BAGHDAD / AP Iraqi government forces have pushed into the area around a highly symbolic mosque in western Mosul where the IS group’s leader made his first and only public appearance. Black smoke billowed from the area around al-Nuri mosque, also known as the Great Mosque, Sunday as helicopters fired into the militants’ positions. At least two large mushroom …

  NEW DELHI / AP A hard-line Hindu religious leader was sworn in on Sunday as the chief minister of India’s most populous state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of India’s ruling party attended a ceremony in the Uttar Pradesh state capital of Lucknow, where Yogi Adityanath took the oath of office. Adityanath is a five-time member of …

  BEIJING / AP The United States is looking forward to the first meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday, on the final day of a swing through Asia dominated by concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. In talks with Xi in Beijing, Tillerson said Trump …