Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

New Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) – UN Women data shows women remain far from having equal political power, holding just 22.4% of cabinet posts and 27.5% of parliamentary seats worldwide.

New York, USA, 11 March 2026: Across the world, women remain vastly under-represented in political leadership, with the most powerful decisions still overwhelmingly made by men. In 2026, only 28 countries are led by a woman Head of State or Government, while 101 countries have never had a woman leader, according to the latest data released by the IPU and UN Women.

When women are shut out of political leadership, decisions that shape peace, security and economic priorities are made without half of the world's experience at the table. The new global data reveals stagnation, and in some cases regression, in women's political leadership, particularly in executive government.

Key findings from the data released by IPU and UN Women include:

• Women hold just 22.4% of cabinet minister positions globally, down from 23.3% in 2024, marking a reversal after years of gradual progress.
• 14 countries have achieved gender parity in cabinet, demonstrating that equal representation is possible, yet eight countries still have no women ministers at all.
• Women hold 27.5% of parliamentary seats worldwide, up slightly from 27.2% in 2025. The increase of just 0.3 percentage points marks the second consecutive year of the slowest growth recorded since 2017, highlighting how slowly women are advancing in political decision-making.
• Women are also losing ground in parliamentary leadership. As of January 2026, 54 women serve as Speakers of Parliament globally, representing 19.9% of all Speakers. This represents a nearly four-percentage-point decline from the previous year and the first drop in women Speakers in 21 years.
• Women in politics face rising hostility and intimidation from the public, both online and offline. 76% of women parliamentarians surveyed reported experiencing intimidation by the public, compared with 68% of men, a trend that deters women from seeking office and is slowing progress toward equal political power.
• Even when women reach leadership positions, they are often concentrated in a narrow range of portfolios traditionally linked to social sectors.
• Women lead 90% of gender equality ministries and 73% of ministries responsible for family and children's affairs, reinforcing long-standing gender stereotypes in political leadership. Men almost exclusively continue to lead ministries like defence, home affairs, justice, economic affairs, governance, health and education.

“At a time of growing global instability, escalating conflicts and a visible backlash against women's rights, shutting women out of political leadership weakens societies' ability to respond to the challenges they face,” said Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director. “Women bring perspectives and experience that are essential for making better decisions, preventing conflict and building lasting peace. When women are fully involved in political leadership, countries are more stable, policies work better for people, and societies are better prepared to face the crises shaping our world today.”

“Parity is a moral imperative, because women have an equal right to shape the decisions that govern their lives. But it is also the smart thing to do. Institutions make better decisions when they reflect the societies they serve. They are better able to identify bias, design fairer responses and earn public trust when women from all backgrounds are present, and influential, at every level,” said IPU President Tulia Ackson.

“The IPU has constantly proven that well-designed quotas and strong political will are essential to speed up change and ensure that women's voices are heard in democratic decision making. At the same time, men and women must work together as equal partners to transform political culture, challenge stereotypes, and build inclusive parliaments that reflect the people they represent,” said IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong.

Despite the slow pace of change, women around the world continue to push boundaries and assert their place in political life. Removing structural barriers, including discriminatory laws, violence against women in politics and unequal access to resources, as well as challenging negative social norms, will be critical to ensuring women's equal political leadership in the years ahead.

This year's 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women – the United Nations' highest-level intergovernmental body that sets global standards for women's rights and gender equality, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse the rollback of women's rights. The future of democracy will be stronger, fairer and more resilient when women are equally represented in decision-making at all levels.

About the IPU

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 183 national Member Parliaments and 15 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes peace, democracy and sustainable development. It helps parliaments become stronger, younger, greener and more gender-balanced. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world.

About UN Women

UN Women exists to advance women's rights, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. As the lead United Nations entity on gender equality, we shift laws, institutions, social norms and services to close the gender gap and build an equal world for all women and girls. We keep the rights of women and girls at the centre of global progress – always, everywhere. Because gender equality is not just what we do. It is who we are.

