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UK is a force for good, says Pope
Pope Benedict XVI has praised the UK as a "force for good" as thousands of people turned out to greet him on the first day of his historic visit. But he also delivered a warning about "aggressive forms of secularism", urging the nation not to lose its traditional values as it "strives to be a modern and multicultural society". The first state visit to the UK by a pope came amid renewed anger at the worldwide child abuse scandal that has engulfed the Roman Catholic Church and dogged the Pope's own religious career. As he flew to Scotland, the Pope spoke of his "sadness" over his church's handling of child abuse scandals, saying that abusive priests had not been dealt with decisively or quickly enough. The Pope's comments, to reporters on board his plane, marked his most thorough admission to date of failings in the way the sex abuse scandal was handled. But despite the controversy, his followers turned out in large numbers in Scotland, with an estimated 65,000 at Thursday night's mass in Glasgow, where babies were passed to him to be blessed as he arrived in the Popemobile. Lothian and Borders Police estimated that a total of 125,000 people had lined the streets for the earlier procession along Princes Street. After he was officially welcomed by the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, the Pope spoke of the UK's important place in history, saying: "Your forefathers' respect for truth and justice, for mercy and charity, come to you from a faith that remains a mighty force for good in your kingdom, to the great benefit of Christians and non-Christians alike." The Glasgow crowd had been warmed up by Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle who got a huge cheer when she took to the stage wearing a long black coat and heels,before singing the tune that catapulted her to fame, I Dreamed A Dream from the hit musical Les Miserables. The leader of Scotland's Catholics Cardinal Keith O'Brien expressed delight with the turnout in Edinburgh, saying:: "Along Princes Street I really felt so proud. You could look to one side and see the backcloth of the castle and the ramparts and so on, and on the other side a sea of faces welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to our country. But not everyone was welcoming - around 20 protesters gathered at the designated demonstration, their complaints ranging from abusive priests to the Pope's stance on contraception and homosexuality.(press association)
FTSE down as retailers wobble and financials ebb
Britain's top shares closed lower on Thursday, weighed by banks which slipped after recent strength, while retailers fell on downbeat UK economic data, countering gains in energy stocks. The FTSE 100 closed down 15.42 points or 0.3 percent, at 5,540.14, having fallen 0.2 percent in the previous session. That was its first daily decline in five sessions after hitting a four-month high of 5,567.41 on Tuesday. "I'm amazed at how resilient it (the FTSE) is ... any weakness and it looks like someone is there to mop it all up," Simon Clark, senior trader at ETX Capital, said. "We need a healthy sell-off, not massively, but a bit of profit-taking then we'll go again." Retailers reversed early gains after data showed British retail sales volumes fell last month for the first time since January, raising concern that consumer demand is starting to slip ahead of the UK government's spending review in October. Marks & Spencer , Next , and Home Retail Group lost 0.3 to 0.9 percent. The sector had found support early on as DIY firm Kingfisher , up 0.4 percent, became the latest retailer to defy macro economic conditions after its first-half profit beat forecasts, helped by cost-cutting. After a gain of almost 9 percent for the FTSE 100 in the last three weeks, most investors seemed happy to sit on the sidelines. Banks waned following recent strength, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group falling 2.5 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. The Bank of England said inflation expectations for the next 12 months rose to 3.4 percent last month, up from 3.3 percent in May. And the CBI's monthly industrial trends survey showed factory orders unexpectedly fell in September. Wall Street was lower as jobless claims dropped to a two-month low but still remained high, although most attention was reserved for Friday's U.S. CPI report. Britain's top share index is expected to barely rise between now until end-2010, but will bounce 8 percent by mid-2011 as support from overseas earnings offsets worries about the economy, a Reuters poll showed. Among individual share movers, inter-dealer broker Icap was the top FTSE 100 faller, down 3.8 percent, with Panmure Gordon the latest broker cutting its rating for the firm. BT Group was also knocked by a broker downgrade, shedding 3.1 percent as Morgan Stanley cut its rating to "equal-weight" from "overweight." By contrast, telecoms peer Cable & Wireless Worldwide added 4.5 percent as Goldman Sachs raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral," saying it could attract M&A interest. And engineer Rolls Royce fell 1.1 percent after Boeing said on Wednesday that it had a serious problem with a Rolls-Royce engine on one of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft, requiring it to be replaced. Energy firms provided some support, with the crude price weaker but holding above $75 per barrel.(reuters)
