The earthquake occurred at 1:45 a.m. offshore at a depth of about 25 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 100 miles northeast of Tokyo. A second quake with a magnitude of 5.3 struck the same area about 30 minutes later, and more aftershocks could follow, Tamotsu Aketagawa, an official who monitors earthquakes for the country's Meteorological Agency, told The Associated Press.

"Since it was a very large-scale earthquake, we would expect to see some modest aftershocks," he said.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world because it sits atop four tectonic plates. Tokyo has not been hit by a major quake since 1923, when 140,000 people died in the Great Kanto Earthquake.

The coyote attacked the girl around noon Tuesday when her mother, Melissa Rowley, went inside the home for a moment to put away a camera, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in an incident report.
Rowley came out of the house and saw the coyote dragging her daughter towards a street. She ran towards her daughter, and the animal released the girl and ran away, said sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire. Rowley took her daughter to a hospital where the toddler was treated for several punctures to the head and neck area, and a laceration on her mouth.

On Friday, a nanny pulled a 2-year-old girl from the jaws of a coyote at Alterra Park in Chino Hills, a San Bernardino County community about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. The girl suffered puncture wounds to her buttocks and was treated at a hospital. A coyote came after another toddler in the same park Sunday. The child's father kicked and chased the coyote away.

Alterra Park is near Chino Hills State Park, a natural open space of thousands of acres spanning nearly 31 miles.

Leading figures on the conservative Religious Right, such as Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, were pointedly not asked to sign the document - a reflection of some of the divisions emerging in the U.S. evangelical movement, which numbers over 60 million by some estimates.

"I agree that evangelical Christians have become too aligned with the Republican Party which has taken them for granted," Perkins told Reuters, adding that he saw some good stuff in the manifesto. But he said "it was like it was written for ivory tower Christians, LIKE THEY WANT TO RID THE WORLD OF EVIL BUT DON'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN THE ISSUES TO DO IT."

The Religious Right, which has been the bedrock of conservative evangelical support for the Republican Party in recent election cycles, has also called for a broader agenda - but insists on tackling the issues that many of its supporters care deeply about. THIS INCLUDES RETAINING AN UNCOMPROMISING AND VERY PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO ABORTION AND GAY RIGHTS.

The Hatf-VIII (Ra'ad) missile had been developed exclusively for launch from aircraft, a military statement said. "It has enabled Pakistan to achieve a greater strategic stand-off capability on land and at sea," it said. The indigenously developed missile also had special stealth capabilities and could deliver all types of warheads with great accuracy, the military said.

On Wednesday, India tested a nuclear-capable missile with a range of more than 3,000 km (1,900 miles). The South Asian neighbors, who have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, routinely test missiles in spite of a peace process launched in 2004 that has led to better relations.

Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in 1998, days after old rival India conducted similar tests.

"There were strong and divergent views on the nature as well as the causes of the recent tragic events in Tibet," the envoy, Lodi Gyari, said in a statement issued in Dharamsala, home of the Tibetan government-in-exile. "These views were expressed in a frank and candid manner." Each side exchanged "concrete proposals which can be part of a future agenda", Lodi Gyari said.

"Despite major differences on important issues, both sides demonstrated a willingness to seek common approaches in addressing the issues at hand," he said. A date for another round of formal talks would be finalized soon, Lodi Gyari said.

Israelis thronged Jerusalem's streets as fireworks opened the celebrations on Wednesday, while an aerial display is planned over Tel Aviv on Thursday. Israel declared itself an independent state on 14 May 1948, a day PALESTINIANS REMEMBER AS AL-NAKBA, OR "THE CATASTROPHE". The anniversary is calculated according to the Jewish lunar calendar.

The BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem says Israel has changed dramatically since it was founded, with a population nearly ten times larger, and a stronger economy and military than its founders could have dreamt of. However he says it is also a place riven by uncertainty - over its unresolved conflicts with neighbouring Arab countries and the Palestinians, and over the question of whether its own religious, political and ethnic mosaic still fits together.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke of his hopes for future peace, in a speech marking Remembrance Day, when Israelis honour soldiers killed since the state was founded. "Our conflict has been long indeed," he said. "HOWEVER, IT IS PEACE, NOT WAR THAT WE ASPIRE TO AND CRAVE."

