Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Pro-Russian rebels (L) hand Ukrainian prisoners of war to their mothers in Luhansk, Ukraine, 26 December 2014. (EPA/Yuriy Streltsov)

Kiev and rebels begin mass prisoner exchange

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 26, 2014 | World

Kiev, Reuters—Kiev and pro-Russian separatists began an exchange of hundreds of prisoners of war on Friday, a state security service source said, part of a 12-point peace plan. The agreement to swap 125 Ukrainian servicemen for 225 rebels followed peace talks between...

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OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri waits for the start of a meeting of OPEC oil ministers at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna November 27, 2014. (Reuters/Heinz-Peter Bader)

Analysis: The Saudi budget and projected oil prices

by Wael Mahdi | Dec 26, 2014 | Business

Khobar, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia announced its largest-ever budget on Thursday, with projected spending of 860 billion riyals—5 billion riyals more than estimated spending in 2014—despite a sharp drop in oil prices resulting in a projected budget deficit of 145...

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A member of a Houthi militia watches Yemeni activist paint graffiti of individuals condemning violence against women and children on a wall in Sana’a, Yemen, 25 December 2014. (EPA Photos.)

Houthi violations annull UN-sponsored deal: official

by Arafat Madabish | Dec 26, 2014 | Middle East

Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Houthi movement fighters on Thursday escalated attacks on Yemen’s state institutions and officials, including taking control of the headquarters of the civil aviation authority, in actions that one government official said threatened to void...

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Tunisians walk past a polling station in Tunis, Tunisia, on December 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Ilyess Osmane)

Opinion: Have Tunisia’s Islamists learned their lesson?

by Abdulrahman Al-Rashed | Dec 26, 2014 | Opinion

The situation in Tunisia could have ended up mirroring either the Libyan or the Egyptian scenarios if the Ennahda Movement and other Islamist groups failed to realize that political participation means accepting all democratic conditions, not just the ballot boxes....

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This image posted by the Raqqa Media Center, which monitors events in territory controlled by Islamic State militants with the permission of the extremist group, shows militants with a captured pilot, center, wearing a white shirt in Raqqa, Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center)

Amman working to secure safe release of ISIS-held pilot: minister

by Majid Al-Amir | Dec 26, 2014 | Middle East

Amman, Asharq Al-Awsat—Amman is leaning on its regional and international contacts to secure the release of downed pilot First Lieutenant Muadh Al-Kasasbeh from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a Jordanian minister speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the...