1. Iraqi forces eliminate IS in Mosul

Iraqi forces fought to eliminate* the last pockets of Islamic State group resistance in Mosul on Monday after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the devastated city to congratulate troops on securing victory.

With the jihadists* surrounded in a sliver of territory in Mosul’s Old City, attention was turning to the huge task of rebuilding the city and of helping civilians, with aid groups warning that Iraq’s humanitarian* crisis was far from over.

Abadi hailed Iraq’s “heroic fighting forces” after months of difficult battles that have left much of the city in ruins.

2. 1st girl born to US family in 137 years

One South Carolina family was elated* when a baby girl was born into the family for the first time in 137 years. But that surprise paled in comparison to seeing the baby’s birth posted on a 12-foot-tall (3.66-meter-tall) and 24-foot-wide billboard along the side of a South Carolina highway.

The billboard was the handiwork* of Will Settle’s co-workers, who put it up to surprise Will and his wife, Kelen Settle. Settle, the director of sales for Marlin Outdoor Advertising, said his co-workers put up the billboard to celebrate his and his wife’s new bundle* of joy.

3. Abe to reshuffle Cabinet

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will reshuffle his Cabinet and party leaders early next month, moving to shore up his worst levels of popular support since returning to power in 2012, following a historic loss in a Tokyo assembly election.

Last week’s loss, delivered by a novice* political group, spotlights Abe’s potential vulnerability after nearly five years in power, with many blaming voter perceptions of arrogance on his part and that of his powerful Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

4. Bail denied for alleged kidnapper

U.S. magistrate* Judge Eric Long on Wednesday ordered the man accused of kidnapping University of Illinois’ visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying to be held in jail indefinitely until he goes on trial.

Brendt Christensen, 28, of Champaign, a former UI graduate student from Wisconsin, was making his second court appearance at the federal courthouse in Urbana on July 5. The suspect did not speak during the 20-minute hearing.

Christensen’s next court date is a preliminary hearing on Friday, unless a grand jury returns an indictment before then.

5. Venezuelan opposition leader released

Venezuela’s most prominent* political prisoner, Leopoldo Lopez, vowed on Saturday to continue his fight for freedom after being released from jail and placed under house arrest.

The surprise move came amid intensifying pressure on the embattled leftist government of Nicolas Maduro.

Lopez, leader of the Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) party and a symbol of resistance to the Maduro government, emerged hours after his release from prison looking fit and happy.

6. Wildfires prompt state of emergency

Some 180 wildfires raged over a massive section of western Canada’s British Columbia on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of 3,000 households and the province’s first state of emergency in 14 years.

The blazes were scattered across hundreds of kilometers of the interior portion of the province, burning through bone-dry* forests used for logging and rolling grasslands that are home to ranches. High temperatures and winds complicated firefighting efforts.

(SD-Agencies)