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blog

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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Future

Livestream Shopping Is Huge In China — Will It Fly Elsewhere?

Streaming video channels of people shopping has been booming in China, and is beginning to win over customers abroad as a cheap and cheerful way of selling products to millions of consumers glued to the screen.

A A female volunteer promotes spring tea products via on-line live streaming on a pretty mountain surrounded by tea plants.

In Beijing, selling spring tea products via on-line live streaming.

Xinhua / ZUMA
Gwendolyn Ledger

SANTIAGOTikTok, owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, has spent more than $500 million to break into online retailing. The app, best known for its short, comical videos, launched TikTok Shop in August, aiming to sell Chinese products in the U.S. and compete with other Chinese firms like Shein and Temu.

Tik Tok Shop will have three sections, including a live or livestream shopping channel, allowing users to buy while watching influencers promote a product.

This choice was strategic: in the past year, live shopping has become a significant trend in online retailing both in the U.S. and Latin America. While still an evolving technology, in principle, it promises good returns and lower costs.

Chilean Carlos O'Rian Herrera, co-founder of Fira Onlive, an online sales consultancy, told América Economía that live shopping has a much higher catchment rate than standard website retailing. If traditional e-commerce has a rate of one or two purchases per 100 visits to your site, live shopping can hike the ratio to 19%.

Live shopping has thrived in China and the recent purchases of shopping platforms in some Latin American countries suggests firms are taking an interest. In the United States, live shopping generated some $20 billion in sales revenues in 2022, according to consultants McKinsey. This constituted 2% of all online sales, but the firm believes the ratio may become 20% by 2026.

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