JERUSALEM / AP A close associate of Israel’s prime minister says the presidency of Donald Trump could be a chance for the Palestinians to return to peace negotiations with more “realistic” expectations. Regional Cooperation Minister Tzahi Hanegbi said on Monday that Trump offers the Israelis and Palestinians an opportunity to start fresh, after years of tough pressure on Israel from …

  BAGHDAD / AP A senior Iraqi commander says fierce clashes between special forces and IS militants are taking place in two neighborhoods in eastern Mosul. The head of Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces, Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, told Iraqi state TV on Monday that his forces pushed deeper into the Shurta and Andalus neighborhoods. Al-Asadi described the streets as “clean” of …

  DAVOS / AP The heads of major UN organizations on Monday called for access to civilians cut off from humanitarian aid in Syria, saying the world “must not stand silent” even though the high-profile siege of the Syrian city of Aleppo is over. The joint appeal from the UN’s refugee agency, humanitarian aid coordinator OCHA, children’s agency UNICEF, the World …