In German-speaking parts of Europe, the so-called ‘Christ Child’ takes Santa’s place as the children’s gift-giver, and for the next two years, the world-famous Christmas Market in Nuremberg will be opened by a mixed race Indian girl: Nuremberg authorities have thrown their weight behind the 17-year-old girl who was criticised by local right-wing politicians for her newly-assumed role as the... 

For the first time in US history, racial and ethnic minorities outnumber its white majority – white births make up fewer than half the children born in the country, according to the US Census Bureau. ­The new 2011 census, which was made public on Thursday, reveals non-Hispanic whites accounted for 49.6 per cent of all births in the 12-month period that ended last July. The minorities – Hispanics,...