Why do sci-fi fans across the globe celebrate May 4 and what should first time movie watchers expect?
![Devices are displayed at the research lab of the Israeli firm Cellebrite's technology on November 9, 2016 in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva. It only takes a few seconds for an employee of Cellebrite's technology, one of the world's leading hacking companies, to take a locked smartphone and pull the data from it [Jack Guez/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/000_HY7PK.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The country’s notorious paramilitary force, RAB, was among those trained to extract data from mobile phones.
An Al Jazeera investigation identified some 120 pages belonging to bands with openly white supremacist and racist views.
![A mushroom cloud rises during Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons test on Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, in 1946 [File: Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/42005b6ae2e2441c93d2a091e4c19732_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
With tensions between nuclear powers rising globally, the question is how useful talks about nuclear disarmament are.
![A police station is pointed at with laser beams by protesters in Hong Kong [File: Tyrone Siu/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fa39cc9c0aca43b5bcccea25085edba4_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Technology has become a crucial element in the Hong Kong protests, from facial recognition system to online trolling.
![Saudi women's rights activist Souad al-Shammary looks at her Twitter account on her mobile phone. She is a liberal feminist who was jailed for her views [File: AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/a290ae57fb6d46c38112f7bdb009fa9f_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Critical Arab voices are being silenced on Twitter, and laws across the Middle East are created to further this cause.
![A demonstrator holds a poster with a picture of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul [File: Osman Orsal/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/fcbf37258b854432a2278a3625323388_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
From the Gulf crisis to the Khashoggi affair, Al Jazeera investigates how bots influence online conversations.
![Armies of fake accounts tried to influence the online conversation in the rift between the GCC countries [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/c3aafdb30f9d4b808f2b349cd2a2975a_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The blockade of Qatar, led by Saudi Arabia, has seen a slew of fake accounts open up and attempt to sway public opinion.
![Twitter played an essential role during the Egyptian Revolution and was used to get info to an international audience [File: Steve Crisp/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/b61611e5f00f4a9396fbcd6abee2180d_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Social media platforms were essential in the Arab Spring, but governments soon learned how to counter dissent online.
![Bot armies have invaded Arabic-language Twitter in recent years [Matt Rourke/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/07e8f97675b44b548d1f609729d0b23a_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Twitter in the Middle East changed from a tool for transparency to a platform overrun by bots and propaganda.