Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced the final deadlines for issuing Umrah visas and for pilgrims entering and staying in the kingdom during the current Umrah season.

The ministry said the last day for issuing Umrah visas will be the first of Shawwal, while Umrah pilgrims must enter Saudi Arabia no later than Shawwal 15. Pilgrims will be required to leave the kingdom by the first day of Dhul Qada, marking the official end of their permitted stay.

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The announcement came during the ministry’s 17th periodic meeting with Saudi Umrah companies, which was held virtually, a Saudi Gazette report said.

During the meeting, the ministry stressed the importance of strictly adhering to regulations governing the upcoming Hajj season. Officials reiterated that Hajj rituals can only be performed with a valid Hajj visa, and not with an Umrah visa.

The reminder comes as authorities prepare to manage the large influx of pilgrims expected for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. According to the ministry, maintaining clear visa categories helps ensure smooth organisation and safety for millions of visitors.

Minister praises companies’ Ramadan efforts

Addressing the meeting, minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr Tawfiq Al Rabiah praised the efforts of Umrah companies and their cooperation during Ramadan.

He acknowledged their work in serving pilgrims, resolving issues faced by stranded Umrah travellers, and facilitating their return to their home destinations.

“The cooperation shown during Ramadan played an important role in ensuring pilgrims received the support and services they needed,” the minister said.

Call for continued coordination

Al Rabiah also urged companies to continue complying with all regulations governing the Umrah season. These include ensuring staggered arrival schedules for pilgrims at airports and regularly updating departure information through the Nusk Masar platform.

He also encouraged companies to participate in the third edition of the Umrah and Visit Forum 2026, which aims to strengthen partnerships and highlight opportunities to improve services for pilgrims.

Officials said the meeting included a review of key indicators from the Umrah season and preparations for the upcoming forum.

The ministry noted that such periodic meetings with Umrah companies are designed to strengthen communication with sector partners and monitor service improvements. These efforts are aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals of enhancing the experience for Umrah pilgrims and visitors.

Residents across the UAE can expect several days of unstable weather this week, with chances of light rainfall, stronger winds and fluctuating temperatures forecast across different parts of the country.

According to the NCM, unstable conditions are expected from Monday, March 17, through Friday, March 21, affecting coastal, western, and northern regions at different times.

Skies are expected to alternate between clear, partly cloudy, and cloudy, with occasional chances of light rainfall and dust due to stronger winds, a WAM report said.

Monday will start humid in some coastal areas, turning fair to partly cloudy as temperatures rise slightly, the NCM said. Winds will be southeasterly to northeasterly, light to moderate at 10–20 km/hr and reaching 30 km/hr at times. The sea will be slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and slight in the Sea of Oman.

Tuesday will bring partly cloudy skies, increasing at night especially over coasts, islands, and northern areas. There is a chance of light rainfall, with temperatures dropping noticeably in western regions. Winds from northeasterly to northwesterly directions will be moderate to fresh and occasionally strong, blowing dust and sand at 15–30 km/hr, with gusts reaching 45 km/hr.

The Arabian Gulf is expected to be rough, while the Sea of Oman remains moderate to slight.

Wednesday will remain partly cloudy to cloudy, with light rainfall possible over western and coastal areas as well as islands. Temperatures will decrease further. Northwesterly winds will be light to moderate but may gust up to 40 km/hr, stirring dust. The sea will be rough to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and slight in the Sea of Oman.

Eid Al Fitr forecast: Thursday and Friday

As Eid Al Fitr celebrations begin on March 19, Thursday is expected to be partly cloudy to cloudy with light rain possible in western and coastal areas and nearby islands. Winds will be southeasterly to northeasterly at 10–25 km/hr, gusting up to 35 km/hr. The sea will be moderate in the Arabian Gulf and slight in the Sea of Oman.

Friday continues the unsettled trend with partly cloudy skies, scattered rainfall chances, and winds at 15–25 km/hr, gusting up to 40 km/hr. Sea conditions in the Arabian Gulf may become rough at times.

NCM urges residents to plan Eid activities with the changing weather in mind.

Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, reported on Monday a 2 per cent fall in fourth-quarter profit versus the same period a year earlier, lagging estimates despite strong global demand for AI products.

Net profit for October-December for Nvidia’s biggest server maker and Apple’s top iPhone assembler was T$45.21bn ($1.42bn), versus an LSEG consensus estimate of T$63.86bn. Foxconn did not provide a reason for the profit fall in its earnings release.

Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry, in January reported record fourth-quarter revenue on strong demand for AI products.

Most of the iPhones Foxconn makes for Apple are assembled in China, but it now produces the bulk of those sold in the United States in India. The company is also building factories in Mexico and Texas to make AI servers for Nvidia.

Foxconn has also been looking to expand its footprint in electric vehicles, which the company sees as a major future growth generator, though that has not always gone smoothly.

In August, Foxconn said it had struck a deal to sell a former car factory at Lordstown, Ohio, for $375m, including its machinery, that it purchased in 2022 to manufacture EVs.

Foxconn will hold its earnings call later on Monday in Taipei, where it is also expected to update its outlook for the year.

Foxconn’s shares have dropped 6 per cent so far this year, underperforming the broader Taiwan index’s 15 per cent gain.

Its shares closed up 0.9 per cent on Monday ahead of the earnings release.

Vietnamese authorities have warned the country’s aviation industry to prepare for potential flight reductions from April after China and Thailand halted exports of jet fuel due to the Iran tensions, increasing the likelihood of shortages.

Vietnam imports more than two-thirds of its jet fuel needs, with 60 per cent coming from China and Thailand, according to documents from the aviation regulator and importers seen by Reuters.

“There are risks of jet fuel shortages for Vietnamese airlines from the beginning of April and the following months,” the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said in a March 9 document sent to the ministry in charge of transport.

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It said airlines should review their plans, especially for domestic routes, and instructed airport operators to prepare additional parking space for Vietnamese carriers “in case they have to cut down on operations due to lack of aviation fuel.”

Vietnam has also seen reduced supplies from Singapore, the document showed.

In separate documents viewed by Reuters, major importers Petrolimex and Skypec said they could only guarantee jet fuel supplies for March, warning April contracts may not be fulfilled by suppliers. Skypec urged the regulator to restrict air transport to essential domestic routes if the conflict drags on.

All documents were issued after China urged its refiners not to agree to new exports early this month but preceded a hard ban on refined fuel exports from March 11. Thailand banned exports of fuel oil on March 6 to all countries except Myanmar and Laos.

The regulator, the ministry and the two importers did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Vietnam’s top airlines Vietnam Airlines and VietJet declined to comment.

Diplomatic efforts made

Vietnam was the third-largest buyer of aviation kerosene from China last year after Australia and Japan, according to Chinese customs data.

The Southeast Asian country has taken up the issue with both China, its main supplier, and Thailand.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung asked his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for close coordination “to ensure energy security,” in a meeting in Hanoi that had been long planned, according to the Vietnamese government’s news portal.

The topic of energy security was not mentioned in the Chinese readout of the meeting.

On Friday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked Thailand to help address the shortage during a meeting with the Thai ambassador in Vietnam, state media reported.

The foreign ministries for Vietnam, China and Thailand did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Vietnam’s aviation authority noted in its document that “in the current context it is difficult to find new suppliers.”

It added that Vietnam’s two refineries are under pressure to expand production of other oil products, making it hard for them to increase jet fuel output.

Even if supply stabilises, soaring fuel prices are disrupting the industry, it also warned, noting many routes would become unprofitable.

Local airline Sun PhuQuoc Airways plans to “adjust flight schedules over the next one to three months due to the volatility of fuel prices,” according to a document it sent to the aviation regulator in March.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Petrolimex and Skypec also flagged that the spike in jet fuel prices has meant they are quickly reaching limits on credit lines and urged banks to offer more flexible financing until market conditions normalise, the documents showed.

Front-month jet fuel paper swaps in Singapore on a cost and freight basis are trading at around $157 a barrel, more than one-and-a-half times higher than pre-conflict levels, LSEG pricing data shows.