Chinese television showed the team of climbers, carrying special high-altitude torches, reaching the summit at 0920 local time (0120 GMT). Huddled in the snow they unfurled flags and cheered for the cameras. Correspondents say China is hoping the dramatic feat will counter some of the damaging publicity from the protests during the torch's international relay.

The climbers, dressed in red padded anoraks bearing the Beijing Olympic logo, passed the flame between several torches as they traversed the icy slopes on the final steps to the summit. Holding up Chinese and Olympic flags, they cheered "Beijing welcomes you!" and "One World, One Dream", the official slogan of the Beijing Olympics. The first and last of the torch-bearers were Tibetan women. Security was very tight for the event, with other climbers being banned from the top of Mount Everest, which lies on the border between Nepal and Tibet, in China.

Both China and Nepal sealed off their sides of the mountain and the ascent organisers kept the exact plans a secret because of fears it might draw protests from pro-Tibet activists.

HE WOULD LIKE BRUSSELS TO HAVE GREATER CONTROL OVER ECONOMIC POLICY IN EURO ZONE COUNTRIES -- AND EVEN WANTS ITS MEMBERS TO SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE. Opponents of the European Union claim that Brussels already has too much influence over the internal affairs of the EU's 27 member states. They are unlikely to be thrilled by the news that a leading EU official is calling for far-reaching new powers for the EU's executive branch when it comes to member states' economic affairs -- and even foreign policy.

In the report, which has been seen by SPIEGEL, Almunia says the Commission should also have a hand in determining "adequate wage developments, flexibility and security on labor markets." He also recommends setting up an early warning system for economic crises within the euro zone, so that counter-measures can be taken in time.

According to the new proposals, THE COMMISSION WOULD ALSO REPRESENT THE COUNTRIES OF THE EURO ZONE IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE G-7 GROUP of the leading industrialized countries and the International Monetary Fund, instead of individual countries representing themselves.

Trials of the system, which analyses speech patterns, have made savings of hundreds of thousands of pounds. Seven councils have tested the technology, which is already used by the insurance industry to combat fraud. Critics say genuine claimants may be put off applying for help for fear of being wrongly labelled a fraudster.

Harrow Council was one of the seven areas given cash to introduce the technology. A year on, it says it has saved £420,000, partly because a third of people who received a phone call admitted their personal circumstances had changed and they may not be eligible to receive benefit anymore.

James Plaskitt, anti-fraud minister at the Department for Work and Pensions, said: "The important thing to understand is it flags up a risk, it doesn't prove the fraud in itself. It's an important additional bit of tooling." The lie detectors are expected to be rolled out nationally, with the government claiming they will save taxpayers tens of millions of pounds a year.

Some 5,499,000 of the population (75.5 percent) are Jews, 1,461,000 (20.1%) are Arabs and the remaining 322,000 (4.4%) are immigrants and their offspring who are not registered as Jews by the Interior Ministry.

According to the CBS statistics, since last Independence Day, the country's population has risen by some 130,000, with most of this increase being attributed to natural growth. 156,400 new babies have been born and some 18,000 new immigrants have arrived.

When the state was established, there were only 806,000 residents, with this number reaching its first and second million in 1949 and 1958 respectively. In 1990, Israel's population hit five million and in 1998, after the wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union, it numbered six million.

According to diplomats, United Nations officials and a variety of non-government organizations, NORTH KOREA STANDS YET AGAIN ON THE BRINK OF A MAJOR FOOD SHORTAGE. "The prospect of hunger related deaths in the next few months is approaching certainty," says Marcus Noland, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute and co-author of a just released study raising alarms about the prospect of renewed famine. In fact, one Seoul-based NGO, the Research Institute for North Korean Society, asserts that there have already been a handful of people in small, agricultural villages who have died from starvation.

The emerging shortages demonstrate, again, how vexing it is for the outside world to deal with Kim Jong Il and his regime. Less than two weeks after U.S. intelligence officials in Washington presented evidence that Pyongyang had helped Syria build a nuclear reactor - a site destroyed by the Israeli air force last September - sources tell TIME that a team of U.S. diplomats and officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development is now in Pyongyang, as part of the overall nuclear talks, trying to negotiate an expedited package of food aid. THE U.S. HAS PROPOSED GIVING THE NORTH 500,000 METRIC TONS OF GRAIN, but only if the North agrees to some monitoring of its distribution to ensure that the food is not diverted to the military or to the North Korean political elite.

