The little bit of Iran on a street in Greater Manchester

A crumbling mansion owned by the government of Iran sits abandoned in one of Greater Manchester's most exclusive areas. No-one seems able to get rid of it. Why? The derelict building seems out of place on a road lined with million-pound properties. This leafy spot should be prime real estate, but one house has been left to fall apart. Brackendene was once a grand site with greenhouses, outbuildings and a swimming pool. Now, the red-brick mansion has a hole for a roof and lies forgotten behind overgrown woodland and security fences. Thieves have long since stripped it of anything of value. It's been vandalised, used as an illegal dumping site and set on fire at least three times. The last big arson attack in 2011 was so bad that it caused the top floors to collapse into the basement. Image copyright Stephen Matthews/ Image caption The once-grand government building has fallen into a state of disrepair This isn't a run-of-the-mill story of a property left to decay, however. The house might be in Bowdon, a village in a rural area of Greater Manchester, but it actually belongs to Iran. Advertisement It was bought by the Iranians in the 1970s. The consul-general lived there at one stage and it was beautifully maintained, says Amir Barik, a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University who used to work for the consulate: "The biggest parties in Manchester used to take place in that house." Barik says that the building began to be left empty in the years after Iran's Islamic

Hundreds defy protest ban after Muslim prayer hall attack

Several hundred people have marched in Corsica, defying a ban on protests introduced after a Muslim prayer hall was vandalised on the French island. They avoided going to the poor neighbourhood of Ajaccio where Friday's attack happened, instead rallying in other areas of the regional capital. The prayer hall was raided by crowds in apparent retaliation for an attack on firefighters a day earlier. Previous marches had seen participants shout: "Arabs get out!" Some protesters blamed local Arab residents for the attack on the firefighters. The French government condemned both the protests that followed and the anti-Muslim attack. Image copyright AFP Image caption Attackers smashed windows and ransacked the Muslim prayer room in Ajaccio On Sunday, the demonstrators marched through several neighbourhoods in Ajaccio, but did not go to the Jardins de l'Empereur area - the scene of Friday's attack. The authorities earlier announced a ban on all gatherings in the flashpoint area until at least 4 January. The protesters rejected accusations that their rally was racist, chanting: "We fight against scum, not against Arabs!" and "We aren't thugs, we aren't racists!" Police were deployed around the Jardins de l'Empereur, home to many immigrants, to prevent any clashes.

Muslim prayer hall attacked in Corsica

A crowd has vandalised a Muslim prayer hall in Corsica in apparent retaliation for an attack on firefighters in the French Mediterranean island. Officials say a small group of protesters also tried to burn copies of the Koran in the capital, Ajaccio. Overall, several hundred people gathered in the city to express support for two firefighters and a police officer injured on Thursday. The government condemned both acts, pledging to punish the perpetrators.