Source: Amnesty International

In response to reports of cooperation between Thai and Vietnamese authorities that led to the arrest and detention of anti-corruption activist Le Chi Thanh, currently held at Bangkok’s Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre in Thailand, Amnesty International’s Co-Regional Director Montse Ferrer said:

“The detention of Le Chi Thanh is the latest troubling instance of transnational repression by Thai and Vietnamese authorities. The arbitrary revocation of Le Chi Thanh’s passport is alarming, indicating an attempt by Vietnamese authorities to coerce an activist living in exile into returning and then facing persecution.

“The Thai authorities must immediately release Le Chi Thanh and refrain from returning him to Viet Nam, where he could face serious human rights violations. We also call on the international community to publicly condemn the Vietnamese government for its ongoing cross-border efforts to silence peaceful dissent.

“No one should be returned to a country where they are at real risk of serious human rights violations. Any such return will breach the principle of non-refoulement as laid out in international human rights.”

Background

Thai immigration police arrested Le Chi Thanh and detained him at Bangkok’s Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) on 6 March 2026. Amnesty International received credible reports that personnel from the Embassy of Viet Nam in Thailand undertook a visit to the IDC on the same day.

According to Le Chi Thanh’s legal representative, the activist lawfully entered Thailand using a valid Vietnamese passport set to expire in 2031 and subsequently obtained a Thai work permit. Despite this, Thai authorities arrested him and claimed his work permit had become invalid due to the Vietnamese authorities’ cancellation of his passport. Thanh had never been informed by the Vietnamese authorities of this decision prior to the arrest.

Le Chi Thanh is a former police officer and prominent activist who used social media platforms to speak out against reports of corruption and misconduct within the public security sector. In April 2021 he was arrested for allegedly “resisting officers” during an encounter with traffic police in Thu Duc City. He was sentenced to two years in prison in January 2022, then received an additional prison sentence of three years for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on State and individuals’ legitimate rights and interests,” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s Penal Code due to his Facebook posts which criticized Vietnamese authorities.

During his court hearing, Thanh reported being tortured to coerce confessions in pre-trial detention, including being beaten and hung by his arms and legs for seven days. In November 2022, UN experts sent a letter to the Vietnamese government raising concern over his claims of torture. His case echoes Amnesty International’s past findings that Vietnamese prisoners of conscience, including human rights defenders, face systemic risks of torture and other ill-treatment in detention.

UN experts have previously documented a pattern in which Vietnamese officials visited Montagnard and Hmong refugees held in Thai detention facilities to pressure them into ‘voluntarily’ returning to Viet Nam. These incidents raise serious concerns about Thailand’s ability and willingness to provide effective protection to Vietnamese refugees, who remain especially vulnerable to intimidation and coercion by Vietnamese officials.

Civil society groups and UN experts have repeatedly warned of growing cooperation between Thai and Vietnamese authorities to target dissidents. Their concerns are reinforced by a series of alarming incidents, including the enforced disappearance of Thai activists in Viet Nam in January 2019, the abduction of Vietnamese blogger Truong Duy Nhat in Thailand later that month and the enforced disappearance of Vietnamese independent journalist Duong Van Thai in April 2023. Most recently, in February 2026, Thai authorities forcibly returned Indigenous Montagnard human rights defender Y Quynh Bdap to Viet Nam, underscoring an escalating pattern of cross-border repression.

Source: Equinor

11 MARCH 2026 – Bio-methanol from Equinor will help fuel some of the giants on the oceans. The Wallenius Wilhelmsen group is a market leader in roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) shipping and vehicle logistics, managing the distribution of cars, trucks, rolling equipment and breakbulk to customers all over the world. Their new generation vessels have a capacity to take up to 11,700 cars.

Equinor has entered into a 2-year bio-methanol supply agreement with Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a major global player in shipping and vehicle logistics, supporting a growing marine segment for low-carbon fuels.

Soon bio-methanol from Equinor will fuel ships that are bringing cars and machinery from points of production to markets. Wallenius Wilhelmsen is a market leader in roll‑on/roll‑off (RoRo) shipping and vehicle logistics and will use the bio‑methanol as bunker fuel for its upcoming dual‑fuel methanol vessels.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen will receive the bio-methanol bunkers at the Ports of Zeebrugge and Antwerp, positioning the partnership within key European maritime hubs. Supplies will commence in late 2026.

