The pressure for Iraq's new parliament to start naming government officials continues, but there are no deals on the horizon, as today's meetig once again saw talks collapse in a few minutes, with not even the parliament speaker agreed upon.

Customarily, Iraq has given that position to a Sunni Arab, and the Sunnis have picked Salim al-Jabouri, though his previous promise to support Prime Minister Maliki for a third term seems to have hurt his chances.