The Arab Weekly

In a world increasingly impatient with frozen conflicts and binary solutions, the Moroccan autonomy initiative for the Sahara stands out as a rare proposition anchored in realism, legality and forward-looking governance. Far from being a tactical manoeuvre, it reflects a strategic vision aligned with how contemporary conflicts are resolved: not through absolutist outcomes, but through workable compromises that preserve stability while empowering local populations.

MADRID Spain and Portugal are experiencing a surge in late spring and summer flight and hotel bookings as millions of travellers steer away from war-affected destinations and hubs in and around the Middle East, industry data show. Summer flight bookings to Spain, including transit, soared 32 percent year-on-year as of April 2, while hotel searches rose 28 percent, according to digital travel marketing platform Sojern.

BEIJING/HONG KONG China is accelerating its efforts to help end the Iran war, walking a diplomatic tightrope as it prepares for a summit next month with US President Donald Trump while trying not to alienate Tehran. President Xi Jinping’s mid-May meeting with Trump is shaping Beijing’s approach to the Middle East conflict even as the world’s top crude oil importer, reliant on the Middle East for half its fuel, seeks to safeguard its energy supplies, analysts say.

WASHINGTON A precarious ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect on Thursday while US President Donald Trump announced that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would meet in Washington within the next two weeks.

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD US President Donald Trump said he was confident that an agreement could soon be reached to end the Iran war. Trump said the next meeting between the United States and Iran could take place at the weekend and an extension of a two-week ceasefire was possible, but may not be needed as Tehran wanted a deal. “We’re going to see what happens.

The first Lebanese-Israeli talks, held at the US State Department in Washington, were a positive and important diplomatic step toward stemming the spiral of conflict in the Middle East. Burdened by political and military complications, the region faces the threat of sinking into further chaos and destruction. The obstacles to peace are not limited to the actions of the far-right Israeli government led by Binyamin Netanyahu.

Imagine a Secretary of War standing in the Pentagon, presiding over a prayer gathering, lifting his head solemnly before reciting a “verse” from the Bible, only for it to emerge later that the text was lifted straight from Pulp Fiction, the 1994 film.

BERLIN An international conference to raise funding commitments for Sudan has produced pledges of more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.77 billion) in humanitarian aid, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Wednesday. The brutal three-year war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has created what aid groups say is now the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Wadephul thanked donors for their pledges.

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM US President Donald Trump said leaders of Lebanon and Israel will speak, saying he was “trying to get a little breathing room” between the countries, after more than six weeks of war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. “It  has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!” Trump wrote in a social media post published before midnight on Wednesday, Washington time.

LONDON The global economy is about to feel the full economic impact of the Iran war, Qatar’s finance minister said on Wednesday, but said that his country’s finances would be able to ride out the problems for at least a year.