Saudi aid agency KSrelief treats hundreds at Aden prosthetics center
Saudi aid agency KSrelief treats hundreds at Aden prosthetics center/node/2586485/saudi-arabia
Saudi aid agency KSrelief treats hundreds at Aden prosthetics center
A total of 1,407 procedures were completed for men, who made up 65 percent of patients, and women at 35 percent. (SPA)
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Updated 16 January 2025
Arab News
Saudi aid agency KSrelief treats hundreds at Aden prosthetics center
The services included the manufacturing and fitting of prosthetic limbs, as well as physical therapy
Updated 16 January 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: The Kingdom’s aid agency KSrelief has helped to treat 452 Yemenis, who lost limbs because of the ongoing conflict, at the Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Center in Aden governorate, the Saudi Press Agency reported recently.
A total of 1,407 procedures were completed for men, who made up 65 percent of patients, and women at 35 percent.
In addition, 54 percent were displaced individuals and 46 percent residents.
The services included the manufacturing and fitting of prosthetic limbs, as well as physical therapy.
KSrelief continues to provide general and critical care for vulnerable Yemeni people, the SPA reported.
Pakistani university lecturer arrested for planning foiled Balochistan attack — officials
Usman Qazi is claimed to have links with outlawed Majeed Brigade, suicide squad of Balochistan Liberation Army
Arrest comes week after US State Department designated BLA and Majeed Brigade a foreign terrorist organization
Updated 4 min 56 sec ago
AP
QUETTA, Pakistan: Security forces in southwestern Pakistan arrested a university lecturer accused of planning a foiled suicide attack that would have targeted last week’s Independence Day celebrations in insurgency-hit Balochistan province, officials said Monday.
The suspect, Usman Qazi is claimed to have links with the outlawed Majeed Brigade, the suicide squad of the Balochistan Liberation Army, according to the province’s Chief Minister, Sarfraz Bugti.
During a press conference in the city of Quetta, Bugti showed video footage with Qazi admitting to planning the thwarted attack as well as aiding militants in recent years. It was unclear whether Qazi made those remarks under duress.
Bugti did not clarify when the arrest was made, and only said the man was still being questioned.
The arrest comes a week after the US State Department designated BLA and the Majeed Brigade a foreign terrorist organization. The group is already banned at home.
Bugti said it was the first time security forces acting on intelligence had captured a senior member of the Majeed Brigade. He said Qazi confessed to involvement in past attacks, including last year’s railway station bombing in Quetta that killed 32 people.
There was no immediate comment from the BLA about the arrest.
Balochistan has long seen violence blamed on separatist groups, including the BLA. The province is rich in natural resources and home to projects tied to the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, where Chinese nationals and Pakistani security forces have also been targeted by insurgents.
The separatists demand independence from Pakistan’s central government in Islamabad. Though the government said it had quelled the insurgency, violence persists there.
Saudi bank lending hits record $850bn on corporate, real estate demand
Updated 8 min 47 sec ago
Dayan Abou Tine
RIYADH: Saudi banks’ outstanding loans reached SR 3.2 trillion ($849.7 billion) in June, marking a 15.8 percent increase compared to the same month of 2024.
According to data from the Saudi Central Bank, known as SAMA, the majority of this growth, some 76 percent, was driven by corporate lending, which totaled SR1.8 trillion.
Loans to individuals accounted for the remaining SR1.4 trillion, although their share declined from nearly 50 percent a year earlier to about 44 percent.
Business loans posted a 22.5 percent year-on-year increase, reflecting vigorous demand across sectors tied to Vision 2030 initiatives. Real estate emerged as a standout, with banks extending SR384 billion in financing, making up nearly 22 percent of corporate loans, and reflecting a 39 percent year-on-year jump.
Wholesale and retail trade ranked second, comprising 11.92 percent of corporate lending at SR213.1 billion, reflecting an 8.43 percent annual rise. The electricity, gas, and water supply sector followed with an 11.15 percent share, or SR199.31 billion, while manufacturing accounted for 10.76 percent, reaching SR192.25 billion..
Real estate and transportation and storage recorded the highest growth rates at 39.9 percent, while health and social work activities grew 35.4 percent to SR26.9 billion, and the financial and insurance sector climbed 34 percent to SR167.5 billion, according to SAMA’s June figures.
The financing increase underscores banks’ critical role in propelling Vision 2030’s economic diversification. They are instrumental in funding giga‑projects, infrastructure expansion, transport developments, housing initiatives, and social services.
Real estate lending boom stems from rising homeownership goals, urban expansion, and megaprojects such as NEOM, further bolstered by regulatory advancements enhancing transparency and efficiency in property finance.
Digital innovation and fintech are also key enablers of this transformation. Electronic payments accounted for 79 percent of all retail transactions in 2024, up from 70 percent in 2023, as part of SAMA’s drive to push digital adoption across the economy.