“We continue to see increasing interest in bio-methanol as a practical, scalable solution for decarbonisation of shipping. This partnership with Wallenius Wilhelmsen marks a substantial step forward in bringing Equinor’s bio-based methanol to the growing marine segment for low carbon fuels. Equinor has previously signed supply agreements for bio-methanol with Maersk and NCL, and we are progressing several leads for both bio and conventional methanol supply agreements”, says Alex Grant, senior vice president of Crude, Products and Liquids (CPL) in Equinor.

The use of bio-methanol will enable substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from ships that use the fuel and help Wallenius Wilhelmsen provide net zero logistics solutions to their customers.

“Signing this deal with Equinor marks an important milestone for us at Wallenius Wilhelmsen. Securing low-carbon bio-methanol supports the decarbonization of our ocean operations, while strengthening our ability to deliver lower emission end-to-end logistics for customers. Partnerships like this are essential to scaling alternative fuels and moving from ambition to execution,” says Xavier Leroi, chief operating officer Shipping Services at Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

How it works

Equinor’s supply of bio-methanol is based on a combination of methanol produced at Equinor’s facility at Tjeldbergodden, Norway, and biogas certificates stemming from captured biogas from manure and other biomass in accordance with the EU Renewable Energy Directive.

The methanol is produced from the biomethane in the gas grid on a mass-balance basis. This way, bio-methanol can be produced in existing facilities using existing infrastructure and plants, enabling quick production while also allowing for less pressure on pristine land, natural resources and the environment. The method also enables capture of methane emissions that would arise from the manure feedstock if left untouched.

Facts about methanol from biogas:

Biomethane is produced from organic materials. Before methanol synthesis, biomethane needs to be purified by removing impurities and increasing the methane content. This is often done using various upgrading technologies. To produce hydrogen (H₂) required for the reaction, the CO₂ present in the biomethane can be converted via reforming processes

Methanol is synthesized using methane and carbon dioxide with hydrogen. The process results in the production of methanol from the original biomethane.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) aims to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping to net zero by or around 2050. Transitioning to methanol can be part of strategies to meet these targets.

About Wallenius Wilhelmsen

The Wallenius Wilhelmsen group is a market leader in roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) shipping and vehicle logistics, managing the distribution of cars, trucks, rolling equipment, and breakbulk to customers all over the world.

The company operates around 127 vessels servicing 15 trade routes to six continents, a global inland distribution network, 70 processing centers, and eight marine terminals.

With its head office in Oslo, Norway, the Wallenius Wilhelmsen group has about 12,000 employees in 28 countries worldwide.

Read more at www.walleniuswilhelmsen.com

Source: GlobalData

The escalating war between the US, Israel, and Iran is creating the most severe disruption to global energy markets since the 1970s. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed oil prices briefly above $110 per barrel within days, while the shock is spreading to shipping, aviation, and trade, raising global recession and inflation risks, according to GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.

The operational profile of the war is widening beyond direct military targets and is now materially impacting commercial activity. The US and Israel have conducted more than 5,000 strikes inside Iran, targeting air defenses, naval infrastructure, and ballistic missile facilities. Iran has retaliated by targeting Israel and the US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, and Jordan. This has created an elevated threat environment for critical infrastructure and cross-border trade routes in the Gulf.

Energy and maritime logistics drive immediate economic shock

The most immediate macroeconomic impact is being transmitted through energy supply and maritime shipping. The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to most traffic after Iranian threats and tanker attacks, leaving nearly 200 vessels stranded. Markets have repriced rapidly: oil has jumped from roughly $70 to above $110 per barrel in days, while Asian LNG spot prices have more than doubled. Higher fuel costs are feeding directly into transportation and distribution, with US diesel reaching a two-year high of $4.04 per gallon—raising the probability of renewed inflation pressure across multiple economies.

Ramnivas Mundada, Director of Companies and Economic Research at GlobalData, comments: “Corporate disruption is already severe across several sectors. Qatar Energy and several Gulf refineries have suspended production or declared force majeure due to direct strikes and logistical blockades. Major shipping groups such as Maersk have halted Gulf operations, with many vessels rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope and adding 10–15 days to journeys alongside sharply higher fuel burn. Aviation has also been hit hard, with airlines including Emirates grounding thousands of flights due to airspace closures in the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait, triggering immediate losses for airlines and downstream tourism economies.”

