The Vatican asked Catholics to join him between 5-6 p.m. Rome time (11.00 a.m.-12.00 p.m. ET) in what is known as a Eucharistic adoration - praying before a consecrated communion host.

They were asked to gather in cathedrals, neighborhood parishes and monasteries to pray for two general intentions penned by the pope, who prayed in St. Peter's Basilica.

One was for those "who still suffer slavery and who are victims of war, human trafficking, drug running and slave labor" as well as for the "unemployed, the elderly, migrants, the homeless, prisoners and those who experience marginalization".

The other was for the 1.2 billion member Church itself and that it be "without stain or blemish", an apparent allusion to scandals that have undermined its credibility, such as the sexual abuse of children by clergy.

A Vatican official said it was "the first time in the history of the Church" that such an event was taking place. The Vatican said it was impossible to estimate immediately how many people took part.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by David Stamp)

PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande's government on Monday announced cuts in tax breaks for rich households as part of a plan to reduce the huge cost of France's generous family benefits system.

The changes will stop short of cutting allowances outright for high-earning families, as some officials had wanted.

Instead, the bulk of the savings will come from reducing the income tax exemptions that wealthy parents can claim according to the number of the children they have.

The Socialist government aims to save 2 billion euros ($2.59 billion) annually from 2016 with belt-tightening measures, though some new spending means the net savings will be 1.7 billion euros.

That will not go a long way towards reducing the overall budget deficit but the move sends a signal to France's European Union partners that it is prepared to make politically sensitive reforms, having been given two extra years to meet a budget deficit goal of 3 percent of output.

"It is perfectly possible to reduce our deficit while preserving the core of our social model," Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters as he presented the plan.

Conservatives, who view the cuts as another attack on France's traditional family model, may fight it as they did a gay marriage law passed last month. They had opposed the idea of making basic family allowances dependent on household income.

Hollande has already come under fire from business leaders and conservatives by trying to impose a 75-percent tax on earnings over one million euros per year, a plan significantly watered down after censure by a Constitutional Court.

Elected on promises to restore the struggling economy to health, Hollande has gone beyond his left-wing mandate to push through a labor market reform to loosen hiring and firing rules and has promised to overhaul the pension system by 2014.

However, it was his same-sex marriage law which caused the biggest protests as conservatives and far-right groups held sometimes violent demonstrations.

Conservative lawmaker Gilles Carrez, who heads the lower house finance committee, said the family benefits reform amounted to nothing less than a one-billion-euro tax hike spread over a million households.

"It's yet another hard blow for families, but we already knew that the Socialists don't like families," he said.

PINCH ON HOUSEHOLDS

The head of the body that pays out family benefits voiced some relief that the government had decided not to axe the right of all families with more than two children to receive a basic allowance no matter how much income they have.

"The principle of universality has been spared, but (this) will nevertheless be painful for families," said Jean-Louis Deroussen, president of the Caisse d'Allocations Familiales.

People on both the left and right take pride in a generous family welfare system credited with producing one of the highest birth rates in Europe and giving France an economic advantage over countries like Germany where women have fewer children.

However, the system imposes a hefty cost on public finances.

It ran a deficit of about 2.5 billion euros in 2012 and the government sees the shortfall growing if nothing is done.

The state hopes to save 1 billion euros a year from 2014 by lowering the ceiling on income tax exemptions parents can claim per child to 1,500 euros from 2,000 today. Some 1.3 million households will pay now 64 euros extra a month on average.

A raft of other measures is expected to yield further savings of one billion euros annually from 2016, adding up to the two billion total with the new limit on tax breaks.

An increase in household taxes risks weighing on consumer confidence at a time when it is already at a record low in the face of government austerity and surging unemployment.

($1 = 0.7716 euros)

(Writing by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Catherine Bremer)

Employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Internal Revenue Service and the Office of Management and Budget stayed home on Friday.

The furlough affects about 5 percent of the federal workforce, according to Cory Bythrow, communications director at the National Federation of Federal Employees, a union representing government workers. Bythrow tracks workplace fallout from the budget cuts, known as sequestration.

Eighty-five percent of the workers who were furloughed on Friday are based outside Washington, Bythrow said by telephone. They include union and non-union employees, depending largely on where they are, he said.

