United Kingdom

    Heathrow Airport has condemned a duty free promotion which was deemed to be 'racist' towards Chinese people. The promotional event held by World Duty Free, a commercial partner of Heathrow which runs shops in the busy airport, required Chinese travellers to pay a minimum spend of £1,000 to receive a 20 per cent discount. Shoppers from elsewhere in the world were given the same discount after spending just £250 on goods. Chinese customers took to social media platform Weibo to express their outrage at the apparent discrimination after it was written about in a blog post that was shared more than 75,000 times. Kayla Luo, accused the airport shop of providing world class racist services and Steven Li added that the promotion is disgraceful and racial discrimination. ...

    Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have arrived at Edinburgh Castle for a one-day visit to the Scottish capital. Meghan Markle greets wellwishers while on a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle, as she and Prince Harry visited Scotland. Royal fans braved wet and cold conditions to greet the prince and his bride to be at the start of their tour of the city. In the shadow of the city's world famous castle, crowds gathered on the esplanade on Tuesday to meet the prince and his fiancee as they greeted well-wishers. Later, they will travel to a sandwich shop that supports the homeless and has been visited by number of famous faces including Hollywood star George Clooney. The trip to Scotland is the fourth public appearance Ms Markle and Harry have made together ...

    A Royal Navy warship will sail through the South China Sea in an effort to assert freedom of navigation rights in waters where Beijing is increasingly extending its control. HMS Sutherland, a Type 23 frigate, will travel through the key trading lane after concluding a visit to Australia, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announced. China claims large areas of the South China Sea and has been bolstering its military deployments there, including reclaiming land on reefs and atolls to build air bases. Mr Williamson made the announcement during a visit to Australia to meet his counterpart Marise Payne in Sydney, where they discussed North Korea, cyber warfare and terrorism. The trip was also designed to push Australia to buy the UK’s Type 23 replacement, the BAE built...

    A mother has been left outraged after her daughter’s school introduced a policy that states students aren’t allowed to say “no” when asked to dance. Natalie Richard, from Utah, was speaking to her sixth-grade daughter about the upcoming Valentine’s Day dance at her school, Kanesville Elementary, when she was told about the controversial rule. Her daughter explained that teachers had told the students, aged between 11 and 12, that they had to say “yes” when someone asked them dance. In disbelief, Ms Richard said that she must have misunderstood what they were saying. However, after speaking to the school she soon realised that the statement was accurate. “The teacher said she can’t. She has to say yes. She has to accept and I said, 'Excuse me',” Ms Richard told Fo...

    An education minister has pledged to provide Government backing to schools looking to ban hijabs and religious fasting. Lord Agnew of Oulter accused parents and religious leaders of attempting to intimidate and bully schools into allowing behaviour they are unhappy with. Writing in the Times on Saturday, he vowed to help head teachers with the process of making “sensitive” decisions. He said: They are completely within their right to make decisions on how to run their schools in the best interests of their pupils in line with the law and in discussion with parents, of course and we back their right to do so. What example do we set to the next generation if we fail to show tolerance and respect in how we engage in these debates? Particularly when these are values w...

    An online adjunct professor incorrectly told a student that Australia isn’t a country and gave her a failing grade, prompting Southern New Hampshire University to replace the instructor. Buzzfeed News reports that the 27-year-old student in Idaho was assigned to compare American social norms to that of another country. She chose to study social media use in Australia, but the professor gave her a zero on that portion of the assignment, saying Australia is a continent, not a country. Australia is actually both a country and a continent. University officials tell WMUR TV the instructor has been replaced following an investigation. In a statement, the university said it deeply regrets the interaction between the professor and student, and wished athletes from Austral...

    Britain is being kept in the dark about Brexit with the vast majority of people having little or no understanding of what the Government wants to achieve, a new poll has revealed. The exclusive BMG Research survey for The Independent suggests around three-quarters of the public have little idea as to what Theresa May wants overall, but also specifically in relation to critical areas like trade and immigration. There is acute confusion over the Government’s approach to the land border in Northern Ireland, ironically an issue supposed to have been settled already, which more than 80 per cent of the public said was unclear. The results undermine repeated claims by ministers that the Government has a clear plan for Brexit, pointing instead to a deep lack of public unde...

    In a 2016 referendum, Stephanie Holtom voted to leave the European Union, worried about immigration and convinced that other countries were telling the British government what to do. But outside a supermarket recently in a large, suburban strip mall not far from the Welsh city of Swansea, Ms. Holtom conceded she might have been wrong. “I agreed to come out of Europe, but I am beginning to have second thoughts. I think it’s a mess, and I’m sick to death of it,” said Ms. Holtom, who is retired, as she collected her shopping cart. She added that, if there were a second referendum, “people would vote to stay.” Since a majority of Britons voted narrowly to leave the bloc more than 18 months ago, most politicians have treated a withdrawal, known as Brexit, as inviolable....

    In the 30-second clip, recorded at the post office in Camden High Street, north London, on 4 January, the woman claims that the male postal assistant is laughing at her and said: You won’t think it’s funny then, yeah. You won’t be laughing then, you ignorant fuckshit. The woman begins to walk away, but then turns to shout: Who would want to look at you? What woman would want to look at that? while gesturing at the employee. She goes on: Make sure you post my cards, otherwise I’ll come back and get a refund, you fat Paki cunts. Go back to your own country, yeah, you’re not wanted here. You fat motherfucking Paki! Ugly motherfucker! Post Office in UK The Metropolitan police said they were looking into the incident, which happened on 24 January, and are looking for ot...

    Church of England spending on issues relating to sexual abuse has increased fivefold since 2014 and the latest figures show it was dealing with more than 3,300 allegations in 2016. The disclosures come as the church prepares to face intense scrutiny by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), which starts hearing evidence next month. “This will not be an easy couple of years we will hear deeply painful accounts of abuse, of poor response, of ‘cover-up’. We will … feel a deep sense of shame, Peter Hancock, the bishop of Bath and Wells and the C of E’s lead bishop on safeguarding, told the general synod in London. Professional safeguarding advisers have been appointed to every diocese to deal with disclosures of abuse, but Hancock said the pace of cha...