ֱ

IMAX announces first Arabic feature film, opens new Jeddah location

IMAX announces first Arabic feature film, opens new Jeddah location
The new screen marks the first of four new IMAX screens the company will open across the Kingdom. (Supplied)
Short Url
Updated 07 December 2024

IMAX announces first Arabic feature film, opens new Jeddah location

IMAX announces first Arabic feature film, opens new Jeddah location
  • ‘Ambulance’ starring Ibrahim Al-Hajjaj released in April

DUBAI: IMAX announced plans for its first Arabic-language feature film at the opening of a new cinema — in partnership with ֱ’s Muvi Cinemas — in Jeddah this week.

The new screen marks the first of four new IMAX screens the company will open across the Kingdom as part of its agreement with Muvi Cinemas.

IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond told Arab News in a recent interview that the long-term plan in ֱ was to “not only build a significant theater network, but also lean into the content side.”

The company has been involved in projects in other Middle Eastern countries, such as the 2009 film “Journey to Mecca” and the 1992 film “Fires of Kuwait,” so “this (ֱ) wasn’t a startup opportunity,” he added.

The newly announced film is a comedy titled “Ambulance” starring Saudi actor and comedian Ibrahim Al-Hajjaj, who is known for the mini series “Rashash” and movies like “AlKhallat+” and “Sattar.”

Directed by British filmmaker Colin Teague and produced by Al-Hajjaj’s House of Comedy, Saudi producer Talal Anazi’s Black Light Operations, and Muvi Studios, the film will be released on April 17, 2025.

Gelfond said: “As we open our first location with Muvi Cinemas — the biggest exhibitor in ֱ and a new strategic partner for IMAX — we are excited to expand into Arabic-language content and deliver Arabic-speaking audiences an even greater diversity of experiences.”

Muvi Cinemas will open the next IMAX screen at Mall of Dhahran in February followed by U Walk in Riyadh.


France hits Google with $381 million fine for consumer protection failures

France hits Google with $381 million fine for consumer protection failures
Updated 47 sec ago

France hits Google with $381 million fine for consumer protection failures

France hits Google with $381 million fine for consumer protection failures
  • Google given six months to ensure ads are no longer displayed between emails in Gmail users’ inboxes without prior consent
  • Users should be also be asked for valid consent to the creation of a Google account for the placement of ad trackers, tech giant told

PARIS: France’s data protection authority said on Wednesday it had fined Alphabet’s Google 325 million euros ($381 million) for improperly displaying ads to Gmail users and using cookies, both without Google account users’ consent.
The Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) also gave Google six months to ensure ads are no longer displayed between emails in Gmail users’ inboxes without prior consent, and that users give valid consent to the creation of a Google account for the placement of ad trackers.
Failing that, Google and its Irish subsidiary would both have to pay a penalty of 100,000 euros per day of delay, CNIL said in a statement.
A Google spokesperson said the company was reviewing the decision and said that users have always been able to control the ads they see in their products.
In the past two years, Google has made updates to address the commission’s concerns, including an easy way to decline personalized ads when creating a Google account, and changes to the way ads are presented in Gmail, the spokesperson said.
 


Musa Al-Sadr family rejects BBC’s AI image claim in disappearance investigation

Musa Al-Sadr family rejects BBC’s AI image claim in disappearance investigation
Updated 03 September 2025

Musa Al-Sadr family rejects BBC’s AI image claim in disappearance investigation

Musa Al-Sadr family rejects BBC’s AI image claim in disappearance investigation
  • AI facial recognition analysis carried out by the BBC compared a 2011 photograph of a decomposed corpse from Tripoli’s Al-Zawiya hospital with archived images of Musa Al-Sadr, indicating a ‘high probability’ of resemblance
  • Leader of the Amal Movement, Al-Sadr disappeared on Aug. 31, 1978, in Libya alongside two companions, a week after they arrived to meet with then-Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi

LONDON: The family of the missing Lebanese cleric Imam Musa Al-Sadr has dismissed a recent BBC documentary that suggested he died in Libya, condemning the use of an artificial intelligence-generated image claimed to be him.

