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ROME — An art museum in northern Italy said Thursday it will continue displaying a sculpture portraying a green frog nailed to a cross that has angered Pope Benedict XVI and local officials.

The board of the foundation of the Museion in the city of Bolzano voted to keep the work by the late German artist Martin Kippenberger, the museum said in a statement.

Earlier in August the pope had written a letter to Franz Pahl, the president of the Trentino-Alto Adige region that includes Bolzano, denouncing the sculpture.

It "has offended the religious feelings of many people who consider the cross a symbol of God's love and of our redemption," Pahl quoted the pope as writing in the letter.

The 1990 wooden sculpture shows the crucified frog nailed through the feet and hands like Jesus Christ. The frog, eyes popping and tongue sticking out, wears a loincloth and holds a mug of beer and an egg in its hands.

The museum said the 3-foot-tall sculpture has nothing to do with religion, but is an ironic self-portrait of the artist and an expression of his angst.

SAO PAULO — A disposable diaper has saved the life of an 18-month-old boy, breaking his fall from a third-floor apartment window, officials said Thursday.

Caua Felipe Massaneiro survived a 30-foot fall because his diaper snagged on a security spike embedded in the concrete wall around his apartment building in the northeastern Brazilian city of Recife.

The boy dangled from the spike for a moment, then "the diaper opened and the baby fell to the ground, but at a much slower speed," a police officer said. "The diaper obviously lessened the impact of the fall and saved the baby's life."

The child was treated for minor fractures and was listed in stable condition. Police have opened an investigation to determine how the toddler fell out the window.

MEXICO CITY — Police in southern Mexico found two piles of decapitated bodies containing the remains of 11 men on Thursday.

Photos of the crime scene showed headless corpses stacked on top of one another in a field outside the city of Merida. Some of the bodies had tattoos and were jumbled amid blankets and tarps.

The heads were not immediately found.

The federal attorney general's office confirmed there were 11 dead and it was taking over the investigation — a move that usually indicates a case involves high-caliber weapons or drug trafficking, both federal offenses.

CANBERRA — An oxygen tank exploded and blew a car-sized hole in a Qantas jet last month, air safety officials said today, but investigators appear to be no closer to figuring out why.

The release of the interim report by Julian Walsh, acting executive director of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, confirmed earlier suspicions by investigators that the tank was the cause.

"We don't really know why the bottle failed — and that's the key question for the investigation," Walsh told reporters in releasing the report. He said the investigation will likely continue for months.

The Boeing 747-438 aircraft, carrying 365 people, was flying over the South China Sea July 25 when the explosion blew a hole in the fuselage 79 inches wide and 60 inches high, the report said.

Walsh said one of the seven emergency oxygen cylinders below the cabin floor had exploded.

LONDON — The European Court of Human Rights has cleared the way for the extradition of a British man who allegedly hacked into secret U.S. military computers, his lawyer said Thursday.

The court refused to delay Gary McKinnon's extradition to the United States, which he says would violate his human rights. McKinnon's lawyer, Karen Todner, said his extradition could come within the next two weeks.

"He is terrified by the prospect of going to America," Todner said, adding that Mc-Kinnon has recently been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism.

U.S. prosecutors want to try McKinnon, 42, for allegedly hacking into 97 computers belonging to NASA, the Department of Defense and several branches of the military from a bedroom in a north London home.

MUMBAI — The Dalai Lama was admitted to a hospital in this western Indian city on Thursday to undergo tests for abdominal discomfort, his spokesman said.

"Since tests haven't begun yet, we don't know what the ailment is," Tenzin Takla told The Associated Press. "Medical tests will begin on Friday."

The Dalai Lama's office in Dharmsala said Wednesday that the 73-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader was suffering from exhaustion.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A strong earthquake struck off Canada's west coast early Thursday near Vancouver Island. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.

The magnitude-6.1 quake hit at 5:37 a.m. Its epicenter was 97 miles west of Port Hardy and 293 miles west northwest of Vancouver, the U.S. Geological Survey said.