Iraq factions agree upon government

" Iraq's political factions have agreed on the outlines of an ethnically balanced government and expect to nominate a president and two vice presidents tomorrow , with the swearing-in to take place over the weekend.

" The two-month-old gridlock was broken over the weekend with the appointment of a Sunni Arab, Hashim al-Hassani, as speaker of the National Assembly and rough behind-closed-doors agreements on the makeup of the new Cabinet.