Iraq political unrest, tension in Central African Republic, and Afghan women's rights

Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Al-Maliki, gave a defiant speech on Iraqi Television. In spite of a deep loss of political support, he wants a third term. Al-Maliki strategically deployed his security forces across Baghdad to bolster his support. And Iraq's new president has asked deputy speaker of parliament, Haider al-Abadi, to form a new government. Christine van den Toorn is in Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan. She’ll talk to us about the current military, political and humanitarian strife in Iraq.
And, Central African Republic has named it’s first Muslim Prime Minister, Mahamat Kamoun. The move is intended to calm political anxiety and stop sectarian violence that has ravaged the country, especially since an eruption of violence in March 2013 . Lewis Mudge is a researcher in the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch (HRW). He’s been in CAR and its neighbors following the tensions. We’ll ask him if the political maneuvering can bring peace.
Then, women in many parts of Afghanistan are better off than they were under Taliban rule. According to Human Rights Watch, millions of girls are now in school, infant mortality and maternal mortality have fallen dramatically, and Afghanistan now has a parliament that is 28-percent women. But many programs that provide support for women’s rights are funded by the U.S. government and there is concern that as the U.S. pulls its troops out, it will also pull its funding. Marzia, a writer with the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, joins us to talk about the state of women’s rights in Afghanistan.

(photo: Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and display placards bearing a picture of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban))