Amazing 17-storey apartment block resembling a tree set to be built on French Mediterranean

The ultimate tree house: Amazing white apartment block with trunk and branches will be built on French Mediterranean
A 17-storey apartment block resembling a tree is set to be built in Montpellier, France next year
Called The White Tree, balconies and shade decks will hang off the tower like branches, creating shade and drawing light into the building

The structure's French and Japanese architects were inspired by Montpellier's outdoor living and the form of a tree

It will feature a rooftop penthouse bar with sweeping ocean and mountain views, an art gallery and restaurant

Residents will be able to choose from 120 units offering many different floor plans

Montpillier hopes to build 12 architectural follies - buildings featuring an extravagant appearance and challenging traditional architectural ideas
Aptly called The White Tree (L’Arbre Blanc), at 17-storeys, the high-rise building embodies the capabilities of 21 century architecture. As its name suggests, the building's unusual shape takes inspiration from the tree form, with endless stair-step balconies protruding off the building's trunk-like core in the same way branches do on trees.

Appearing to grow out of the ground, the plans for the structure draw further comparisons to a tree. In addition to the balconies jutting off in different directions like branches, these will be complimented by functional decks that provide shade for adjoining units, thus creating a tree-like set of stairs that encase the building.

 

 

 

 

 

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Oscar Pistorius trial: Haunting Photograph showing Blade Runner covered in blood after shooting Reeva Steenkamp emerges in court

The image of a topless Pistorius, with blood on the lower half of his body, was shown to the court this morning

Sky News

Aftermath: The picture of Pistorius shown in court

This is Oscar Pistorius - his lower half covered in blood - in the hours after he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The haunting image was shown to a court this morning during day 10 of the Paralympian's trial for the murder of the 29-year-old model.
The man known as the Blade Runner admits shooting Reeva, but denies murder, claiming he mistook her for an intruder.
The photograph was taken by police after they were called to Pistorius' home in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013, and shows him bare-chested, wearing his prosthetic legs and grey shorts.
The right leg of his shorts is soaked in blood.
A second image, also shown to the court, showed a large tattoo on the accused's back, and his upper arm smeared with blood.

Blood is splattered all over the toilet where Miss Steenkamp was shot by Pistorius
 

A substantial amount of blood was found in the toilet bowl. The trial was expected to examine whether Miss Steenkamp was sitting on the toilet at the time she was shot

 

Blade Runner covered in blood after shooting Reeva Steenkamp

 

Evidence shown at the Oscar Pistorius trial

 

 

The court has been hearing further evidence from Colonel Schoombie Van Rensburg - one of the first policeman on the scene at Pistorius' apartment.
He admitted to the court that two of the Paralympian's watches had gone "missing" within minutes of a police forensics team arriving at the house.
He described how he had seen a blood-stained box of eight designers watches when he first went into Pistorius' bedroom.
Mr Van Rensburg said he'd thought to himself, "those watches were tempting... any other person would see they are expensive", and asked the police photographer to keep an eye on them.
But after Pistorius was arrested and taken away from the scene, the detective said he went back into the main bedroom and found a forensic team had begun work without him.
It was then he noticed a watch was missing from the box, and a second one is also said to have disappeared.
He took all of officers into the garage and searched them, their bags and their vehicles, but there was no sign of them.
Mr Van Ransburg said he was "furious", and ensured each person who entered the crime scene from then on was properly documented.

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MH370: Was Missing Malaysian plane DELIBERATELY flown towards Andaman Islands?

Map showing the location of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where it is believed Malaysia Airlines flight 370 was heading


Military radar-tracking evidence suggests a Malaysia Airlines jetliner missing for nearly a week was deliberately flown across the Malay peninsula towards the Andaman Islands, sources familiar with the investigation have said.

Officials say two communications systems on missing jet were DELIBERATELY shut off 14 minutes apart as it emerges aircraft DID keep 'pinging' for five hours after dropping off radar at 35,000 ft
Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints - indicating it was being flown by someone with aviation training - when it was last plotted on military radar off the country's northwest coast.

The last plot on the military radar's tracking suggested the plane was flying towards India's Andaman Islands, a chain of isles between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, they said.

Waypoints are geographic locations, worked out by calculating longitude and latitude, that help pilots navigate along established air corridors.



A third source familiar with the investigation said inquiries were focusing increasingly on the theory that someone who knew how to fly a plane deliberately diverted the flight, with 239 people on board, hundreds of miles off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"What we can say is we are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards," said that source, a senior Malaysian police official.

All three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media and due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

Officials at Malaysia's Ministry of Transport, the official point of contact for information on the investigation, did not return calls seeking comment.

Malaysian police have previously said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.

The comments by the three sources are the first clear indication that foul play is the main focus of official suspicions in the Boeing 777's disappearance.

As a result of the new evidence, the sources said, multinational search efforts were being stepped up in the Andaman Sea and also the Indian Ocean.




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Missing Malaysian Aircraft?...This image was found by an IT Manager scouring the search area using detailed satellite images

This image was found by a man scouring the search area using detailed satellite images

Search: An IT manager from Chicago found this image using detailed satellite imagery

This is the picture of the suspected crash site released by the Chinese authorities.

The image shows three large floating objects in the South China Sea.

A Chinese satellite looking into the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 "observed a suspected crash area at sea," a Chinese government agency said -- a potentially pivotal lead into what has been a frustrating search for the Boeing 777

The three objects discovered are all quite large. One is 13 by 18 meters, the other 14 by 19 meters and 24 by 22 meters.            

According to the government agency, the objects were discovered northeast of where the plane took off in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and south of Vietnam.

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A video showing a Nigerian man being brutally attacked by uniformed police in South Africa has sparked public outrage.

The footage, which was posted to social media, led to the suspension and arrest of two police officers and prompted a heated discussion about South Africa's attitudes towards immigrants.

In a statement to #BBCtrending, the South African Police Service confirmed that the officers involved were from Cape Town Central police station. A spokesperson said they were "horrified" by the incident and said an internal investigation has been launched.

The independent police watchdog leading the inquiry told #BBCtrending that social media played a pivotal role in leading to the arrests.

There are approximately 17,000 registered Nigerians living in South Africa, according to a study. But it's estimated that up to a million undocumented immigrants are in the country.

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