Istanbul / AFP Turkish authorities were on Wednesday looking into claims the alleged mastermind of the failed July coup was involved in the assassination of Moscow’s ambassador, but the Kremlin warned against jumping to conclusions. Monday’s murder of Andrei Karlov stunned Russia and prompted warnings of retribution from the Kremlin. But both sides responded by vowing to step up …

  Baghdad / AFP The IS group is “indiscriminately” attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the extremists in the Iraqi city of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday. Iraqi forces launched a massive operation to retake the last IS-held city in Iraq more than two months ago, and have pushed the extremists out of several neighbourhoods on …

  Most presidents wait until inauguration before sparking their first foreign policy crises. Donald Trump has a month to go and he has already wandered into two — one with China and one with Russia. How will these foreign challenges shape Trump’s early months in office? His freewheeling style seems to have discombobulated China, which has some unexpected benefits. But …