US secret services allegedly eavesdropped on cardinals before the conclave in March to elect a new pope, Italian weekly magazine Panorama has claimed.

WORKERS scaled the roof of the Sistine Chapel yesterday and attached the chimney pipe from which white smoke will billow to alert the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican made final preparations for Monday’s conclave.

THE banners in St Peter’s Square on Friday last proclaimed “Santo Subito.” Translated, it means “a saint now.” The process may take a few years to start, but the faithful were returning their verdict much sooner.

Michelangelo may have been a Renaissance “Rain Man”, according to and Irish expert in autism.

The Sistine Chapel is now online.