130 Media Outlets from 50 Countries Cover Riyadh Summits

The media center prepared to cover the Riyadh summits. (SPA)
The media center prepared to cover the Riyadh summits. (SPA)
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130 Media Outlets from 50 Countries Cover Riyadh Summits

The media center prepared to cover the Riyadh summits. (SPA)
The media center prepared to cover the Riyadh summits. (SPA)

The Saudi Media Ministry launched media centers to cover the activities of the three Riyadh summits that were held in line with the official two-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Kingdom that kicked off on Dec. 7.

More than 130 local, Gulf, Arab, and global media outlets from 50 different countries attended to cover the Saudi-Chinese, Riyadh-Gulf-Chinese and the Riyadh-Arab-Chinese cooperation and development summits at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center and the Marriott Hotel.

The Ministry provided five well-prepared studios for direct broadcasting of the events, locations for conducting interviews, and hospitality.

The media centers offered media professionals covering the summits access to satellite services for satellite channels, open Internet service, and direct broadcasting.

The attendance of the Chinese media delegation was remarkable.

Juan of the Chinese People's Daily said these summits are “historic” and require special coverage.

He referred to a statement by China’s Foreign Ministry, in which it stressed that the summits are considered the first diplomatic dialogue between China and Arab States with this momentum and international presence.

Juan expressed eagerness to know more about the Saudi cities, specifically the capital Riyadh, which is witnessing a major transition and holding important events, the most significant of which is the Riyadh Season.



NASA's Parker Solar Probe Aims to Fly Closer to the Sun Like Never Before

The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe Aims to Fly Closer to the Sun Like Never Before

The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The sun sets in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, as a forest fires burns on the outskirts of the capital. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun's corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar eclipse.

The next milestone: closest approach to the sun. Plans call for Parker on Tuesday to hurtle through the sizzling solar atmosphere and pass within a record-breaking 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the sun's surface, The Associated Press reported.
At that moment, if the sun and Earth were at opposite ends of a football field, Parker "would be on the 4-yard line,” said NASA's Joe Westlake.
Mission managers won't know how Parker fared until days after the flyby since the spacecraft will be out of communication range.

Parker planned to get more than seven times closer to the sun than previous spacecraft, hitting 430,000 mph (690,000 kph) at closest approach. It's the fastest spacecraft ever built and is outfitted with a heat shield that can withstand scorching temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 degrees Celsius).

It'll continue circling the sun at this distance until at least September.

Scientists hope to better understand why the corona is hundreds of times hotter than the sun’s surface and what drives the solar wind, the supersonic stream of charged particles constantly blasting away from the sun.

The sun's warming rays make life possible on Earth. But severe solar storms can temporarily scramble radio communications and disrupt power.
The sun is currently at the maximum phase of its 11-year cycle, triggering colorful auroras in unexpected places.

“It both is our closest, friendliest neighbor,” Westlake said, “but also at times is a little angry.”