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Varieties

SRMG, Warner Bros. Discovery Partner to Launch 'Asharq Discovery'

SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid and Warner Bros. Discovery General Manager Jamie Cooke after signing the new partnership (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid and Warner Bros. Discovery General Manager Jamie Cooke after signing the new partnership (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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SRMG, Warner Bros. Discovery Partner to Launch 'Asharq Discovery'

SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid and Warner Bros. Discovery General Manager Jamie Cooke after signing the new partnership (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid and Warner Bros. Discovery General Manager Jamie Cooke after signing the new partnership (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), the MENA region's largest media group, entered into a long-term partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery to launch 'Asharq Discovery,' a new Arabic language channel exclusively for audiences in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.

Asharq Discovery will be the newest addition to SRMG's fast-growing media and international offerings.

Asharq Discovery aims to connect audiences in the Middle East and North Africa region with the world while providing content that tells unique Arabic content and presents unique experiences and memorable stories that allow audiences a step outside their established media consumption habits.

The partnership comes in the context of the MENA expansion strategy of Warner Bros. Discovery and SRMG's growth strategy, brought together by a shared goal of diversifying content and improving its accessibility, and help propel MENA's maturing entertainment industry to become one of the largest globally.

General Manager for CEE, Middle East, and Türkiye, Jamie Cooke, indicated that the entertainment industry in the MENA region is experiencing a fantastic transformation and exponential growth, providing opportunities for content players and consumers.

Cooke explained that after establishing the Discovery brand in linear channels, and successfully launching Discovery+ last year, "we believe launching a new FTA channel in MENA with the homegrown powerhouse, SRMG is a solid step for us to build a 360 ecosystem of entertainment."

"This partnership will also support our MENA business development strategy to increase our presence in KSA," he asserted.

SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid said that the new strategic collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery would further enhance the group's ability to provide more dynamic and innovative Arabic content through multiple formats and platforms.

"This partnership is a further demonstration of SRMG's unrelenting focus and commitment to its consumer-centric approach; bringing our audiences engaging and premium content - when, where, and how they want it," said Rashid.

She indicated that Discovery has an unrivaled legacy of producing cutting-edge, high-quality documentaries.

"We look forward to working together to deliver co-commissioned quality content, provide new job opportunities and best-in-class training, and tap into a new global network for our growing audiences."

Asharq Discovery will offer thousands of hours of premium content, including originals, premieres, and exclusives, across a wide selection of genres spanning pop science and engineering, motoring and turbo, wildlife and nature, adventure and travel, reality and lifestyle, crime mystery documentaries.

Warner Bros. Discovery and SRMG have earmarked co-productions of high-quality local programming to be distributed globally through the Discovery Global network, adding more cultural and market relevance to the mix.

Asharq Discovery is set to be launched to MENA users in 2023 through broadcasts, streaming, and third-party local apps, with a catch-up facility available on over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

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Varieties

London Boasts 12 of Top 100 Cinemas in the World

The Castle has been voted among the best in the world (The Castle Cinema)
The Castle has been voted among the best in the world (The Castle Cinema)
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London Boasts 12 of Top 100 Cinemas in the World

The Castle has been voted among the best in the world (The Castle Cinema)
The Castle has been voted among the best in the world (The Castle Cinema)

The cinema might feel like a relic to some – a moment from before films were available at the press of a button at home – but those interested in cinemas never turn their back on an afternoon spent sitting in complete darkness with total strangers in front of a booming big screen.

According to METRO, London is a city that can officially boast 12 of the top 100 cinemas in the world.

Time Out recently released its ranking of the greatest cinemas on the planet, with the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles – host to more red carpet premieres for major blockbusters than anywhere outside London’s Leicester Square – taking the top spot.

Elsewhere on the list were some spectacularly unusual venues: the world’s biggest cinema screen in Leonberg, Germany, a small town with a population of just 49,000; a Hungarian cinema housed inside a former temple; a Berlin theater complete with its own nuclear bunker; and a Spanish Baroque picture house that even starred in the Oscar-winning film Milk.

But no city can claim more entries than London, whose best performer came in fourth place.

The BFI Southbank was named the capital’s top cinema, with £4 tickets for 16–25 year olds, the UK’s largest LGBTQ+ film festival, and a constant stream of panels and talks featuring some of the biggest names in film.

Other London venues that made the cut include Picturehouse Central, a seven-screen complex just off Piccadilly Circus, and Curzon Soho only a few meters down the road.

The Castle Cinema, tucked away on Chatsworth Road in the heart of east London, came in at number 82.

