HAMAM AL-ALIL / AP US-backed Iraqi forces launched a large-scale military operation on Sunday to dislodge IS militants from the western half of Mosul city, a battle that is expected to be prolonged and difficult due to a densely packed civilian population and older, narrower streets. In a briefed televised speech on state TV, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi …

  MOGADISHU / AP A Somali police officer says a blast at a busy market in the western part of Somalia’s capital killed at least 15 people. Capt. Mohamed Hussein said the powerful blast thought to be from a car bomb tore through shops and food stands in Mogadishu’s Madina district Sunday. He said the bomb also wounded more than …

  MOSCOW / AP The United States says it is disturbed by Russia’s decision to recognize passports and other documents issued by rebel authorities in eastern Ukraine. The recognition, in an order signed by President Vladimir Putin that was announced on Saturday, “is alarming and contradicts the agreed-upon goals of the Minsk Agreement,” the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said on …