WASHINGTON / AFP A frustrated US Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back to Moscow once again to meet President Vladimir Putin and test his commitment to the stalled Syrian peace process. Russia and the US are nominally co-chairs of international efforts to bring Bashar al-Assad’s regime to the negotiating table with armed opposition groups. But ferocious bloodshed continues …

  Paris / AFP French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will meet in August for a summit on Britain leaving the EU, the French presidency said on Wednesday. On the day that Theresa May takes over as the post-referendum British prime minister, French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said “a summit or meeting” …

  Ankara /AFP France on Wednesday said it had closed its embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul until further notice for security reasons, after cancelling events to mark the July 14 Bastille Day holiday. “The Embassy of France in Ankara, as well as the Consulate General in Istanbul will be closed from Wednesday July 13, …