BERLIN / AFP Ending Europe’s open-borders Schengen agreement would cost EU economies at least 470 billion euros ($520 billion) over a decade, according to a German study published on Monday. The impact on trade flows would also cost major trade partners the United States and China tens of billions of euros each, said the study by the Prognos institute on ...

Lviv / AFP Branches of at least three Russian banks have been attacked during a spate of weekend violence across Ukraine that coincided with the second anniversary of the ouster of Kiev’s Moscow-backed leadership. The latest incidents occurred overnight Sunday in Lviv — a nationalist bastion in the west of the former Soviet republic — where unknown assailants torched the ...

London / Bloomberg Irish banks are acting immorally, and ripping off their customers. At least, that’s what politicians are saying before the nation’s Feb. 26 general election. Bankers remain a prime target for politicians, seeking to win over voters still angered by what the IMF described as the world’s costliest banking crisis since the Great Depression. Fianna Fail, once the ...

Washington / AP Russia seeks permission to start flying surveillance planes equipped with high-powered digital cameras amid warnings from US intelligence and military officials that such overflights help Moscow collect intelligence on the United States. Russia and the United States are signatories to the Open Skies Treaty, which allows unarmed observation flights over the entire territory of all 34 member ...

Bloomberg The European Union and the U.S. suggested to the Republic of Macedonia to postpone the snap vote planned for April 24 in order to ensure fair campaigning and elections in the former Yugoslav republic. The country, which seeks to join the EU, hasn’t achieved an agreement on media reforms “to ensure a more level playing field,” according to the ...

Lisbon / AFP Traditionally a country of emigration, Portugal has offered to take up to 10,000 migrants from countries struggling to cope with the influx, to help maintain its own population. Portugal’s socialist premier Antonio Costa last week sent letters to Austria, Greece, Italy and Sweden—countries that have seen refugees arrive in large numbers—offering to welcome up to 5,800 more ...

Bloomberg The US called off nascent talks with North Korea aimed at formally ending the Korean War when it became clear that the reclusive nation wasn’t interested in stopping its nuclear program by conducting a ballistic missile test. The talks, which Pyongyang requested according to the US, ended after North Korea rebuffed a US demand that denuclearization be a condition ...

Bloomberg Not since Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison 26 years ago have investors been gloomier about South Africa’s economy. Money is pouring out at a record pace as inflows dwindle. The rand has plunged and unemployment is the highest among almost 40 developing nations tracked by Bloomberg. Drought is driving up food costs. Hanging in the balance ...

When Kazakhstan bid to host the 2017 EXPO in its capital Astana, it must have surprised many observers. It was not just that no country from the former Soviet Union had yet to host EXPO, but the theme we chose was future energy. After all, Kazakhstan is one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers. Promoting new energy sources ...

Last week, global equity investors got a much-needed reprieve from volatile, loss-inflicting markets. But rather than signaling the start of a calmer market phase, this may well prove a prelude to renewed volatility in the weeks ahead. After ending the last trading session of the previous week with a gain, global stocks got off to a good start last Monday. ...