Nuri al-Maliki

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.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.

One of the big sticking points between the Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq is where the money has been spent over the last several years. We’ve pulled the data and mapped out where the international development projects are located.

The sectarian violence in Iraq reminds many of the worst years of the Iraq civil war that took place amid the US occupation. 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.

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.