Sectarian discord in Iraq is mounting, and new prime minister Haider al-Abadi must convince Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds to keep working together in a united Iraq. He's Iraq's best hope, but even a change in leadership may not be enough.
Imagine the foes of fracking and you'd probably put Greenpeace at the top of the list. But add Vladimir Putin too — someone who rarely sees eye-to-eye with the environmentalists. But he has his own reasons, not tied to saving the Earth. Meanwhile, there's tension over US military actions in Iraq. Those stories and more in today's Global Scan.
The sectarian violence in Iraq reminds many of the worst years of the Iraq civil war that took place amid the US occupation.
The current crisis in Iraq might present an opportunity for the Kurds, a large ethnic minority which has its own autonomous area in the north-east of the country. They have long sought a partition of Iraq.
Ten years after the US fought to free Fallujah from insurgents, insurgents have retaken control of the Iraqi city. The Iraqi government is working to retake the city, with help from local tribes, but already hundreds of people have died and tens of thousands have had to flee their homes.
The United States will go forward with some $41 billion worth of military equipment sales to two Middle Eastern countries. Saudi Arabia will get $30 billion in fights and Iraq will get $11 billion in jets, tanks and other equipment.
A new ruling by election officials in Iraq means that the current prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, who narrowly lost the election, may actually be the winner.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are expected to vote on Sunday in the nation's first full parliamentary elections since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. But with ongoing violence, some in Iraq wonder if the U.S. forces should extend their stay.