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Moroccan King, French President Inaugurate Al Boraq High Speed Train

Thursday's launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]
Thursday's launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]
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Moroccan King, French President Inaugurate Al Boraq High Speed Train

Thursday's launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]
Thursday's launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated on Thursday Morocco’s first high-speed rail line, the first ever such line in Africa.

The project required an investment of USD2.3 billion of which 51 percent was financed by France, 27 percent by Morocco and 22 percent by four sovereign Gulf funds.

The Moroccan and French leaders boarded the train in Tangier after they were handed tickets by Director General of the National Railway Office Mohamed Rabie Khlie, according to State agency MAP.

The new railway linking Casablanca to Tangier through Rabat and Kenitra will be a landmark in the field of road transportation of passengers in Morocco.

The French president arrived Wednesday in Tangier Airport in a short visit to Morocco, in which the Elysee statement revealed that Macron is committed to another event in Paris during the same day.

This achievement required 11 years to be completed since sealing the agreement in 2007 during a visit to Morocco by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy – construction works commenced in 2011 because the project was supposed to be inaugurated in 2015.

The high-speed train can run up to 320km/h reducing the journey time from Tangier to Kenitra then up to 180km/h between Kenitra, Casablanca passing through Rabat.

According to Morocco’s National Railway Office (ONCF), the trip duration between Tangier and Kenitra will be reduced from 3.15 hr to only 47 minutes thanks to Al Boraq. As for the trip duration from Rabat to Tangier then it will become 1.20 hr instead of 3.45 hr. Once the railway is fully completed in 2020, the trip duration between Rabat and Tangier will take one hour only. After the trip from Casablanca to Tangier was 4.45 hr, it will become 2.10 hr and in 2020 only 1.30 hr.

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Arab World

Iraq Hopes to Ship Oil to Türkiye by Pipeline as War Cuts off Exports

Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
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Iraq Hopes to Ship Oil to Türkiye by Pipeline as War Cuts off Exports

Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)

Iraq is hoping to ship up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day to a port in Türkiye via a rehabilitated pipeline, its oil minister said, after the US-Israeli war on Iran cut off its main export route.

The amount would be just a fraction of the roughly 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) that Iraq exported before the conflict, mostly through its southern Basra port and the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been severely disrupted by the war.

Authorities want to restore an old pipeline -- out of service for years -- that links the northern Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, where the oil could be shipped onwards to international buyers.

Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said late Sunday that the pipeline's rehabilitation is "complete, but there is a 100-kilometer section that needs to be inspected".

Teams will "conduct a hydrostatic test, which is the final phase of the pipeline's rehabilitation", hopefully "within a week", Ghani added, citing an export target of roughly 250,000 bpd.

The pipeline was damaged by the ISIS group in 2014.

Its use, however, requires "contact with the Turkish side and an agreement on logistical and technical issues", said oil expert Assem Jihad.

Initially, Baghdad wanted to send exports to the Ceyhan port via another pipeline that runs through Kurdistan.

But "so far, no agreement has been reached", Ghani said, as relations between the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and the federal government in Baghdad have deteriorated.

He acknowledged that "Iraqi oil exports were halted two or three days after the start of the war".

The country is also considering the possibility of transporting 200,000 bpd by tanker trucks, primarily via Jordan and Syria.

Iraq derives more than 90 percent of its revenue from oil.

Experts have warned that without this income, the state -- Iraq's largest employer -- will be unable to pay civil servants' salaries and risks a foreign currency shortage to finance imports or stabilise its exchange rate.

Arab World

KSrelief Masam Project Clears 908 Mines Across Yemen in One Week

Saudi Arabia, through its humanitarian arm KSrelief, continues its efforts to clear mines in Yemen, enhancing civilian safety and supporting safe and dignified living conditions for Yemenis - SPA
Saudi Arabia, through its humanitarian arm KSrelief, continues its efforts to clear mines in Yemen, enhancing civilian safety and supporting safe and dignified living conditions for Yemenis - SPA
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KSrelief Masam Project Clears 908 Mines Across Yemen in One Week

Saudi Arabia, through its humanitarian arm KSrelief, continues its efforts to clear mines in Yemen, enhancing civilian safety and supporting safe and dignified living conditions for Yemenis - SPA
Saudi Arabia, through its humanitarian arm KSrelief, continues its efforts to clear mines in Yemen, enhancing civilian safety and supporting safe and dignified living conditions for Yemenis - SPA

The Project Masam for clearing landmines in Yemen, implemented by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), removed 908 mines from various areas of Yemen during the second week of March 2026, including three anti-personnel mines, nine anti-tank mines, 890 unexploded ordnance, and six IEDs, SPA reported.

The team conducted clearance operations across several governorates, removing mines, explosive devices, and unexploded ordnance.

In Aden Governorate, it dismantled two anti-tank mines, 215 pieces of unexploded ordnance, and two IEDs.

It also removed one anti-tank mine and seven pieces of unexploded ordnance in Al-Khawkhah District of Al-Hudaydah Governorate; three anti-personnel mines, three anti-tank mines, 513 pieces of unexploded ordnance, and two IEDs in Al-Mukalla District of Hadhramaut Governorate; and one piece of unexploded ordnance in Midi District of Hajjah Governorate.

The number of mines removed in March rose to 2,171, bringing the total cleared since the launch of the Project Masam to 548,123.

Saudi Arabia, through its humanitarian arm KSrelief, continues its efforts to clear mines in Yemen, enhancing civilian safety and supporting safe and dignified living conditions for Yemenis.

Arab World

Germany Warns Major Israeli Ground Campaign in Lebanon Would Worsen Humanitarian Situation

A displaced woman and a child sit in a tent in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 15 March 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
A displaced woman and a child sit in a tent in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 15 March 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Germany Warns Major Israeli Ground Campaign in Lebanon Would Worsen Humanitarian Situation

A displaced woman and a child sit in a tent in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 15 March 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
A displaced woman and a child sit in a tent in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 15 March 2026. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Germany is enormously concerned by the developments in Lebanon, said a government spokesperson in Berlin on Monday, and warned that ‌a major Israeli ‌ground offensive ‌would ⁠significantly worsen the ⁠already tense humanitarian situation in the region.

"A glance at this part ⁠of the war ‌zone ‌fills us ‌with concern because we ‌see preparations for a major Israeli ground offensive, which ‌would significantly worsen the already tense humanitarian ⁠situation ⁠in the region," said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that Germany welcomed efforts to restart talks between Israel and Lebanon.