Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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A car drives past the building of the the US trade mission in Cuba in Havana, on September 12, 2013. (REUTERS/Desmond Boylan/Files)

US, Cuba to restore diplomatic relations after 50 years

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 17, 2014 | World

Havana and Washington, Reuters—The United States is planning to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba more than 50 years after they were severed, a major policy shift after decades of hostile ties with the communist-ruled island. President Barack Obama was set to...

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An employee of a local company, producing equipment for electrical meters, counts Russian rouble banknotes in Stavropol, southern Russia, December 17, 2014. (Reuters/Eduard Korniyenko)

Analysis: An oil glut and currency crisis

by Wael Mahdi | Dec 17, 2014 | Business

Khobar, Asharq Al-Awsat—The price of oil fell to below 59 US dollars per barrel on Tuesday, the lowest since July 2009, helping kick off an international currency crisis which has seen the Russian ruble lose 20 percent of its value in just a few days and the Norwegian...

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Fuad Masoum, the new president of Iraq and a veteran Kurdish politician, speaks during a press conference in Baghdad on July 24, 2014. (AFP PHOTO / ALI AL-SAADI)

Iraqi president announces steps towards national reconciliation

by Hamza Mustafa | Dec 17, 2014 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraqi President Fuad Massoum reaffirmed his intention to push forward a process of national political reconciliation on Tuesday, following a meeting with the UN Special Envoy to Iraq Nikolay Mladenov. “[The Iraqi government] is seeking to take...

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Palestinian fighters of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of Hamas, pose with weapons during a Hamas rally to commemorate the 27th anniversary of Hamas militant group in Gaza City, on 14 December 2014. (EPA/MOHAMMED SABER)

EU court says Hamas should be removed from terror list

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 17, 2014 | Middle East

Brussels, Reuters—The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas should be removed from the European Union’s terrorist list, an EU court ruled on Wednesday, saying the decision to include it was based on media reports not considered analysis. However, in its ruling, the...

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Pakistani mourners pray during the funeral ceremony for victims of an attack by Taliban militants at an army-run school, in Peshawar on December 17, 2014. (AFP PHOTO / A MAJEED)

Pakistan mourns 148 slain in Taliban school attack

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 17, 2014 | World

Peshawar, AP—Pakistanis mourned as mass funerals got underway Wednesday for 142 people, most of them children, killed the day before in a massacre by the Taliban at a military-run school in the country’s troubled northwest. Prayer vigils were held across the...