(CNN) -- Ingrid Case was a devoted church-goer as a child, not only attending Sunday school, but also serving as an acolyte at her Episcopalian church in Greeley, Colorado.

More than half of American adults have changed religion in their lives, according to a new survey.

"Basically, it's the priest's assistant," she explained. "You carry a cross in front of them, get the things they need to perform the service, scurrying around doing what they need."
But after college, Case drifted away. She didn't feel like she fit in socially at the Episcopalian church in Princeton, New Jersey, and found herself uncomfortable with some of its theology.
"I began to see there were some things I wasn't able to get on board with fully. I don't like the traditional Episcopalian focus on the afterlife," she said.
Today she's a Quaker.
She got involved with the Society of Friends, as the denomination is formally known, through the man who later became her husband, Nat Case. He wasn't raised a Quaker either, she said, though he went to a Quaker-run boarding school as a child.
Her shift in religion was gradual, said Case, 41, a freelance writer and editor in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"It wasn't so much 'You people stink and I am out of here,' as 'I like this better and this is what I want to do.' "
Case isn't alone. More than half of American adults have changed religion in their lives, a huge new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found. And there is no discernible pattern to the change, just "a free for all," one of the lead researchers told CNN.

Mumbai attack suspect 'lying about age'Story Highlights

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Medical tests show that the lone surviving suspect in last year's Mumbai terrorist attacks is not a juvenile, so should be tried as an adult, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Abbas Kazmi, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab's lawyer, says his client should be tried in a juvenile court.

A panel of four doctors carried out dental and bone tests to determine Mohammed Ajmal Kasab's age, as ordered by the judge, and determined that he is older than 20, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters.
The prosecution also presented two witnesses to support its claims that Kasab is not a juvenile, as he claimed.
His attorney had said that his client is a minor whose case belongs in juvenile court.
A doctor who examined Kasab after his arrest in November and a jail superintendent were deposed in court as prosecution witnesses.
Defense attorney Abbas Kazmi, who insists his client is underage, told CNN that on Wednesday he would cross-examine the doctors who carried out the tests on Kasab, focusing on what he called a possible margin of error in their report.
Kasab is charged with 12 criminal counts including murder, attempted murder and waging war against India. He has recanted, saying he confessed under duress.
He was caught on surveillance camera holding a gun as he stalked and killed people inside Mumbai's main train station in November, police said. Kasab is also accused of shooting people at Mumbai's Cama hospital.
Kasab is one of 10 Pakistani nationals who police said unleashed terror on Mumbai, India's financial capital, for four days and three nights.

White House apologizes for low-flying plane

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A White House official apologized Monday after a low-flying Boeing 747 spotted above the Manhattan skyline frightened workers and residents into evacuating buildings.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty.


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The huge aircraft, which functions as Air Force One when the president is aboard, was taking part in a classified, government-sanctioned photo shoot, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," said Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office. "While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption."
Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty before flying up the Hudson River. It was accompanied by two F-16s.

U.S. prepares for possible swine flu epidemic as global cases riseStory Highlights

CNN) -- The United States stepped up preparations for a possible swine flu epidemic, and Canada confirmed its first cases on Sunday as researchers worked to determine how contagious the virus could be.Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano briefs reporters at the White House Sunday. 1 of 3more photos » var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger('cnnImgChngr','/2009/HEALTH/04/26/swine.flu/imgChng/p1-0.init.exclude.html',2,1);//CNN.imageChanger.load('cnnImgChngr','imgChng/p1-0.exclude.html');Keiji Fukuda, the assistant director-general of the World Health Organization, called the outbreak "serious" on Sunday. Researchers are still trying to determine how easily the virus is transmitted person to person and it's too early to predict whether there will be a mild or serious pandemic, said Fukuda.Dr. Alejandro Macias, an epidemiologist and adviser to the federal Ministry of Health, told CNN en Español that the official death toll was at 86. Macias said five more deaths in Mexico City had been reported to federal authorities by local authorities in the city.Earlier, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said 81 deaths were suspected to be from the outbreak and 374 people remained hospitalized. Another 929 people have been examined and sent home, he said.

YouTube orchestra debuts, wows Carnegie Hall

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The YouTube and Carnegie Hall generations collided Wednesday night in New York City as a nearly sold-out audience looked on in amazement.

Images from musicians' videos are projected during the YouTube Symphony Orchestra concert in New York.

