Bloomberg As preparations for this week’s European summit enter their final stretch, France is leading resistance to UK demands for a deal to shield British banks from the rules governing lenders in the euro area. French negotiator Philippe Leglise-Costa pushed back against British Prime Minister David Cameron’s insistence on fencing off financial regulation for the City of London at a …

Bloomberg The perpetrators of violent clashes in Hong Kong this week shattered its values in one night, the city’s financial secretary said, urging those involved to “turn their horses back from the cliff.” The “small group of people who lost rationality” marred the city’s interests and tarnished its image, and their actions are a departure from Hong Kong people’s respect …

Brussels / AFP The number of civilians killed or wounded in Afghanistan last year was the highest recorded since 2009, the UN said on Sunday, with children paying a particularly heavy price. There were 11,002 civilian casualties in 2015 including 3,545 deaths, the UN said in its annual report on Afghan civilians in armed conflict, a four percent rise over …