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Saudi Arabia asks Hans Zimmer to rework national anthem

Composer also discusses plans for musical and film score as kingdom attempts to improve its image

Zimmer, whose film scores include the 1994’s The Lion King, Dune and the Dark Knight trilogy, has agreed to the “broad outlines” of the project, the General Entertainment Authority chair, Turki Alalshikh, said. After reopening cinemas, allowing women to drive and admitting the first non-Muslim tourists in 2018, the makeover has included several large-scale projects such as resorts and NEOM, a futuristic city in the desert costing $500bn. Activists have said the Saudi authorities’ push to upgrade their image is an attempt to gloss over unchanged hardline policies, including limited rights for women, restraints on free speech and some of the world’s highest execution figures.

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