Almost 100 musicians from around the world -- the world's first symphony orchestra comprised of members who auditioned solely online -- played their debut gig. They may have forever changed the audition process in their journey.
The YouTube Symphony Orchestra bore a new era of classical performance at Carnegie Hall, and according to a YouTube employee, that's exactly what they wanted to do.
"We hope this is game changing in the sense it redefines audition space, it brings people closer together and lets them collaborate, transcending geographical and linguistic boundaries," said marketing manager Ed Sanders.
Participants were chosen from more than 3,000 YouTube video submissions from more than 70 countries and territories spanning six continents, according to a press release. Watch orchestra play »
Their YouTube channel has received more than 15 million page views thus far with members hailing from more than 30 countries. The symphony orchestra's members participated in the three-day Classical Music Summit at Julliard and their Carnegie Hall debut served as the finale.
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Michael Tilson Thomas directed the performance and also served as the artistic adviser and conductor to the orchestra. He refined and nurtured each member through their musical selections online until the entire orchestra met in the real world a few days ago.
"For us it's somewhere between a classical music summit conference and a scout jamboree with an element of speed dating thrown in," Thomas said.
While some participants traveled from as far as South Korea, Malaysia and Lithuania, bass player Kurt Hinterbichler lives in New York City. A theoretical physicist working on his doctorate at Columbia University, Hinterbichler was enamored at being chosen to participate.
"Carnegie Hall is still sort of the unofficial pinnacle of achievement of the classical music world," he said. "You know once you've made it to Carnegie Hall you've really made it."
So, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? "Upload, upload, upload [YouTube videos]," joked Thomas, updating the old "practice, practice, practice" punchline.
Violin player Jennifer Lindsay, who is a systems engineer by day, said she was floored when she learned she was selected. "YouTube gave me this opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall. There's no other way that someone like me who is not even a professional musician would have ever made it."
World-renowned composer Tan Dun created a piece especially for the orchestra titled "Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica." Dun told YouTube his inspiration for this piece came from the streets of many international cities.
"On the streets of New York, London, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, I heard the street noise...then I thought this is the spirit beyond, this is the spirit of today."
Dun has also created music for the movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and the Beijing Summer Olympics.
The symphony orchestra played to a Carnegie Hall audience that was almost 90 percent of capacity.
Audience members seemed to love not only the performance, but the idea as a whole. Peter Newton and his wife were on vacation in New York from London and decided to attend the concert.
"The mixture between the music and democracy... it's interesting that at the end of the day, you bring them together for this performance," he said.
Aaron Polsky attended the performance in support of his sister, who helped organize it. He was amazed at how limitless the performance seemed. "I think it's great... there are really no boundaries other than owning a computer and an Internet connection."
Musicians Lindsay and Hinterbichler both said they had no doubts the event would be a success.
"Absolutely do not underestimate the motivational power of playing at Carnegie Hall," Lindsay said. Hinterbichler agreed, "We've got world class conductors, it will come together."
In the spirit of YouTube, Travis Threlkel designed videos that accompanied all 15 musical selections. The lights in the room changed from green to red during some segments to match the mood of the selection.
Dun said he thought the concert would be a hit with the Internet community. "The whole world tonight is Googling around what's happening in Carnegie Hall," he said.
Hinterbichler said he still did not grasp the vast reality of the situation.
"It's going to be one of those life experiences you know. I probably won't know what it means until ten years down the line when I look back at it," he said.

Donors pledge over $5 billion in aid to Pakistan

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) — Donors pledged more than $5 billion in aid to Pakistan Friday, Japan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed.
The pledges came at a conference of international donors focused on helping bolster Pakistan’s economy and enabling the country to fight terror and Islamic radicalism.
Japan and the World Bank co-hosted the 2009 Pakistan Donors Conference, with representatives of 31 countries and 18 international organizations and agencies.
“The international community is facing profound economic challenges,” Hirofumi Nakasone, Japan’s foreign affairs minister, said at the opening session of the donors conference. “At the same time it must tackle the acute problem of terrorism, which is occurring all around the world and threatens people’s peaceful lifestyles and their happiness.
“Pakistan plays an extremely important role in the efforts to eradicate terrorism undertaken by the international community, and its stability is directly tied to the stability and peace of the surrounding region including Afghanistan, and consequently to the stability and peace of the international community

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The last survivor of the Titanic, 97-year-old Millvina Dean, is auctioning off her remaining mementos of the doomed ship to pay nursing home bills.

Millvina Dean, 97, is trying to raise money so she can stay in the nursing home she prefers.

