San Francisco, CA - The phrase "One Nation Under God" went on trial here today, as Kevin "Seamus" Hasson, President of the Becket Fund asked a federal appeals court to overturn a ban on saying the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. In 2005, atheist activist Michael Newdow had succeeded in convincing a Sacramento court to ban the Pledge in the lawsuit Newdow v. Carey because he found the two words "under God" offensive to his atheist beliefs.

Chennnai, Oct. 31: A group of Catholic priests wedded to the liberation theology are meeting next week to discuss ways to overcome casteism which they say has taken deep root in the Catholic church in Tamil Nadu. "Dioceses, parish councils and educational institutions are riddled with casteism and Christian dalits are discriminated against," says Father X.T. Selvaraj, one of the organisers of the conference.

POPE Benedict XVI has criticised modern-day atheism, saying it led to some of the "greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice" ever known. In his second encyclical, Benedict also critically questioned modern Christianity, saying its focus on individual salvation had ignored Jesus's message that true Christian hope involves salvation for all.

MOSCOW: The Russian capital will soon have a second Krishna temple. Sergei Zuyev, vice-president of the Centre of the Krishna Consciousness Societies in Russia, told a gathering of Russian Indologists on Thursday that the construction of the temple will start next year.