LONDON: Britain’s parliament will block TikTok on all devices on its network following a similar ban on government devices, becoming the latest Western institution to bar the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns.
“Following the government’s decision to ban TikTok from government devices, the commissions of both the House of Commons and Lords have decided that TikTok will be blocked from all parliamentary devices and the wider parliamentary network,” a parliament spokesperson said.
Britain last week banned the Chinese-owned video app on government phones.
“Cyber security is a top priority for parliament,” the spokesperson added.
The United States, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app from official devices.
TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny due to fears that user data from the app owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.
The British parliament’s ban was announced as TikTok’s chief executive
faced questions
from US lawmakers who are convinced the app should be barred for being a potential national security threat to the United States.
British parliament blocks TikTok on all parliamentary devices
https://arab.news/2fub8
British parliament blocks TikTok on all parliamentary devices
- Britain last week banned the Chinese-owned video app on government phones
- The United States, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app from official devices
Spotify, EA Sports test in-game music integration in Saudi Arabia
- Players in Kingdom can now link their account directly with video game
LONDON: Spotify and EA Sports have launched a pilot project that allows players to link their Spotify accounts directly with the EA Sports FC 25 video game.
The feature is being rolled out in Saudi Arabia and selected other markets.
The project, which was announced on Thursday, enables Spotify Premium users to log in via a new tab in the main game menu and control music playback during gameplay, including during team selection or from the pause menu.
The Swedish music platform said the partnership aimed at offering players more control over their in-game audio.
It said: “Long seen as the perfect companion to gaming, music boosts focus, amplifies adrenaline, and heightens the emotional highs of every match.
“Through this collaboration, players can now curate their perfect in-game soundtrack, listening to the artists they love.”
Podcast access and curated playlists will also be available.
The feature is currently accessible to Premium users playing EA Sports FC 25 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in Saudi Arabia and Australia.
The Kingdom has become a growing market for gaming and electronic sports, driven by a young and tech-savvy population.
Gaming now plays a prominent role in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 diversification strategy, with plans for the sector to contribute more than $13 billion to the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs, according to Savvy Games Group.
Riyadh hosted the inaugural Esports World Cup last summer, a large-scale tournament featuring 23 events across major titles including Fortnite, Call of Duty, and EA Sports FC, with a record-setting prize pool of $62.5 million.
Jeddah communication conference explores anime’s digital evolution
- The session focused on anime’s shift from traditional television broadcasts and DVDs to digital platforms, including live streaming, instant subtitling and cloud-based production
RIYADH: The eighth session of the Digital Communication Conference, titled “Anime in the Digital Space,” explored the transformation of Japanese anime over the past two decades, highlighting the impact of digital innovation and the internet.
According to Saudi Press Agency, the session focused on anime’s shift from traditional television broadcasts and DVDs to digital platforms, including live streaming, instant subtitling and cloud-based production.
Streaming giants such as Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Funimation were highlighted as pivotal players in the transition, offering translated or dubbed episodes immediately upon release and funding original series such as “Devilman Crybaby” and “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.”
Speakers in the session, including Manga Productions CEO Essam Bukhary, said that social media and online forums have opened the door to unprecedented engagement among fans, as well as community and cultural interaction, since audiences now take part in evaluating episodes.
Concerns were raised that heavy dependence on technology could erode the handcrafted aesthetic that defines traditional anime.
Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning interest in manga and anime, which dates back to the 1970s, is helping to usher in a revolution in cultural production.
Japanese art forms have captivated audiences of all ages, gaining significant popularity in recent years. Their ability to combine entertainment, culture and education has made them of great interest to Saudi society.
To support this interest, the General Entertainment Authority has hosted events like the Saudi Anime Expo, drawing international visitors.
In line with these efforts, the ministries of culture and education launched the Manga Education program to nurture student talent, as well as integrate arts and culture into public education.
Israel arrests veteran Palestinian journalist in West Bank
- Ali Al-Samoudi’s family denies claims of links to Islamic Jihad
- Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemns reporter’s arrest
DUBAI: Israeli forces arrested prominent Palestinian journalist Ali Al-Samoudi during an overnight raid on Tuesday in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, according to media reports.
Al-Quds newspaper correspondent Al-Samoudi, 58, was detained after the Israeli military raided and searched up his home in Al-Zahraa neighborhood, destroying “some of its contents”.
According to the military, he is accused of having ties with the militant Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization and transferring funds to the group. However, the military did not provide evidence to support the claim.
After he was interrogated at a disclosed location, Al-Samoudi was transferred to an Israeli hospital due to his health deteriorating, his son Mohammed told the BBC.
His family, who denies the accusations, was not informed of the name of the hospital where he was being treated, or any other details.
Al-Samoudi previously survived an attack by Israeli forces in 2022, the same assault that killed prominent Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, who was a correspondent for Al-Jazeera.