Insurance and financial markets amplify the hit

Risk pricing is intensifying the shock. War-risk insurance premiums for vessels have reportedly surged from around 0.05% to more than 0.5% of ship value, rendering some routes uneconomical and further tightening available shipping capacity for both energy and container trade. Equity markets have turned volatile; early in the conflict, the Dow Jones fell more than 400 points in a single session (March 2, 2026), reflecting investor concern over margin pressure, input-cost inflation, and broader geopolitical spillover.

Most exposed sectors

Energy (LNG, refining, petrochemicals): highest risk from physical disruption, force majeure, and shipping constraints.
Shipping, ports, and freight forwarding: rerouting, capacity shortages, higher bunker fuel costs, and schedule instability.
Aviation and tourism: airspace closures, cancellations, and demand shocks across hub markets.
Manufacturing supply chains (autos, electronics, chemicals/plastics): feedstock shortages and freight cost inflation driving delays and margin compression.
Marine and trade insurance: premium spikes, coverage restrictions, and increased counterparty risk.

Mundada concludes: “The balance of risks remains firmly to the downside if disruptions persist. Iran faces a potential GDP contraction exceeding 10% over the next three to 12 months as infrastructure damage accumulates. Israel's 2026 growth outlook, previously projected at 4.3% is, now faces downside risk amid higher defense spending and weaker investment. Major energy importers, including India, China, Japan, and South Korea, are particularly exposed via deteriorating trade balances and persistent inflation. If the war continues beyond two to three months, the probability of a global recession and more entrenched inflation pressures rises materially, elevating stagflation risk across multiple regions.”

Notes

Quotes provided by Ramnivas Mundada, Director of Companies and Economic Research at GlobalData
The information is based on GlobalData's Macroeconomic Database, “Country Analytics Overview – GlobalData”

About GlobalData

GlobalData Plc (LSE:DATA) operates an intelligence platform that empowers leaders to act decisively in a world of complexity and change. By uniting proprietary data, human expertise, and purpose-built AI into a single, connected platform, we help organizations see what is coming, move faster, and lead with confidence. Our solutions are used by over 5,000 organizations across the world's largest industries, providing tailored intelligence that supports strategic planning, innovation, risk management, and sustainable growth.

Source: AMES

Five women from multicultural communities have been recognised for their contributions to building the capacity of their own communities and to bolstering broader social cohesion.

The AMES Australia 'Women of Impact' initiative, now in its third year, recognises grass roots community leaders who are making a difference in the lives of members of their communities.

Coinciding with International Women's Day, the initiative is aimed at celebrating the contributions of migrant and refugee women.

This year's 'Women of Impact' are:

Maru Jarocky is a leader in the Australian Ukrainian community.

An architect and artist, she is part of a group raising funds for Ukraine and supporting Ukrainians who have arrived in Melbourne since the Russian invasion.

Maru was also a driving force behind the creation of the Ukrainian museum and gallery in North Melbourne.

Palwashi Aslami is a champion of women's sport. She has a passion for encouraging women and girls from culturally diverse communities, especially those from her own Afghan community, to play sport.

As an Under-15 girls' soccer coach, she is shaping a generation of aspiring players.

Informed by her own experience and journey, she has set out to attract more women and girls to join the world game.

Khadija Karimi is an Afghan refugee who volunteers with AMES Australia as a way of giving back to the country that gave her refuge when she had to flee the Taliban's takeover of her homeland.

Sponsored by her sister and brother-in-law, both doctors working in regional Victoria, she arrived in Australia in 2005.

Khadija has been a dedicated AMES Volunteer Tutor at the Dandenong site for 18 years, beginning her service in 2008. She is deeply loved and respected by students and teachers alike for her kindness, generosity, and unwavering commitment to helping others.

Dr Batool Albatat came to Australia with her family as an 11-year-old, fleeing the Gulf War. Place

After being rescued from a foundering vessel in the Indian Ocean, the Albatats were eventually accepted by Australia as refugees.

Today, Dr Albatat is giving back to the community that welcomed her. After working as a surgical resident at Melbourne's Northern Hospital, she is currently practising as a GP in Melbourne. She is passionate about community health and is committed to improving health literacy within diverse communities.

