By Reuters Staff
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MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Devotees of the late Prince Philip held a mourning ceremony in his honour on Monday on the South Pacific island of Tanna in Vanuatu.
Villagers held photographs of the late Prince, and spoke of “opening the road for his spirit to grow,” footage obtained by Reuters showed.
Philip, husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth who had been at her side throughout her 69-year reign, died at Windsor Castle on Friday, aged 99.
“We allow the kava to clear the way to allow for his spirit to come back and live with us. The same spirit will grow inside one of his family and one day we will reconnect the people of Tanna and England,” Chief Jack Malia told the villagers, speaking of the traditional alcoholic drink of kava.
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BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - People queued up outside retailers across England on Monday to release their pent-up shopping fever and some grabbed a midnight pint or even an early haircut as England’s shops, pubs, gyms and hairdressers reopened after three months of lockdown.
After imposing the most onerous restrictions in Britain’s peacetime history, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the reopening was a “major step” towards freedom but urged people to behave responsibly as the coronavirus was still a threat.
As the sun rose, dozens of people queued up outside Primark in English cities such as Birmingham and outside JD Sports on Oxford Street in London, undeterred by the unseasonably cold weather.
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MUNICH (Reuters) - Two days after he married his partner of many years, Anselm Bilgri, a former monk and prior at one of Germany’s most famous monasteries, learned that the Vatican would not bless relationships like his.
Anselm Bilgri, former cellerar and prior of Andechs monastery, who left the Catholic Church and now lives in a same-sex marriage, poses for a photo in front of the State Collections of Antiquities at Koenigsplatz in Munich, Germany, April 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert
“For me it was almost funny: I and my partner got married on Friday and then on Monday this ban,” he said. “It felt almost like a response” to our marriage by the church, the 68-year-old added.
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LONDON (Reuters) - On a London rooftop terrace on Monday, hundreds of people savoured the chance to meet and drink together for the first time in months, after the government eased COVID-19 restrictions and allowed pubs and restaurants to serve small groups outdoors.
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The Skylight bar in the east of the capital was abuzz with chatter and laughter, a welcome return to some kind of normality for Britons who had endured one of the world’s longest lockdowns.
“Best I’ve ever felt,” said Chloe Hicks, a student, when asked what it was like to meet up with friends over a drink. “It’s really nice to be back out and with everyone.”