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Gas deal threatens Ukraine’s crisis-hit economy

KIEV (Reuters) – An abrupt rise in Russian gas prices will undermine Ukraine’s economic and energy security and leave some enterprises on the brink of insolvency, officials and analysts said Tuesday. Its economy already in a tailspin due to the global financial crisis, Ukraine will now pay $360 per 1,000 …

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FACTBOX: Russia and Ukraine sign 10-year gas supply deal

(Reuters) – Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom and Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz have signed 10-year gas supply and transit deals, ending a contract row which left part of Europe without the supplies in midwinter. The contracts, signed in the presence of the prime ministers of both countries on Monday, allowed …

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Arab economic summit divided on Gaza

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Arab leaders agreed at a summit on Tuesday to help rebuild the battered Gaza Strip, but failed to bridge differences over the three-week Israeli offensive that killed more than 1,300 people. The conflict in Gaza underscored the Arab divide between those allied to Egypt and Saudi Arabia …

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TIMELINE: Israeli-Hamas violence

(Reuters) – Voicing shock at stark scenes of destruction, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and Israel was poised to withdraw its troops. Here is a timeline of events since a six-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip ended last month. December 19, …

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Women may win seats, not rights, in Iraqi poll

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – More than a quarter of the 14,431 candidates registered for Iraq’s provincial council elections are women, but college student Fatma Imad sees few women’s faces on the posters plastered across her neighborhood. “Even if I want to choose a woman, where are these women? I don’t see …

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