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Stones, Tear Gas As Migrants Try To Storm Greece-Macedonia Border

Utrinski Vesnik, March 1, 2016

"Tear gas and stones at the border near Gevgelija," writes Skopje-based daily Utrinski Vesnikon its Tuesday front page, a day after refugees clashed with police at the Greek-Macedonian border.

On Monday, Macedonian police fired tear gas at a crowd of migrants, some of whom were reportedly throwing stones at the police while storming a border fence, according to BBC.

Tensions have been mounting along the so-called "Balkan route," and especially around the Greece-Macedonia border, a key crossing for asylum seekers fleeing war in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in the hope of reaching Germany.

An estimated 6,500 Middle Eastern refugees are reportedly living in camps in the area.

Europe is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with migrant-related clashes also sparking in northern France, where French police are due to continue dismantling makeshift shelters on the outskirts of Calais, home to anywhere between 3,700 and 5,500 migrants trying to reach the UK.

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Economy

Globalization Takes A New Turn, Away From China

China is still a manufacturing juggernaut and a growing power, but companies are looking for alternatives as Chinese labor costs continue to rise — as do geopolitical tensions with Beijing.

Photo of a woman working at a motorbike factory in China's Yunnan Province.

A woman works at a motorbike factory in China's Yunnan Province.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — What were the representatives of dozens of large American companies doing in Vietnam these past few days?

A few days earlier, a delegation of foreign company chiefs currently based in China were being welcomed by business and government leaders in Mexico.

Then there was Foxconn, Apple's Taiwanese subcontractor, which signed an investment deal in the Indian state of Telangana, enabling the creation of 100,000 jobs. You read that right: 100,000 jobs.

What these three examples have in common is the frantic search for production sites — other than China!

For the past quarter century, China has borne the crown of the "world's factory," manufacturing the parts and products that the rest of the planet needs. Billionaire Jack Ma's Alibaba.com platform is based on this principle: if you are a manufacturer and you are looking for cheap ball bearings, or if you are looking for the cheapest way to produce socks or computers, Alibaba will provide you with a solution among the jungle of factories in Shenzhen or Dongguan, in southern China.

All of this is still not over, but the ebb is well underway.

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