Paris / AFP Security forces responded with tear gas on Thursday as French students protesting proposed labour reforms hurled bottles at riot police in Paris and the western city of Nantes. The reforms, which were significantly watered down under pressure from a wave of protests, were adopted earlier Thursday by the cabinet of an increasingly unpopular President Francois Hollande, who …

Bloomberg Richard Dearlove, former head of Britain’s MI6 overseas spying operation, said the security cost of leaving the European Union “would be low,” explicitly rejecting Home Secretary Theresa May’s argument for staying in the bloc. Following Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, whether EU membership enhances or harms the safety of British people has become the top issue in the debate …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank handed €7.3 billion ($8.2 billion) to euro-area banks in the seventh round of a program aimed at boosting lending to companies and consumers, shortly before it starts a new and more generous plan. The take-up in the targeted longer-term refinancing operation compares with €18.3 billion the ECB lent in a similar operation in December and …