Kurdish-Shiite coalition
The week's news at a glance.
Baghdad
Shiite and Kurdish parties this week agreed in principle to form a coalition government. The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance and a Kurdish bloc were the two biggest winners in the January elections. Under their agreement, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite who leads the Islamic Dawa party, will become prime minister and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani will be president. Both groups said they planned to include Sunnis in the Cabinet and would consider a Sunni as parliament speaker. Sunnis, who make up 20 percent of the population, were the favored group under Saddam Hussein, but most of them boycotted the election.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Time-honored political tactic: Throw your wife under the bus'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Best non-alcoholic spirits for summer cocktails
The Week Recommends As hard liquor takes a backseat for many, the ingredients for the perfect mocktail are dryly delicious
By Ellie O'Mahoney, The Week UK Published
-
Will Biden's tariffs hinder China's EV dominance?
Today's Big Question Climate change goals and American jobs in tension
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published