US spied on cardinals before pope’s election, claims Italian magazine
The Panorama news magazine has claimed that discussions among Catholic cardinals were among the 46 million Italian phone calls followed by the NSA in Italy from 10 December 2012 to 8 January 2013. (Independent)
High-Ranking Muslim Brotherhood Leader Is Seized in Egypt
Egyptian security forces have arrested Essam el-Erian, one of the few Muslim Brotherhood leaders left at large after the crackdown that followed the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi in July. (New York Times)
Earth-sized ‘lava world’ discovered
Observations by the Kepler space telescope have revealed a “lava world” with a similar mass and density to Earth, orbiting extremely close to a star 400 light years away. Daytime temperatures on the planet, named Kepler 78b, are thought to be 2,000C-2,800C. (BBC News)
Putin tops Forbes most powerful people list
Russian president Vladimir Putin has replaced US president Barack Obama at the top of Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s most powerful people. The magazine says Obama’s “lame duck period”has started earlier than expected. (BBC News)
Qatar removes Zidane’s headbutt statue after protests
Authorities in the Qatari capital Doha have removed a 16-foot statue depicting French footballer Zinedine Zidane’s infamous World Cup Final headbutt of Italy’s Marco Materazzi after religious conservatives complained that it was anti-Islamic idolatry. (AFP)
