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Bulgarian border city hails Schengen tourism boom
Bulgarian border city hails Schengen tourism boom
by  AFP

There always used to be a long line of traffic waiting to cross the steel truss Danube Bridge over the river between Giurgiu in Romania and the Bulgarian city of Rousse on the other side. On weekends, a long line of cars with mostly Romanian registration plates crosses the border bridge towards the Bulgarian commercial hub, bringing with them tourists who boost the local economy.

'Slow travel' start-up launches cross-Channel crossings by sail
'Slow travel' start-up launches cross-Channel crossings by sail
by  AFP

The crossing may be "a bit choppy", Captain Andrew Simons warns a dozen of his passengers waiting in the French port of Boulogne to cross the Channel with only wind to get them to England. Simons imagined a new mode of cross-Channel transport "offering that experience of the sea to people who are not travelling with a car".

US exempts tech imports in tariff step back
US exempts tech imports in tariff step back
by  AFP

The Trump administration has announced a series of major exemptions to its punishing global tariffs -- an apparent step back in an escalating trade war with China. Washington and Beijing's escalating tariff battle has raised fears of an enduring trade war between the world's two largest economies and sent global markets into a tailspin.

UK lawmakers begin emergency debate to save British Steel
UK lawmakers begin emergency debate to save British Steel
by  AFP

UK lawmakers held a rare Saturday parliamentary debate as the government seeks to pass emergency legislation to stop the last British factory that can make steel from scratch shutting down. She added that Saturday's emergency legislation would provide for criminal sanctions if executives fail to comply with instructions to keep the blast furnaces open.

Iraqi markets a haven for pedlars escaping Iran's economic woes
Iraqi markets a haven for pedlars escaping Iran's economic woes
by  AFP

Every Friday, Alawi crosses the border from Iran into Iraq to sell his produce in the markets of Basra, which serve as a haven for Iranians grappling with economic sanctions. He is just one of many Iranian pedlars who endure the arduous journey into southern Iraq through the Chalamja border crossing.

Chinese manufacturers in fighting spirits despite scrapped US orders
Chinese manufacturers in fighting spirits despite scrapped US orders
by  AFP

On a sweltering spring day, workers at a Christmas tree factory in eastern China rhythmically assembled piles of branches, wiping away sweat as they daubed white-paint snow onto plastic pine needles. Other local Christmas tree makers have also been hit, she said, but not as badly as in southern Guangdong province, where some factories' production can be completely taken up by one large US client.