ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's military says it shot down an Indian "spy drone" after it entered Pakistani airspace in the disputed region of Kashmir.
The military said in a statement late Tuesday that the drone violated Pakistan's airspace and was spying when it was shot down in the village of Chirikot along the Line of Control in Kashmir. It said Pakistani troops retrieved the wreckage.
The army said it was the fourth Indian drone it shot down in the past year.
India had no immediate comment.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim the region in its entirety.
The two sides also often trade fire there and have fought two wars over it since their independence from British rule in 1947.
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Pakistani army says it shot down Indian drone in Kashmir
Pakistani army says it shot down Indian drone in Kashmir
UAE banking sector sees 3.9% growth in deposits
- Aggregate loan-to-deposit ratio decreased by 0.3 percentage points
RIYADH: The UAE banking sector recorded a 3.9 percent quarterly increase in deposits during the third quarter, driven primarily by a 5.6 percent rise in time deposits, according to a recent report. This solid growth in deposits outpaced the 3.5 percent rise in loans and advances over the same period.
Retail borrowing was the key driver behind the loan growth, with retail lending increasing by 4.9 percent quarter on quarter.
However, profitability for the UAE’s leading banks declined, as impairment charges surged by 124.9 percent quarter on quarter, reaching 2.9 billion dirhams ($789.5 million), according to Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services firm.
This sharp increase in impairments led to a 5.5 percent drop in net income, causing a contraction in return on equity by 223 basis points and a decline in return on assets by 16 basis points.
Asad Ahmed, managing director of financial services at Alvarez & Marsal, warned that the sector faces challenges amid shifting monetary policies and economic conditions.
“While lending growth continues, the sector faces challenges with higher impairment charges and cost efficiencies. The focus on digitalization and strategic cost management will be crucial for sustaining profitability and capital strength in the coming quarters,” Ahmed said.
He added: “As anticipated, the Central Bank of the UAE cut its benchmark interest rate by 50bps in Q3’24 to 4.9 percent, in line with the US Fed. Despite some headwinds, cues from management guidance indicate optimism on lending growth momentum to continue while impairments take a cautious outlook.”
The aggregate loan-to-deposit ratio decreased by 0.3 percentage points quarter on quarter, settling at 75.5 percent, as deposit growth outpaced loan growth.
Despite these challenges, total operating income grew by 3.5 percent quarter on quarter, driven by a 7.4 percent increase in non-interest income and an 11.8 percent rise in other operating income. Net interest income also saw a modest 1.5 percent increase during the same period.
Cost-efficiency metrics worsened during the quarter, with six out of the top 10 banks reporting higher operating expenses. The cost-to-income ratio rose by 99 basis points to 29 percent, as operating expenses increased by 7.1 percent, outpacing the 3.5 percent growth in operating income.
The cost of risk also worsened, rising by 30 basis points quarter on quarter to 0.6 percent. This marked a reversal from the second quarter, when the cost of risk had reached a multi-year low of 0.3 percent.
Total impairments rose significantly to 2.9 billion dirhams in the third quarter, compared to 1.3 billion dirhams in the second quarter.
Despite these challenges, the sector’s overall capital adequacy ratio remained strong at 17.9 percent, reflecting an increase of 0.37 percentage points quarter on quarter.
UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit, says foreign minister
- The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
FIUGGI: Britain would follow due process if Benjamin Netanyahu visited the UK, foreign minister David Lammy said on Monday, when asked if London would fulfil the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
“We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed to our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” Lammy told reporters at a G7 meeting in Italy.
“Of course, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.”
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention must implement the court’s decision. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.
“We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed to our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” Lammy told reporters at a G7 meeting in Italy.
“Of course, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.”
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention must implement the court’s decision. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.
At least eight migrants drown off Greek island of Samos
- Greek coast guard finds bodies of six minors, two women
- So far 39 people rescued, search and rescue operation continues
Greece’s coast guard has found the bodies of eight migrants — six minors and two women — who drowned off the island of Samos in the Aegean Sea, authorities said on Monday.
Greek police found a further 36 people alive in the northern part of Samos, while three people, trapped in a rocky area on the island, were rescued by coast guard officers, the coast guard said.
Aircraft and vessels assisted a search and rescue operation, it added.
