BAGHDAD — Two suicide attacks in and around the Iraqi capital on Thursday killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens, officials said.

The deadliest attack took place in a commercial area of a majority Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. At least 19 civilians were killed and 46 wounded, police said.

Another suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into an Iraqi army checkpoint north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people, police said. Seven civilians and five troops were killed in the attack in the town of Taji, about 12 miles north of the capital, a police officer said. At least 32 people were wounded, he added.

In an online statement, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in the New Baghdad neighborhood, saying it targeted Shiite militia members. It later claimed responsibility for the Taji bombing in a second online statement, saying it was targeting the Iraqi army.

The statements were posted on a militant website commonly used by the extremists.

The Sunni militant group often targets Iraq's Shiite majority, security forces and government officials. Baghdad has seen near-daily attacks recently.

The deadly attacks in the capital and beyond are seen by Iraqi officials as an attempt by the militants to distract the security forces' attention from the front lines. The attacks came a day after Iraqi special forces pushed into the Islamic State-held western city of Fallujah in a large-scale military operation launched last month.

Fallujah is one of the last major Islamic State strongholds in western Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the country's north and west, as well as Mosul, one of Iraq's largest cities.

9th Circuit Court rules there's no right to carry concealed guns

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Americans do not have a constitutional right to carry concealed weapons in public.

A divided 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said local law enforcement officials can place significant restrictions on who is allowed to carry concealed guns.

By a vote of 7-4, the court upheld a California law that says applicants must supply a “good cause” to obtain a concealed-carry permit. People who are being stalked or threatened, celebrities who fear for their safety, and those who routinely carry large amounts of cash or other valuables are often given permits.

The ruling overturned a decision by a three-judge panel of the same court that said applicants need only express a desire for personal safety. The 9th Circuit's rulings are binding in nine Western states.

WHO says delaying pregnancy may be an option in Zika areas

WASHINGTON — The World Health Organization says women who live in areas where Zika is spreading should consider delaying pregnancy, since there's no other sure way to avoid the virus' devastating birth defects.

The WHO stopped short of recommending that couples put pregnancy on hold.

“It's not saying they should delay. They should be given the information about it and offered that as an option,” WHO spokeswoman Nyka Alexander said Thursday.

Zika is rapidly spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean, and health officials in several affected countries have made similar recommendations.

But the WHO's guidelines, updated last week, could affect millions of couples who live in outbreak areas.

No psychological testing needed of airline pilots, FAA chief says

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has ruled out requiring psychological testing for airline pilots, despite an air crash last year in which a German pilot deliberately flew an airliner into a mountain, agency head Michael Huerta said Thursday.

Psychological tests are ineffective because they reveal a pilot's mental health for only a moment in time without providing insight into whether the pilot will suffer problems later, Huerta said. Instead, he announced several steps the FAA is taking to encourage greater voluntary self-reporting by pilots of mental health problems. The steps are based on recommendations made by an industry advisory committee.

Airline pilots are routinely evaluated on how they handle stress during tests of their flying skills.

U.S.-backed fighters make gains in northern Syria

BEIRUT — U.S.-backed fighters on Thursday closed all major roads leading to the northern Syrian town of Manbij, a stronghold of the Islamic State group, and surrounded it from three sides, officials and Syrian opposition activists said.

The town is one of the largest areas held by the Islamic State group in the northern Aleppo province.

Manbij is on an Islamic State supply line between the Turkish border and the extremist group's de facto capital, Raqqa.

If the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces capture Manbij, it will be the extremists' biggest defeat in Syria since government forces captured the historic town of Palmyra in March.

The U.S. Central Command said the operation is part of the “moderate Syrian opposition” efforts to clear areas along the border with Turkey.

Ex-swimmer in Stanford rape expected to leave jail early

SAN FRANCISCO — A former Stanford University swimmer whose six-month sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman ignited widespread outrage will leave jail three months early.

Online inmate records show 20-year-old Brock Turner is expected to be released from the Santa Clara County jail on Sept. 2. He was booked June 2.

County jail inmates serve 50 percent of their sentences if they keep a clean disciplinary record.

Turner, of Dayton, Ohio, was convicted of attacking the woman he met at a fraternity party in January 2015 and was sentenced last week to six months in jail and three years' probation.

The sentence triggered criticism that a star athlete from a privileged background had gotten special treatment after committing a crime.

House helps Puerto Rico: The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a rescue package for debt-stricken Puerto Rico. The bipartisan vote was 297-127 for the legislation that would create a financial control board and allow restructuring of some of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt. The measure now heads to the Senate.

Pickup truck driver charged: A Michigan prosecutor filed murder charges Thursday against the driver of a pickup truck that struck a group of cyclists, killing five and injuring four others. Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting charged Charles Pickett Jr. in the crash Tuesday north of Kalamazoo.