The turnout for the beatification far exceeded even the most optimistic expectation of 1 million people, the number Rome city officials predicted. For Catholics filling St. Peter's Square and its surrounding streets, and for those watching around the world the beatification was a welcome hearkening back to the days when the pope was almost universally beloved.

"He was like a king to us, like a father," Marynka Ulaszewska, a 28-year-old from Ciechocinek, Poland, said, weeping. "I hope these emotions will remain with us for a long time," she said.

Benedict was responding to chants of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood Immediately" which erupted during John Paul's funeral. Beatification is the last major milestone before a candidate is declared a saint. John Paul needs another miracle attributed to his intercession before he can be canonized.

Already, Vatican officials have said reports of inexplicable cures were pouring in, suggesting it is only a matter of time before John Paul is declared a saint, or even a doctor of the church - an even greater honor.

After the nearly three-hour Mass, Benedict prayed before John Paul's coffin, which had a copy of the Lorsch Gospels on it, an illuminated medieval book of the Gospels that is one of the most precious in the Vatican's collection.

During the Mass, Benedict received a silver reliquary holding a vial of blood taken from John Paul during his final hospitalization. The relic, a key feature of beatification ceremonies, will be available for the faithful to venerate.

Behind computer screens and iPhones, worshippers will have the opportunity to listen to Bible readings and a sermon, sing along to hymns and key in prayer requests. They'll even be given a chance to weigh in with an "amen" or "zzzz" via a real-time feedback meter they can click.

Moving to a new software system and developing a 3D environment, St. Pixels Ltd came into operation in 2009 and was registered in the U.K., with membership worldwide.

Offering Peer to Peer Discipleship groups, real time chat open 24/7, dialogue forums, and occasional real life meets, St. Pixels desires "to create a sacred space and a welcoming and witnessing community on the Internet." They also hope to make disciples by providing opportunities for theological reflection, discussion and exploration.

"God is revealed to seekers by many different means, including creation, the Bible, the life of Jesus and the Spirit-filled witness of the Church. St. Pixels is one expression of that historical, international and universal Church."

"We have 600 million 'neighbors' on Facebook," announced Graystone. "St. Pixels on Facebook means 600 million Facebook users now have a church in their pocket. I congratulate St. Pixels on reaching an amazing milestone."

Was it a call to bring the revolts and violence of the "Arab Spring" now sweeping the Middle East to Russia? That is the question that swirled throughout Moscow when a top imam called for the addition of the Islamic crescent moon symbol to the Russian emblem. 

The surprise call by Talgat Tadzhuddin during an interview with a leading Russian newspaper was met with alarm because the imam heads the Central Spiritual Association of Muslims of Russia, a major regional Islamic association. As quickly as the word of the proposal became public it ignited a wave of condemnation. 

"According to this logic," Georgiy Vilinbakhov, head of Russia's Heraldry Service argued, "we must change the name of Russia, put a green stripe on or flag and move the capital city from Moscow to somewhere on the border between Europe and Asia." 

The fears of renewed tension between the state and the Islamist were exacerbated because Moscow had just seen serious clashes between Islamic and Russian youths. 

In Chechnya, for example, Russia has fought two brutal wars and been the subject of major terror attacks by Islamic separatists from the region. The two most significant were the 2004 attack on a school in Beslan that left more than 300 dead and the 2002 siege at a Nord Ost theater by 50 Chechen soldiers that left at least 170 dead. Both attacks left relations with Russia's Islamic community in a fragile state. 

In his interview, Tadzhuddin said, "We are asking for one of the heads (of the Russian state emblem, a double-headed eagle) to be topped with a crescent moon and the other to be topped with a Russian Orthodox cross. All the crowns on the coat of arms -- two on the heads of eagles and one above the middle -- are topped by crosses. But Russia has 20 million Muslims. That is 18 percent of the population." 

Tadzhuddin also said that he had presented a sketch of the proposed change to both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin has not commented on the issue. 

Declaring "justice has been done," President Obama announced late Sunday that Usama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan, marking the end of the worldwide manhunt that began nearly a decade ago on Sept. 11, 2001.

