Morning Update: Alabama’s Senate race puts Trump populism to the…

It was supposed to be a cakewalk for the Republicans: A special election to fill a vacant Senate seat in one of the country's deepest-red states. But Tuesday's vote in Alabama has turned into a hard-fought battle over both the limits of the nativist populism that carried Donald Trump to the presidency, and accountability for powerful men accused of sexual misconduct.

Jared Kushner will return to Jerusalem to jump-start peace talks

Jared Kushner, President Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, will visit the Middle East later for meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank aimed at trying to jump-start peace talks. Kushner will arrive in Jerusalem Wednesday for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will then travel to Ramallah, in the West Bank, for meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel plans more settlements; Abbas looks to Paris summit

A Palestinian shepherd poses for a picture as he stands on the back of his donkey, near the Israeli settlement of Argaman, in the Jordan Valley, a strip of West Bank land along the border with Jordan, Monday, Dec. 26, 2016. less A Palestinian shepherd poses for a picture as he stands on the back of his donkey, near the Israeli settlement of Argaman, in the Jordan Valley, a strip of West Bank land along the border with Jordan, Monday, ... more Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a doughnut during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016.

David Friedman, Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel, has all sides on edge

In this photo provided by Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, David Friedman, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice for ambassador to Israel. NEW YORK - If U.S. President-elect Donald Trump wanted to show he planned to obliterate President Barack Obama's approach to Israel, he may have found his man to deliver that message in David Friedman, his pick for ambassador.