AFP European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said he looked to Belgium on Wednesday to overcome internal disputes and seal a landmark EU-Canada trade deal. Belgium’s federal and regional leaders meanwhile held a short new round of talks in Brussels in a bid to break the deadlock on the eve of a still hoped-for signing summit with Canadian Prime Minister …

  Paris / AFP French carmaker PSA on Wednesday blamed falling demand in Europe and China, as well as exchange rate movements, in posting a drop in third-quarter sales. PSA, the second largest car manufacturer in Europe and behind the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands, said sales came in at 11.4 billion euros ($12.4 billion) for the quarter, down 8 …

  Calais / AFP Workers ramped up demolition of France’s notorious Calais “Jungle” on Wednesday after fierce blazes cut through a swathe of the camp overnight, sending migrants fleeing for safety. Wearing hardhats and orange overalls in the morning fog, a team of around 15 workers resumed tearing down tents and makeshift shelters at the camp that has become a symbol …

  New Delhi / AFP Five people were killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker workshop in India, police said on Wednesday, ahead of the annual Diwali festival when demand hits its peak. The building housing the workshop was completely destroyed when a fire hit gunpowder stocks used to make the fireworks in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state late …

  Taipei / AFP Hostages were forced to eat mice, scorpions and centipedes to survive during the nearly five years they were held by Somali pirates, according to a Taiwanese seafarer who arrived home on Wednesday. Shen Jui-chang, among 26 hostages freed from the crew of Naham 3 seized south of the Seychelles in March 2012, added he had constantly …

  Tokyo /AFP Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he wants US troops out of his country in the next two years and is willing to scrap defence pacts with longtime ally Washington if necessary. The comments follow a series of anti-American tirades by the firebrand leader, who has repeatedly attacked the US while cosying up to Beijing, upending …

Oslo / AFP Russia criticised plans to deploy more than 300 American troops in Norway, saying it would do nothing to make northern Europe safer. Norway announced on Monday that 330 US Marines, to be stationed on rotation around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the Russian border, will be engaged in training and manoeuvres from January 2017. The announcement comes …

  Caracas /AFP Venezuela’s political rivals faced a test of strength on Wednesday, with the opposition vowing mass street protests as President Nicolas Maduro resists efforts to drive him from power. The socialist president and center-right-dominated opposition accuse each other of mounting a “coup” in a volatile country rich in oil but short of food. The crisis prompted Pope Francis …

  Moscow/ AFP A Ukrainian pilot released from a Russian prison in May was in Moscow on Wednesday to throw her support behind two compatriots jailed in Russia, her lawyer said. This is the first time Nadiya Savchenko, who was elected to the Ukrainian parliament in absentia during her detention, has visited since her release in a prisoner swap. Savchenko …

  Bloomberg Apple Inc.’s fourth-quarter results were bolstered by robust early demand for the iPhone 7, analysts predicted, helping slow the pace of a sales slump for the world’s most valuable company. After releasing a new version of its bestselling device in September, Apple likely sold 45 million units of all types of iPhones in the most-recent fiscal quarter ending …