Category World News

Members of Iraq’s security forces and its internally displaced population have begun casting their ballots in the parliamentary elections – the sixth since a United States-led invasion toppled longtime ruler Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Polls opened at 7am (04:00 GMT) on Sunday for 1.3 million members of the security forces at 809 polling centres and will close at 6pm (15:00 GMT) before they are deployed for security purposes on the election day on Tuesday.

More than 26,500 internally displaced people are also eligible for early voting on Sunday across 97 polling stations at 27 places in Iraq, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) said.

Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari told INA that the special voting process is advancing “smoothly and in an organised manner”.

Nearly 21 million Iraqis are eligible to vote on Tuesday across 4,501 polling stations nationwide, the INA said.

More than 7,750 candidates, nearly a third of them women, are running for the 329-seat parliament. Under the law, 25 percent of the seats are reserved for women, while nine are allocated for religious minorities.

The current parliament began its term on January 9, 2022, and will last four years, ending on January 8, 2026.

An old electoral law, revived in 2023, will apply to the ongoing elections, with many seeing it as favouring larger parties. While about 70 independents won in the 2021 vote, only 75 independents are contesting this year.

Observers also fear that turnout might dip below the record low of 41 percent in 2021, reflecting voters’ apathy and scepticism in a country marked by entrenched leadership and allegations of mismanagement and endemic corruption.

There were widespread accusations of corruption and vote-buying before the elections, and 848 candidates were disqualified by election officials, sometimes for obscure reasons, including insulting religious rituals or members of the armed forces.

Past elections in Iraq have been marred by violence, including assassinations of candidates, attacks on polling stations, and clashes between the supporters of different blocs. While overall levels of violence have subsided, a candidate was assassinated in the run-up to this year’s election.

Influential Shia leader Moqtada Sadr urged his followers to boycott what he described as a “flawed election”.

Al-Sadr’s bloc won the largest number of seats in 2021, but later withdrew after failed negotiations over forming the government amid a standoff with rival Shia parties. He has since boycotted the political system.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, elected in 2022 with the backing of pro-Iran parties, is seeking a second term and is expected to secure a sizeable bloc.

Among the other frontrunners are influential Shia figures, including former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Muslim scholar Ammar al-Hakim.

One body has been found and dozens of others are missing after a boat carrying about 90 people sank near the Thailand-Malaysia border, officials said.

The Malaysian maritime authority on Sunday said at least 10 survivors were found, while the status of two other boats carrying a similar number of people remains unknown.

The incident is believed to have happened near Tarutao Island, just north of the popular Malaysian resort island of Langkawi.

“A boat carrying 90 people is believed to have capsized,” local police chief Adzli Abu Shah told reporters, adding that rescue operations were under way to locate the survivors.

Among the survivors found in the waters were three Myanmar nationals, two Rohingya refugees, and a Bangladeshi man, while the body was that of a Rohingya woman, state media agency Bernama reported, quoting Abu Shah.

The Malaysia-bound people initially boarded a large vessel, but, as they neared the border, they were instructed to transfer onto three smaller boats, each carrying about 100 people, to avoid detection by the authorities, the police chief was quoted as saying.

Reporting from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride said a major search and rescue operation was under way.

“The authorities believe that the migrants set off around three days ago from a part of the coast in Myanmar – they are thought to be mainly from the Rohingya minority,” he said.

“This is a well-used maritime route sailing down the coast of Thailand, heading towards Malaysia where they will hope to start a new life, where often they will have relatives and acquaintances who are already here in Malaysia.”

Dangerous crossings

Malaysia is home to millions of migrants and refugees from other parts of Asia – many of them undocumented, working in industries including construction and agriculture.

Members of the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority periodically flee predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, where they are seen as foreign interlopers from South Asia, denied citizenship, and subjected to abuse. Nearly a million Rohingya refugees live in cramped camps across southern Bangladesh.

Myanmar has also been mired in civil war fought between the military and multiple armed opposition groups since a 2021 coup, when the military seized power from the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Many of the refugees attempt maritime crossings to relatively affluent regional countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, facilitated by human trafficking syndicates. But the trips often turn hazardous, leading to frequent capsizing.

In one of the worst incidents in December 2021, more than 20 people drowned in several capsizing incidents off the Malaysian coastline.

“According to the authorities, the situation in Myanmar – with the increased instability and also the ongoing civil war – is forcing people to take ever more desperate maritime journeys to try and start a new life,” said McBride.

Lionel Messi scored two goals and assisted two more, and Inter Miami advanced in the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in club history with a 4-0 victory over visiting Nashville SC in Game 3 of their first-round series on Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Messi finished the best-of-three series with five goals and three assists, meaning he was involved in all eight tallies for third-seeded Miami. He has scored 15 times against sixth-seeded Nashville in all competitions, by far his most against any MLS opponent.

By contrast, Messi has never scored against No 2 seed FC Cincinnati, which will host Inter Miami in a one-game Eastern Conference semifinal in two weeks.

Tadeo Allende scored twice after halftime and had an assist as Miami won despite playing without key forward Luis Suarez, who served a one-game suspension for his kickout at Nashville SC’s Andy Najar in Game 2.

Nashville was eliminated in the first round in a third consecutive postseason appearance, having returned to the playoffs in the first full season coached by BJ Callaghan after missing the 2024 tournament.

Messi put Miami in front in the 10th minute on the first clear chance for either side.

Ian Fray’s pressure forced Nashville’s Matthew Corcoran into an ill-advised backward pass, which Allende deflected to Messi’s feet, with time and space to surge forward.

Messi did the rest, dribbling at retreating centre back Jack Maher before firing a low finish from about 20 yards (18 metres) out between goalkeeper Joe Willis and the right post.

Then Walker Zimmerman’s defensive error helped set up Messi’s second in the 39th minute when he reached Jordi Alba’s long, speculative ball down the left flank but failed to clear it.

Instead, it fell to Mateo Silvetti, who alertly spotted Messi running into space and provided the square pass in stride for a much simpler second finish.

Nashville thought it had pulled a goal back only seconds into the second half, only for apparent goal-scorer Sam Surridge to be whistled for a foul on Maxi Falcon.

But eventually, Miami added insurance through Allende twice in the 73rd and 76th minutes.

On the first, Messi and Alba combined on the left side of the box to set up Allende’s low finish through traffic. On the second, it was Messi sending an early through ball, and Allende chipping past Willis on the run.