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Storm at Baltic beauty spot over Germany's gas plans
Storm at Baltic beauty spot over Germany's gas plans
Business and Economy
by  AFP

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
African business leaders chafe at obstacles to trade
Business and Economy
by  AFP

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
Syrians turn plastic waste into rugs to make a living
Business and Economy
by  AFP

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
High inflation rattles UK home loan market
Business and Economy
by  AFP

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.