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The article discusses Iraqi president Fuad Masum's nomination of Shiite Muslim political leader Haider al-Abadi as prime minister of Iraq, highlighting Iraqi prime minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's refusal to step down as prime minister. Topics addressed include allegations regarding Maliki's role in fueling sectarian tensions in the country and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Sunni Muslim extremist organization, as well as U.S. responses to political instability in Iraq.

The article reports on the 2014 efforts of Iraqi political leaders to replace Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in light of the prime minister's alleged marginalisation of non-Shiites in Iraq. Topics discussed include the need for an Iraqi leader to convince the Sunnis and Kurds that he can keep the country together, the June 2014 Sunni-led uprising in Iraq, and possible candidates to replace Maliki, including Adel Abdul Mahdi, Ahmed Chalabi, and Bayan Jaber.

The article discusses Iraqi prime minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's decision to focus on recruiting Shiite Muslims to oppose Sunni Muslim militants aligned with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization who have captured a number of Iraqi cities, noting that Maliki has not focused on political reconciliation with Sunni Arabs and Kurds in Iraq. Topics addressed include Shiite politicians' concerns with Maliki's sectarian approach, as well as U.S. calls for involving the Sunnis.

The article discusses claims made by Sunni Muslim militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization that the group had executed 1,700 Shiite Muslim Iraqi soldiers as of June 15, 2014. Topics addressed include photographs of the alleged killings that the group posted on the Internet, concerns that the claims could escalate sectarian conflict in Iraq, and the Iraqi government's response to the photographs.

The article discusses Shiite Muslims in Iraq joining militias in order to fight against Sunni Muslim militants aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization who have captured a number of Iraqi cities as of June 14, 2014. Topics addressed include Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's calls for opposition to the Sunni militants, as well as the responses of the Iraqi Army and the government of Iraqi prime minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

The article discusses calls by Shiite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for Shiite Muslims in Iraq to take up armed opposition against Sunni Muslim militants aligned with extremist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) who have captured a number of cities in Iraq as of June 14, 2014. Topics addressed include a possible U.S. and Iranian responses to the conflict in Iraq, as well the responses of Shiite militias and the Iraqi Army.

The article reports that a report by Iraq's Red Crescent relief organization has found a huge internal migration within the country that has reshaped its ethnic and sectarian populations in complex ways. Over a million persons in Baghdad alone have moved at least once. Sunni and Shiite populations remain mixed in Iraq's center, suggesting that partitioning the country, as some have proposed, would be difficult to accomplish without increased bloodshed.

This article reports that the largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi Parliament, the Iraqi Consensus Front, is threatening to withdraw its ministers from the Shiite-dominated cabinet in frustration over the failure of the government to address Sunni concerns. United States President George W. Bush has invited Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi to Washington in an effort to forestall the action. Two weeks ago six cabinet members left the already weakening the government.

The article reports on the change of Iraqi government's policy regarding on-going construction of the wall protecting Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, Iraq. While on a visit to Egypt, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered a halt to the construction. Both Sunni and Shiite parties have opposed the project. His announcement is aimed at allaying the mounting criticism to the construction. He said that other methods would be explored to protect neighborhoods.