Iraq's displaced Yazidis and security forces cast ballots in early voting in parliament election

DOHUK, Iraq (AP) — Members of Iraqi security forces and displaced people living in camps, including minority Yazidis, cast their ballots Sunday in early voting ahead of this week's parliamentary election in Iraq.

The election, which will help determine whether Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani gets a second term, comes against the backdrop of fears of another conflict between Israel and Iran, and Iraq’s balancing act with Tehran and Washington.

An estimated 1.3 million army and security personnel and around 26,000 displaced people are eligible to vote. There are 7,744 candidates competing in the election, most of them from largely sectarian-aligned parties. Election day is set for Tuesday.

Yazidis, many who fled their homes over a decade ago after attacks by the Islamic State group voted at a camp near Dohuk, in the semi-autonomous northern Iraqi Kurdish region. Many have still not been able to return home because of political disputes and lack of infrastructure.

A polling station set up in a small Dohuk school stood almost empty until after 9 a.m., when more voters began to appear, some clutching worn ID cards, others guiding elderly relatives toward the entrance.

Inside, the classrooms were crowded with dozens of monitors from rival parties and candidates.

During their terror campaign, IS militants rampaged through Iraq’s Sinjar district in Nineveh province, killing and enslaving thousands of Yazidis, who the extremist group considered heretics.

Since the defeat of IS in Iraq and Syria, members of the Yazidi community have been trickling back to their homes in Sinjar, but many see no future there. There’s no money to rebuild destroyed homes. Infrastructure is still wrecked. Multiple armed groups carve up the area.

The area has also been caught up in political disputes between the central government in Baghdad and authorities in the Kurdish region wrestling over Sinjar, where each backed a rival local government for years.

“Eleven years passed and the situation is the same," said Khedhir Qassim, a displaced Yazidi from Sinjar who voted at the camp in Dohuk, saying he has little faith that new leaders will bring change.

“We want them to support us and rebuild our areas that are ruined due to their political dispute and where everyone works for their own benefit," he added.

Edris Zozani, another displaced Yazidi who voted in the camp, said he voted for the Kurdish Democratic Party, or KDP, one of the two main Kurdish parties in the country, which holds sway in Dohuk.

“If we have independent Yazidi candidates, they wouldn’t be able to represent us effectively,” he said. “But if they go to parliament as part of strong lists, like the KDP, they would be in a better position to support the Yazidi community.”

In the Iraqi capital, Iraqi soldiers and police voted, as well as members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite, Iran-backed militias that united to fight IS. The coalition was formally placed under the control of Iraq's military in 2016 but in practice, still operates with significant autonomy.

The fate of the PMF will be a difficult issue facing the next parliament amid tensions between Baghdad and Washington over the presence of Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

The parliament has been considering legislation that would solidify the relationship between the military and the PMF, drawing objections from Washington.

"I voted for the list that defends the PMF,” said one militiaman after voting in Baghdad, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists. He did not specify which list he meant.

Several of the armed groups making up the PMF have associated political parties that are participating in the elections.

Abdul-Zahra reported from Baghdad.

A displaced Yazidi woman has her fingerprint verified before voting ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections, set for Nov. 11, at a polling station in the Sharia camp near Dohuk, in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rashid Yahya)

Security forces stand guard outside a polling station during a special voting session ahead of Tuesday's parliamentary election in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

An Iraqi policeman casts his vote during the early voting for security forces ahead of Tuesday's parliamentary election in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraq's Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari, center, visits one of the polling centers during a special voting session ahead of Tuesday's parliamentary election in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A displaced Yazidi man has his fingerprint verified before voting ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections, set for Nov. 11, at a polling station in the Sharia camp near Dohuk, in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rashid Yahya)

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Former U.N. human rights chief Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a judge on the International Court of Justice, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in Oslo, Norway.

The South Africa-born Pillay, 85 years old, was recognized for her efforts to promote peace and international law, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The award is often considered the most prestigious honor on the planet.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the peace prize.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.

The Nobel Peace Prize, often considered the most prestigious award on the planet, will be announced Friday in Oslo, Norway.

Prognosticators say possible contenders this year include the International Space Station, emergency teams in Sudan, children's advocates in Ukraine and two top international courts. Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada has attracted attention in prediction markets. U.S. President Donald Trump — who is waging a war against Iran — has long coveted the prize and repeatedly said he deserves it.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo received nominations for 287 candidates for this year’s prize, and just over a quarter of them are organizations. Experts say the committee typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals.

Last year, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

Machado gave Trump her Nobel medal shortly after the United States ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro. But it was largely a symbolic gesture: the Nobel Committee has said the honor itself cannot be transferred.

Nominations can be made by a select group of people and organizations, including heads of state or politicians serving at a national level, university professors, directors of foreign policy institutes, past Nobel Prize recipients and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee itself.

Four of this year's Nobels were announced earlier this week. The Nobel for medicine went to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works. The physics award recognized a scientist’s efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos. The chemistry prize recognized two scientists for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs.

Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson won the literature prize Thursday for “bold and inventive” works that fuse the classical and the modern and blur the boundaries of poetry and prose.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced Monday.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million), whether for an individual, small group of laureates or organization.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the peace prize, which so far has gone to 112 individuals and 28 separate institutions since its inception in 1901. The Red Cross has won three times and the U.N. refugee agency twice.

Just 20 of the 112 individual laureates have been women, but eight of those women received the prize in the past 15 years.

Education activist Malala Yousafzai is the youngest laureate; she won at 17 in 2014.

The United States is the most-credited country, with 24 awards naming U.S. institutions or individuals, ahead of the United Kingdom (13) and Switzerland (11). Yet no laureate listed as American has won since U.S. President Barack Obama was awarded in 2009.

The prize has gone unawarded on 19 occasions, most of them during the world wars. In 1948, the year Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, no prize was awarded; he had been nominated 12 times and never won.

In 1939, a Swedish member of parliament nominated Adolf Hitler, then withdrew the nomination, saying it was never meant seriously.

Dazio reported from Berlin and Lewis reported from Stavanger, Norway.

AP Nobel Prizes: https://apnews.com/hub/nobel-prizes

FILE - A Nobel diploma and medal are displayed, Dec. 8, 2020, during a ceremony in New York. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP, File)