Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Cuban President Raul Castro and US President Barack Obama shake hands moments before the opening ceremony of the VII Americas Summit, in Panama City on April 10, 2015. (AFP Photo/Presidencia Panama)

Opinion: Cuba and the Difficult Changes Ahead

by Abdulrahman Al-Rashed | May 3, 2015 | Opinion

I recently visited Cuba, as I wanted to see this country—one that almost caused a third world war, and which along with North Korea is the world’s last remaining insular communist nation—before it finally begins to open up to the world and become like other...

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Sunni volunteers carry weapons during a parade as they prepare to fight against ISIS militants, in the town of Amriyat Al-Falluja in Anbar province, January 8, 2015. (Reuters)

Iraqi parliament rejects US bill to “split Iraq”

by Hamza Mustafa | May 3, 2015 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraq’s parliament has rejected a proposal by the US Congress to bypass the Baghdad government and directly arm Sunni and Kurdish groups in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), with Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi...

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Jamal Benomar, the former UN special envoy to Yemen, speaks during a press conference in Sana’a, Yemen, on December 24, 2013. (AFP/Mohammed Huwais)

Riyadh conference on Yemen will seek to rebuild country’s army: sources

by Nasser Al-Haqbani | May 3, 2015 | Middle East

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—The rebuilding of the beleaguered Yemeni armed forces will be among the top priorities during an upcoming conference on Yemen due to take place in the Saudi capital Riyadh later this month, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday. The sources,...

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Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) founder Regina Catrambone of Italy watches as the MOAS ship MV Phoenix sails outside Valletta’s Grand Harbor, in Malta, on May 2, 2015. (Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi)

Italy says 3,700 boat migrants rescued, operations ongoing

by Asharq Al-Awsat | May 3, 2015 | World

Rome, Reuters—Nearly 3,700 migrants were rescued from boats near the coast of Libya on Saturday and early Sunday and more rescue operations were expected during the day as people smugglers took advantage of calm seas, Italy’s coast guard said. All of those...