In Iraq, lawmakers have elected Abdul Latif Rashid as the country’s new president, paving the way for the formation of a new government after a year of political uncertainty and conflict in the Iraqi parliament. Rashid immediately named Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as new prime minister; al-Sudani now has 30 days to form a new government. Protests rocked Iraq for months in response to the political turmoil, with supporters and opponents of the powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr clashing in Baghdad. Al-Sadr resigned from parliament in August. His party, the Sadrist Movement, won the most seats in last October’s parliamentary election but failed to win an outright majority. Al-Sadr’s supporters occupied the Iraqi parliament in an effort to block lawmakers from choosing a new prime minister.