Nearly two months after being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, famed atheist Christopher Hitchens has lost much of his hair but his unbelief remains intact. In his first television interview this week with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Hitchens said the only time he may "hedge [his] bets" is if he is very ill and half demented and doesn't have control over what he says.

While "the faithful love to spread these rumors" that on his death bed he finally accepted Christ, the atheist said he would not do "such a pathetic thing" while he's lucid. "I could be quite sure of that," he told Cooper. And if there are any rumors saying otherwise, he said, "Don't believe it."

"That's all meaningless to me," he said. "I don't think souls or bodies can be changed by incantation or anything else."

"I say if it makes you feel better, then you have my blessing," he said of those praying for him.

There is a long list of protestant (and other) leaders and scholars who have converted to Catholicism. The list for those going the other direction is devastatingly short.

This is why I think we are seeing, and will continue to see even more, protestant thinkers converting to Catholicism. Protestantism is running its course. All the protest is getting tired. And they are running out of places to find answers that don't lead them deep into Church history, back to the ancient liturgy, and into the intellectual tradition that ultimately leads to one place: Rome.

Protestantism has drifted far enough away from orthodox Christianity that it can now look back at the trees and recognize the forest. And if you're not entirely in the Catholic Church, that just might be the next best place to be

Concern began when Russia recently announced a ban on wheat exports, citing a severe heat wave and drought that have charred that nation's wheat crop in the fields. Massive wildfires near Russia's breadbasket are further hampering farming.

Experts say that Russia, which was previously on track to becoming the world's largest exporter of wheat, has lost more than 20 percent of its crop to the drought.

Flooding in Pakistan and a series of deadly mudslides in central China further fueled the food price angst. Canada is expected to see its wheat crop fall by 20 percent this year due to adverse weather. And now Australia's government is warning its farmers of a pending locust plague that could devastate that major exporter's wheat production.

U.N. officials are warning of the potential for a food crisis erupting in Pakistan. About 1 out of 10 Pakistanis has been hard hit by the flooding, and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 1.8 million acres of cropland is now underwater there.

Meanwhile officials are most concerned about the situation in Pakistan, where the government is struggling to get a grip on flood damage that has left millions homeless and out of work. The United Nations is calling it the worst disaster that nation has suffered in 80 years.

Uranium fuel shipped by Russia will be loaded into the Bushehr reactor on Aug. 21, beginning a process that will last about a month and end with the reactor sending electricity to Iranian cities, Russian and Iranian officials said. "From that moment, the Bushehr plant will be officially considered a nuclear energy installation," said Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for the Russian nuclear agency.

The terms of the deal commit the Iranians to allow the Russians to retrieve all used reactor fuel for reprocessing. Spent fuel contains plutonium, which can be used to make atomic weapons. Additionally, Iran has said that International Atomic Energy Agency experts will be able to verify that none of the fresh fuel or waste is diverted.

Russia has said the Bushehr project has been closely supervised by the IAEA. But the U.N. watchdog has no monitoring authority at the plant beyond ensuring that its nuclear fuel is accounted for, and U.S. and EU officials have expressed safety concerns.

They note that Iran - leery of opening up its nuclear activities to outsiders - refuses to sign on to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, making it subject to international monitoring of its atomic safety standards.

Mr. Obama's remarks came after weeks of the White House sidestepping the debate that has roiled New York and the nation since developers announced plans to build a $100 million, 13-story mosque and Islamic cultural center just two blocks from the World Trade Center site.

Opponents, particularly conservatives, have called the proposed mosque an affront to those who died in the attack by Islamist terrorists.

The president, in his prepared remarks for the Friday evening event, said, "I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground. "But let me be clear: as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan,'' he said.

Debra Burlingame, whose brother Charles Burlingame was the pilot of the plane the terrorists hijacked and flew into the Pentagon, said she was furious over the president's remarks. "I'm so angry. I believe this president has abandoned the American people,'' she said. "This isn't a fight about religious freedom for Muslims. No one has argued they don't have the property rights. This is about a project led by someone who says he's trying to build bridges and bring the community together and he's chosen probably the worst place in America and the worst way to do it.''

Iran warns that if Israel were to invade Lebanon, it would be counter-attacked by several countries in the region. Iran's Fars News Agency reported that Ramin Mehman-Parast, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, issued the warning yesterday, saying that while it's unlike Israel will invade Lebanon, the "Zionist regime would be slapped hard in the face by the regional states if it dares to attack Lebanon again."