By afternoon, the same familiar faces are tapping away on laptops, before the evening crowd rolls in for a blockbuster, a streamed theater show they couldn’t get tickets for – even if they could afford the £100 price tag – or a niche arthouse film you’d struggle to find anywhere else.

If The Castle is backing a film, that’s usually recommendation enough.

The cinema’s distinctive charm is always enough to lure away from the temptation of anywhere else – even Time Out’s supposed best cinema in London – and rearrange the day if needed to catch a film in one of its two screens.

Screen One is the larger of the two, but what it boasts in size it matches in cosiness. Each customer sinks deep into their own armchair, perhaps with one of the best cocktails in east London in hand (often on offer) or a hot chocolate and a slice of homemade cake from the bar.

In Screen Two, however, the back two rows are made up of sofas which, if you’re lucky, you can often get one to yourself.

Independent cinemas are in desperate need of regular customers, but more often than not they struggle to compete with the low prices of soulless multiplex chains like Vue or Odeon.

At The Castle, though, a spectator rarely spends more than £3 on a ticket. Midweek, members can bring a friend for free before 5pm from Tuesday to Friday – and membership costs just £35 a year, or £17.50 for students, NHS staff and those on lower incomes.

Generosity and kindness sit at the heart of the cinema too. Anyone can leave a few pounds behind the bar so that someone else – someone who might need the comfort of a film but can’t afford a ticket – can still walk in and take a seat.

In an age of endless streaming and algorithm-driven recommendations, The Castle feels quietly radical. It’s not just a place to watch films – it’s a place to belong.

And while the world’s most famous cinemas might have bigger screens, grander foyers or red-carpet premieres, none of them have ever made the spectator feels quite as at home or impressed as much as a £3 seat on Chatsworth Road.

Varieties

Prince William Shares a Post Remembering His Late Mother Princess Diana on UK Mother’s Day

The prince, 43, posted a photo showing Diana with a 2-year-old William in a field of flowers that was taken at the family’s main home at Highgrove, Gloucestershire, in 1984. (Kensington Royal/X)
The prince, 43, posted a photo showing Diana with a 2-year-old William in a field of flowers that was taken at the family’s main home at Highgrove, Gloucestershire, in 1984. (Kensington Royal/X)
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Prince William Shares a Post Remembering His Late Mother Princess Diana on UK Mother’s Day

The prince, 43, posted a photo showing Diana with a 2-year-old William in a field of flowers that was taken at the family’s main home at Highgrove, Gloucestershire, in 1984. (Kensington Royal/X)
The prince, 43, posted a photo showing Diana with a 2-year-old William in a field of flowers that was taken at the family’s main home at Highgrove, Gloucestershire, in 1984. (Kensington Royal/X)

Prince William said Sunday he remembers his late mother Princess Diana “today and every day” as he shared a photo of them together on social media to mark Mother's Day in the UK.

“Remembering my mother, today and every day. Thinking of all those who are remembering someone they love today. Happy Mother’s Day,” the royal wrote on Instagram, signing off with “W.”

The prince, 43, posted a photo showing Diana with a 2-year-old William in a field of flowers that was taken at the family’s main home at Highgrove, Gloucestershire, in 1984.

Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, when William was 15 and his brother Prince Harry was 12. She was 36.

The royal family also posted other photos on social media to mark Mothering Sunday, which is celebrated in the UK on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

They included a black-and-white photo from 1953 of the late Queen Elizabeth II sitting on a garden bench with King Charles III and his sister Anne, the Princess Royal — both still young children at the time — at Balmoral in Scotland.

Varieties

Australian Government Deploys Military to Assist Flood-Hit Northern Territory

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)
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Australian Government Deploys Military to Assist Flood-Hit Northern Territory

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that troops would be deployed to help communities hit by a days-long flood emergency in the country's north.

Albanese said the center-left government had approved deployment of Australian Defense Force personnel to ‌help communities around the ‌flood-hit Northern Territory ‌town ⁠of Katherine, about 264km (164 ⁠miles) south of territory capital Darwin.

"To everyone doing it tough right now, know we are with you through the response and through the ⁠recovery," Albanese said on social ‌media ‌platform X.

Emergency Services Minister Kristy McBain ‌said in televised remarks that ‌the troops would be deployed for up to 14 days.

Authorities, grappling with floods sparked by ‌heavy rain in the Northern Territory and neighboring Queensland ⁠state, ⁠said this week they recovered two bodies in a search for two Chinese backpackers who went missing in floods in Queensland's Gympie region.

Climate change is causing heavy short-term rainfall events to become more intense in Australia, the country’s science agency has previously said.