Source: YAhoo Actualités
Pope Benedict XVI has praised the UK as a "force for good" as thousands of people turned out to greet him on the first day of his historic visit. But he also delivered a warning about "aggressive forms of secularism", urging the nation not to lose its traditional values as it "strives to be a modern and multicultural society". The first state visit to the UK by a pope came amid renewed anger at the worldwide child abuse scandal that has engulfed the Roman Catholic Church and dogged the Pope's own religious career. As he flew to Scotland, the Pope spoke of his "sadness" over his church's handling of child abuse scandals, saying that abusive priests had not been dealt with decisively or quickly enough. The Pope's comments, to reporters on board his plane, marked his most thorough admission to date of failings in the way the sex abuse scandal was handled. But despite the controversy, his followers turned out in large numbers in Scotland, with an estimated 65,000 at Thursday night's mass in Glasgow, where babies were passed to him to be blessed as he arrived in the Popemobile. Lothian and Borders Police estimated that a total of 125,000 people had lined the streets for the earlier procession along Princes Street. After he was officially welcomed by the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, the Pope spoke of the UK's important place in history, saying: "Your forefathers' respect for truth and justice, for mercy and charity, come to you from a faith that remains a mighty force for good in your kingdom, to the great benefit of Christians and non-Christians alike." The Glasgow crowd had been warmed up by Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle who got a huge cheer when she took to the stage wearing a long black coat and heels,before singing the tune that catapulted her to fame, I Dreamed A Dream from the hit musical Les Miserables. The leader of Scotland's Catholics Cardinal Keith O'Brien expressed delight with the turnout in Edinburgh, saying:: "Along Princes Street I really felt so proud. You could look to one side and see the backcloth of the castle and the ramparts and so on, and on the other side a sea of faces welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to our country. But not everyone was welcoming - around 20 protesters gathered at the designated demonstration, their complaints ranging from abusive priests to the Pope's stance on contraception and homosexuality.(press association)
FTSE down as retailers wobble and financials ebb
Britain's top shares closed lower on Thursday, weighed by banks which slipped after recent strength, while retailers fell on downbeat UK economic data, countering gains in energy stocks. The FTSE 100 closed down 15.42 points or 0.3 percent, at 5,540.14, having fallen 0.2 percent in the previous session. That was its first daily decline in five sessions after hitting a four-month high of 5,567.41 on Tuesday. "I'm amazed at how resilient it (the FTSE) is ... any weakness and it looks like someone is there to mop it all up," Simon Clark, senior trader at ETX Capital, said. "We need a healthy sell-off, not massively, but a bit of profit-taking then we'll go again." Retailers reversed early gains after data showed British retail sales volumes fell last month for the first time since January, raising concern that consumer demand is starting to slip ahead of the UK government's spending review in October. Marks & Spencer , Next , and Home Retail Group lost 0.3 to 0.9 percent. The sector had found support early on as DIY firm Kingfisher , up 0.4 percent, became the latest retailer to defy macro economic conditions after its first-half profit beat forecasts, helped by cost-cutting. After a gain of almost 9 percent for the FTSE 100 in the last three weeks, most investors seemed happy to sit on the sidelines. Banks waned following recent strength, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group falling 2.5 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. The Bank of England said inflation expectations for the next 12 months rose to 3.4 percent last month, up from 3.3 percent in May. And the CBI's monthly industrial trends survey showed factory orders unexpectedly fell in September. Wall Street was lower as jobless claims dropped to a two-month low but still remained high, although most attention was reserved for Friday's U.S. CPI report. Britain's top share index is expected to barely rise between now until end-2010, but will bounce 8 percent by mid-2011 as support from overseas earnings offsets worries about the economy, a Reuters poll showed. Among individual share movers, inter-dealer broker Icap was the top FTSE 100 faller, down 3.8 percent, with Panmure Gordon the latest broker cutting its rating for the firm. BT Group was also knocked by a broker downgrade, shedding 3.1 percent as Morgan Stanley cut its rating to "equal-weight" from "overweight." By contrast, telecoms peer Cable & Wireless Worldwide added 4.5 percent as Goldman Sachs raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral," saying it could attract M&A interest. And engineer Rolls Royce fell 1.1 percent after Boeing said on Wednesday that it had a serious problem with a Rolls-Royce engine on one of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft, requiring it to be replaced. Energy firms provided some support, with the crude price weaker but holding above $75 per barrel.(reuters)
Source: YAhoo Actualités
