Billboards in Kurdistan’s capital boast that luxury malls and hotels are on the way, but banking and insurance systems barely function. Cranes loom over building sites, but few government inspectors check the quality of construction. This is economic development, on the fly. A sign at the office of a trade …

ANKARA – The details of a July natural gas exploration and transportation agreement between Turkey and Iran, over US objections, are now becoming clearer. According to the agreement Iran will pay 20 percent of profits from the natural gas extracted from the South Pars Basin to Turkey in compensation for …

Lebanon‘s parliament has postponed a session to elect a new president until October 23. A parliamentary official made the announcement in the chamber, after pro-Syrian opposition members boycotted Tuesday’s session, preventing the legislature from mustering a two-thirds quorum required for a vote.