Lands of Metamorphosis

Tired of candidates who offer splashy, unrealistic promises, many citizens lost faith in the electoral process. That discontent showed in the election turnout.

A snap election in Turkey, announced earlier this month, briefly put residents of Northern Syria on edge ahead of a threatened incursion by Turkish forces. Now, it's back to life-as-usual.

Voters mostly stayed home for the country's first elections in nearly a decade, and in the end, the same families remained in power.

In the West Bank, complications continue to fracture an already maligned health-care system.

In Israel, many African asylum-seekers find themselves in a country that refuses to offer them a home.

Ahead of elections next week in Lebanon, it's looking like corruption as usual.