Lifestyle

Equatorial Guinea's poor lose hope in promised social housing

Brand new homes intended for Equatorial Guinea's lower-income families have cropped up across the capital Malabo, but shanty town residents say they are going to the middle class and wealthy instead.. Obiang planned to provide enough housing to raise Malabo's shanty towns, including Nubili, a mass of tin-roofed shacks along narrow paths that is home to thousands of families in the heart of the city.

Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir dies aged 52 after MND battle

Former Scottish rugby international Doddie Weir has died at the age of 52 after a long battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), his family announced on Saturday.. "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved husband and father, Doddie," said a statement from his wife Kathy Weir, published on the Scottish Rugby Union website.

Dutch court backs squatters in Russian tycoon's mansion

The elegant house overlooking Amsterdam's iconic Vondelpark would fit in nicely with its neighbouring dwellings, were it not for the huge anti-war banners draped down the outside.. In the meantime, they have promised to use the Russian tycoon's mansion to organise political and social events -- to support anti-war protesters and to support people "left behind by war or by capitalism". jcp/dk/jhe/jj

How one beheading 50 years ago led France to end the death penalty

On a biting cold morning on November 28, 1972, a Frenchman was guillotined for a murder he did not commit, in a case that so traumatised his lawyer he would spend the rest of his life campaigning to end the death penalty.. "I swore to myself on leaving the courtyard of la Sante prison that morning at dawn, that I would spend the rest of my life combatting the death penalty," Badinter told AFP in 2021.

Deadly Xinjiang fire stirs anger at China's zero-Covid policy

A deadly fire in China's northwest Xinjiang region has spurred an outpouring of anger at the country's zero-Covid policy, as Beijing fights growing public fatigue over its hardline approach to containing the coronavirus.. The action comes against a backdrop of mounting public frustration over the government's zero-tolerance approach to Covid and follows sporadic protests in other cities.

A village divided: Spat over secret garden divides Montmartre

Imagine being a member of Paris' coolest club, housed in a leafy haven tucked away at the top of Montmartre, only to learn that you're about to be kicked out as a richer rival moves in.. To that end, the club held an open house on Saturday, with members suggesting that schools would soon be invited so children could learn an activity more often associated with pensioners enjoying a game between glasses of beer or pastis.