China’s economy began the year on a firmer footing as factory output quickened while retail sales and investment rebounded in January-February, offering early relief for policymakers as the US-Israeli tensions with Iran injects fresh uncertainty for growth.

The resilience followed a surge in exports driven by booming AI-related technology demand, which also buoyed upstream manufacturing, although analysts cautioned of risks to the outlook from geopolitical tensions, fragile consumer confidence and strains in global trade and energy markets.

Industrial output rose 6.3 per cent from the same period in the previous year, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Monday, up from the 5.2 per cent growth clocked in December. It beat a 5 per cent expansion forecast in a Reuters poll and marked the quickest growth since September last year.

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“While risks to the outlook have increased amid geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global trade and energy markets, the latest figures indicate that China entered the year with a firmer growth footing than previously thought,” said Hao Zhou, chief economist at Guotai Junan International.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, jumped 2.8 per cent, quickening from the 0.9 per cent pace in December for their biggest gain since October last year. Analysts had expected 2.5 per cent growth.

The strong impetus was driven in part by the country’s longest Lunar New Year holiday in February. The festivities helped boost total tourism spending by almost 19 per cent from the same holiday period last year, which was one day shorter.

But domestic tourism spending per trip dipped 0.2 per cent, suggesting consumers remain cautious.

Data from earlier last week, for instance, showed passenger vehicle sales at home tumbled 26 per cent in the first two months.

China combines January and February data releases to smooth out distortions from the festival holidays, which can fall in either month.

Unemployment ticks up, jobs ‘hard to find’

Monday’s data provided another encouraging sign for policymakers as an unexpected upturn in investment took some of the sting off the challenge of a protracted downturn in the critical property sector.

Fixed asset investment, which includes property and infrastructure investment, expanded 1.8 per cent in the first two months, defying expectations for a 2.1 per cent decline after contracting 3.8 per cent in 2025 – its first annual drop in about three decades.

Infrastructure investment led the rebound, growing 11.4 per cent as policy support, including a new financing tool from banks to fund key projects, began to take effect.

The overall data, while showing some positive momentum, still suggest a wide gap between robust external demand and sluggish household consumption that analysts warn could hamper China’s long-term growth prospects.

“It cannot be ruled out that domestic demand data in March will still face downward pressure,” said Zhaopeng Xing, senior China strategist at ANZ, though he added that the overall data do not support an interest rate cut in the near term.

Last week’s lending data pointed to a continued slump in household borrowing.

Also, worryingly for income generation, the survey-based nationwide jobless rate rose to 5.3% in the first two months from December’s 5.1 per cent, the NBS data showed.

“The current employment landscape remains challenging and jobs are hard to find,” said a college graduate surnamed Bai, who majored in education while attending a job fair in Beijing.

Tensions impact to start feeding through in coming months

At the annual parliament meeting that closed last week, policymakers set this year’s economic growth target at 4.5 per cent -5 per cent, down from last year’s “around 5per cent”. The target was met in 2025 largely on the back of a record trade surplus of $1.2trn, deepening unease among China’s trading partners.

Analysts say China faces significant challenges as it tries to foster sustainable longer-term growth.

While the government pledged a “notable” lift in household consumption, it spelled out limited measures to suggest a turn toward aggressive demand‑side reforms.

The Middle East conflict adds fresh uncertainty as it drives up energy prices and rattles global trade, raising the stakes for U.S. President Donald Trump’s late-March trip to Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping.

Fu Linghui, NBS spokesperson, told a press briefing on Monday that the Middle East war has stoked oil-price volatility and market jitters, but China’s overall energy supplies should help buffer external shocks. He said the conflict’s impact on domestic prices will require further scrutiny.

“The disturbance in the Middle East is set to show its impact on the global economy in coming months… I expect policymakers to respond through fiscal policy if necessary,” said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

“The market will focus on the upcoming meeting between the Chinese and American leaders. While China will likely purchase more goods from the US to mitigate the trade imbalance, the war in the Middle East has made the meeting complicated.”