The carefully choreographed summit between Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao - the first visit by a Chinese president to Tokyo in a decade - was aimed at bolstering ties between the Asian giants. The two also discussed China's contentious handling of protests in Tibet. Fukuda praised Beijing for agreeing to meet with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. "We see the talks as a first step. We take them seriously," said Hu, adding that it was important for both sides to avoid "separatism, violence and obstructions to the success of the Olympics."

Fukuda also said he hoped for a successful Beijing Olympics, recalling THE 1964 SUMMER GAMES IN TOKYO THAT MARKED JAPAN'S EMERGENCE ON THE WORLD STAGE AFTER ITS DEFEAT IN WORLD WAR II. Fukuda, however, said he had not decided whether to attend the opening ceremony. "The world is watching. We hope the Chinese government and people realize this and that people will be able to watch the games with pleasure," he said.

Fukuda also said the countries were on the verge of a resolution of a thorny dispute over THE EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL GAS FIELDS IN THE EAST CHINA SEA. China is tapping the fields, but Japan says they should be jointly developed. They announced the holding of annual summits, and repeatedly called for a new period of warm, future-oriented relations. "WE AGREE THAT COOPERATING TOWARD LONG-TERM PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE," they said in a joint statement released after the summit.

The Pope will text daily messages of inspiration and hope during the six-day Sydney event while digital prayer walls will be erected at event sites and the church will set up a Catholic social networking Web site akin to a Catholic Facebook. The Catholic Church said it decided to use technology to connect to the estimated 225,000 young Catholics expected to attend the World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations that start on July 15.

"We wanted to make WYD08 a unique experience by using new ways to connect with today's tech-savvy youth," Bishop Anthony Fisher said in a statement on Wednesday. Australian telecoms firm Telstra will provide voice, data, mobile, broadband and broadcast services for the event, as well as erect digital prayer walls at event sites. Telstra said it plans to connect 8,000 volunteers, 2,000 clergy, 3,000 media and an anticipated 225,000 pilgrims to more than 700 locations around Sydney.

Australia's Catholic nuns are already praying for good weather for the Pope's visit. The Catholic church is the biggest in Australia with about 5 million members, compared to about 4 million Anglicans among the nation's 21 million people.

THE UNITED STATES IS THE WORLD'S TOP PRODUCER AND EXPORTER OF CORN, which is largely used for animal feed. But with nearly A QUARTER OF THE U.S. CORN CROP GOING TO ETHANOL PRODUCTION, any decline in yields could tighten supplies at a time when the weak dollar has boosted exports, pushing prices even higher and adding to food inflation.

"There is so much going on you can't afford to lose any corn acres, and if you look at the last three years we haven't been above 151 bushels per acre and there is nothing this year to indicate anything different," said analyst Randy Mittelstaedt of Chicago trade house R.J. O'Brien. PRICES ARE UP ROUGHLY 60 PERCENT FOR THE YEAR AND A HUGE 170 PERCENT OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS. The effects are being felt by consumers through higher prices for food items like cooking oil and corn flakes.

Meat companies are also feeling the pain. The largest U.S. chicken producer, Pilgrim's Pride Corp, said on Monday its FEED COSTS WILL RISE BY MORE THAN $800 MILLION IN FISCAL 2008 ending in September. The rise in food prices has triggered criticism over the use of corn to produce ethanol.

Chaiten erupted last Friday, sending a towering plume of ash, some 20 miles (30 kilometers) into the sky, that has since coated the surrounding area of southern Chile and reached into neighboring Argentina. No lava flow has yet been detected down Chaiten's sides, but Chile's National Emergency Office said the volcano was spitting bits of molten rock and that remaining civilians and troops were being evacuated across a fjord. "The situation has changed suddenly," national emergency official Rodrigo Rojas said in an interview. "Today the volcano is erupting with pyroclastic material on a different scale."

The government ordered the evacuation of a 30-mile (50 km) radius around the volcano - which lies some 760 miles (1,220 km) south of the capital, Santiago - including two dozen people who had refused to leave their homes and animals. It appealed to anyone still on remote farms in the area to leave.

The ash is more than 6 inches (15 cm) thick in some places near Chaiten, contaminating water supplies and coating houses, vehicles and trees. Thousands of head of cattle are being moved out of the area. Chile has the world's second most active string of volcanoes behind Indonesia. It is home to 2,000 volcanoes, 500 of which experts say are potentially active. Around 60 have erupted over the past 450 years.