AFP
13876 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
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Can you trust your ears? AI voice scams rattle US
The voice on the phone seemed frighteningly real -- an American mother heard her daughter sobbing before a man took over and demanded a ransom. "Help me, mom, please help me," Jennifer DeStefano, an Arizona-based mother, heard a voice saying on the other end of the line.
Vehicle fire causes major US highway collapse
A fire caused an overpass on one of America's busiest highways to collapse early Sunday in Philadelphia, authorities said, as reports attributed the cause to a truck that burst into flames under the bridge. City authorities issued a series of alerts on Twitter about a tanker truck fire on the highway, which local media reported caught fire underneath the bridge, apparently causing the collapse.
Storm at Baltic beauty spot over Germany's gas plans
Melanie Schmid grows walnuts and keeps sheep at her organic farm by the cliff's edge above the port of Mukran on the German island of Ruegen in the Baltic Sea. "Are there not other locations on the Baltic coast or the North Sea that would have less of an impact on nature, on people, on tourism as the island of Ruegen?"
African business leaders chafe at obstacles to trade
More than four years ago, African countries gave the ceremonial push to a deal to scrap internal trade barriers -- a historic scheme that would create a continent-wide single market worth trillions of dollars. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was signed in 2019 by 54 out of the African Union (AU)'s 55 states, who together accounted for GDP last year of $3 trillion.
Syrians turn plastic waste into rugs to make a living
At a rubbish dump in northwest Syria, Mohammed Behlal rummages for plastic to be sold to recyclers and transformed into floor rugs and other items in the impoverished rebel enclave. In rebel-held Syria, recycling is rarely an environmental impulse but rather a grim lifeline for needy residents looking for work or items they otherwise could not afford.
High inflation rattles UK home loan market
Britain's retail lenders are withdrawing fixed home-loan products, as elevated inflation sparks fears of more Bank of England interest rate hikes and worsens the cost-of-living crisis. Retail lenders tend to match the central bank's increases to borrowing costs, sparking higher loan repayments, weighing on house prices and denting economic activity.
Israel reinvents kibbutz by embracing of new industries
Entrepreneurs are repurposing the Israeli kibbutz into hubs for creative and hi-tech industries, after decades of decline in the rural communities once considered models of socialism. Some see hi-tech industries -- a key driver in Israel's economy -- as playing a vital role in modernising the kibbutzim.
US capital sputters as federal workers stay home
Washington's role as the US capital makes it reliant on government workers for its economic success -- and many are choosing to stay home, perhaps for good, leaving vast federal offices empty and the city struggling.
Commute no more: US employees embrace telework
Commuting to and from the office five times a week? "If I worked for an employer that required five days a week, I just don't think that would be on the table for me," Claire, the Washington-based consultant, told AFP. Claire, who requested anonymity to discuss her employment, goes to the office irregularly, usually once every two weeks, sometimes more often.
AFP
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