Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Football Soccer – Argentina v Bolivia – World Cup 2018 Qualifier – Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium, Cordoba, Argentina – 29/03/16. Argentina’s Lionel Messi gestures. REUTERS/ENRIQUE MARCARIAN

Messi’s tax fraud trial opens in his absence in Spain

by Asharq Al-Awsat English | May 31, 2016 | Sports

Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s five-times soccer World Player of the Year, went on trial Tuesday along with his father on accusations of defrauding the Spanish state of millions of euros (dollars). The trial of Argentina star opened in his absence just days before...

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A general view shows a detail of the Zawiya Oil Refinery, some 40 kms west of Tripoli, on October 27, 2011. AFP

French Firm Signs $500 mln Libya Oil Platform Deal

by Asharq Al-Awsat English | May 31, 2016 | Business

French company Technip has signed a preliminary $500 million deal to upgrade a key Libyan oil facility, along with Italy’s Eni and Libya’s state oil company. Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the signing was crucial to show that foreign firms were...

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A family escapes fighting in Idlib, northwest Syria. AP

Scores of Casualties in Idlib as Russia Denies Carrying out Airstrikes

by Asharq Al-Awsat English | May 31, 2016 | Middle East

Syrian activists raised on Tuesday the death toll from the late night airstrikes on the northwestern city of Idlib, saying at least 23 people were killed. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Russian aircraft carried out the strikes, which...

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Syrian Opposition Moves to Replace Negotiators with Dissident Diplomats

by Asharq Al-Awsat | May 31, 2016 | Middle East

The decision made by Mohammed Alloush, the chief negotiator for the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) that was formed at the Riyadh conference, reveals the Syrian opposition’s desire to change the composition of the negotiating team to conform to the changes taking...

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Shi’ite fighters fire a rocket during clashes with ISIS militants in Salahuddin province, March 1, 2015. REUTERS, Ahmed Al-Hussain

Iraqi Forces Storm Fallujah, Chase ISIS Militants

by Munaf al Obeidi | May 31, 2016 | Middle East

Baghdad-The Iraqi army entered ISIS-held Fallujah in a major dawn offensive on Monday as it made its “final push” to recapture the city from jihadists, according to Iraqi military officials. Troops besieged ISIS from three fronts and managed to advance into urban...