By the end of the second quarter of 2024, the number of fintech firms operating in had climbed to 224, surpassing the interim target of 168 under the Financial Sector Development Program.
That momentum continued through the year, with the sector expanding to 261 licensed companies by December, according to the program’s annual report.
As of mid-2025, the fintech ecosystem has grown further, with 317 firms active in the Kingdom, including 86 that have secured funding and raised a combined $4.66 billion in venture capital, according to a July report by Tracxn.
This ecosystem is powering digital banking, embedded finance, digital wallets, and fintech solutions that make banking and payments more accessible, efficient, and aligned with modern consumer needs.
The government’s long-term target, as outlined in the Financial Sector Development Program, is to scale up to 525 fintech companies and create more than 18,000 sector-related jobs by 2030, reinforcing the Kingdom’s drive to position itself as a regional hub for financial innovation.
The robust lending landscape translated into strong earnings across the banking sector. The Saudi National Bank reported a second-quarter net profit of SR6.1 billion, up 17.3 percent year on year, citing increases in operating income and reductions in impairment provisions, according to its filings on Tadawul.
Al Rajhi Bank posted SR6.15 billion in profit, a 31 percent rise, driven by strong financing and investment income despite a rise in provisioning.
Other banks also recorded impressive gains. Saudi Awwal Bank saw net earnings of SR2.13 billion, up 9.5 percent, while Banque Saudi Fransi earned SR1.30 billion, rising 21 percent, based on Tadawul disclosures.
Sector-wide, second-quarter combined profits topped SR23 billion, marking the strongest quarterly earnings in Saudi banking history.
Some Palestinians already leaving Gaza City ahead of Israeli offensive
Israel’s plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at home
The Israeli military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive
Updated 14 min 10 sec ago
Reuters
CAIRO: Fearing an Israeli onslaught could come soon, some Palestinian families began leaving eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and some explored evacuating further south.
Israel’s plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at home where tens of thousands of Israelis held some of the largest protests seen since the war began, urging a deal to end the fighting and free the remaining 50 hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas’ last bastion. But, with Israel already holding 75 percent of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.
In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests soon to demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory and wrought a humanitarian disaster, and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive.
An Israeli armored incursion into Gaza City could see the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times earlier in the war.
“The people of Gaza City are like someone who received a death sentence and is awaiting execution,” said Tamer Burai, a Gaza City businessman.
“I am moving my parents and my family to the south today or tomorrow. I can’t risk losing any of them should there be a surprising invasion,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
A protest is scheduled for Thursday in Gaza City by different unions, and people took to social media platforms vowing to participate, which will raise pressure on Hamas.
The last round of indirect ceasefire talks ended in late July in deadlock with the sides trading blame for its collapse. Diplomatic deadlock
Israel says it will agree to cease hostilities if all the hostages are released and Hamas lays down its arms – the latter demand publicly rejected by the Islamist group until a Palestinian state is established.
Gaps also appear to linger regarding the extent of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and how humanitarian aid will be delivered around the enclave, where malnutrition is rife and aid groups warn of unfolding famine.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it was preparing to help equip Gazans with tents and other shelter equipment ahead of relocating them from combat zones to the south of the enclave. It did not provide further details on quantities or how long it would take to get the equipment into the enclave.
Palestinian economist Mohammad Abu Jayyab said at least 100,000 new tents would be needed to house those heading to central and southern areas of the coastal strip should Israel begin its offensive or the army orders Gaza City’s entire population to evacuate.
“The existing tents where people are living have worn out, and they wouldn’t protect people against rainwater. There are no new tents in Gaza because of the (Israeli) restrictions on aid at the (border) crossings,” Abu Jayyab said.
He said some families from Gaza City had begun renting property and shelters in the south and moved in their belongings.
“Some people learned from previous experience, and they don’t want to be taken by surprise. Also, some think it is better to move earlier to find a space,” Abu Jayyab added.
The UN humanitarian office said last week 1.35 million people were already in need of emergency shelter items in Gaza.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 61,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel’s ensuing air and ground war in Gaza, according to local health officials, with most of the 2.2 million population internally displaced.
Five more Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday, raising the number of people who died of those causes to 263, including 112 children, since the war started.
Israel disputed the figures provided by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Dubai police retrieve stolen diamond worth $25 million
A diamond trader who had brought the jewel from Europe was lured to a villa by a crime gang under the pretense of a viewing by a potential wealthy client
Updated 13 min 36 sec ago
AFP
DUBAI: Dubai police said on Monday they caught three thieves just hours after they stole a precious pink diamond worth $25 million.
“The Dubai Police General Command has foiled the theft of a very rare pink diamond, valued at $25 million,” the police said in a statement shared by the United Arab Emirates’ official news agency WAM.
