Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, has directed the Department of Finance to disburse government employees’ salaries on March 17, ahead of Eid Al Fitr.

The move aims to help employees and their families prepare for and enjoy the festive occasion, according to a WAM report.

Eid holiday schedule announced

Meanwhile, the UAE Federal Authority for Government Human Resources and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation confirmed the Eid Al Fitr holiday schedule in February.

Federal government entities will observe the break from Thursday, March 19, to Sunday, March 22, with official working hours resuming on Monday, March 23.

China plans to put into operation another 15 ultra-high voltage transmission lines between 2026 and 2030, the State Grid said on Tuesday.

The new lines would allow around 200 gigawatt‑hours of renewable power to be connected to the grid each year and raise China’s cross‑provincial electricity transmission capacity by 35 per cent, the grid operator said.

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The long-distance transmission lines, spanning thousands of kilometres from China’s west to east, are among the strategies China’s energy regulator is targeting in the next five-year planning period, to improve uptake of clean energy in the grid and reduce curtailment.

China had 45 UHV lines in operation as of October, according to the state‑run People’s Daily.

State Grid also said on Tuesday that wind and solar generation would make up 30 per cent or more of its power mix by 2030.

Analysts have said China should reach a 40 per cent renewable share by 2030 to be on track to meet its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060.

Apple on March 3, Tuesday unveiled updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, featuring its latest M5-series chips and bigger base storage, in a bid to lure buyers in a softening PC market squeezed by rising memory costs.

The update includes a new MacBook Air powered by Apple’s latest M5 chip and higher-end MacBook Pro models equipped with the new M5 Pro and M5 Max processors, which the company says deliver significant gains in performance and on-device AI capabilities.

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The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,099 and now comes with 512 gigabytes of storage as standard, double the base storage of the previous generation. In the older lineup, customers had to pay $1,199 to get a 512GB configuration, making the new starting price effectively a price cut for the same storage tier.

Since transitioning from Intel processors to its in-house M-series chips beginning in 2020, Apple has touted gains in performance and battery life, helping it differentiate from Windows-based PC makers.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro models powered by the M5 Pro chip start at $2,199 and now come with 1 terabyte of storage as standard, up from 512GB in many earlier base configurations.

With higher base storage on the MacBook Pro, Apple has adopted a similar pricing strategy, bumping up standard configurations while keeping headline prices largely unchanged.

The broader PC market has faced uneven demand in recent years, with vendors competing aggressively on price as consumers and businesses delay upgrades following the pandemic-era surge in laptop purchases.

Memory chips such as DRAM and NAND flash are critical components in laptops, affecting performance and storage capacity, and their prices have sharply increased with limited supply as chipmakers focus on manufacturing for AI applications.

On Monday, Apple launched the iPhone 17e, its more affordable smartphone model starting at $599, and increased the base storage to 256 gigabytes.

Distance learning for all schools and universities in the UAE will continue until Friday, 6 March 2026, as authorities monitor the current regional situation.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research made the announcement on Tuesday evening, confirming that the decision applies to all public and private schools, as well as higher education institutions across the country.

The extension covers students, academic staff and administrative employees.

At the start of the regional crisis, schools shifted to remote learning until 4 March as a precautionary measure. The latest announcement adds two additional days, ensuring continuity of education while prioritising safety.

Authorities said the move forms part of a broader effort to maintain stability and operational readiness across essential sectors amid ongoing developments in the region.

The UAE has previously demonstrated its ability to pivot quickly between in-person and remote learning models following infrastructure upgrades and digital investment in recent years. Education providers are expected to continue delivering classes through established online platforms.

Officials have not yet announced whether in-person classes will resume next week, with further updates likely as the situation evolves.

The war in Iran and the resulting surge in energy prices will impact emerging markets well beyond inflation to broader pressures on external balances, currencies and capital flows, analysts warn.

Brokerages, including J.P.Morgan and Bernstein, expect Brent prices to rise above the $100 mark if the conflict continues as Tehran has vowed to close the Strait of Hormuz and said it would fire on any ship trying to pass the crucial shipping route for oil and gas.

Brent crude futures were up $5.63, or 7.2 per cent, at $83.36 a barrel by 12:54 GMT after touching their highest since July 2024 at $85.12.

“A mere 10 per cent rise in oil prices can deteriorate current account balances (for emerging markets) by 40-60 basis points. Prolonged increases would only deepen these deficits,” analysts at ING said in a note, adding that Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and Philippines are the most exposed.

The US and Israeli air war against Iran widened, with Israel attacking Lebanon and Iran responding with strikes against energy infrastructure in Gulf countries and against tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Global financial markets have been rattled by the conflict, with both the emerging market equities and currency indexes falling to three-week lows as investors sought the safety of the US dollar.

Higher crude prices pose only a limited risk to China unless the shock is prolonged or escalates sharply, but India, with its thin oil reserves, would be among the most exposed to a sustained supply disruption, analysts said.

Goldman Sachs estimates that a supply driven jump in Brent crude from $70 to $85 would add roughly 0.7 percentage points to inflation across emerging Asia and knock about 0.5 points off economic growth, while widening current account deficits across almost every economy in the region, particularly Thailand, Singapore and South Korea.

Citigroup warned that a prolonged oil shock could “aggressively de-anchor” inflation expectations across emerging markets, with low-reserve countries such as Argentina, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Turkey facing heightened risks of capital outflows and currency slides.

Separately, J.P. Morgan’s analysts moved EMEA emerging market foreign exchange to “marketweight” on Tuesday and added Poland’s zloty to their list of “underweight” currencies.