THE death toll in cyclone-ravaged Burma could hit 500,000 – more than TWICE the total killed by the Boxing Day Tsunami. Last night’s warning came as it emerged that 17 Britons, including ex-pats and backpackers, were still missing. Sources said 200,000 people were already dead or dying. But the figure could rise to HALF A MILLION through disease and hunger if the nation’s hardline army rulers continue to block aid for the devastated lowlands of the Irrawaddy Delta. That would dwarf the 230,000 deaths across South East Asia in the 2004 catastrophe. The Sun Times

Myanmar's junta seized U.N. aid shipments Friday meant for a multitude of hungry and homeless survivors of last week's devastating cyclone, forcing the world body to suspend further help. The aid included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits and arrived in Myanmar on Friday on two flights from Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates. "All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated," U.N. World Food Program spokesman Risley said. Yahoo News

When the Senate takes up legislation next month to confront global warming, environmental groups will have some fervent new allies: evangelicals and other Christian activists. Concerned about what they see as a moral and biblical issue, religious groups from the right are joining with environmental organizations from the left in supporting strong measures to fight global warming. Some Christian leaders are using the clout they have built up in Republican circles to lobby conservatives in Congress to support regulations on greenhouse-gas emissions. Dallas News

The son of evangelical Tammy Faye Bakker Messner will spend his first Mother's Day weekend since her death in Houston, waiting to hear from Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen. Jay Bakker, a high-profile supporter of Soul force - a group that fights religious and political oppression of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender - wants Osteen to join the nontraditional families at a picnic Saturday and welcome them to church on Sunday. "I want to celebrate my mother's life," said Bakker, pastor of Revolution New York City, "and help spread the message she lived and preached. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as 'us' and 'them.' We hope the families of Lakewood Church will open their hearts and minds to us and sit down and have a conversation and share a meal. ... Let's put our differences aside and share the love and hope of Christ." Houston Chronicle

If a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she'd rake in a nifty sum of nearly $117,000 a year. That's according to a pre-Mother's Day study released Thursday by Salary.com, a Waltham, Mass.-based firm that studies workplace compensation. The eighth annual survey calculated a mom's market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs, ranging from housekeeper and day care center teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer. This year, the annual salary for a stay-at-home mom would be $116,805, while a working mom who also juggles an outside job would get $68,405 for her motherly duties. One stay-at-home mom said the six-figure salary sounds a little low. Fox News

Muslim villagers in Mymensingh district eager to rid the area of the Christian work of a local pastor have gang-raped his 13-year-old daughter, the girl's father said. Pastor Motilal Das of United Bethany Church said that at around 3 a.m. on Friday (May 2) the villagers sexually assaulted his daughter, Elina Das, and left her unconscious in front of his house in an attempt to drive him and his Christian ministry out of Laksmipur village in Fulbaria sub-district, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital. Local residents have long been angry with him for his ministry and evangelism, he said, and he has received death threats. “I did not pay attention to any of the threats or hindrances – I continued evangelical and pastoral activities with prayer,” Das told Compass. “They targeted me to evict from this area to stop the Christian activities. When nothing stopped me, then they wanted to leave me scarred for life, so that I would be upset and not be able to show my face to the society for shame, and therefore I would leave the village.” Compass Direct News

Illyas, 20, precariously straddles two worlds. At home with his family, he's a devout Christian who wears a silver cross around his neck, devotionally reads the Bible, and, on the Sabbath, hums hymns of praise to Jesus. Easter and Christmas are celebrated with homemade grape wine, even though alcohol is banned in Iran. US News and World Report

Evangelicals have a serious image problem and need to reform their ways by getting back to the historic meaning of their identity, declared prominent leaders of the movement on Wednesday. In a call to action, representatives of “An Evangelical Manifesto” complained that the term “evangelical” has become too political, watered-down, or distorted in other ways. They urged those who identify themselves as evangelical to support the grassroots effort to restore the original meaning of the term. “When you have best-selling authors that appear on public television with feel-good gospel who have to apologize to their own churches that they diluted the faith when they get home, something is profoundly wrong,” said Os Guinness, a highly respected evangelical scholar and a drafter of the document. Christian Post Reporter

A new chapter in an old and dreary story of political interference with the economic aspirations of low-income and/or immigrant Californians is unfolding in Los Angeles, whose county supervisors have voted to crack down on the horrendous crime of selling tacos. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee

The House on Thursday passed the most sweeping government plan yet to shore up the troubled housing market and help people struggling to pay their mortgages, adopting legislation that would underwrite $300 billion in new loans and keep an estimated 500,000 homeowners out of foreclosure. Maura Reynolds in the Los Angeles Times

When the next earthquake strikes the Bay Area, the first place to go may be a church. Matthai Kuruvila in the San Francisco Chronicle

The university says it is willing to work with the Quaker and her attorneys but suggests it may not have a job for her now. Richard C. Paddock in the Los Angeles Times

In their first face-to-face meeting, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and automakers agreed yesterday to explore new cooperative approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions even as they duel in court and in Congress over just how far the state can go. Michael Gardner in the San Diego Union-Trib

Drivers crossing the Golden Gate Bridge will pay as much as $7 during the morning and evening commutes and on weekend and holiday afternoons if bridge directors approve a congestion-based toll unveiled Thursday. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle