Iraq: Massoum elected president, Talabani returns

Jalal Talabani returned to Iraqi Kurdistan and his hometown of Sulemaniyah on 19 July, 19 months after the stroke that appears to have ended his political career. The former president has been in Germany for medical treatment since December 2012, and turned 80 while he was away; according to Kurdish media, he was received in Sulemaniyah only by a small group of immediate family members, including his wife, Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, and his son Qubad. Talabani – who has always been seen as a unifying influence in Iraq – is also the secretary-general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)