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Saudi Media Forum Discusses State of Arab Media, Global Ambitions

Diplomats and media industry experts highlighted the key dimensions of “soft power.” (SPA)
Diplomats and media industry experts highlighted the key dimensions of “soft power.” (SPA)
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Saudi Media Forum Discusses State of Arab Media, Global Ambitions

Diplomats and media industry experts highlighted the key dimensions of “soft power.” (SPA)
Diplomats and media industry experts highlighted the key dimensions of “soft power.” (SPA)

Diplomats and media industry experts shed light on “soft power” and how it can be leveraged to build national reputations and shape public awareness of contemporary international issues, as the Saudi Media Forum hosted candid discussions on the reality of the Arab media sector and the requirements for elevating its global impact.

During the second day of the forum, held in Riyadh, participants offered frank assessments of the challenges facing Arab media and the steps needed for it to meet the demands of the current phase and extend its influence internationally.

Panels and workshops explored a wide range of topics, including the role of citizen journalism in shaping the news agenda, the challenges of keeping pace with digital infrastructure amid rapid content industry transformations, and the craft of producing high-quality journalistic storytelling in an era of technological abundance and fragmented content trends.

Confronting Fake News and Disinformation

A session titled “Diplomacy of Influence: Media and Image-Making” examined the role of media in shaping perceptions and enhancing states’ soft power, with the participation of several ambassadors accredited to Saudi Arabia.

Diaa Al-Din Bamakhrama, Djibouti’s Ambassador and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in the Kingdom, said Saudi Arabia offers a prominent model of influence diplomacy through its hosting of international forums and its investment in culture and sports, particularly football, which has helped project Saudi presence across the globe.

“In an increasingly interconnected world that has become a small village, false and fabricated narratives fall quickly and cannot withstand the flow of information and facts,” Bamakhrama said, noting that digital media has made exposing falsehoods faster, and that only truthful narratives can build lasting trust with public opinion.

Spain’s Ambassador to the Kingdom Javier Carbajosa Sánchez stressed that the relationship between media and diplomacy is historic and has grown more complex and influential in the age of modern communications and social media.

Media, he said, has never been merely a transmitter, but an active and influential force, adding that political work cannot be separated from managing media presence.

For his part, Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan, the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said that image-building and perception management lie at the heart of public and cultural diplomacy.

He explained that delivering the right message to the right audience is the key to influence, with art and national cuisine among the most effective soft-power tools.

He added that cultural diplomacy relies on activating soft-power instruments such as arts, music, cinema, and cuisine to enhance human connection and build bridges between peoples.

In Saudi Arabia, he noted, the Indian community, alongside Indian cinema and food culture, plays a major role in shaping perceptions and strengthening partnerships—sometimes with an impact exceeding that of formal diplomatic efforts.

In confronting fake news and digital disinformation, Khan stressed the need for swift, honest, and direct diplomacy to present facts before rumors spread.

South African Ambassador Mogobo David Magabe highlighted mutual respect and dialogue as fundamental pillars of diplomacy, pointing out that the main challenges today are the spread of disinformation and the accelerated pace of modern media, which contrasts with diplomacy’s traditionally gradual, long-term relationship-building approach.

A Candid Look at Arab Media

In a separate dialogue session on the realities of Arab media and the requirements for expanding its global reach, Saudi journalist Jameel Altheyabi said local Arab media is largely inward-looking, driven by a mindset focused on domestic audiences with limited consideration for the global sphere.

He described Arab media as often emotional, with varying approaches to content and engagement across the region.

Writer and journalist Mamoun Fandy said that stories produced in the Arab world are viewed internationally through the lens of their origin and nature, as global audiences apply their own standards of credibility, accuracy, and sourcing.

He added that the Arab world can generate distinctive journalistic stories capable of shaping global discourse through exclusivity and originality, expressing regret that many official Arab institutions still prefer foreign outlets to convey their narratives to the world.

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Varieties

'Breathtaking': Artemis Astronauts Blast towards Moon

This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Earth, left, from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it fired its engines heading toward the moon Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Earth, left, from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it fired its engines heading toward the moon Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)
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'Breathtaking': Artemis Astronauts Blast towards Moon

This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Earth, left, from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it fired its engines heading toward the moon Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Earth, left, from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it fired its engines heading toward the moon Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)

Four Artemis astronauts were zooming towards the Moon late Thursday after a major engine firing, a milestone that commits NASA to the first crewed lunar flyby in more than half a century.

With enough thrust to accelerate a stationary car to highway driving speed in less than three seconds, the Orion capsule engine blasted the astronauts on their trajectory towards the Moon, which they now will loop as part of the 10-day Artemis 2 mission, reported AFP.