The furloughs come as the United States heads into a holiday weekend, with Memorial Day celebrated on Monday, when government offices will be closed.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Friday found 37 percent of Americans feel sequestration has hurt them personally, up from 25 percent in March. About half of those affected say the harm to them has been "major."

(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Eric Beech)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Toddlers are less likely to have asthma and itchy rashes if their parents "cleaned" their pacifiers by sucking on them when the kids were infants, a small new study suggests.

The findings don't prove that technique protects kids against asthma, eczema or other allergies. But researchers said it's possible the transfer of mouth microbes from parents to baby may help boost the bacterial diversity of the young child's digestive system and foster immunity.

"We know these bacteria are important for development," said Dr. Wilfried Karmaus from the University of Memphis, who has studied asthma and eczema but wasn't involved in the new research.

Being delivered through a vaginal birth, for example, exposes babies to more of their moms' bacteria and has been linked to fewer allergies in childhood. But no one has ever looked at transfer of bacteria through pacifiers, Karmaus said.

For the new study, researchers recruited pregnant women at one Swedish hospital and followed them and their children through phone calls and exams over three years. The 184 infants in the study were particularly allergy-prone: 80 percent had at least one parent with allergies.

When the babies were six months old, 65 parents reported "cleaning" their pacifiers by sucking on them. Most parents also said they rinsed pacifiers with tap water.

The children were then brought in for allergy testing at 18 and 36 months of age.

At the first visit, 46 of them had eczema and 10 had asthma symptoms. Kids whose pacifiers had been sucked on by parents were 63 percent less likely to have eczema at 18 months and 88 percent less likely to have asthma, compared to the children of parents who didn't use that cleaning technique.

By 36 months, the difference had gone away for asthma. Parental pacifier sucking was still tied to a 49-percent lower chance of a child having eczema, researchers led by Dr. Bill Hesselmar from Queen Silvia Children's Hospital in Gothenburg found.

There was no clear link between parents' pacifier cleaning method and babies' sensitization to common allergens, such as cat and dog dander or eggs and peanuts, at either age.

In a smaller analysis of 33 infants, the researchers found that babies whose parents did or didn't suck on their pacifiers had different types of bacteria living in their mouths, the group reported Monday in Pediatrics.

"With the different oral flora, it supports the hypothesis and the findings," Hesselmar told Reuters Health.

Still, he said the study can't prove the pacifier cleaning method protected kids against asthma and eczema, and that it's too early to recommend this technique to parents.

"It's always hard to tell if it's the only explanation, but we have tried to analyze as many other possibilities as we can think of," he said.

"This is a simple measure which is really, really nice," Karmaus said. "But we need a trial to be really sure that this is protective."

A gold-standard trial would involve randomly assigning some parents to regularly clean pacifiers by sucking on them and others to never use that method. In the current study, Karmaus said, it's possible parents who decided on their own to suck on their child's pacifier were different from parents who didn't in other important, allergy-related ways.

"It could be that these parents have more time with their children, a less stressful relationship with their children, hug their children more or whatever," he told Reuters Health.

For now, he said, parents should know that using their mouth to clean an infant's pacifier may be worth trying - and at the very least, shouldn't be harmful.

That technique may also be a necessity from time to time, Karmaus noted.

"Sometimes you take two or three pacifiers with you but if all are dirty and your child is crying, there's nothing you can do" but clean it yourself.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/cxXOG Pediatrics, online May 6, 2013.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Bank of Nova Scotiasaid on Tuesday that quarterly profit rose 9.6 percent due largely to an acquisition, but missed estimates due to weaker commodities-related revenue and higher loan-loss provisions.

At mid-morning, the bank's shares were down 0.8 percent at C$59.11 in Toronto, making it the weakest performer among Canada's six biggest lenders, which were otherwise higher.

The result, the third earnings report from a Canadian bank this quarter, was padded by last year's C$3.1 billion ($2.98 billion) acquisition of the Canadian online lender ING Direct.

That deal contributed to a 19 percent jump in profit at Scotiabank's Canadian banking unit, which earned C$547 million.

But gains were more muted in the bank's other businesses, particularly global banking and markets, which saw income slide 6.7 percent to C$361 million due to declines in the bank's commodities and precious metals business.

Provisions for bad loans also weighed on the overall result, rising 30 percent to C$343 million, with most of the gains coming from the bank's international banking division.

