View latest cross story updates

The cross atop Mount Soledad in the riches-stricken La Jolla suburb of San Diego stands as testimony to the founding of the city by Father Junípero Serra, a Catholic priest who was the first Christian missionary in California. San Diego has since become the seventh largest city in America and the second largest in California, but its development would have been much different if Father Serra had not sunk the first cross in San Diego soil back in 1769.

The bird flu is a major threat to America, far more important than terrorism, the war in Iraq, or nuclear proliferation in Iran or Korea. But the Bush administration is failing Americans by not dealing appropriately with the issue, as was the case with Hurricane Katrina.

For people facing surgery or fighting disease, the prayers of others can be a comfort. But a large U.S. study has found that praying for the health of a heart bypass patient has no impact on their surgical outcome, VOA News reported.