Progress in reaching a deal to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons helped put downward pressure on oil prices Friday. Benchmark oil for October delivery was down 31 cents to $106.09 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell...

A World Bank report has said spillover from the Syrian war has cost Lebanon billions of dollars, deeply damaged its economy and harshly strained social services such as health and education. The new report, published on the website of Lebanese daily al-Safir on Thursday,...

  Syrian businessmen said 15 giant plants have been dismantled and brought across the border to Turkey, in addition to many other smaller factories. Some of these factories were re-assembled in Turkey and are already operational, while others were sold as second-hand machinery. Some...

A group of professionals and former army officers launched Monday a petition urging Egypt's military chief, who ousted the country's first freely elected leader, to run for president, highlighting the yearning for a strongman to take charge after nearly three years of turmoil. The campaign...