UK News
Insights from the UK and beyond
from FaithWorld:
UK Catholics urged to shun meat on Fridays
(Fish and chips in London, 31 July 2010/Javier Vte Rejas)
Britain's Catholics have been urged to make more effort to follow religious custom and abstain from eating meat on Fridays, potentially boosting sales of fish.
Church law required Catholics over the centuries to comply with this abstinence as part of Friday penance, the day set aside for special prayer and fasting to mark the day Jesus died. Traditionally Catholics have opted to eat fish instead, though a combination of new church guidance and changing eating habits has eroded this habit.
Now the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales wants to re-establish the practice of Friday penance and its abstinence from eating meat as a symbol of a simple shared act of self-denial.
"I think Catholics will welcome this," the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, told reporters. "What we have sought to do in this decision is to establish a shared practice, a shared habit, because habits that are carried out together are better learned and are stronger -- we give each other mutual support. So that's why there's a simple, across-the-board expectation that this will be something that Catholics will do."
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
Questions for the Pakistan liveblog
Our liveblog on Pakistan and what's next for the country after Osama bin Laden's death starts at 10a.m. EST/3 p.m. BST tomorrow (Tuesday, May 10). We've already received some comments and queries for Myra MacDonald. Here is one: Myra, In Pakistan there is a lot of resentment in the relationship with USA and a sense of betrayal. Also, the troubled relations with India, means that Pakistan is besieged by many problems at different fronts at the same time. My concern and also the question to you is, is Pakistan heading towards isolation? given the strategic implications of the OBL raid and killing, will Pakistan manage to control the damage to its credibility and emerge as a normal country?
Please keep sending in your questions by posting them below in the comments section.
More than just an autograph
Frederique Jamolli’s job is to prise the most treasured items from the hands of newly-crowned Olympians.
Her job is to ask sprint champion Usain Bolt for his Jamaican vest or the pair of brightly coloured spikes worn by Cathy Freeman after her 400-metre win at Sydney in 2000.
from Breakingviews:
BP escapes Russian impasse — at a cost
By Jason Bush and Fiona Maharg Bravo
The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.
MOSCOW/MADRID -- No compromise is pain free. But BP's peace agreement with its oligarch partners could have been much more costly. The UK oil major seems to have killed their opposition to its Arctic exploration alliance with Russian energy giant Rosneft -- but without resorting to penal concessions.
from FaithWorld:
Archbishop of Canterbury voices unease over bin Laden killing
(Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at Lambeth Palace in London September 17, 2010/Chris Ison)
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the 80-million strong Anglican Communion, has said the killing of an unarmed Osama bin Laden left a "very uncomfortable feeling." Rowan Williams said the different versions of events coming out of the White House "have not done a great deal to help here."
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
Liveblog: What’s next for Pakistan? Ask your questions here
On Tuesday, May 10 at 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. EST, Reuters is hosting a liveblog about Pakistan and what's next for it after Osama bin Laden's death. Reuters journalist Myra MacDonald, who runs the "Pakistan: Now or Never?" blog on Reuters.com, will answer your queries and respond to your comments so please leave them below in the "comments" section at the bottom of this post.
More specifically, Myra will discuss the role of the military in Pakistan, and its relations with both the United States and India. Her latest piece, "Pakistan's mixed messages on bin Laden sow confusion", tries to get to the bottom of whether Pakistan was involved with the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. For more of her pieces, click here.
Ignore the data, Royal Wedding and sunshine give Britain Plc a Q2 kickstart
A lot of the economic data in recent days has made for pretty grim reading, reinforcing expectations that interest rates will remain at record lows for some months yet.
But a string of bullish updates from British retailers and manufacturers suggest that the second quarter could have got off to a flying start, with fine weather, the Easter holiday and the Royal Wedding all improving the national mood.
from Photographers Blog:
The Royal couple say “I will” and I won’t (…be photographed)
The dust settles in London as scaffolding, media platforms and gantries are dismantled and the world’s news organizations pack up and leave town. Their job complete with hundreds of news programs run, and countless special supplements and newspaper and magazine fronts globally filled with memorable photographs from the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29th.
I was one of the Reuters photographers assigned to an official spot and ringside view: outside of Westminster Abbey as the happy couple emerged immediately after the actual ceremony. Light cloud gave good even light and an unfettered view meant after months of team preparation and logistical headaches, me and my colleagues/rivals in our spot got the right frames transmitted in speedy time for that part of the day and the Palace got the images of record they wanted.
from Photographers Blog:
The view from inside the Abbey
There were probably more than a billion people who would’ve loved to have been inside Westminster Abbey to see Prince William marry Kate Middleton and to soak up the glamor of what was, for a day, the world’s biggest news story.
I was lucky enough to be assigned a position inside the abbey, but though I got to witness the spectacle through a camera lens, my experience was less about pomp and pageantry and more about perils and pratfalls.
from Photographers Blog:
Completing the Royal puzzle
As dawn broke over Westminster Abbey on Friday, myself and the other Reuters photographers were already on our way to our positions for the big day. With no donkey in sight, it already felt like we had done a days work by the time we got there.
Those of us with fixed positions on media gantries could access them from 6am which seems plenty of time for an 11 am start. But with the abbey doors opening from just after 8am and the guests starting to arrive shortly after it didn't allow for much time for us to set up all the equipment and ensure our various editors around the world could see our pictures.
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The Wall
