SRMG expands into publishing industry in MENA with the launch of Raff Publishing

Raff Publishing, which has a major presence at the Riyadh International Book Fair (1–10 October, 2021), aims to become MENA’s most forward-looking publishing house in a global industry currently valued at US$92.68bn. (Supplied)
Short Url
Updated 03 October 2021
Follow

SRMG expands into publishing industry in MENA with the launch of Raff Publishing

  • SRMG announces Raff Publishing at the Riyadh International Book Fair, in line with the Group’s new growth strategy and digital transformation
  • Raff Publishing will adopt new models in regional publishing, harnessing digital formats and innovative technologies, and amplifying regional perspectives by publishing the Arab World’s greatest authors

RIYADH: The Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG) today announced the launch of a book publishing company designed to meet the market needs of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The new venture, Raff Publishing, will embrace digital technologies, explore new formats and adopt innovative business models which support SRMG’s reputation as a leading source of audience-centric content and information in the region.
Raff Publishing, which has a major presence at the Riyadh International Book Fair (1–10 October, 2021), aims to become MENA’s most forward-looking publishing house in a global industry currently valued at US$92.68bn, and forecast to reach US$104.21bn in 2025. The new publishing house will utilize pioneering business models and embrace new digital formats and publishing technologies, including print-on-demand, e-books and audiobooks. While the global publishing market is predicted to grow at a three per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years, e-books are expected to reach 11.7 per cent CAGR, with audiobooks achieving even stronger growth at 24.4 per cent CAGR, offering significant commercial opportunities for the Group.




Jomana Al-Rashid, CEO of SRMG

“It’s time for the MENA publishing industry to evolve to meet the content demands of a technologically advanced population in Saudi Arabia and across the region,” said Jomana Al-Rashid, CEO of SRMG. “With the launch of Manga Al Arabiya, we witnessed a massive turnout of young Arab talent with creative ideas, ready manuscripts and unique perspectives, and realized that we only need to provide an outlet for this talent to flourish,” added Al-Rashid. “With Raff Publishing, we are committed to developing talent, broadening audience reach with a focus on popular genres to meet existing demand, and to creating new markets through diverse formats, on-demand publishing and intelligent use of data and modelling to inform our business strategies.”
The Group believes it will deliver significant returns by tapping into new audiences, building avenues for consumption, and meeting the demand for Arabic content—including for international best-selling titles across fiction and non-fiction genres.
In line with SRMG’s commitment to enrich Arabic content and foster a culture of reading, Raff Publishing will publish MENA authors with compelling stories, and unique insights enabling it to acquire a roster of the Arab World’s greatest writers and literary classics.
Haifa Al-Jedea, Managing Director of SRMG Think, said: “With the launch of Raff Publishing, we will actively seek out new authors from across the Arabic-speaking world. We aim to publish books that will reach the full range of regional audiences who are hungry to hear stories they can relate to and, most importantly, feel represented by. We know there is an unmet appetite for quality regional content, and we will seek to discover, develop and publish new authors—poets and novelists, children’s authors, essayists, thought leaders and analysts—increasing the opportunities for MENA voices to be heard.”




Haifa Al-Jedea, Managing Director of SRMG Think

To enhance the regional audience’s access to global-best sellers and enrich Arabic content in the region, Raff Publishing has established extensive relationships and arrangements with international publishing houses and authors specializing in genres that are in high-demand but not widely available in the region. These include, Penguin Random House, the largest trade book publisher in the world; John Wiley & Sons, respected publisher of scholarly and scientific works, as well as the bestselling For Dummies books; Abrams, publisher of critically acclaimed and bestselling works; and The MIT Press one of the most distinguished university presses in the world. Raff Publishing is also engaging with global best-selling authors in order to publish their titles in Arabic, including the famous Max Einstein series by renowned author James Patterson,
The first titles from Raff Publishing are expected to be available online and through regional bookstores early in 2022.
With an expanding network of outlets, SRMG’s new growth strategy covers five business verticals: SRMG Media: Digital Platforms, Podcasts and Multimedia; SRMG International: International Investments and Partnerships; SRMG Think, providing unique viewpoints on local, regional and global topics by enhancing existing capabilities and venturing into two new businesses, including Raff Publishing, that complete, complement and enhance the Group’s current offering; SRMG X: Events, Conferences and Exhibitions; and SRMG Labs: Innovation, Incubation, and Training.
Driven by a newly appointed leadership team, and listed on the Tawadul stock exchange in Riyadh, SRMG is focused on delivering original, exclusive and premium content to consumers through new digital and social platforms, as well as strengthening its cable and satellite reach. The recently announced growth strategy leverages the Group’s data and technology strengths to develop new products and services, enhance monetization capabilities and diversify revenue streams.
Raff Publishing is at Riyadh International Book Fair, stand I-01.The Fair runs from 1 – 10 October 2021 at Riyadh Front.