In the moments that followed what the US space agency dubbed a "flawless" firing that lasted just under six minutes, astronaut Jeremy Hansen said that "humanity has once again shown what we are capable of."

The astronauts said they were "glued to the window" taking pictures, and later passed a floating microphone back and forth as they took questions from US television networks.

They said the spacecraft was a little chilly and they were still making it a home, but the crew was all smiles.

"There's nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet both lit up bright as day, and also the Moon glow on it at night with the beautiful beam of the sunset," said Christina Koch.

Thursday's nudge came one day after the enormous orange-and-white Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion capsule launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the long-anticipated journey around the Moon.

The astronauts are now on a "free-return" trajectory, which uses the Moon's gravity to slingshot around it before heading back towards Earth without propulsion.

"From this point forward, the laws of orbital mechanics are going to carry our crew to the Moon, around the far side and back to Earth," NASA official Lori Glaze said.

The astronauts are wearing suits that also serve as "survival systems" -- in the unlikely case of a cabin depressurization or leak, they'll maintain oxygen, temperature controls and the correct pressure for up to six days.

The astronauts -- Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Koch along with Canadian Hansen -- spent their first hours in space performing checks and troubleshooting minor problems on the spacecraft that has never carried humans before, including a communications issue and a malfunctioning toilet.

Queried on the toilet situation, Koch said she was "proud to call myself the space plumber.

"I like to say that it is probably the most important piece of equipment on board," she said. "So we were all breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just fine."

- 'Herculean' -

Crewmembers also had their first workouts of the mission on the spacecraft's "flywheel exercise device" -- each astronaut will carve out 30 minutes a day for fitness, a bid to minimize the muscle and bone loss that happens without gravity.

The 10-day mission is aimed at paving the way for a Moon landing in 2028.

Artemis 2 marks a series of historic accomplishments: sending the first person of color, the first woman and the first non-American on a lunar mission.

If all proceeds smoothly, the astronauts could also set a record by venturing farther from Earth than any human before.

"There is nothing normal about this," said Wiseman. "Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a Herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that."

The Artemis 2 mission is part of a longer-term plan to repeatedly return to the Moon, with the goal of establishing a permanent base that will offer a platform for further exploration.

The current era of American lunar investment has frequently been portrayed as an effort to compete with China, which aims to land humans on the Moon by 2030.

Asked about division closer to home and what message they had for Americans, Glover said from his vantage point, "You look amazing. You look beautiful."

"From up here, you also look like one thing," he added. "We're all one people."

Varieties

Trump Ballroom Approved by Panel, Remains Stalled by Judge

Donald Trump has cited the need for the ballroom to host state dinners for visiting dignitaries. Mandel NGAN / AFP/File
Donald Trump has cited the need for the ballroom to host state dinners for visiting dignitaries. Mandel NGAN / AFP/File
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Trump Ballroom Approved by Panel, Remains Stalled by Judge

Donald Trump has cited the need for the ballroom to host state dinners for visiting dignitaries. Mandel NGAN / AFP/File
Donald Trump has cited the need for the ballroom to host state dinners for visiting dignitaries. Mandel NGAN / AFP/File

US President Donald Trump's White House ballroom won final planning approval on Thursday, but construction remains in limbo following a court order that he needs congressional approval.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which has several Trump appointees on its board, greenlit the plans in an 8-1 vote, said AFP.

The project aims to construct a massive ballroom on the site of the White House's East Wing -- previously best known for housing the First Lady's offices. It was demolished in September.

Trump expressed his thanks in a post on his Truth social media platform, saying, "when completed, it will be the greatest and most beautiful ballroom of its kind anywhere in the world."

Planning approval does not, however, mean construction can go ahead unchecked.

On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered a halt to construction, saying Trump needed congressional approval. The president is "steward" of the White House, Judge Richard Leon wrote. "He is not, however, the owner!"

Will Scharf, the commission's chairman and a political ally of Trump, addressed the lawsuit before the vote, saying, "That order really does not impact our action here today.

"From my perspective, we have a project before us. We've been asked to review it, and that's really our job here today."

He noted that Judge Leon had placed a two-week delay on his stop-work order to allow the Trump administration to appeal.

The ballroom has become a passion project for Trump during his second term: the president often discusses the plan in public appearances, press conferences and meetings.

Trump has repeatedly said that a large ballroom is needed to host, among other key events, state dinners for visiting dignitaries.

"For more than 150 years, every president has dreamt about having a ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, state visits, and even, in the modern day, inaugurations," Trump wrote on Truth. "I am honored to be the first president to finally get this much-needed project, which is on time and under budget, underway."

He has promised to meet the costs -- estimated to be upwards of $400 million -- with private donations, not tax payer money.

Varieties

Waste Water to Clean Energy: Japanese Engineers Harness the Power of Osmosis

Engineers in the city of Fukuoka and their private partners have opened what is only the world's second osmotic power plant. Philip FONG / AFP
Engineers in the city of Fukuoka and their private partners have opened what is only the world's second osmotic power plant. Philip FONG / AFP
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Waste Water to Clean Energy: Japanese Engineers Harness the Power of Osmosis

Engineers in the city of Fukuoka and their private partners have opened what is only the world's second osmotic power plant. Philip FONG / AFP
Engineers in the city of Fukuoka and their private partners have opened what is only the world's second osmotic power plant. Philip FONG / AFP

A Japanese water plant is harnessing the natural process of osmosis to generate renewable energy that could one day become a common power source.

The possibility of generating power from osmosis -- when water molecules pass from a less salty solution to a more salty one -- has long been known.

But actually, generating energy from that has proved more complicated, in part due the difficulty of designing the membrane through which the molecules pass, said AFP.

Engineers in the city of Fukuoka and their private partners think they might have cracked it, and have opened what is only the world's second osmotic power plant.

It generates power from the transfer of molecules between treated sewage water and concentrated seawater, a waste product from a desalination plant in the city.

"If osmotic power generation technology advances to the point where it can be practically used with ordinary seawater... this, in turn, would represent a major contribution to efforts against global warming," said Kenji Hirokawa, manager at Sea Water Desalination Plant.

Osmosis is familiar to most people. It is the process that, for example, causes water to seep out of a cucumber or eggplant when sprinkled with salt.

Water molecules move across membranes from an area of low solution concentration to an area of higher concentrated solution.

At scale, that movement can be significant enough to turn a turbine and thereby generate electricity.

Desalination solution

Fukuoka is particularly well-placed to benefit from the technology because it has a readily available source of extremely salty water -- the brine leftover from desalination.

With no major rivers to sufficiently source its water, the city and wider Fukuoka region of 2.6 million people have relied on a major desalination plant to produce drinking water since 2005.

That left the city with large quantities of concentrated saline wastewater to deal with.

Ordinarily it is diluted and released back to the sea. Previous attempts to find alternatives, including salt making, failed to gain traction.

Then engineering firm Kyowakiden Industry approached the city about harnessing the salty wastewater for osmotic power.

"When our company rolls this out as a business, we aim to build plants roughly five to 10 times the scale of this current facility," said Tetsuro Ueyama, research and development manager at the Nagasaki-based company.

In Fukuoka's system, a generator is attached to a local desalination plant located near a sewage treatment facility.

It draws in highly saline wastewater from the desalination plant and receives treated sewage.

The two separate streams of liquid go through a number of chambers separated by semi-permeable membranes through which water molecules travel from the treated sewage toward the salty water.

That process increases the volume, pressure and speed of the saline water flow, spinning a turbine that generates electricity before the now-diluted mixture is discharged to sea.

The 700-million-yen ($4.4 million) power generation system came online last August, and once running at full capacity, it should generate up to 880,000 kilowatts annually, equivalent to the electricity consumption of 300 households.

However, it will remain devoted to supplying the power-thirsty facility, although it covers just a tiny fraction of its energy needs.

Not 'a pipe dream'

The engineers involved, however, are dreaming big.

The system will go through a five-year test to monitor its performance, including costs and maintenance, particularly for the membrane and other parts exposed to salt.

Financial details of the project have not been disclosed, but engineers admitted that for now the system's power costs "a lot more" than either fossil fuel or renewable energy.

Pumping the water into the system also uses energy itself, and scaling up osmotic power for grid-level energy production has not yet been done anywhere in the world.

Still, officials and experts believe the power source has a future, noting that unlike solar and wind, it is not dependent on weather or light.

And the current high costs are partly because the company had to build a one-of-a-kind power plant, Ueyama said.

Osmotic power has often been seen as primarily useful for estuary areas, where freshwater river flows meet the salty ocean.

But Ueyama said the technique being used in Japan could be useful for countries with large desalination facilities like Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations.

Kyowakiden is also working on technology that could generate similar power levels from less salty regular seawater.

"First we want to popularize this technology from Fukuoka to the rest of Japan. In order for us to do that, we want to further upgrade our technology to create osmotic power generation that can use ordinary ocean water to generate electricity," he said.

"We don't think this is a pipe dream."