"That goes to their exposure geographically. It's hard to get a handle on credit exposure there. It's just higher risk," said Tom Lewandowski, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis.

Toronto-based Scotiabank operates in more than 50 countries, with the heaviest weighting in Latin America and a growing presence in Asia.

The bank, Canada's third-largest lender, earned C$1.60 billion ($1.55 billion), or C$1.23 a share, in the second quarter. That was up from a year-before profit of C$1.46 billion, or C$1.15 a share.

Excluding an amortization charge, the bank earned C$1.24 a share, falling just short of analysts' expectations of C$1.26 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"Overall, it is a miss and so we expect some weakness relative to peers today," CIBC World Markets analyst Robert Sedran said in a note.

International lending profit climbed 5.1 percent to C$471 million, while wealth management income gained 12.4 percent to C$335 million.

The Canadian banking was strong even excluding the impact of the ING Direct acquisition, boasting residential mortgage growth of 7 percent despite signs that Canada's housing market is beginning to cool.

Weak mortgage growth led to disappointing second-quarter results at rival Toronto-Dominion Bank

Bank of Montrealwill report on Wednesday, while Royal Bank of Canadaand Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerceare expected to release results on Thursday.

($1 = $1.0387 Canadian)

(Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Matthew Lewis)

LONDON (Reuters) - World rowing federation (FISA) boss Denis Oswald became the fifth candidate for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency on Friday, with the Swiss sports administrator citing his long experience as an asset.

Oswald, an IOC member since 1991 and member of the powerful executive board for 12 years until 2012, joins the race which already includes Germany's Thomas Bach, Singapore's Ng Ser Miang, Puerto Rican banker Richard Carrion and world boxing (AIBA) chief CK Wu from Taiwan.

"More than 40 years of service to the Olympic movement has provided me with a comprehensive understanding of the organization and the movement as well as its role and significance in the wider world," he said in a statement.

"This knowledge and experience, together with the skills for which I have been recognized will enable me to advance the Olympic cause, and the IOC's authority as the leader of world sport."

The IOC will elect a successor to president Jacques Rogge, whose 12-year reign comes to a mandatory end, at their session in Buenos Aires on September 10.

The 66-year-old Oswald was head of the coordination commission overseeing preparations for the Games in London last year and in Athens in 2004. He is a three-time Olympian and won a bronze medal in rowing at the 1968 Mexico City Games.

The tough-talking Oswald has been a member of the coordination commission for all summer Games since the Sydney 2000 Olympics and was head of the association of summer Olympic international federations (ASOIF) from 2000-2012.

The deadline for candidacies is June 10 with Sergei Bubka, the former Olympic pole vault champion, also seen as a likely contender.

Oswald said he would hold a news conference next week to elaborate on his candidacy.

(Editing by Clare Fallon)

The symposium also included discussions about , the sun and past, present and future space missions.

John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator for NASAs Science Mission Directorate, said that the upcomingwill be able to make important observations of the atmospheres of exoplanets. []

He said JWST wont be able to locate the exoplanets, only study them, but the recently selectedcould act as a planet scout for JWST targets. It is estimated that TESS will discover around 300 "super-Earth" alien planets, many of them in the habitable zone.

But the number one challenge, Grunsfeld noted, is figuring out the .

The 36-year-old Texan piled up eight birdies on the way to a flawless eight-under-par 62 on a relatively calm morning at iconic Colonial Country Club, matching the lowest first round ever recorded at the long established PGA Tour event.

Palmer, who began his round at the par-four 10th and ended it with a five-foot birdie putt at the ninth, surged two ahead of compatriot Morgan Hoffmann, a rookie on the U.S. circuit who tied for fifth at last week's Byron Nelson Championship.

"I drove it almost perfect today," Colonial club member Palmer told Golf Channel after matching the 62s previously posted in the tournament's opening round by Patrick Sheehan (in 2005), David Toms (2011) and Chez Reavie (2011).

"I hit the driver really well and when I got out of position, I hit some good shots. If you're going to hit driver a lot, you'd better hit it straight and on a lot of these holes I was able to do that today.

"When I hit it within five or six feet, I made the putt. I had a great day of putting and drove it really good."

A three-times winner on the PGA Tour whose most recent victory came at the 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii, Palmer kickstarted his round at the par-four 14th with the first of four consecutive birdies.

