HAVANA: The EU and Cuba signed a deal on Friday to normalise relations, including an agreement on the delicate issue of human rights — a breakthrough just ahead of US President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the island. The agreement, the culmination of nearly two years of negotiations, is a further step toward ending the communist country’s status as a pariah in the west. It comes just as Obama prepares to put a capstone on the rapprochement he and Cuban President Raul Castro announced in December 2014, setting aside more than half a century of animosity rooted in the Cold War.