Appointment welcomed by influential cleric but draws mixed response from demonstrators Iraq’s president has named former communications minister Mohammed Allawi as the country’s new prime minister after an 11th-hour consensus among political blocs, but the streets were ambivalent about his nomination. Baghdad and the mainly Shia south have been gripped by four months of anti-government rallies demanding snap elections, a politically independent prime minister and accountability for corruption and protest-related violence. Continue reading...