France /AFP A year after extremists used weapons manufactured in Serbia to gun down victims in Paris, Balkan countries are struggling to end the scourge of illegal arms trafficking. The killers who opened fire at the Bataclan theatre, cafes and restaurants in the French capital last November used Yugoslav-era assault rifles produced by Serbia’s Zastava Arms. Months earlier the …

  Paris / AFP French ex-economy minister Emmanuel Macron, a 38-year-old political novice, announced his bid for the presidency on Wednesday, as an alternative to the “same men and same ideas” that have guided France for decades. Macron finally ended speculation about his intentions by announcing his candidacy for his “En Marche” (“On the Move”) centrist party from a training …

  Bloomberg The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is poised to become the latest central bank to test its own digital currency, which it will use in a trial of a blockchain-driven system for interbank payments. The ‘proof-of-concept’ project, which also involves the city’s stock exchange and eight banks, is aimed at simplifying the payments process and reducing transaction costs, …