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.

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.