Sotheby's. "Overseas purchases, especially in markets like Dubai, have slowed for now."In real estate, though, some moderation was overdue after the sharp price run of the past few years.