Pope Benedict XVI publicly baptized on Monday an Egyptian-born Muslim journalist, known for his renunciation of Islamic beliefs. The traditional Easter vigil service held on Monday at St. Peter's Basilica, marked the beginning of 55-year-old Magdi Allam's life as a Roman Catholic, after he admitted that he has been a non-practicing Muslim all his adult life. Taking "Christian" for his middle name, Allam, a deputy director for the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, wrote in an article, "I had to do this. Beyond extremists and Islamist terrorism at the global level, the root of evil is inherent in a physiologically violent and historically conflictual Islam. "

Technology is displacing the telephone directory from American households. Environmentalists and households, among others, are now questioning the wisdom of printing 2,000 pages of phone numbers hardly touched by consumers who prefer speed dialing features of their mobile units or Internet search engines to find a contact number. A number of apartment buildings in South Boston reported 2008 editions of newly delivered phone books remain untouched in foyers.

Police authorities were contacted by a man who reported that a burglar had stolen about $3,200 from his house - along with his marijuana stash. The man primarily claimed that someone had broken into his Apple Valley home, and that he was not certain whether or not the burglar had taken anything. Upon the arrival of Apple Valley police, the man said that the robber had indeed made off with his precious supply.

A gray seal was spotted Saturday morning, walking along the streets of eastern Maine, passing in front of several houses and a horse pasture, then wondered onto one of the highways. Suspected to have come from Whiting Bay, the seal reportedly got on Route 189 in Washington County. It then ran into trouble upon getting on the highway, with its body shape preventing it from proper mobility on the asphalt. Drivers who spotted the animal stopped.

A customer of the Indian River Mall discovered more than $5,000 hidden inside a sneaker while shopping for shoes. He reportedly found the cash stashed inside the toe of the sneaker, as he was trying it on. The 71-year old man, who chose to remain anonymous, was reportedly looking for a pair of size 10 shoes. A store clerk at the Dillard's store went to the storeroom and brought back the shoes. Upon putting it on, the man felt a mass in the shoe's toe, and thought it was a balled-up tissue paper.