IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Iraq

Paramilitaries move on key town

A spokesman for the Iraqi government-sanctioned paramilitary force says the troops are moving to capture a key town beyond the city of Mosul, near the Syrian border. Shiite lawmaker, Karim al-Nouri, said the mainly Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces seeks to drive Islamic State militants out of the center of strategic Baaj, west of Mosul near the border with Syria. Al-Nouri told The Associated Press on Monday that many of the surrounding villages have already been taken from IS.