Features

  Kumasi / AFP Joseph Paul Amoah was virtually unknown in Ghanaian athletic circles before he was crowned “Ghana’s fastest human”. Now he’s the new face of sprinting in a country looking to transform its running culture. “It’s been an instant shot to fame,” said the 19-year-old from the central Ashanti region, after reportedly clocking an impressive winning time of ...

Miami/ AFP A decade ago, Jessica Goldman Srebnick was afraid of walking through Wynwood, a derelict warehouse neighbourhood in Miami. Today, she is the virtual curator of an open-air art gallery that has turned the area into one of the hippest places in the United States. Windowless factory warehouses in the bleak urban district have become a venue where artists, ...

  Berlin / DPA “And what do you do?” Hardly a first chat with a stranger goes by these days without someone asking the question. But why is it so important what we do? And why is a successful career such an important goal for some people? For the members of Haus Bartleby, a network founded two years ago and ...

  Lagos / AFP Balogun Shakirat woke up with a start at 3:00 am and put on the light in her workshop in a crowded working class district of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos. In the following three hours, she was able to sew shirts, trousers and a jacket. Then the electricity supply went off again. “No light the whole day ...

Monrovia / AFP After almost 200 years of Western influence on their clothes, Liberians are revelling in a style revolution, designing and tailoring their own edgy creations with prints and cuts influenced by their African neighbours. Until 2003, when a peace deal ended 14 years of devastating civil war, tens of thousands of Liberians had been living as refugees in ...

  Dakar / AFP When farmer Isaac Tondo fell on lean times in Liberia’s long rainy season, his brother in the capital sent 8,000 Liberian dollars (US$87) to his Lonestar mobile money account, ensuring his children’s school fees would still be paid. Across Africa more and more people — from urban start-ups to hard-up villagers — are now spending, saving ...

  Rennes / AFP The ad on the French finance ministry website is deadpan and succinct: “For sale: late 19th century prison in the centre of Grasse, 1,277.42 square metres (13,750 square feet). No garage or parking space. Needs renovating.” Prospective buyers of the site in southeast France are required to lodge a deposit of 50,000 euros ($56,000). There are ...

  Emirates Business The new Mercedes-Benz SLC (previously SLK) takes the roadster’s driving pleasure to a new level thanks to an unrivalled combination of sportiness and comfort. Just in time for the 20th birthday of its segment, the archetypal compact roadster enjoys a new evolution — with a new name, optimised technology and an enhanced look. Comprehensively refined, and with ...

  Bloomberg How much cleaner are electric cars than the fossil-fuel powered alternative? The answer depends on exactly where you charge the batteries. In places that use low-carbon energy sources like renewables and nuclear, electric vehicles dramatically reduce emissions. There’s less of a difference in regions where most of the power comes from coal, like China. While an electric vehicle ...

  Los Angeles / AFP Festering alongside mountains of stinking trash under the sweltering South American sun, Cateura is a long way from the conservatories of Prague or Vienna. Yet the township which grew out of Paraguay’s largest dump is gaining an unlikely reputation as a hothouse for musical talent — and for its youth orchestra that plays instruments made ...