"I made about a 15, 20-footer on 14 which got me going and then I hit it close coming in," he said after making five of his eight birdies from no more than seven feet.

"Then I made some good birdies on the front nine, my back nine. It's a golf course that I am just comfortable on. I play here numerous times."

World number 13 Matt Kuchar, the highest-ranked player in this week's field, opened with a 65 to end the round level with fellow Americans Daniel Summerhays, Matt Every and Tommy Gainey.

Defending champion Zach Johnson, who beat fellow American Jason Dufner by one shot to clinch last year's title, opened with a 69 while Dufner returned a six-birdie 67.

Former Masters champions Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and Angel Cabrera of Argentina were among the day's late starters.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

For the third year, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is partnering with Gander Mountain to provide first-time campers with needed gear and a reservation for two nights at participating state parks for just $20. Meanwhile, a new cooperative effort with The North Face will be offering staff-guided Family Camping Programs at parks; discounted park stays; and camper-oriented activity guides.

"Our state parks are busy rolling out the welcome mat for another fun-filled season and these two outdoors-oriented sponsors have offered a hand," DCNR Secretary Richard Allan said. "Both programs encourage and promote park camping, offering first-timer help and equipment for some; special assistance for families; and costs savings for all."

"The First Time Camper Program is being offered at 16 state parks across the state," Allan said. "You can't beat this offer as far as the cost and a chance to enjoy many other activities at our state parks such as hiking and fishing. A park staffer will even help you set up camp."

Sixteen state parks are participating: Black Moshannon, Centre County; Caledonia, Franklin County; Chapman, Warren County; Colonel Denning, Cumberland County; Gifford Pinchot, York County; Hills Creek, Tioga County; Keystone, Westmoreland County; Lackawanna, Lackawanna County; Little Pine, Lycoming County; Locust Lake, Schuylkill County; Ole Bull, Potter County; Parker Dam, Clearfield County; Promised Land, Pike County; Raymond B. Winter, Union County; Ryerson Station, Greene County; and Sinnemahoning, Cameron and Potter counties.

Reservations can be made by calling the park office directly. The program runs from Memorial Day weekend through the summer.

Gear provided by Gander Mountain and DCNR includes a four-person tent; rain tarp; four sleeping pads; four camp chairs; flashlight; lantern; camp stove; and four hot dog/marshmallow sticks. The gear must be returned upon departure.

Participants will need their own food, cooking utensils and bedding. Suggested packing lists will be provided.

Family fun is the keystone of the partnership between DCNR and The North Face in which several state parks volunteered to offer staff-led, guided camping experiences from early June through early September.

Seven state parks are participating in the Family Camping Program: Jacobsburg, Kings Gap, Ohiopyle, Pymatuning, Delaware Canal, Presque Isle and Yellow Creek.

"Visitors can look forward to an overnight camping experience in which we supply just about everything from cook stoves to needed supplies," Allan said. "We'll guide you the whole way -- from setting up your tent and making dinner to leading you on a guided hike or kayak adventure."

In addition, as part of this cooperative effort, an activity guide was created that focuses on state parks offering five outdoors pursuits: camping, hiking, biking, wildlife viewing and play. Both the guides and coupons for a $10 discount off the fee for a second night of state park camping will be given out to anyone purchasing The North Face gear or clothing at any The North Face store or authorized retailer in Pennsylvania.

With 120 state parks covering about 300,000 acres, there is a state park within 25 miles of nearly every Pennsylvanian. The parks feature an array of recreational opportunities, provide a forum for multiple environmental education programs and conserve thousands of acres of unique natural areas, among many other features.

State parks also serve as economic generators to the communities that surround them, generating about a billion dollars annually in economic activity.

Details on the First Time Camper and Family Camping programs and information on Pennsylvania's state parks can be found at .

Media contact: Terry Brady, 717-772-9101.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

In one of the most electric moments since the IRS controversy erupted nearly two weeks ago, Lois Lerner defended herself during a brief appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The committee is investigating the agency's improper targeting of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012, and Lerner oversees the IRS office that processes applications for that designation.

"I have done nothing wrong," said a stern-looking Lerner, sitting next to three other witnesses and reading from a written statement. "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other committee."

Members of Congress have angrily complained that Lerner and other high-ranking IRS officials did not inform lawmakers that conservative groups were targeted, even though legislators asked the IRS multiple times about it after local tea party groups told lawmakers they were being treated unfairly.