Al-Samoudi was shot and wounded in his back.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned Al-Samoudi’s arrest in a statement on Tuesday.
As of April 30, 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented 79 arrests of journalists by Israel in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza since Oct. 7 war began, in addition to five other arrests by the Palestinian authorities.
Forty-nine of these journalists, including the five held by Palestinian authorities, have since been released, while 35 remain under arrest.
The CPJ’s preliminary investigations also showed at least 176 journalists and media staff were killed during Israel’s war on Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon, marking the deadliest period for journalists in the region.
Houthi drone strike kills Yemeni-Dutch journalist, injures brother, says media watchdog
- Musab Al-Hattami killed, brother Suhaib wounded working on documentary project in Marib
LONDON: A Yemeni-Dutch journalist has been killed and his brother injured in a drone strike carried out by Iran-backed Houthi forces near the central Yemeni city of Marib, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Musab Al-Hattami, a journalist and filmmaker, was killed on Saturday while filming a documentary in his family’s hometown. His brother, photographer Suhaib Al-Hattami, sustained serious injuries in the same attack, the US-based media watchdog said on Monday while condemning the strike.
Sara Qudah, regional director of the CPJ, said: “The killing of Musab Al-Hattami is yet another stark reminder to the international community that the warring parties in Yemen are violating international law by killing civilians. Such indiscriminate violence exposes all journalists, who are brave enough to document the war in Yemen, to extreme risk.
“We call on the international community to investigate the attack and hold those responsible to account.”
أي وجع نستقبل هذا المساء ، مصعب الحطامي شهيد في جبهة مأرب ، أي قهر يزيدنا كرهاً للحوثي وزبانيته ، بعد عشر سنوات غربة عاد من هولندا لزيارة أسرته وقرر عمل أفلام قصيرة من الجبهة فكانت له الشهادة بطائرة مسيرة حوثية.
— بسيم الجناني Basem Ganani (@Basem_Ganani) April 26, 2025
مصعب شقيق الروح لا أزور هولندا إلا ويكون في إستقبالي ، وعدني بزيارة… pic.twitter.com/eWcbW1LD75
The Al-Hattami brothers had recently returned to Yemen from the Netherlands to report on the ongoing civil war and were working on a documentary project about their parents’ hometown when the strike occurred.
According to Dutch media outlet RTL, Houthi forces targeted the area with grenades and drones while the brothers were filming. Musab Al-Hattami and three government soldiers were killed, while Suhaib was seriously wounded.
Musab Al-Hattami, who had moved to the Netherlands after studying film in Jordan, held Dutch citizenship. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed his death and said he was buried in Marib on Monday.
He is the 20th journalist to be killed in Yemen since 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition launched military operations against Houthi rebels who had seized the capital, Sanaa.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula announced in December 2024 it had executed 11 individuals, including Yemeni journalist Mohamed Al-Maqri, who had been abducted in 2015 and accused of spying. At least 18 journalists were killed in Yemen between 2015 and 2020.
15 media workers killed in Gaza 2025: Palestinian Journalists Syndicate
- Syndicate’s latest report documents rise in Israeli arrests, threats, harassment of journalists
LONDON: At least 15 media workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of 2025, according to a new report released by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
The report, published over the weekend by the syndicate’s freedoms committee, which monitors Israeli violations against journalists, highlighted the continued direct targeting of media workers.
Seven journalists were killed in January and eight in March, the report stated.
In addition, family members of 17 journalists were killed, while 12 reporters’ homes were destroyed by rocket and shell attacks, with 11 injured in the assaults.
The report noted that violence against media crews extended beyond fatal attacks. It documented the arrest of 15 journalists, either at their homes or while on assignment. Some were released within hours or days, while others remain in detention.
The syndicate also recorded 49 death threats issued against journalists, many of whom were warned to evacuate the areas they were covering.
Legal harassment intensified as well, with the report citing over 10 cases in which journalists — mostly from the West Bank-based Al-Quds newspaper — were summoned for interrogation and banned from reporting near Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s Old City.
In the occupied West Bank, approximately 117 journalists faced physical assaults, repression, or reporting bans, particularly in Jenin and Jerusalem. The committee also documented 16 cases of work equipment being confiscated or destroyed.
The violence against journalists comes amid a renewed Israeli military campaign in Gaza following the collapse of a ceasefire deal with Hamas. Israeli forces have intensified their offensive, cutting off vital supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, leaving the enclave on the brink of famine.
Israel’s actions are now the subject of hearings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where Tel Aviv faces accusations of violating international law by restricting humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The humanitarian toll has been devastating.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 61,700 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive on Oct. 7, 2023. More than 14,000 others are missing and presumed dead, with civilians making up the vast majority of casualties.
Washington-based press watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists, has also raised alarm over the scale of media worker deaths, reporting that at least 176 journalists — almost all Palestinian — have been killed since Israel launched its assault on the Occupied Territories.