She recently launched social media platforms dedicated to sharing health education and awareness in both English and Arabic.

Joselyne Majambere, is a Burundian community leader in Mildura. She helped establish Food Next Door, a social enterprise which allows members of local African communities grow their own food.

The 'Food Next Door' garden is a place where people can meet and support each other. Joselyne has also established a choir in Mildura which performs regularly.

The initiative also recognised, for the first time, a 'male champion of changs' in Jun Bin Lee.

Jun is a writer and creative producer who works across theatre, music and animation.

In his work, Jun often engages with issues of gender, power and social justice, including within the Prevention of Violence Against Women (PVAW) space.

He has developed animated video series that engage migrant and refugee communities in conversations about positive male role models.

And his original musicals examine gender-based violence, institutional failure and everyday systems that shape power and silence.

AMES Australia Chair Vanda Fortunato said the 'Women of Impact' initiative was aimed at celebrating the contributions of migrant and refugee women.

“These are women from multicultural communities who are making significant contributions to their own communities and to broader social cohesion,” Ms Fortunato said.

“It is important to recognise women who are doing great things, but we also need men to join the journey in achieving true gender equity,” she said.

“The women we are celebrating come from a range of backgrounds, fields of endeavour and locations but they all have in common the fact they are making a difference in other people's lives.

“And we are recognising them in conjunction with International Women's Day, which is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality.

“As a way of promoting a fresh paradigm and new ways of thinking, we are also recognising a man who has been a champion of change,” Ms Fortunato said.

Source: Sinch

Stockholm, Las Vegas – March 10, 2026 – Sinch AB (publ) today announced at Enterprise Connect new innovations across its Enterprise Voice platform, including Voice Relay, a new capability that enables developers to connect text-based AI agents directly to live phone calls. The announcement introduces Voice Relay in early access release, alongside AI-ready voice infrastructure, enhanced branded calling protection and expanded global network capabilities designed to help enterprises build secure, scalable customer conversations.

While conversational AI models have advanced rapidly, deploying AI agents in real-time voice interactions introduces complex challenges related to latency, telecom infrastructure, and fraud protection. Sinch provides the communications infrastructure that enables enterprises to bring AI-powered conversations to the global telephone network.

“Voice remains one of the most powerful channels for customer engagement, and enterprises are increasingly looking to bring AI into those interactions,” said Julia Fraser, EVP Americas at Sinch. “Voice Relay allows developers to connect AI agents to the global telephone network quickly and reliably, helping them automate routine calls, reduce wait times and resolve issues faster without having to build and manage complex voice infrastructure themselves.

Many interactions take place over the phone, where real-time conversations remain crucial for high- stakes or high-priority resolution. Leveraging AI for voice interactions has historically required the management of complex audio streaming infrastructure, speech recognition services, text-to-speech systems and latency optimization. Voice Relay simplifies this process by allowing developers to connect AI agents built on large language models directly to live voice calls.

With Voice Relay, Sinch manages the real-time conversational loop during a call, including speech recognition, voice synthesis and interruption handling. Developers can integrate AI agents with Sinch’s global voice network using a simple interface while Sinch handles the underlying complexity of real-time voice interactions.

“Enterprises want the freedom to choose the AI models that power their agents,” said Daniel Morris, Chief Product Officer at Sinch. “Voice Relay provides the infrastructure that connects those agents to the global voice network, delivering the real-time media, reliability and control required to run AI-powered voice interactions in production.”

About Sinch
Sinch’s vision is to connect every business with every customer, everywhere in the world. With the industry’s most trusted foundation for intelligent customer communications, Sinch powers over 900 billion customer interactions annually for more than 200,000 customers across the globe. Leading global companies, including AI innovators, rely on Sinch to strengthen customer relationships and deliver seamless experiences across messaging, email and voice. Profitable since its founding in 2008, Sinch generated net sales of USD 3 billion (SEK 27 billion) in 2025 and has over 4,000 employees in more than 60 countries, with headquarters in Stockholm. Sinch is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (XSTO: SINCH). Visit us at sinch.com.

