Condé Nast Traveler is coming to the Middle East, marking the first time a Condé brand has been available there. The new edition of Traveler — launching sometime with in the next year, according to WWD — will be its eighth.

Middle East Traveler came about via a partnership with ITP Group, the region’s biggest magazine publishing house.

In a statement, Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and Condé Nast International’s CEO, said the new edition was a “natural step.”

Nathan Lump has joined Condé Nast Traveler as brand development director, a new role at the magazine. Lump comes to Traveler from JWT, where he served as director of content strategy.

Prior to his time at JWT, Lump was an editor at T: The New York Times Style Magazine. This is Lump’s second stint with Traveler, as he worked for the magazine years ago.

“I am pleased to welcome Nathan back to Condé Nast Traveler,” said Klara Glowczewska, Traveler’s editor-in-chief, in a statement. “His passion for travel, digital savvy, and expertise with creative brand development makes him an ideal fit for this new role.”

James Ireland Baker has left Condé Nast Traveler. Ireland Baker had been executive editor of the magazine since 2010. WWD reports that he resigned at the end of August, and rumors swirled that his quiet departure were connected to a shuffling of the masthead.

Klara Glowczewska, Traveler’s editor-in-chief since 2005, denied that gossip. She told WWD that Ireland Baker will remain a contributor to the magazine and added that he wanted to pursue his novel writing.

“Jim left to devote more time to his writing,” explained Glowczewska. “He just published a great first novel and is hard on work on a second one. I’m very happy for him.”

Condé Nast Traveler has named Yung Moon as its new associate publisher, marketing & creative services. Moon comes to the magazine from Self, where held the same position since 2007. She had been with Self since 1999.

“We are pleased to welcome Yung back to Condé Nast Traveler, and to our executive team,” said Carolyn Kremins, Condé Nast Traveler’s vice president and publisher, said. “Her expertise with creative brand development, awareness campaigns, and digital initiatives, combined with her love of travel will be a perfect fit here.”

Moon joins Traveler September 4.

Condé Nast Traveler‘s “15 Best Places to See Right Now” by contributing editor Bob Payne, appearing in its April issue, is causing all sorts of controversy. First it included Brooklyn as one of its places to visit, in a move FishbowlNY thought simultaneously praised and insulted the borough.

Now WWD reports that the Number 10 “Best Place to See Right Now” is none other than… war-torn Libya.

The 250-word blurb proclaims “a door long shut is open again,” and ends with a recommendation to fly Lufthansa from New York’s JFK via Frankfurt to Tripoli, which has since been shrouded in a NATO-imposed no-fly zone.

“It’s a lead-time situation,” said editor-in-chief Klara Glowczewska. “Libya exploded two days after we went to press.”

It turns out luxury travel reporting is often fraught with such complications. “This has happened to us several times recently,” said Glowczewska. “We had a feature story with a cover line on Egypt that went to press about two weeks before the revolution happened.”

In the newest issue of Condé Nast Traveler, the “15 Best Places to See Right Now,” are listed, and our own Brooklyn is among them. Naturally, FishbowlNY was excited to see this, because we rep Brooklyn harder than Biggie did (we’d battle him if he were still with us, best believe it).

Unfortunately, once we read the reasons why people need to visit, our enthusiasm crashed:

As these stylish immigrants have filled the borough’s old neighborhoods, they’ve transformed lowly bodegas into Michelin-starred restaurants, dive bars into wineries, abandoned warehouses into playhouses, and a gothic bank building into a massive flea market.

While we do agree that the Brooklyn Flea – when indoors – is great, those other things the writer bashes are what makes Brooklyn, Brooklyn.

We actually like our “lowly” bodegas where the guy working the counter greets us with a “hello my friend” each time we shop there. And if by “dive bars,” the writer meant “bars that don’t charge you $8 for a Coors Light,” we’re all for that too. These things give Brooklyn its edge, and the fact that the writer is presenting their passing as reasons to visit the borough makes us wonder if that person has ever even been there.

Two former ad executives from The New York Times have joined forces to launch a marketing and advertising sales rep company with an international focus. But they’re not just throwing around their former employer’s name just to get publicity for their growing company — the Times is also one of their first clients.

Founders Claire LaRosa (left) and Warren Ho said their company, Media Sales International, will initially focus on Latin America before expanding into other foreign markets. The company will be producing special advertising economic reports for the Times‘ digital and print editions.

LaRosa worked at the Times for 31 years in various ad sales management positions. Ho worked alongside LaRosa for 10 years selling advertising for the Times, and he has also worked for Conde Nast Traveler and The Los Angeles Times.

“We have the expertise to help clients outside the United States target and reach key audiences, such as leaders in business and government in the States,” LaRosa said. “The New York Times and nytimes.com provide extremely effective venues for reaching influential, decision-maker audiences. And the net combined audience of more than 20 million is a powerful story and offer.”

(Photo via Media Sales International)

TVNewser: Fox & Friends had a special guest host today: Miss California Carrie Prejean. Donald Trump predicted we’ll be seeing more of her on Fox.

FishbowlDC: Freed Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi will give her first post-prison interview to NPR tomorrow.

AgencySpy: Another example of magazines looking for ad dollars wherever they can get it: TVGuide.com uses logo for ad space.

Boston.com: Two Boston Globe unions ratified cost-cutting contracts last night, keeping the paper alive for the moment. (And check out the link for a touching video featuring Globe pressmen.)

The Observer: The Observer named staffer Tom McGeveran interim editor, taking over for Peter Kaplan, who is departing to join Conde Nast Traveler. Kaplan cheered McGeveran’s appointment, saying “he is tomorrow’s journalist because he is someone who knows how to merge print and electronic.”

Conde Nast Digital, formerly known as CondeNet, doesn’t appear to be wasting much time with its reshuffle. The company just announced it has named Drew Schutte senior vice president & chief revenue officer effective immediately. Schutte will be responsible for managing the newly consolidated digital sales team and working closely with the publishers on integrated sales throughout all of the company’s titles.

Lisa Hughes has been tapped to take over Schutte’s former position as vice president & publisher of The New Yorker. Hughes has been vice president & publisher of Conde Nast Traveler since 1995. Full release after the jump.

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