In a statement released Tuesday by the Imam Musa Al-Sadr Research and Studies Center, the family said the BBC shared the AI facial recognition analysis — a comparison between a decomposed corpse photo from Tripoli’s Al-Zawiya hospital in 2011 and archival images of Al-Sadr and relatives — with them and Lebanon’s official follow-up committee without consent.

“During filming, as the Imam’s family and the follow-up committee, we confirmed that the image is not of the Imam due to evident differences in the shape of the face, hair color, and other obvious distinctions,” the family said, adding that they had the confirmation “the moment we saw the video clip.”

Al-Sadr, founder of the Amal Movement, disappeared on Aug. 31, 1978, in Libya alongside two companions, a week after they arrived to meet with Libyan government officials. They were last seen leaving a Tripoli hotel in a government vehicle.

Despite various claims, including Libyan assertions that he traveled to Rome — which have been widely disproved — his fate remains unknown.

Many Lebanese Shia believe that then-Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi ordered Al-Sadr’s killing, a claim that Libya has consistently denied.

The case has fueled deep political tensions between Lebanon and Libya and remains a highly sensitive and unresolved matter.

Some experts contend that Al-Sadr, an influential Iranian-Lebanese cleric, was on the verge of using his influence to guide Iran — and by extension the region — toward a more moderate path when he vanished on the eve of the Iranian revolution.

The BBC film, part of its Eye Investigations series, centers on testimony from Swedish-Lebanese reporter Kassem Hamade, who during the uprising of the Arab Spring in 2011 claimed to have photographed a tall corpse in a secret Tripoli morgue resembling Al-Sadr. He argued that despite decomposition, the skin tone, hair and facial features the dead body still resembled Sadr’s — who stood at 1.98 meters.

He also took a hair sample reportedly handed to the office of Lebanese parliamentary speaker, Nabih Berri, but officials later said that he sample was lost due to a “technical error.”

With what the family described as “full cooperation” with the BBC by providing photos, documents and resources, the outlets submitted Hamade’s photograph for AI analysis.

According to Professor Ugail, the software indicated a “high probability” that the body was either Al-Sadr or a close relative, a claim firmly denied by Al-Sadr’s family.

His son, Sayyed Sadreddine Sadr, said the 2011 morgue photograph was “evident(ly)” not his father.

“It also contradicts the information we have after this date … that he is still alive, held in a Libyan jail,” he said — though no evidence was ever offered to support this claim.

To address further questions, Judge Hassan Shami, representing the official committee and the family, is scheduled to appear on BBC Arabic to provide clarification.


ChatGPT to get parental controls after teen’s death

ChatGPT to get parental controls after teen’s death
Updated 03 September 2025

ChatGPT to get parental controls after teen’s death

ChatGPT to get parental controls after teen’s death
  • Parents Matthew and Maria Raine have filed a lawsuit alleging that a chatbot helped their 16-year-old son steal vodka and provided instructions for a noose he used to take his own life
  • OpenAI announced new safety tools, including age-appropriate response controls and notifications for detecting acute distress in children

PARIS: American artificial intelligence firm OpenAI said Tuesday it would add parental controls to its chatbot ChatGPT, a week after an American couple said the system encouraged their teenaged son to kill himself.
“Within the next month, parents will be able to... link their account with their teen’s account” and “control how ChatGPT responds to their teen with age-appropriate model behavior rules,” the generative AI company said in a blog post.
Parents will also receive notifications from ChatGPT “when the system detects their teen is in a moment of acute distress,” OpenAI added.
Matthew and Maria Raine argue in a lawsuit filed last week in a California state court that ChatGPT cultivated an intimate relationship with their son Adam over several months in 2024 and 2025 before he took his own life.
The lawsuit alleges that in their final conversation on April 11, 2025, ChatGPT helped 16-year-old Adam steal vodka from his parents and provided technical analysis of a noose he had tied, confirming it “could potentially suspend a human.”
Adam was found dead hours later, having used the same method.
“When a person is using ChatGPT it really feels like they’re chatting with something on the other end,” said attorney Melodi Dincer of The Tech Justice Law Project, which helped prepare the legal complaint.
“These are the same features that could lead someone like Adam, over time, to start sharing more and more about their personal lives, and ultimately, to start seeking advice and counsel from this product that basically seems to have all the answers,” Dincer said.
Product design features set the scene for users to slot a chatbot into trusted roles like friend, therapist or doctor, she said.
Dincer said the OpenAI blog post announcing parental controls and other safety measures seemed “generic” and lacking in detail.
“It’s really the bare minimum, and it definitely suggests that there were a lot of (simple) safety measures that could have been implemented,” she added.
“It’s yet to be seen whether they will do what they say they will do and how effective that will be overall.”
The Raines’ case was just the latest in a string that have surfaced in recent months of people being encouraged in delusional or harmful trains of thought by AI chatbots — prompting OpenAI to say it would reduce models’ “sycophancy” toward users.
“We continue to improve how our models recognize and respond to signs of mental and emotional distress,” OpenAI said Tuesday.
The company said it had further plans to improve the safety of its chatbots over the coming three months, including redirecting “some sensitive conversations... to a reasoning model” that puts more computing power into generating a response.
“Our testing shows that reasoning models more consistently follow and apply safety guidelines,” OpenAI said.


