Iraq's parliament approved a new government headed by Haider al-Abadi as prime minister, in a bid to rescue Iraq from collapse, with sectarianism and Arab-Kurdish tensions on the rise.
Mr Abadi, a Shia Islamist, included members of Iraq's Shia majority and its Kurdish and Sunni minorities in his cabinet as he started his uphill task to unify the country after this summer's devastating loss of territory across northern Iraq to Islamic State fighters.
No interior or defence minister was named but Mr Abadi pledged to do so within a week.
Mr Abadi's deputy prime ministers are Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd and Iraq's only foreign minister post-Saddam Hussein, Saleh Mutlaq, a secular Sunni Muslim who served in the same position in the last government, and Baha Arraji, a Shia Islamist and former lawmaker.
The parliament approved for the ceremonial vice presidential positions include the last prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, from the Shia Islamist Dawa party; former premier Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia; and the last parliament speaker Usama al-Nujaifi. The three have been seen as political rivals.
Mr Abadi looked ahead to unifying the country and defeating Islamic State, whose offensive this summer across northern Iraq has threatened to tear his nation apart along sectarian lines.
Mt Abadi vowed to "allow all people in Iraq to participate in liberating the cities and provinces which have been taken over by terrorist groups.. and to bring back security and stability."
Earlier, US aircraft have carried out five strikes on Islamic State insurgents around Iraq's Haditha Dam.
The attacks widen what US President Barack Obama called a campaign to curb and ultimately defeat the jihadist movement.
Mr Obama has branded Islamic State an acute threat to the West, as well as the Middle East.
He said key NATO allies stood ready to back the US in action against the well-armed sectarian force.
Islamic State has seized expanses of northern Iraq and eastern Syria and declared a border-blurring religious caliphate.
The leader of a pro-Iraqi government paramilitary force in western Iraq said the air strikes wiped out an Islamic State patrol trying to attack the dam.
"They (the air strikes) were very accurate. There was no collateral damage ... If Islamic State had gained control of the dam, many areas of Iraq would have been seriously threatened, even Baghdad," said Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha.
The dam is Iraq's second biggest hydroelectric facility and provides millions with water.
The aerial assault drove Islamic State fighters away from the dam, according to a police intelligence officer in the western province of Anbar.
The US military said in a statement the strikes destroyed four IS Humvees, four IS armed vehicles, two of which were carrying anti-aircraft artillery, an IS fighting position, one IS command post and an IS defensive fighting position.
The Pentagon said all aircraft left the strike areas safely.
Mr Obama said at the weekend he would explain to Americans this week his plan to "start going on some offence" against Islamic State.
"We are going to be a part of an international coalition, carrying out air strikes in support of work on the ground by Iraqi troops, Kurdish troops," he said in an NBC TV interview.
"We are going to systematically degrade their capabilities. We're going to shrink the territory that they control. And ultimately we're going to defeat them."
UN rights chief urges world to protect civilians
The new UN human rights chief has called for the world to protect women and religious and ethnic minorities targeted by IS militants in Iraq and Syria.
Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, Jordan's former UN ambassador, said the conflicts were "increasingly conjoined".
In a hard-hitting maiden speech to the UN Human Rights Council, he warned any state run by Islamic State "would be a harsh, mean-spirited, house of blood".
"In particular, dedicated efforts are urgently needed to protect religious and ethnic groups, children, who are at risk of forcible recruitment and sexual violence, and women, who have been the targets of severe restrictions," he told the Geneva forum.
He also called on Iraq's new government and prime minister to consider joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure accountability for crimes committed there.