Social media platform X outage appears to ease, Downdetector shows

Updated 10 March 2025
Follow

Social media platform X outage appears to ease, Downdetector shows

Social media platform X is down for thousands of users in the US and the UK, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.
There were more than 16,000 incidents of people reporting issues with the platform as of 6:02 a.m. ET, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources.

X did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Downdetector's numbers are based on user-submitted reports. The actual number of affected users may vary.


Journalist quits broadcaster after comparing French actions in Algeria to Nazi massacre

Updated 10 March 2025
Follow

Journalist quits broadcaster after comparing French actions in Algeria to Nazi massacre

  • Historians from both sides have over the last years documented numerous violations including arbitrary killings and detention carried out by French forces and the history still burdens French-Algerian relations to this day

PARIS: A prominent French journalist on Sunday announced he was stepping down from his role as an expert analyst for broadcaster RTL after provoking an uproar by comparing French actions during colonial rule in Algeria to a World War II massacre committed by Nazi forces in France.
Jean-Michel Aphatie, a veteran reporter and broadcaster, insisted that while he would not be returning to RTL he wholly stood by his comments made on the radio station in late February equating atrocities committed by France in Algeria with those of Nazi Germany in occupied France.
“I will not return to RTL. It is my decision,” the journalist wrote on the X, after he was suspended from air for a week by the radio station.
On February 25 he said on air: “Every year in France, we commemorate what happened in Oradour-sur-Glane — the massacre of an entire village. But we have committed hundreds of these, in Algeria. Are we aware of this?“
He was referring to the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, where an SS unit returning to the front in Normandy massacred 642 residents on June 10, 1944. Leaving a chilling memorial for future generations, the village was never rebuilt.
Challenged by the anchor over whether “we (the French) behaved like the Nazis,” Aphatie replied: “The Nazis behaved like us.”
On X, he acknowledged his comments had created a “debate” but said it was of great importance to understand the full story over France’s 1830-1962 presence in Algeria, saying he was “horrified” by what he had read in history books.
After being suspended for a week by the channel it means that “if I come back to RTL I validate this and admit to making a mistake. This is a line that cannot be crossed.”
His comments had prompted a flurry of complaints to audio-visual regulator Arcom which has opened an investigation.
France’s conduct in Algeria during the 1954-1962 war that led to independence and previous decades remain the subject of often painful debate in both countries.
Historians from both sides have over the last years documented numerous violations including arbitrary killings and detention carried out by French forces and the history still burdens French-Algerian relations to this day.
The far-right in France has long defended French policies in those years with Algeria War veteran Jean-Marie Le Pen, who co-founded the National Front (FN) party and died earlier this year, drawing much support from French settlers who had to return after independence.

 


Apple adds new Syrian flag emoji

Updated 08 March 2025
Follow

Apple adds new Syrian flag emoji

  • New flag is part of latest iOS, macOS updates

DUBAI: Apple has added the new flag of the Syrian Arab Republic to its emoji keyboard in the latest beta update to its operating system, replacing the one used by former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The new flag emoji is part of Apple’s iOS and macOS 18.4 beta 2 update and is therefore unavailable to those who have not signed up for beta updates.

Apple will roll out the new updates to users in April, according to a company statement.

The old flag featured three stripes: red at the top, black at the bottom and white in the middle with two green stars.

The new flag features green at the top, black at the bottom and white in the middle with three red stars.

For many Syrians the new flag represents freedom and independence from Assad’s dictatorial regime.

The country has a long history with the current flag, which was first adopted when Syria gained independence from France in 1946.

It was replaced in 1958 by the flag of the United Arab Republic to represent the political union between Egypt and Syria.

It was adopted again for a short time when Syria left the United Arab Republic in 1961, only to be replaced in 1963 when the Baath Party took control of the country.


Newspaper in Syrian Arab Republic resumes circulation in Damascus after fall of Assad regime

Updated 07 March 2025
Follow

Newspaper in Syrian Arab Republic resumes circulation in Damascus after fall of Assad regime

  • Media organization hails ‘victory for free journalism’

DUBAI: The Syrian newspaper Enab Baladi has resumed distribution in the streets of Damascus and its suburbs after more than a decade-long ban under Bashar Assad’s regime.

The newspaper, which dubs itself as “an independent Syrian media organization,” documented the Syrian regime’s violations during the revolution when it launched in 2012.

The newspaper’s distribution was limited to opposition-controlled northern areas until 2020 after Assad’s brutal crackdown on dissent.

