The world at a glance . . . Europe

London

Spy on Facebook: The prospective head of Britain’s spy agency found his job imperiled this week after his wife posted photos and information about him on her Facebook page. Sir John Sawers, who is slated to take charge of MI6 in November, was pictured frolicking on a beach and hanging out with friends in an album posted by Lady Shelley Sawers. The posting also contained details about where the Sawers live and work. Opposition parties said the information amounted to a security breach and called for an official inquiry. But Foreign Secretary David Milliband denied that national security had been compromised. “It is not a state secret that he wears Speedo swimming trunks,” he said. “Let’s grow up.” Lady Sawers has deleted her page.

Dresden, Germany

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Brutal hate crime: A pregnant Muslim woman was stabbed to death last week in a German court building by a man who had been earlier fined for insulting her religion. Marwa El Sherbini, 32, was preparing to testify in the appeal of the assailant, known as “Axel W.,” when he stabbed her 18 times in front of her husband and 3-year-old son. The two first met at a Dresden playground, where Axel W. screamed at the head-scarf-wearing El Sherbini, calling her a terrorist. El Sherbini’s body was sent to her native Egypt, where thousands of people attended her funeral, carrying banners denouncing German racism.

Vatican City

Pope wants global government: Pope Benedict XVI has called for the creation of a “world political authority” to oversee the economy and work for the “common good.” In the current economic system, the pope said in a declaration, corporations do not behave ethically, and “the pernicious effects of sin are evident” in the huge gap between the rich and the poor. The Vatican released the encyclical just ahead of this week’s summit in Italy of the Group of Eight industrialized countries. The Vatican reportedly had trouble translating the 144-page document, which is crammed with terms such as “globalization” and “outsourcing,” into Latin.