BAGHDAD / AP Iraqi troops consolidated gains in their advance on the northern city of Mosul on Thursday, regrouping as they clear neighbourhoods and houses once occupied by the IS group. In Mosul proper, where troops have a foothold in a sliver of territory in the city’s east, the special forces control the Zahra neighborhood, once named after former dictator …

  Hebron / AFP Israeli forces have sealed off the West Bank home of a Palestinian accused of helping plan an attack in Tel Aviv that left four Israelis dead, the Israeli army and residents said on Thursday. The army said the home of Younes Zein, 22, in Yatta, south of the flashpoint city of Hebron, was sealed off overnight. …

  Moscow / AFP Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the armed forces chief of staff has criticized Donald Trump for his past harsh words about confronting Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf. The Thursday report quotes Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying, “The person who has recently achieved power, has talked off the top of his head! …