Its editorial stance led to the arrest of many staff members, while others were tortured to death in prisons or killed by shelling and military operations in Daraya.

The media organization said: “The first copies were printed through self-funding and the efforts of its founding staff using a home printer, distributed secretly by volunteers in the neighborhoods of Daraya and Damascus.”

The organization relied on expanding its digital and visual content to reach audiences online, or through printed copies that were smuggled within Syria.

With the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8 last year after a 12-day blistering campaign led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, Enab Baladi resumed distribution in Damascus after a newsroom was established in the capital.

It said the move was aimed at “ensuring freedom of expression during an ambiguous transitional phase.”

The media organization added: “The return of printing inside Syria represents a victory for free journalism and an opportunity to reconnect with the audience inside Syria.”


Israeli military creating ChatGPT-like AI tool targeting Palestinians, says investigation

Updated 07 March 2025
Follow

Israeli military creating ChatGPT-like AI tool targeting Palestinians, says investigation

  • Tool being built by Israeli army’s secretive cyber warfare unit 

DUBAI: Israel’s military is developing an advanced artificial intelligence tool, similar to ChatGPT, by training it on Arabic conversations obtained through the surveillance of Palestinians living under occupation.

These are the findings of a joint investigation by The Guardian, Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call.

The tool is being built by the Israeli army’s secretive cyber warfare Unit 8200. The division is programming the AI tool to understand colloquial Arabic by feeding it vast amounts of phone calls and text messages between Palestinians, obtained through surveillance.

Three Israeli security sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed the existence of the AI tool to the outlets conducting the investigation.

The model was still undergoing training last year and it is unclear if it has been deployed and to what end. However, sources said that the tool’s ability to rapidly process large quantities of surveillance material in order to “answer questions” about specific individuals would be a huge benefit to the Israeli army.

During the investigation, several sources highlighted that Unit 8200 had used smaller-scale machine learning models in recent years.

One source said: “AI amplifies power; it’s not just about preventing shooting attacks. I can track human rights activists, monitor Palestinian construction in Area C (of the West Bank). I have more tools to know what every person in the West Bank is doing. When you hold so much data, you can direct it toward any purpose you choose.”

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson declined to respond to The Guardian’s question about the new AI tool, but said the military “deploys various intelligence methods to identify and thwart terrorist activity by hostile organizations in the Middle East.”

Unit 8200’s previous AI tools, such as The Gospel and Lavender, were among those used during the war on Hamas. These tools played a key role in identifying potential targets for strikes and bombardments.

Moreover, for nearly a decade, the unit has used AI to analyze the communications it intercepts and stores, sort information into categories, learn to recognize patterns and make predictions.

When ChatGPT’s large language model was made available to the public in November 2022, the Israeli army set up a dedicated intelligence team to explore how generative AI could be adapted for military purposes, according to former intelligence officer Chaked Roger Joseph Sayedoff.

However, ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI rejected Unit 8200’s request for direct access to its LLM and refused to allow its integration into the unit’s system.

Sayedoff highlighted another problem: existing language models could only process standard Arabic, not spoken Arabic in different dialects, resulting in Unit 8200 needing to develop its own program.

One source said: “There are no transcripts of calls or WhatsApp conversations on the internet. It doesn’t exist in the quantity needed to train such a model.”

Unit 8200 started recruiting experts from private tech companies in October 2023 as reservists. Ori Goshen, co-CEO and co-founder of the Israeli tech company AI21 Labs, confirmed that his employees participated in the project during their reserve duty.

The challenge for Unit 8200 was to “collect all the (spoken Arabic) text the unit has ever had and put it into a centralized place,” a source said, adding that the model’s training data eventually consisted of about 100 billion words.

Another source familiar with the project said the communications analyzed and fed to the training model included conversations in Lebanese and Palestinian dialects.

Goshen explained the benefits of LLMs for intelligence agencies but added that “these are probabilistic models — you give them a prompt or a question, and they generate something that looks like magic, but often the answer makes no sense.”

Zach Campbell, a senior surveillance researcher at Human Rights Watch, called such AI tools “guessing machines.”

He said: “Ultimately, these guesses can end up being used to incriminate people.”

Campbell and Nadim Nashif, director and founder of the Palestinian digital rights and advocacy group 7amleh, also raised concerns about the collection of data and its use in training the AI tool.

Campbell said: “We are talking about highly personal information, taken from people who are not suspected of any crime, to train a tool that could later help establish suspicion.”

Nashif said: “Palestinians have become subjects in Israel’s laboratory to develop these techniques and weaponize AI, all for the purpose of maintaining (an) apartheid and occupation regime where these technologies are being used to dominate a people, to control their lives.

“This is a grave and continuous violation of Palestinian digital rights, which are human rights.”