According to a coast guard official, authorities were alerted to the incident by a non-governmental organization and estimate that about 50 people were on board the vessel that brought them off Samos.
Greece, in the southeast corner of the European Union, has long been a favored gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
More than one million crossed from Turkiye to Greece’s outlying eastern islands in 2015-2016. Many have drowned while attempting the perilous journey on flimsy boats.
The number of arrivals later dropped before surging again last year.
So far this year, about 54,000 migrants have reached Greece, the second largest number in southern Europe behind Italy. The vast majority of them arrived by sea, according to data from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.
Turkiye man kills seven before taking his own life
Istanbul: A 33-year-old Turkish man shot dead seven people in Istanbul on Sunday, including his parents, his wife and his 10-year-old son, before taking his own life, the authorities reported on Monday.
The man, who was found dead in his car shortly after the shooting, is also accused of wounding two other family members, one of them seriously, the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.
The authorities, who had put the death toll at four on Sunday evening, announced on Monday the discovery near a lake on Istanbul’s European shore of the bodies of the killer’s wife and son, as well as the lifeless body of his mother-in-law.
According to the Small Arms Survey (SAS), a Swiss research program, over 13.2 million firearms are in circulation in Turkiye, most of them illegally, for a population of around 85 million.
Investment strategies must align with SDGs to drive sustainable global growth, WIC hears
RIYADH: Investment strategies must be compatible with sustainable development goals to ensure economically viable and environmentally responsible global growth, a top official said at the World Investment Conference.
Speaking on the first day of the Riyad-based event, James Zhan, chair of the WIC executive board, said reforming the global financial system should be a priority alongside helping to deliver social and environmental reform.
The 28th WIC is being held from Nov. 25 to 27, and will see global stakeholders gather to explore investment trends and how best to foster sustainable development.
During a panel discussion titled “Impact Maximization: Leveraging Trade and Investment for Growth and Development,” Zhan said: “We need to embed investment strategies into the SDG implementation plans. We need to transform these international investment regimes into a kind of SDG promotion instrument.”
The SDGs are a set of 17 global objectives established by the UN to address pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges, aiming to achieve a sustainable and equitable future by 2030.
Zhan also called for transforming international investment: “We need to be practicing incentives for investment on the ground.”
Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, assistant minister of investment and CEO of the Saudi Investment Promotion Authority, outlined the Kingdom’s focused approach to investment.
“Our investment strategy focuses on quality, FDI. That’s a very big word. So, what I like to call it is smart capital,” he said.
Al-Mubarak also emphasized Saudi Arabia’s reform journey under Vision 2030, saying: “Since the launch of Vision 2030, we have set a very ambitious reform agenda. That reform agenda comes in various ways, be it in the reform of existing laws, launching new laws, removing subsidies.”
These reforms aim to bolster the Kingdom’s investment environment, which has already been recognized as the 16th most competitive economy globally, according to the IMD’s World Competitiveness Index.
Al-Mubarak highlighted the significance of comprehensive and consistent regulatory reforms in enhancing investment appeal.
One measure of this is the success of Saudi Arabia’s Regional Headquarters Program, which came into effect in January and encouraged multinational companies to set up regional offices in Riyadh.
“We already have exceeded our target by having 550 regional headquarters companies here. Our location, our infrastructure, our youth are enabling us to achieve those (goals), but they have to be clubbed with positive, unified, consistent regulatory reform agenda,” Al-Mubarak said.
The assistant minister highlighted that attracting investments requires groundwork, adding: “The promotion piece of investment is one thing, but the attraction is a much tougher one because it requires a lot more reforms and work on the ground, on the infrastructure, on the policies, on the procedures.”
Chairman of the Berlin Global Dialogue and Professor of Economics at the European School of Management and Technology Lars-Hendrik Roller called for a broader perspective on global investments.
“The world is changing, and now I think we need to look eye level (at) Africa and other continents as well,” he said.
He also cautioned about the interplay of foreign policy and national security with economic agendas, adding: “What is now overarching more and more (is) foreign policy and economic policy, national security issues. And I think we have to be very careful with that.”
Roller pointed out the distorting effects of subsidies on global markets and stressed the urgency of private investments in the green economy, saying: “We’re not going to solve the climate crisis unless we generate a lot more private investment in the green economy.”
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