By Abbas William Samii

During the last week of May, thousands of Iranians demonstrated in the northwestern city of Tabriz, and the previous week there were protests at universities in five cities. The protests were triggered by the official government newspaper - the Islamic Republic News Agency's Iran - publishing a cartoon which depicts a boy repeating "cockroach" in Persian before a giant bug in front of him asks "What?" in Azeri.

Sectarian Bickering Over Unfilled Posts Interrupts Ceremony

By Nelson Hernandez and Omar Fekeiki
Washington Post Foreign Service - Sunday, May 21, 2006; A01

BAGHDAD, May 20 -- Iraq's first constitutional government since the fall of Saddam Hussein took office in a televised ceremony Saturday, with unfilled cabinet posts and last-minute sectarian bickering underlining the difficulties it will face in bringing peace and order to the country.

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
The Associated Press - Monday, May 22, 2006; 5:58 PM

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Guards pulled the sole woman on Saddam Hussein's defense team from the court Monday after she had a shouting match with the chief judge, prompting her to throw off her lawyer's robe in rage.

Sectarian Bickering Over Unfilled Posts Interrupts Ceremony

By Nelson Hernandez and Omar Fekeiki - Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, May 21, 2006; A01

BAGHDAD, May 20 -- Iraq's first constitutional government since the fall of Saddam Hussein took office in a televised ceremony Saturday, with unfilled cabinet posts and last-minute sectarian bickering underlining the difficulties it will face in bringing peace and order to the country.

By The Associated Press
Sat May 20, 200,  2:39 PM ET

Iraq's new 39-position national Cabinet, which includes four women:
Prime minister: Nouri al-Maliki, Shiite.
Deputy prime minister: Barham Saleh, Kurd.
Deputy prime minister: Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, Sunni Arab.

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2006 -
AMMAN, Jordan

He has a disconcerting facial tic and opens his cellphone with an odd jerk of the left wrist, as if barely controlling his muscles. Yet he is vigorous, razor sharp and articulate, and holds a commanding presence.

Saturday, 6 May 2006
Commentators in the Turkish press are quick to speculate about the timing of Iranian artillery shelling on Kurdish opposition camps in northern Iraq.

Some view the moves as an attempt to win over Turkish public opinion at a time of growing tensions betwen Tehran and Washington over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Others see the outlines of a new common security policy emerging in the region.

Sunday 07 May 2006, 17:50 Makka Time, 14:50 GMT  

The Kurdistan parliament has unified the administration of the Kurdish region of Iraq, ending the previous system of two separate local governments.

  SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2006
 
 
BAGHDAD Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Sunday he had met insurgents and a deal to end violence could be reached with some groups.

 By Sarah Rainsford / BBC News, Van