CNN launches new series spotlighting global trends and innovation

CNN launches new series spotlighting global trends and innovation
Updated 03 September 2025

CNN launches new series spotlighting global trends and innovation

CNN launches new series spotlighting global trends and innovation
  • ‘Seasons’ explores evolving tastes shaping global culture across fashion, travel, food, technology, design and art
  • First season focusing on Japan’s cultural influence debuts on Sept. 6

LONDON: CNN announced on Wednesday the launch of Seasons, a new series exploring shifting trends shaping global culture across fashion, travel, food, technology, design and art.

The series will highlight some of the world’s most sought-after products and experiences, going behind the brands to examine the craftsmanship, innovation and strategies driving demand.

Ellana Lee, CNN’s group senior vice president and global head of productions, said that Seasons aimed to capture “what’s resonating right now,” reflecting evolving tastes that prioritize rarity, relevance and storytelling.

“Encapsulating the trends sweeping the world, audiences can stay up-to-date through short video explainers of what’s capturing the moment or enjoy a beautiful, in-depth TV show.”

Hosted by Japanese model and creative director, Hikari Mori, the first season focuses on Japan’s cultural influence, blending its pop art heritage with traditional crafts that have found a place in luxury fashion.

Early episodes will explore the art of haiku, local food culture and traditional fabrics and materials, as well as an interview with Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami and an exclusive visit to his Tokyo studio.

The series includes short video explainers designed for social media alongside a deeper 30-minute show premiering on Sept. 6 on CNN International.


Why documenting the deaths of journalists in Gaza is critical to ensuring justice

Why documenting the deaths of journalists in Gaza is critical to ensuring justice
Updated 03 September 2025

Why documenting the deaths of journalists in Gaza is critical to ensuring justice

Why documenting the deaths of journalists in Gaza is critical to ensuring justice
  • A constantly updated list of some 200 Palestinian journalists slain by Israel has become both a memorial and evidence
  • Israel restricts foreign press access, leaving local media workers to document the war while simultaneously surviving it

LONDON: It’s not every day that an Excel spreadsheet possesses the power to shock. But the stark clarity of the constantly updated document recording the names of every journalist killed in Gaza since October 2023 brings home the sheer scale of Israel’s unprecedented killing of journalists.

As of Sunday, 198 journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past two years. Since the beginning of the war, each name and the date and place of their death have been faithfully documented by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Scrolling through the CPJ’s Excel document, with its clean, neat rows and columns that somehow emphasize the chaos and suffering to which they attest, is akin to visiting a digital wall of remembrance.

And more than that, with the credentials of each journalist on the list and the details of their death verified by the CPJ, it constitutes evidence. 

The first death recorded was that of Ibrahim Marzouq, a Palestinian media worker for the logistics department of the Gaza Bureau of the Palestinian Authority-run broadcaster Palestine Today TV. 

A combination image shows the journalists killed in Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on August 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Marzouq and his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Gaza’s Al-Tuffah neighborhood on Oct. 24, 2023, just weeks after the conflict began in the wake of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack.

