Bulgaria and Romania joined Europe's vast Schengen area of free movement on Sunday, opening up travel by air and sea without border checks after a 13-year wait. Bulgaria and Romania both hope to fully integrate into Schengen by the end of the year, but Austria has so far relented only on air and sea routes.
Chinese tech giant Huawei said Friday it "weathered the storm" of US sanctions as it announced a rise of almost nine percent in revenues in 2023, a year that saw it shock Washington with the release of a high-end smartphone. "After years of hard work, we managed to weather the storm," rotating chairman Ken Hu said in New Year's remarks released Friday.
Asian stocks opened cautiously on Friday, largely continuing an end-of-year rally that has been boosted by investors' expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut as early as March.
Almost a century after his big-screen debut, Mickey Mouse enters the public domain Monday, opening the floodgates to potential remakes, spin-offs, adaptations... and legal battles with Disney. Anybody using the classic image of Mickey at the helm of the boat on shirts, caps or mugs could be open to legal action, he said.
The Swiss will decide whether to ban foie gras and fur imports after campaigners on Thursday handed in enough signatures to trigger a public vote on the twin issues. The popular initiative on foie gras collected 106,448 signatures, while the one on fur attracted 116,140 -- both above the 100,000 threshold required to trigger a national vote.
The South African wine industry is grappling with challenges and faces the issue of a global production decline. Various factors are putting pressure on the sector.
Almost two weeks after a huge fire in Guinea's main fuel depot brought death and destruction, anger is growing as the economy is reeling, with inflation rising, petrol rationed and no trucks moving merchandise. Merchandise trucks sit idled at the foot of buildings.
Britain on Thursday lifted some costly obstacles placed on school trips post Brexit -- but only for students from France as campaigners called for all EU countries to benefit. In France, the director of an organisation offering school trips warmly welcomed the partial lifting of restrictions that have been made ahead of the new year, claiming it would trigger a resurgence in visits.
Asian stocks opened largely higher on Thursday, with Hong Kong leading the gains as investors worked on expectations the US Federal Reserve will cut rates next year. US indices returned to work on Tuesday, but European markets were only back on Wednesday, with London leading the way as it closed 0.4 percent higher.
French shipping giant CMA-CGM has resumed some transit through the Red Sea, days after Danish group Maersk announced it would return as a US-led naval coalition is now policing the maritime route against Yemeni rebel attacks. Maersk announced on Sunday it was preparing to resume transit through the Red Sea, with the first voyages to take place "as soon as operationally possible".
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