ALI YUSSEF
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is in Washington on Wednesday. What’s on the agenda? “U.S. concerns over the slow pace of political, religious and ethnic reconciliation in Iraq are expected to dominate President Barack Obama's talks at the White House with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki,” according to the Associated Press. The White House and Defense officials are expected to pressure Maliki and his Shiite allies to share more power with minority Sunnis and Kurds. Maliki, meanwhile, “will seek foreign investment and stronger ties to the U.S. in education, culture and trade,” according to The Wall Street Journal, which notes “Mr. Maliki is positioning himself as the person capable of moving Iraq beyond the security concerns that have consumed the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.”