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SINCE the beginning of the new year, tourists in Rome who want to visit the Sistine Chapel and see the papal art collections have had to put up with some unholy complications. At the end of a tedious hike from Saint Peter's square and often lengthy queuing alongside the Vatican's walls, they are being told that they cannot pay with credit or debit cards.

DESPITE pleas from international agencies to keep the fighting between combatants, Syria’s war continues to inflict a staggeringly high toll on civilians. On January 15th two explosions at Aleppo University killed at least 82 people, mainly students, and left scores more wounded. Video footage from the scene showed damaged university buildings, including a dormitory, with belongings scattered on the ground.

Aleppo, Syria’s most populous city and former commercial hub, has been ravaged by war since July, when rebels fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime moved into the city.

THE world’s growth continued to slow in the third quarter of last year, according to The Economist's measure of global GDP, based on 52 countries. Global growth fell by 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter to 2.4%, its lowest level since the end of 2009. Emerging economies accounted for four-fifths of global GDP growth. Developed countries, weighed down by a slow recovery in America and the ongoing euro crisis, contributed little. The coming year is expected to be much the same. The three economies forecast to contract the most in 2013 are all euro members (Greece, Portugal and Spain), while the fastest growers (Macau, Mongolia and Libya) are all emerging economies.

IN 1958 a priest named Gerardo Flórez, then 70 years old, was blessed with the world's first artificial pacemaker. The device kept his heart ticking in good order for another 18 years. It connected to the heart externally, weighed 45kg and was powered by a 12-volt battery that had to be lugged around on a cart and recharged every 72 hours. Pacemakers, which use electrical impulse to regulate the beating of a heart, have since shrunk substantially, as have the power packs. But scientists would dearly love to get rid of the batteries altogether. Even the best modern ones run out every 7-10 years and patients need to undergo surgery to have replacements installed.