Lerner then said she would invoke her constitutional right to avoid incriminating herself.

"One of the basic functions of the Fifth Amendment is to protect innocent individuals, and that is the protection I am invoking today," she said.

After Oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asked her to reconsider, she said, "I will not answer any questions or testify about the subject matter of this committee's meeting."

Nine minutes after she began speaking, Issa excused Lerner but said she might be recalled, saying he might explore whether she would testify later if granted some immunity.

Lerner left the hearing room through a rear door, escorted by her lawyer and several other men. The men quickly whisked Lerner into an elevator, where several of the men physically pushed back television camera operators who were trying to film them.

Lerner's refusal to answer questions was not a surprise. Her attorney, William W. Taylor III, wrote a letter to the committee this week saying she would do so.

Issa and other members of the committee were not pleased with Lerner's decision to not testify. Even before she spoke, Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., warned the witnesses that their refusal to cooperate would result in the eventual appointment of a special prosecutor to examine the case.

"There will be hell to pay if that's the route we choose to go down," Lynch said.

Lerner revealed the agency's targeting two weeks ago and apologized for the actions. Since then, Washington has been awash in questions about why the nonpartisan IRS focused on conservative groups, who instigated it and whether it was politically motivated which many Republicans suspect but participants have rejected.

J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general who focuses on taxes, released a report last week that detailed the targeting and called it inappropriate. He has said there is no evidence that the screening was politically motivated or that IRS officials were influenced by others, and blamed poor management by IRS officials for allowing the screening system to be instituted.

Lerner, 62, is an attorney who joined the IRS in 2001. She expressed pride in her 34-year career in federal government, which has included work at the Justice Department and Federal Election Commission, and said she currently oversees 900 workers and a budget approaching $100 million.

She has come under fire from members of both parties, including Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, who has said she should lose her job and criticized top IRS officials for not being more forthcoming.

"We're talking about truth and trust," Cummings said.

At Wednesday's hearing Congress' third since the controversy began the No. 2 Treasury Department official said his agency played no role in the episode.

"There is no indication that Treasury was involved in the inexcusable behavior at the IRS," said Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin.

Wolin told the committee that it was "absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable" that the IRS subjected tea party and other conservative groups seeking non-profit status to extra scrutiny from 2010 to 2012.

He said George told him last year "that he had undertaken an audit of the IRS's review of tax-exempt applications."

"I told him that he should follow the facts wherever they lead. I told him that our job is to stay out of the way and let him do his work," Wolin said.

Issa and other members of the committee complained repeatedly Wednesday that IRS officials had ample opportunity to tell Congress earlier about the targeting but didn't do so. Issa said his committee has privately interviewed another IRS official, Holly Paz, who said the IRS conducted an internal investigation that reached similar conclusions to George's report, but a year earlier.

"Think about it. For more than a year, the IRS knew it had inappropriately targeted groups of Americans based on their political beliefs, without mentioning it" to Congress, Issa said.

While the targeting began in early 2010, Lerner learned of it in June 2011 and ordered that the criteria be changed, according to George's report.

In early May 2012, Steven Miller, who was deputy commissioner, was told by staff that conservative groups were being inappropriately targeted, George's report said.Miller later became acting commissioner but has been ousted by President Barack Obama in the wake of the disclosures.

Staff of the Oversight Committee questioned Lerner and other IRS officials last year after receiving complaints from Ohio tea party groups that they were being mistreated by the IRS. In responses to the committee, Lerner didn't mention that tea party groups had ever been targeted, according to documents. Her responses included 45-page letters in May 2012 to Issa and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Lerner also met twice in early 2012 with staff from the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee to discuss the issue, according to a timeline constructed by committee staff. The timeline said she didn't mention at either meeting that conservative groups had been targeted.

Also coming under fire Wednesday for not telling Congress about the targeting was Douglas Shulman, who was IRS commissioner from 2008 until last November, while the screening was occurring. Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush.

On Tuesday, Shulman told the Senate Finance Committee that he learned in the spring of 2012 about his agency's targeting of conservatives and George's probe. He said he didn't tell lawmakers or officials at Treasury of which the IRS is part because he only had sketchy information about the situation, was told it was being handled and believed it proper to let George's office conduct its investigation.

"When you learned that there was a list, you did nothing," said Lynch, the Massachusetts congressman.