Source: TechGaged

VILNIUS, Lithuania – March 10, 2026 – Corporate adoption of Bitcoin continues to expand across global public markets, according to a new analysis by digital asset research outlet TechGaged. (ref. https://techgaged.com/148-public-companies-now-hold-bitcoin-with-strategy-accounting-for-63-of-all-corporate-btc/ )

The report finds that 148 publicly traded companies now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, collectively controlling 1,162,380 BTC, valued at approximately $82.55 billion at recent market prices.

At current levels, corporate treasuries represented in the dataset collectively hold about 5.54% of Bitcoin's maximum 21 million supply, highlighting the growing role of publicly traded firms in the digital asset ecosystem.

Corporate Bitcoin Ownership Remains Highly Concentrated

Despite the expanding number of companies adopting Bitcoin as part of their treasury strategies, the analysis shows that corporate Bitcoin ownership remains highly concentrated.

Strategy alone holds 738,731 BTC, accounting for approximately 63.6% of all Bitcoin held by the 148 public companies included in the dataset. The company's holdings exceed the combined Bitcoin reserves of the remaining 147 public companies tracked in the analysis.

“The growing number of companies holding Bitcoin shows that the asset is increasingly being viewed as a strategic treasury reserve,” said Rokas Baltrusaitis, Research Analyst at TechGaged. “However, the data also highlights how concentrated corporate ownership remains, with Strategy alone accounting for a majority of publicly reported corporate Bitcoin holdings.”

Strategy's position stems from a multi-year accumulation strategy initiated in 2020 under executive chairman Michael Saylor, which has transformed the firm into one of the largest institutional Bitcoin holders globally.

As previously reported by TechGaged, Strategy's holdings have grown so large that the company now controls nearly 4% of the entire Bitcoin supply, making it one of the most influential institutional participants in the digital asset market.

Beyond Strategy, several companies have accumulated sizable Bitcoin reserves, including MARA Holdings, XXI, Metaplanet, Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, Bullish, Galaxy Digital, Riot Platforms, Coinbase Global, and Hut 8 Mining.

The data also shows a strong concentration among the largest corporate holders:

Top 10 companies hold 991,080 BTC, representing 85.3% of all Bitcoin held by public companies;

Top 20 companies control 92.9% of corporate BTC holdings;

The median company holds approximately 290.5 BTC, illustrating the wide gap between the largest and smallest corporate allocations

These companies generally fall into three broad categories: Bitcoin mining firms, crypto-native financial companies, and businesses that have intentionally adopted Bitcoin treasury strategies as part of long-term balance-sheet management.

Bitcoin Treasuries Expand Across Public Markets

While the largest firms dominate total holdings, the dataset also highlights a growing “long tail” of smaller public companies experimenting with Bitcoin allocations as part of broader treasury diversification strategies.

The rise of corporate Bitcoin treasuries is occurring alongside broader changes in financial infrastructure. TechGaged previously reported that banks are quietly preparing for a new wave of cryptocurrency compliance frameworks, reflecting expectations that digital assets will increasingly intersect with traditional financial systems.

Corporate adoption is also unfolding amid continued macroeconomic uncertainty. In its latest weekly market recap, TechGaged noted that Bitcoin recently rebounded despite rising geopolitical tensions, reinforcing the asset's perception among some investors as a scarce digital asset capable of weathering periods of market volatility.

Taken together, the emergence of 148 public companies holding Bitcoin represents a significant milestone in the institutional development of the asset. At the same time, the concentration of corporate holdings among a small number of companies suggests that the evolution of corporate Bitcoin adoption may still be in its early stages.

Read the full story with statistics here: https://techgaged.com/148-public-companies-now-hold-bitcoin-with-strategy-accounting-for-63-of-all-corporate-btc/

Methodology

This analysis is based on publicly available corporate treasury data compiled from the CoinGecko Bitcoin Treasury tracker, cross-checked with company disclosures and publicly reported holdings where available.

The dataset ranks publicly traded companies that hold Bitcoin as part of their corporate treasury reserves, ordered from the largest to the smallest holder.

All Bitcoin holdings reflect the most recently available publicly reported figures as of March 9, 2026.

The estimated USD value of holdings is calculated using a Bitcoin reference price of $71,017.93, based on market data recorded March 10, 2026 at 05:00 GMT-4, sourced from CoinMarketCap. Figures may be rounded for readability.

