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  Paris / AFP The French government defended its 2017 budget on Wednesday, seven months ahead of the presidential election, after a top watchdog said it doubted it could hit its fiscal targets. France, which has repeatedly broken the European Union’s fiscal rules, is targeting a deficit of 2.7 percent of GDP for 2017, the lowest in a decade and ...

  Bloomberg The Nordic members of the European Union have vowed to work closer together to make up for the potential loss of a key ally, the U.K. Meeting Wednesday in the Finnish island of Aaland, the leaders of Sweden, Denmark and Finland agreed to explore ways of cooperating on some of the crucial battles they will face in Brussels. ...

  AFP A major US health insurance company has said it will help buy Apple smartwatches for customers as part of a move to integrate the gadgets into wellness management programs. Aetna announced that, in the coming open enrollment period, it will make Apple Watch buys an option for large employers and individual customers, becoming the first major health care ...

  Sofia / AFP Bulgaria on Wednesday switched its candidate to be the next head of the United Nations, shaking up the race to succeed Ban Ki-moon when he steps down on December 31. Sofia is now throwing its weight behind European Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva, dumping UNESCO chief Irina Bokova after she came a lowly sixth in the ...

  New Delhi / AFP A key South Asian summit was in doubt on Wednesday after India and three other countries pulled out following a deadly attack on an army base that New Delhi blames on a Pakistan-based group. India has sought to isolate Pakistan in the wake of the raid on its base in the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

  Brussels / AFP The EU said on Wednesday it hopes to move the remaining 30,000 eligible refugees out of Greece by the end of next year, but appears set to fall far short of its plan to share 160,000 migrants around the bloc. The European Commission insisted there had been “important progress” despite so far only 5,651 refugees having been ...

  Jalalabad / AFP Civilians were among at least 18 people killed in a US air strike against IS extremists in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said, with conflicting claims about the number of civilian deaths. The attack happened in Achin district, a hotbed of IS insurgents in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan, as local residents gathered to welcome ...

  Geneva / AFP Women in Switzerland will likely need to work for a year longer, after the lower house of parliament voted Wednesday to extend their retirement age to 65. Following the example of the upper house, the lower house of parliament overwhelmingly voted to require women to work up to the age of 65 before receiving a full retirement, ...

  Watching Monday night’s presidential debate from a country that has been bankrupted by populist economic ideas was instructive: Argentina’s experience shows that good countries can make very bad political decisions that have lasting costs. Visiting here with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew was also a reminder of how intently the rest of the world is following this year’s U.S. election ...

  Why do so many Americans oppose immigration, and why has it become a central issue in the presidential campaign? A growing body of research suggests that the answer isn’t economic anxiety, or concerns about public spending, or even general nationalism. It is more specific — and more disturbing. The question of what drives anti-immigrant sentiment is put in sharp ...