The magnitude-7.5 temblor on Oct. 26 left at least 380 people dead and thousands of homes and buildings badly damaged. The number of dead and injured will likely rise as first-responders reach affected areas. Initial reports indicate significant damage to homes and infrastructure in the hardest-hit areas of Pakistan. The earthquake also cutoff communication in parts of the two countries.

"I do believe all our prayers are headed in the same direction and can be a really powerful force coming together," said Peta Jones Pellach, an Orthodox Jewish woman. "I don't see it as just symbolic. I believe in the power of prayer."

"Only God knows the stories of those people who have given their lives, who have died, and continue to be stoned with the hardest stone that exists in the world: language."

"Expressing everything in terms of balance of power—the struggles of groups and classes, friends and enemies—creates fertile ground for social barriers, contempt, even hatred and terrorism and their veiled or open justification," Cardinal Parolin told representatives of the world's religions Oct. 28 at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University.

The Chinese government imposed its one-child policy in 1979 to curb the growth of the population that, at that time, was reaching 972 million people. The policy most strictly applied to Han Chinese, but not to ethnic minorities around China.

The Wisconsin Republican is faced with keeping his party's conference unified as he takes a position that places him third in line for the presidency. He has vowed to change business-as-usual in the House by building broad consensus for legislation and pledged to eschew last-minute, closed-door deals.