A diamond trader who had brought the jewel from Europe was lured to a villa by a crime gang under the pretense of a viewing by a potential wealthy client, police said.
But the gem was stolen when the diamond dealer arrived for the bogus inspection, the statement added.
Within eight hours three people from an unspecified Asian country were arrested “thanks to the efforts of specialized and field teams, and by using the latest artificial intelligence technologies,” police said.
Video footage shared by the Dubai Media Office showed the three men with their faces blurred after their arrest as well as CCTV footage of the gang.
Dubai is an important hub for diamond trading. Tightly controlled and policed, the UAE prides itself on its security and stability.
ISLAMABAD: Torrential monsoon rains and subsequent floods have killed almost 670 people in Pakistan since late June, with the disaster management authority warning on Monday that at least two more heavy spells are expected before the season tapers off in September.
Heavy rain in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province halted rescue and relief operations for several hours on Monday before resuming in a region where flash floods have killed over 300 people since Friday. Officials fear the toll, already among the deadliest in recent years, could rise further as dozens remain missing.
“We are going through the seventh spell of monsoon of 2025,” National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik told a press briefing.
“The predictions that we made about the monsoon from June to September, there will be at least 9 to 10 spells, which will impact different areas of Pakistan.”
He said approximately 670 people had died and about 1,000 had been injured since the monsoons began in the last week of June. Up to 90 people were also still missing.
Malik cautioned that the situation could intensify, with cloudbursts and localized rains forecast from Aug. 23 through early September.
“If horizontal flows mix with vertical flows, this can be a more dangerous situation, which we have seen in 2022,” he said, referring to devastating rains and floods that killed over 1,700 people and caused over $30 billion in losses three years ago.
The NDMA chief explained that “horizontal flows” caused by rapidly melting glaciers in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir regions had already destroyed bridges and other infrastructure. Vertical flows, he said, came in the form of cloudbursts and prolonged rains.
“When these flows converge, they trigger serious emergencies,” Malik said.
An aerial view shows houses partially submerged in sludge along a riverbed in the aftermath of flash floods at the Buner district of mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on August 17, 2025. (AFP)
He said 425 relief camps had been activated and convoys of trucks carrying food were being dispatched to badly hit districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Buner.
The Pakistan Army had deployed engineers and special units for search and rescue, while field hospitals and Combined Military Hospitals were on alert to treat the injured.
“By September 10, we will have comprehensive national data on casualties and damages,” Malik said.
Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who chaired a high-level meeting in Islamabad, announced that the federal cabinet would donate one month’s salary to flood victims in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“This is not the time for politics, it is the time for service and to heal people’s wounds,” Sharif said, according to an official statement.
He directed federal ministers to personally oversee the restoration of electricity, roads, water and other infrastructure in the affected regions. The Minister for Kashmir Affairs was tasked to supervise distribution of relief goods, while the finance ministry was instructed to provide NDMA with additional resources.
“Until the last affected person is helped and basic infrastructure is restored, the relevant federal ministers will remain in the field,” the statement quoted Sharif as saying.
The PMO said 456 relief camps had been set up nationwide and more than 400 rescue operations conducted so far, with losses to public and private property estimated at Rs126 million ($455,000). Aid distribution under the Prime Minister’s relief package, alongside medical teams and medicines, was ongoing, it added.
BUNER
Buner district in KP province has been the worst hit in the latest rains that began on Friday, with over 200 deaths.
Heavy rain in the flood-hit areas, including Buner, forced rescue teams to halt relief efforts for several hours on Monday, a regional government officer, Abid Wazir, told Reuters.
“Our priority is now to clear the roads, set up bridges and bring relief to the affected people,” he said.
Villagers look on as floodwater levels rise in the Buner district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on August 18, 2025. (AFP)
Residents in Buner’s Bayshonai Kalay village panicked and ran to higher ground after a water channel that had earlier overflowed and caused major devastation started swelling with the fresh rain on Monday, according to Reuters witnesses.
Rescuers from local government, the disaster management authority and the army used excavator machines to clear the roads and streets from mud, fallen trees and electric poles.
Relief goods have been sent to the affected areas, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a recorded video statement on Monday.
Food, medicine, blankets, camps, an electric generator and de-watering pumps are included in the relief goods, the authority said in a statement.
Buner, a three-and-a-half-hour drive from the capital Islamabad, was hit by a cloudburst, a rare phenomenon in which more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rain falls within an hour in a small area, officials said.
In Buner, there was more than 150 mm of rain within an hour on Friday morning, they said.
More heavy rain was expected across Pakistan until early September, officials said.
“The current weather system is active over the Pakistan region and may cause heavy to very heavy rainfall during the next 24 hours,” the disaster management authority said on Sunday.
