A place where wives don't see their husbands for years

Having difficulty reading this email? View it online       Good afternoon,               This is a story about the women in Burkina Faso who sometimes wait years, even decades, for their husbands to return. African men are increasingly heading to neighbouring countries - or to Europe - in search of well-paid work. In the latest of our immersive stories told using videos, pictures and text, we consider how a community survives when husbands and wives live thousands of miles apart. The town of women               "The market for appallingly named brands is surprisingly congested," writes Justin Rowlatt, the BBC's South Asia correspondent. "But 'Spunk' must surely rank as one of the worst brand names in history - at least when it comes to the British market. The Belgian chocolate company Isis is just one of a number of businesses named after the Egyptian river goddess which have decided a re-brand is the only way to avoid confusion with the Islamist militant group." The brand name you'll never forget               More than 200,000 homes in England are long-term unoccupied - that is to say, empty for more than six months. Tens of thousands of properties in Scotland and Wales fall into this category. The phenomenon known as "buy-to-leave" where rich investors, often from abroad, purchase property and leave it empty, is compounding the country's housing crisis. "It's about whether property is regarded as a home or an asset," says one property expert. Why are so many British homes empty?         Also on our website How my ‘guardian angel’ saved me at Pearl Harbor Why a controversial temple site in India is trending again Random checks planned over heavy school bags in India We'll return tomorrow. Why not forward our newsletter to your friends? They can subscribe here.     Terms of use | Privacy and Cookies | Unsubscribe