The most recent victims were the five journalists killed on Aug. 25, along with more than a dozen civilians and health workers, by what appeared to be three tank shells on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.

Ahed Abu Aziz, Hussam Al-Masri, Mariam Dagga, Mohammed Salama, and Moaz Abu Taha worked for international outlets including Middle East Eye, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and Reuters.

Reuters said it had notified the Israel Defense Forces of the whereabouts of its cameraman, Al-Masri, prior to the attack, but this was not enough to protect him.

Aged 49, he is survived by his wife and their four children, who are living in a tent and, like everyone else in Gaza, struggling to find food. 

Family and relatives mourn over the body of Palestinian journalist Ahmed Al-Shayah, covered with a press vest, after he was killed during an Israeli strike the previous night in Khan Yunis, at Nasser Hospital, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 16, 2025. (AFP)

The UN human rights office said the killings “should shock the world, not into stunned silence, but into action, demanding accountability and justice.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attack as “a mishap.” Meanwhile, the IDF said it had launched an internal investigation, adding that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such.”

The CPJ has submitted a series of questions about the attack to the IDF and is calling for an independent investigation.

As Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the CPJ, said in a statement on Aug. 28: “Our experience over decades is that Israeli-led investigations into killings are neither transparent, nor independent — and in not a single case over the past 24 years has anyone in Israel ever been held accountable for the killing of a journalist.”

The CPJ, an independent, non-profit organization that was founded in 1981 by a group of US correspondents to promote press freedom worldwide, works to “defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.” 

Al-Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif reports near the Arab Ahli (Baptist) Hospital in Gaza City on October 10, 2024. (AFP)

It has its work cut out. In August alone, it was dealing with dozens of cases worldwide, highlighting and advocating for individual journalists facing investigations, arrests and attacks in countries including Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Somaliland, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Iraq and Ethiopia.

But what it has been bearing witness to in Gaza for the past two years is beyond anything in its four decades of experience.

Despite Israel’s attempts to smear the journalists it has killed, suggesting some of them were Hamas operatives, “they were all journalists,” Sara Qudah, the CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa regional director, told Arab News.

“They studied journalism and then graduated, just like any normal person anywhere, and worked for various media outlets.”

CPJ vets and confirms the credentials of every journalist who is killed before reporting and documenting their deaths. Of the dead to date, 65 were freelancers and 124 were staffers working for a wide range of organizations inside and outside the Palestinian territories. 

Mourners carry the body of one of five journalists killed in an Israeli strike on Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, during their funeral on August 25, 2025. (AFP)

Twenty-three of the victims were women.

Ever since the war in Gaza began, said Qudah, “the international media and the international community took a decision to turn a blind eye to what the local media and the journalists are seeing and saying, and the footage they are sending. They have preferred to believe the official narrative from Israel and the Israeli media.

“But after what happened in August, there’s no way that the international community and the international media can deny what is happening on the ground. We are starting to see and hear more voices, more condemnation, asking for accountability.”

She paid tribute to the courage of Gaza’s journalists.

“It’s not only courage; it’s a sense of responsibility. They know that if they stop reporting, the truth will die and no one will know what is happening, no one will document what is happening on the ground. 

Palestinians gather outside Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 25, 2025, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)

“This is part of being a journalist, to be a witness to the truth, and this is why it’s so important for them to do that, even if it costs them their life, because at the end of the day they need to make sure that their deaths and the deaths of their loved ones is not is not happening for nothing.”

Journalists often find themselves reporting from war zones, perhaps for a few weeks at a time before travelling home again. But Gaza’s journalists “are documenting a war that they are living. On a daily basis, they are living this war.

“You are going back to a tent. You are displaced. You don’t have food, and you are afraid of being killed at any point, and you are also afraid that your family and your loved ones and your colleagues will be targeted and killed.”

There is, she said, no doubt that journalists are being targeted deliberately by Israel, which refuses to allow foreign journalists into Gaza.

“This is why Israel is killing them, because they want to kill their witnesses and they want to hide the truth, to hide the evidence. 

“But one day, justice has to happen, and it will happen thanks to these journalists, the witnesses who are documenting all of Israel’s war crimes.”