Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech during the opening session of a two-day conference on combating extremism in Tehran on December 9, 2014. (AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE)

Iran’s Rouhani says will try to clinch nuclear deal as talks with US resume

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 15, 2014 | Middle East

Geneva/Dubai, Reuters—President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that he would try to clinch a nuclear deal with world powers despite opposition from some quarters in Iran. Rouhani was speaking as Iran resumed talks with the United States in Geneva on its nuclear...

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Two heavily armed police officers assist a hostage away from Lindt Cafe in Martin Place in central Sydney on December 16, 2014. (Reuters/Jason Reed)

Police storm Sydney cafe to end hostage siege, reports say 3 dead

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 15, 2014 | World

Sydney, Reuters—Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe on Tuesday to free several hostages being held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a standoff that had dragged on for more than 16 hours. Media said three people, including the gunman, had been...

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People arrive in procession for a mass in Juba on December 15, 2014, to commemorate one year since the outbreak of South Sudan’s civil war. (AFP PHOTO / SAMIR BOL)

Tens of thousands dead in South Sudan conflict: UN

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 15, 2014 | Middle East

Nairobi, AP—Tens of thousands of people have died in South Sudan during one year of warfare and the country’s leaders are putting their “personal ambitions” ahead of the nation’s future, the UN secretary-general said Monday. A year ago Monday...

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Saudi investors monitor stocks at the newly opened exchange market department at the National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Riyadh on November 12, 2014. (AFP/Fayez Nureldine)

Gulf states must cut spending to avoid 2015 budget deficit: IMF

by Heba El Koudsy | Dec 15, 2014 | Business

Washington DC, Asharq Al-Awsat—Gulf states must cut spending in line with deteriorating oil prices in order to avoid budget deficits in 2015, the Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Middle East Department Adnan Mazarei said on Sunday. In a...

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, listens to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat make a statement to the press after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014 (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

Erekat: Palestinian Authority will pursue UN statehood bid alone if necessary

by Kifah Ziboun | Dec 15, 2014 | Middle East

Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat—The chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority would unilaterally propose a UN resolution to create a Palestinian state if it was unable to win European or American backing. “If we can reach an...