Corporate Bitcoin holdings may change over time as companies acquire or sell Bitcoin or update financial disclosures. As a result, the figures presented represent a snapshot of publicly available data at the time of publication.

About TechGaged

TechGaged is an independent research and media platform covering cryptocurrency markets, blockchain infrastructure, and emerging financial technologies. The publication provides data-driven analysis and reporting on the evolving digital asset ecosystem.

For more information, visit:
https://techgaged.com/about/

Source: UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
 

UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released a rapid analysis – Strait of Hormuz Disruptions – Implications for Global Trade and Development – examining the implications of recent disruptions to maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical trade corridors. (ref. https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/osgttinf2026d1_en.pdf )

The Strait carries around one quarter of global seaborne oil trade, as well as significant volumes of liquefied natural gas and fertilizers. Military escalation in the region has disrupted shipping flows through this narrow passage, raising concerns about ripple effects across energy markets, maritime transport and global supply chains.

Key findings from the analysis:

• Energy markets reacted immediately, with Brent crude rising above US$90 per barrel.
• Freight rates for oil tankers and war risk insurance premiums are surging, while marine fuel costs are also rising, increasing shipping costs across supply chains.
• Around one-third of global seaborne fertilizer trade (about 16 million tonnes) passes through the Strait, raising concerns about fertilizer access for some of the poorest countries.
• Developing economies may be particularly exposed, as high debt burdens and rising borrowing costs limit their ability to absorb new price shocks.
• Past crises – including COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine – showed how disruptions to energy, transport and agricultural inputs can quickly spread across interconnected markets.

**About UN trade and development (UNCTAD): **

UNCTAD is the UN’s leading body on trade and development. Founded in 1964, it supports 195 member states with expert analysis, technical assistance, and serves as a platform for intergovernmental dialogue.

UNCTAD helps developing countries make trade, finance, investment, and the digital economy work for inclusive and sustainable development.

Source: KOF Economic Institute

The Global Coincident and Leading Barometers fall in March in a movement of accommodation after rising in previous months. Both indicators remain above the 100‑point mark, still showing moderate growth for the world economy.

In March, the Coincident and Leading Global Economic Barometers fall by 0.3 and 1.4 points, reaching 102.5 and 101.3 points, respectively. Asia, Pacific & Africa and Europe contribute negatively to the result, while the Western Hemisphere moves in the opposite direction.

“Although the global barometers remain above average, we are witnessing a decline in both the leading and coincident versions. As most of the data was collected in February, it is important to note that these indicators do not yet reflect the US/Israeli attack on Iran and its aftermath, including the subsequent increase in oil and gas prices. It will therefore be interesting to see how these new geopolitical developments affect business and consumer sentiment worldwide next month. For now, we cannot read too much into this month's movements”, comments KOF director Jan-Egbert Sturm the latest results.

Coincident Barometer – regions and sectors

The 0.3‑point decrease of the Coincident Barometer in March results from the negative contribution of 0.9 point from Asia, Pacific & Africa and 0.2 point from Europe, while the Western Hemisphere contributes positively with 0.8 point. With this result, the Western Hemisphere returns to having the highest level among the regions, something not seen since September 2025.

Among the coincident sector indicators, all sectors fall in the month, except for Industry, which reaches its highest level since April 2022 (105.0 points), despite registering the strongest decline among the sectors.

Leading Barometer – regions and sectors

The Leading Global Barometer falls by 1.4 points in March, with negative contributions from Asia, Pacific & Africa (2.4 points) and Europe (0.3 point). The Western Hemisphere contributes in the opposite direction, positively with 1.3 points. With this result, the Western Hemisphere reaches its highest level since February 2025 (108.7 points) and the highest among the regions. The Leading Global Barometer leads the world economic growth rate cycle by three to six months on average.

The leading sector indicators fall in the month, except for Wholesale and retail trade, which rises for the fourth consecutive time and reaches its highest level since May 2022 (when it reached 114.4 points).

Source: Equinor

10 MARCH 2026 – Equinor has discovered oil in the Troll area and gas and condensate in the Sleipner area. Both discoveries are considered commercial and were made in areas with well-developed infrastructure for export to Europe.

