Iraqis voted for a new parliament Tuesday, with an unexpectedly high turnout of more than 55 percent, at a pivotal time for the country and the wider region.

Iraq, which has long been vulnerable to proxy wars and is closely watched by Iran and the United States, has recently regained a sense of stability.

But, even as it tries to move past two decades of war since a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, the country of 46 million suffers from poor infrastructure and public services, mismanagement and corruption.

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Iraqis vote on Tuesday in a parliamentary election in which Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is seeking a second term and which a growing young electorate sees as a vehicle for established parties to divide up the country's oil wealth.

Sudani's bloc is forecast to win the most seats but fall short of a majority, potentially meaning months of post-election talks among Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim as well as Kurdish parties to divvy up government posts and pick a prime minister.

LONDON (Reuters) -British pro-Palestinian commentator Sami Hamdi, who is being held by U.S. immigration authorities, is set to be released, his family said on Monday, a fortnight after he was detained midway through a national speaking tour.

U.S. Homeland Security officials detained Hamdi and revoked his visa on October 26, saying then that he would be deported rather than allowed to complete his speaking tour in the United States.

(Reuters) -Syria recently signed a political cooperation declaration with the Global Coalition to Defeat Islamic State, the Syrian information minister said in a post on X post on Monday.

"The agreement is political and until now contains no military components," he said.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Chris Reese)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) -Hannibal Gaddafi, youngest son of Libya's late leader Muammar Gaddafi, was released on Monday after almost a decade of detention without trial in Lebanon over the disappearance of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric, Lebanon's National News Agency said.

Gaddafi was abducted in 2015 by militants in Syria, where he was living in exile with his Lebanese wife and children after his father was killed in the uprising that erupted in Libya in 2011.

By Alexander Dziadosz

CAIRO (Reuters) -A packed field of parties is contesting Egypt's parliamentary election but those set to dominate the chamber agree on most issues of substance, including their staunch support for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Voting in Egypt began on Monday, nearly two years after Sisi was elected to a third, six-year term, the final term he is allowed under Egypt's current constitution. Polling is held over several phases and continues for more than five weeks.

(Reuters) -Turkey is working with the United States and Arab mediators to secure safe passage for Hamas fighters who are holed up in tunnels in the Israel-controlled area of Gaza, a Palestinian source, a Hamas official and Turkish officials said on Monday.

The fate of about 200 fighters has complicated efforts to shift Gaza ceasefire talks, being conducted between Israel and the Palestinians militant group, to the next phase that aims to secure a permanent end to the two-year-old war.

HOLON, Israel (Reuters) -Released Israeli hostage Bar Kupershtein says he managed to survive two years in a cramped Hamas tunnel in Gaza with no sunlight, little food and regular beatings, by clinging to his belief that he was in God's hands the entire time.

Kupershtein, 23, was released on October 13 along with 19 other hostages in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian convicts and detainees, as part of the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that has largely halted two years of devastating war.

"Sixteen killed." "Seven killed." "Thirty-one killed." "People are eating cowhide to survive." "The bombs are getting closer." "They're shooting people trying to run away."

These were the grim updates shared with AFP's veteran Sudan correspondent Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali by people trapped in the 18-month-long siege of El-Fasher, a city overrun by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) two weeks ago.

Throughout the siege and ensuing battle, it was thanks to ordinary civilians that AFP and other news organisations were able to form a picture of what was happening there.

(Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Canada's Niagara region this week to join the Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting, his office said.

Rubio intends to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to bring peace to Ukraine and Gaza, security in Haiti and Sudan, maritime security, critical minerals and global supply chains with his G7 counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Niagara, Ontario.