Olivier Lucazeau

The structural risks of the buildings and others like them were widely known, but that city officials did little when alerted about them

The campaign to prevent the 'McDo' is an unusual development for politicians better known for their opposition to multinational companies

Public living room, office, canteen, an escape, a place to chat, laugh or socialise, a venue for parties and wakes, the pub is still the heartbeat of British life. ''For lots of us it's kind of a second home'', said social anthropologist Kate Fox, the director of the Social Issues Research Centre, based in Oxford, southern England.