The Byrding C discovery was made five kilometres northwest of the Fram field in the Troll area and is estimated to contain 4–8 million barrels of recoverable oil.

The Frida Kahlo discovery was drilled from the Sleipner B platform. The well is located northwest of the Sleipner Vest field and is estimated to contain 5–9 million barrels of oil equivalent of gas and condensate. The well will be brought on stream as early as April.

Discovery in the Troll area

Since 2018, Equinor has participated in the drilling of 26 exploration wells in the extended Troll area, which also includes Fram. Nineteen discoveries have been made, giving a discovery rate of more than 70 percent.

“Near-field discoveries like these are important to maintain high energy deliveries from the Norwegian continental shelf going forward. The oil discovered in Byrding C will be produced using existing or future infrastructure in the area. We are working together with our licensees to identify good area solutions,” says Lill H. Brusdal, senior vice president for exploration and production in the Troll area.

Discoveries in the Sleipner area

The four most recent exploration wells in the Sleipner area have all proven gas and condensate, with combined estimated resources of 55–140 million barrels of oil equivalent. The four discoveries were made over a three-month period and include Lofn, Langemann, Sissel and Frida Kahlo. Lofn and Langemann together represented the largest Equinor-operated discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf in 2025.

“These discoveries are the result of a targeted exploration effort in the Sleipner area. Sleipner is an important hub for gas exports to Europe, and we must do everything we can to identify the remaining resources in the area. The discoveries give grounds for optimism as we plan to drill three additional exploration wells and two new production wells in the area this year,” says Cecilie Rønning, senior vice president for exploration and production in the Sleipner area.

Sleipner is a mature area where the largest volumes have already been produced. The fields in the area therefore depend on new discoveries to maintain profitable production and extend their lifetime. Several years ago, an ambitious exploration programme was established for the area, including the acquisition of new data and improved seismic methods.

The use of Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) seismic, 4D seismic, and reprocessing of existing data has provided a new and improved understanding of the subsurface on the Norwegian continental shelf and has contributed to exploration success in both the Sleipner and Troll areas.

Facts about the discoveries

• Byrding C was drilled by the COSL Innovator rig. The discovery was made in exploration well 35/11-32 S in production licence 090 HS. Partners are: Equinor Energy AS (75%) and INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (25%).

• The Frida Kahlo discovery was made in production licence 046 (the Sleipner licence). Partners are: Equinor Energy AS (58.3%), Orlen Upstream Norway AS (24.4%) and Vår Energi (17.2%).

• The Lofn and Langemann discoveries were made in production licence 1140 together with partner Aker BP and were announced in December 2025.

• The Sissel discovery was made in production licence 1137 together with partner Orlen Upstream Norway. The discovery was announced in January this year.

• All the Sleipner discoveries were made in the Hugin formation. All discoveries are considered commercial, although estimated volumes still vary.

• The plan for the Frida Kahlo discovery, drilled from the Sleipner B platform, is to bring the well on stream during April.

• The Lofn, Langemann and Sissel discoveries are planned to be developed as subsea tie-backs to existing infrastructure, with the aim of bringing them on stream within two to three years.

• The OBN seismic was delivered by TGS and Axxis and processed by Viridien. The 4D seismic covering the Sleipner area was acquired for the Sleipner Vest Unit partnership and processed by TGS (PGS).

Facts about the Sleipner area

• The Sleipner field complex includes the gas and condensate fields Sleipner Øst, Gungne and Sleipner Vest.

• In addition, the Sleipner installations process hydrocarbons from the tied-in fields Sigyn, Utgard, Gudrun and Gina Krog.

• Sleipner is an important transport and gas hub, delivering dry gas to Europe, while unstable oil is transported to Kårstø for further processing and export.

• Sleipner also functions as a hub for gas from Kollsnes and Nyhamna, which is transported onward to Draupner, Zeebrugge and Easington.

Facts about the Troll area

• The Troll field is developed with the platforms Troll A, B and C.

• The Fram field is located 20 kilometres north of Troll and is developed with two subsea templates tied back to Troll C.

• Both fields are part of what is referred to as the extended Troll area.

• The Troll field contains about 40 percent of the total gas reserves on the Norwegian continental shelf, making it a cornerstone of Norwegian gas production.