Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki will gracefully leave his prime minister post, it turns out, though he originally threatened only to go kicking and screaming. In an attempt to exit with some dignity — as the rest of the country goes to hell — Maliki even endorsed his successor, Haider al-Abadi. As luck would have it, Abadi is already well acquainted with the foreign press: He evidently used to be an elevator engineer at the BBC’s old home.
