Charity

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia marked the International Day of Charity on Saturday by highlighting a global humanitarian, development and charitable footprint spanning 9,030 projects worth more than $145 billion across 175 countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Kingdom ranked second globally and first among Arab nations in providing humanitarian and relief assistance in 2025, according to the United Nations Financial Tracking Service, SPA said.

A central role in those efforts has been played by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, or KSrelief, which was established in May 2015 under royal directives as Saudi Arabia’s dedicated international aid arm.

Since its inception, KSrelief has implemented 4,457 relief projects in 113 countries, with funding exceeding $8 billion, according to SPA.

The center has also overseen specialized humanitarian programs, including the Saudi Program for Conjoined Twins, which has reviewed 158 cases and successfully carried out 72 separation operations involving twins from 28 countries across five continents.

Saudi Arabia’s initiative also led the United Nations to officially designate Nov. 24 as World Conjoined Twins Day in 2024.

Through the Saudi Portal for External Volunteering, 84,388 volunteers have taken part in 1,446 medical and training missions in 59 countries, benefiting more than 2.85 million people and carrying out 273,350 surgical procedures, SPA said.

Meanwhile, the electronic donation platform Sahem has raised more than SR1.701 billion from over 9.82 million donors to support humanitarian operations.

Aid operations continue across crisis-hit regions

The figures highlighted on International Day of Charity come as KSrelief continues relief operations across several countries facing conflict, displacement and food insecurity.

In Yemen, the agency has distributed thousands of food baskets in recent days, including 3,000 baskets in Shabwah Governorate, 1,440 in Al-Jawf and 1,160 in Abyan. It also launched the second phase of a project to distribute 12,000 cartons of dates across several districts of Taiz.

In the Gaza Strip, KSrelief’s central kitchen distributed 24,850 hot meals to vulnerable people in central and southern areas on Wednesday, following the provision of 24,000 meals a day earlier.

The agency also pumped 500,000 liters of safe drinking water across several Gaza governorates as part of its emergency humanitarian response.

Elsewhere, KSrelief distributed 1,050 food baskets to displaced people and returnees in Sudan’s North Kordofan State, benefiting 7,110 people, while 506 food baskets were provided to vulnerable families in Syria’s Rif Dimashq.

SPA said the initiatives reflected Saudi Arabia’s continuing efforts to support vulnerable and crisis-affected populations worldwide through KSrelief, in line with the Kingdom’s broader humanitarian commitments under Vision 2030.

Emmerdale spoilers for next week reveal DS Ramsden is up to something shocking, while Charity Dingle could face a sad exit, plus there’s an arrival with ‘devastating’ consequences

Spoilers for next week’s Emmerdale reveal big twists, an arrival and a shocking plan.

Serena Sugden’s [Casey Al-Shaqsy] taken aback by DS Thea Ramsden’s [Chelsea Edge] plan. In the police interview room, Ramsden relishes in the emotional pain she’s inflicting on a villager. A flashback soon reveals there is more going on.

An arrival in the village brings accusations with devastating consequences. Elsewhere, Sarah Sugden [Katie Hill] and Charity Dingle [Emma Atkins] keep up their lie about Dr. Todd’s murder, but Sarah spirals as she feels guilty about her crime.

As the day of Dr. Todd’s [Caroline Harker] funeral arrives, Sarah’s guilt spikes, especially when Ds Ramsden arrives to speak with Charity about some anomalies in her statement about Dr. Todd’s death.

As Charity is escorted to the police station, Sarah is wracked with guilt. At the station, Charity panics when her account of fighting off Todd is questioned.

Sarah decides it’s time to confess, and Serena fears this will lead to them both being locked up. Also next week, Vinny Dingle [Bradley Johnson] tells Kev Townsend [Chris Coghill] he’s decided to postpone proposing to Lewis Barton [Bradley Riches].

Vinny is soon worried when he’s left thinking Kev may have overheard his private conversation with Gabby Thomas [Rosie Bentham]. Kev swears secrecy, leading to Vinny opening up to him.

But when Kev reacts angrily about Vinny’s confession, Vinny thinks he’s made a big mistake in speaking to Kev. Finally, something is clearly weighing heavily on Gabby’s mind.

It comes as soap producer Laura Shaw teased a big autumn for the soap in a chat with the Mirror. She hinted at “gothic” and “dark” scenes in the coming weeks, especially for the Tates.

While she also hinted at some comedy moments, with Lewis and Kev involved. She said: “We’ve got some quite dark, gothic storylines coming up.

“There’s some comedy as well, I think it’s a whole mix, that’s what soap is about, isn’t it? Drama, and gothic stuff at Home Farm.

“That feels like the right kind of precinct for those sort of stories.” Laura also told us a little teaser about the mystery new Tate character. While she did not give away who it was or why they were in the village, or even if it’s an old face or a recast, she did tease we should be keeping our eyes peeled.

Laura said: “I think the new Tate will probably appear before you realise it’s a Tate.” So who could it be?

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Speaking in June last year to British businesswoman and podcaster Emma Grede, Meghan talked about her Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan, and hinted at a return to acting when asked if she missed that side to her life.

“Sometimes,” Meghan replied. “Being back on set with With Love, Meghan was great because I realised how much I miss my crew. I love being around a crew.”

But Variety’s chief correspondent Marlow Stern says when it comes to deliberations over a potential acting role for Meghan, “a lot of it has to do with scheduling, to be honest”.

“They’re maybe also negotiating the size of the role and how many days she’ll shoot, and also compensation for it. Both sides often play the media to try and push things along, and we could be seeing that.”

For Harry, the focus once back in the UK will be on the charity work and patronages he has kept hold of while living thousands of miles away.

He has now completed his final charity engagements in the US before flying back to the UK in the coming days.

In Washington DC, he met military veterans and their families and visited America’s main hospital for injured servicemen and women, Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre.

At Arlington National Cemetery, he visited the final resting place of many service personal killed in Iraq and Afghanistan wars where he himself served on two operational tours.

At the grave of Sergeant Michael Verardo, who died last year from complications related to injuries sustained in Afghanistan in 2010, he met Verardo’s widow Sarah – who now supports other military families – and their nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.