BAGHDAD / AP Iraqi militarized police captured two neighborhoods on the western side of Mosul on Sunday amid fierce clashes with IS militants, as thousands of people continued to flee the battle to government-controlled areas, security officials said. Iraqi forces, backed by aerial support by the US-led international coalition, launched a new push last week to drive IS militants from …

  WASHINGTON / AP The Pentagon wants to expand the military’s ability to battle al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia, potentially putting US forces closer to the fight against a stubborn extremist group that has plotted attacks against America, senior US officials said. The recommendations sent to the White House would allow US special operations forces to increase assistance to the Somali National …

  Moscow / AFP A convicted Russian opposition activist who says he was tortured in prison was freed on Sunday and has vowed to keep up the fight for human rights in Russia. Ildar Dadin was released from his jail in the remote Altai region in southern Siberia after Russia’s Supreme Court annulled his 2½-year sentence last week because of procedural …