The auction, which is expected to raise up to $50,000 for her, is set to take place Saturday near her home in England.
It is the second auction in less than a year for Dean, who was a 9-week-old when the ship sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.
Among the items going under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son is a canvas bag that might have been used to lift the infant Dean from a lifeboat to a rescue ship, said Alan Aldridge of the auction house.
"Historical documents say she was lifted from the lifeboat onto Carpathia, the rescue ship, in a mail sack," Aldridge said. After her rescue, Dean, her mother and her brother returned to England with a canvas sack, among other possessions.
"There is speculation that this would have been the bag. It's a leather and canvas bag. You would easily get a child or infant in it," Aldridge said, though he added that research by the Smithsonian, the British Postal Museum and the Liverpool Maritime Museum showed no proof that Dean had been taken off the lifeboat in that particular bag.
Given that the auctioneer cannot prove Dean was rescued in the bag, "we expect it to fetch £3,000 ($4,480). If it was the bag she was rescued in, it would be £30,000 to £40,000, ($44,800 to $60,000), but we can't prove it. It depends on what people are prepared to believe."
Aldridge said he was eager to raise as much for Dean as possible.
"She's in a residential nursing home. She's 97 years of age. She's paying £3,000 a month in nursing home fees," he said -- the amount he hopes her canvas bag will sell for.
"As she said, £3,000 a month is £36,000 a year, which is a lot of money," he said. "When she runs out of money, the state will pay fees for her, but while she can pay her fees, she decides where she gets her care. When the state pays, they decide."
Dean's previous sale, in October, raised just over £30,000, Aldridge said.
"It's made a lot of people aware of her plight; a lot of people have sent her funds," he said.
Dean never married and had no children.
"There are cousins, but there is no one directly to support her," Aldridge said. "The property she lived in [before she moved to the nursing home] was not hers. She's just an ordinary little old lady.
"If she's lucky, she'll get another four or five years; she's quite a fit lady," he said.
Dean was not available to speak to CNN herself because of a throat infection, Aldridge said.
The auction will include 17 items from her collection, most of them memorabilia related to the Titanic and signed by her but not from the ship itself.
The auction, in Devizes, southwest England, will also include a collection of letters from the estate of Titanic survivor Barbara Dainton-West, estimated to fetch £40,000 to £60,000 ($60,000 to $90,000). The letters include descriptions of her family's trip to board the Titanic and the immediate aftermath of the sinking.
Dainton-West, who was 10 months old when the ship went down, died in October 2007, the auctioneer said.

Mumbai terror attacks trial suspended

MUMBAI, India (CNN) -- The lawyer for the main suspect in last year's deadly terrorist attack in Mumbai was removed Wednesday, delaying the high-profile trial that was set to begin.

Soldiers patrol in Mumbai on the eve of the trial of a key suspect in last year's attacks in the Indian city.

The trial start for Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 21, is expected to be moved to Thursday as officials scramble to settle the lawyer issue. Kasab is thought to be the only one of 10 gunmen to survive the three-day siege, which killed more than 160 people in November.
As the trial was to begin, the judge removed attorney Anjali Waghmare because she also was representing a witness in the case. Waghmare argued that she had no idea that the person was a witness in the terror case, and she was representing this person in a different case. But the judge declared that it was a conflict of interest.
An Indian court appointed Waghmare two weeks ago to represent Kasab, and it was unclear who would replace her.
Kasab demanded that his attorney be replaced with a Pakistani lawyer. But the judge denied that request and said that a Pakistani lawyer may be able to be brought in as a consultant from outside the courtroom.
Kasab, a Pakistani national, faces more than a dozen charges, including murder, conspiracy to wage a war against the nation and terrorism.
During the proceedings Wednesday Kasab seemed relaxed and smiled many time at the large crowd of journalists in the courtroom. Kasab also requested newspapers to be brought in so that he could see what the media was writing about him.
Prosecutors last month accused him of trying to delay the trial by insisting that the 11,000-page document detailing the charges against him -- which was written in English and the local Marathi language -- be translated into Urdu, the official language of Pakistan. The court rejected his request.

Solar tsunami data will predict Earth havoc

(CNN) -- NASA scientists say new data provided by twin spacecraft analyzing the sun will help them more accurately predict how so-called solar tsunamis wreak havoc on our planet.

NASA says new data on so-called solar tsunamis will help predict how they will affect our planet.

The tsunamis -- powerful explosions known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs -- produce solar cosmic rays that can interfere with technology, causing power blackouts and disrupting air traffic communications and cell phone networks.
NASA says images captured by its twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, spacecraft have enabled scientists to map the tsunamis in 3D to examine their structure, velocity, mass and direction.
The solar ejections, its says, can release billions of tons of high-velocity plasma into space, producing a shockwave that generates cosmic rays which then plow into our atmosphere.
These can create the brightly-colored auroras, more commonly known as the Northern or Sourthern lights, but also have more damaging effects, posing particular threats to spacecraft and astronauts.
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Solar physicist Angelos Vourlidas of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington said the new data from the STEREO craft -- launched into orbit in October 2006 -- will revolutionize the study of cosmic weather patterns.
"Before this unique mission, measurements and the subsequent data of a CME observed near the sun had to wait until the ejections arrived at Earth three to seven days later," he said in statement.
"Now we can see a CME from the time it leaves the solar surface until it reaches Earth and we can reconstruct the event in 3D directly from the images."