The attack by a suspected rebel came as government troops, in the midst of an offensive against the Tamil Tigers de facto state in the north, closed in on the rebels' administrative capital of Kilinochchi, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

Thousands of central and state law enforcement troops have been deployed to squelch the violence in the eastern state of Orissa, but to not much effect. The Orissa anti-Christian violence continues unabated for the seventh week, with most of the victims being Dalits, formerly known as untouchables.

The victims were found near the epicenter in Gedar township of Damxung County, around 80 km (50 miles) west of the regional capital Lhasa, Xinhua reported.

His comments, made during a Mass at the start of a month-long synod of Roman Catholic bishops from around the world, come amid growing concern about the decline in church attendance and interest in religion in many Western nations.

The health warning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited frozen dishes in which the chicken is raw, but breaded or pre-browned, giving the appearance of being cooked. They include "chicken cordon bleu," "chicken Kiev," or chicken breasts stuffed with cheese, vegetables or other items.

For the second time in two years, Arizona voters have been asked to approve a constitutional definition of marriage. Kathy Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy was asked about the need, since there is already a state law declaring the same thing.

A security official said that several shops were set on fire in Sunday's rioting in el-Tayaba, 220 kilometers (135 miles) south of Cairo. No casualties were reported.

The center says Monday's quake struck just after midnight in the Xinjiang region near China's border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Friday's fighting involved a rebel attack on a military outpost in southeastern Turkey and Turkish warplanes, helicopters and artillery units pounding insurgent positions in northern Iraq, Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak, the military spokesman, said in a statement.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sued Friday in U.S. district court, arguing that the president's mandated proclamations calling on Americans to pray violates a constitutional ban on government officials endorsing religion.

Deforestation and higher temperatures attributed to global warming are also contributing to the resurgence or reappearance of some diseases, experts said.

If the word "Christ" refers to the Biblical Jesus Christ, as is speculated, then the discovery may provide evidence that Christianity and paganism at times intertwined in the ancient world.

Susan Thornley, coordinator of library information services for Fairfax County, VA speaking by phone with WAMU radio news. A group of Christian student protesters are claiming censorship and a violation of personal beliefs because, they say, that they submitted ''reviews'' of several pray-away-the-gay books to Fairfax County public school systems but were rejected by librarians. However, Thornley says the alleged reviews were taken either from church newletters or written by the ex-gay books' authors themselves -- not from recognized journalistic entities. And she added that, despite the protesters allegations, there were already books on the libraries shelves that presented a variety of views on homosexulaity.

The CDC numbers, based on 2006 data, show the population living with HIV is growing as people become newly infected and as more patients survive thanks to HIV drugs.

"It is shocking to find the kind of misinformation we discovered in American textbooks and supplemental materials being used by schools in every state in the country," said Dr. Gary Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research and a co-author of the study.

The request was made by state police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty earlier this month and has been decried by Virginia House Republicans as a violation of the First Amendment and an attack on Christianity. One Republican delegate said chaplains were told they could not invoke the name of Jesus, but a state police spokeswoman denied the assertion.