The president made the stunning announcement within hours of informing congressional leaders. He said bin Laden was killed Sunday, the culmination of years of intelligence gathering. The news drew a large crowd to the front of the White House, as well as in Times Square, as people chanted "U-S-A. U-S-A."

"For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaeda's leader and symbol," Obama said. "The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat Al Qaeda."

In the wake of bin Laden's death, authorities around the world are being urged to take security precautions. One source said officials are concerned bin Laden's death could incite violence or terrorist acts against U.S. personnel overseas.

The State Department issued a travel alert for U.S. citizens abroad overnight, citing "the enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counter-terrorism activity in Pakistan."

"Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims," Obama said. "So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity."

The self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 terror plot told interrogators at Guantanamo Bay that Al Qaeda has a nuclear bomb somewhere in Europe and would detonate it if Usama bin Laden was ever captured or killed, The Daily Telegraph reported, citing WikiLeaks' cables.

Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, one of the top prisoners at the facility, called the plan a "nuclear hellstorm." The report, which was first published late last month, said some detainees had comprehensive knowledge of Western countries' nuclear defense.

There was no immediate indication that bin Laden's killing last weekend by the U.S. would prompt Al Qaeda to carry out such a threat, or if it even has the capabilities. To be sure, cables show U.S. authorities uncovered a number of attempts by Al Qaeda to obtain nuclear materials, according to the report.

The WikiLeaks cables about Guantanamo, obtained and detailed last month by several news organizations, illustrated how intelligence agencies employ information obtained by the 780 prisoners. Although some of the information is proved to be erroneous, still some appears to be actionable.

Separately, a prisoner described as the 20th 9/11 hijacker said the terror group is seeking to recruit staff at Heathrow Airport in London and plotted major chemical and biological attacks against the U.S.

The strong-jawed human relative nicknamed "Nutcracker Man" likely didn't crack nuts at all, preferring to graze on grass like a cow instead, scientists find. These findings could dramatically alter conventional wisdom regarding what the earliest members of the human lineage and their relatives ate.

The extinct hominid, officially called Paranthropus boisei, ranged across East Africa 1.2 million to 2.3 million years ago, living side-by-side with the direct ancestors of humanity. It earned its nickname because of its massive jaw and huge molars.

Now scientists investigating carbon isotope ratios in Nutcracker Man's teeth found "it most likely was eating grass, and most definitely was not cracking nuts," Cerling said.

"Frankly, we didn't expect to find the primate equivalent of a cow dangling from a remote twig of our family tree," said researcher Matt Sponheimer at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

By looking at the carbon isotope ratios in tooth enamel, scientists can decipher the past diet. The method relies on the type of carbon used in photosynthesis, the process in which carbon dioxide and water, with energy from the sun, are turned into food for certain plants. For instance, trees and the leaves, nuts and fruits they produce, as well as shrubs, herbs and cool-season grasses, all rely on C3 photosynthesis, which prefers carbon-12, while tropical grasses and sedges such as papyrus rely on C4 photosynthesis, where both carbon-12 and the heavier carbon-13 isotope are used.

The scientists found that P. boisei did not eat nuts or other C3 items, but chewed more heavily on grasses than any early human, human ancestor or human relative studied to date. Their rugged jaws may have helped them munch on tough grass.

"We have been looking at this organism through the wrong lens, which may have led to significant distortions in our understanding of its biology, ecology and evolution," Sponheimer told LiveScience.

Approximately 2.5 million years ago, researchers suggest the australopithecines split into the genus Homo, which produced our species, and the genus Paranthropus, which dead-ended. So what led Paranthropus to die off? It could have been direct competition with Homo, which grew more skilled in tool use over time, or it could have been a variety of other factors, including having a slower reproductive rate, Sponheimer said.

Rather than prayer, a National Day of Reason is a time for focusing upon the employment of reason, critical thought, the scientific method, and free inquiry into the resolution of human problems; free of restrictions imposed by religious tradition, dogma or superstition.

The National Day of Reason is a secular holiday sponsored by the American Humanist Association. Many secular humanists have deep concerns about the current state of political affairs, affairs a National Day of Prayer serves to symbolize. For many the power and influence of the religious right is an alarming development. Many fear the intrusion of religious ideology into all forms of government. A National Day of Reason is a time to contemplate and address such concerns