Economics and Policy The extension of Parliament’s term and the prospect of forming a new government will have little impact on the Lebanese economy but may slow the worsening of financial indicators until a resolution of the Syrian crisis, experts have said. More from The Daily Star Iraq estimates that it will complete reparations payments to neighbouring Kuwait in 2015 for Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Thursday. More from AFP Israel's Housing Ministry says it has given the final go-ahead for the construction of 300 new homes in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem. More from The National Tunisia’s central bank said it intervened in the country’s foreign exchange market this month to support the local dinar after it fell to a record low. More from Bloomberg Desert locusts may threaten crops along the border between Israel and Egypt as swarms
