As the Love Island reality TV franchise launches in South Africa, the show has come under fire from viewers who say it fails to reflect the racial make-up of the majority-black nation. South African media say just two contestants are black, and two are coloured – the official term for mixed-race people in the country. The other six housemates are white. In all, 10 contestants are vying to win the series and take home 1 million rand ($66,200; £47,500). A spokesman said more contestants would be arriving in the next few days who would reflect South Africa’s diversity. The reality TV series, which began in the UK before spin-offs launched elsewhere in the world, sees a group of men and women living in a villa isolated from the outside world. They couple up and take part in challenges to win the support of the voting public and ultimately compete for the cash prize. Participants are catapulted into the limelight, and there has been criticism in recent years that Love Island has failed to adequately support contestants’ mental health, while black contestants have spoken out about experiencing racism.(BBC)…[+]

Passengers have complained of queues of up to seven hours long at Heathrow Airport’s border control. One passenger described a mother having to feed her baby on the floor, saying conditions were “not humane”. A union for border control workers said Covid security measures designed to reduce infections was leading to inadequate staffing. Heathrow Airport said the government needed to make sure there were enough staff to cope with demand. Alicia, 26, who did not want her surname used, was flying back from Vienna after attending a medical appointment for her leg. She told the BBC she began queuing to go through border control at 18:30 on Sunday evening, but did not get through until 01:30 on Monday.