Italy's antitrust watchdog said it was imposing a 3 million-euro fine on messaging service WhatsApp for allegedly obliging users to agree to sharing their personal data with its parent company Facebook.

All 28 European Union data protection authorities asked WhatsApp last year to stop sharing users' data with Facebook due to doubts over the validity of users' consent. The Italian agency said the application led users to believe they would not have been able to continue using the service unless they agreed to terms including sharing personal data. A spokesperson for WhatsApp said: "We're reviewing the decision and we look forward to responding to officials."

Judges at the Supreme Court have ruled that international couples will be able to marry over the Internet, through video conference programs like Skype or Google Hangouts, so long as this is also allowed in the nation state of the foreign spouse.

The Court has made clear that, if this type of marriage is legal in other jurisdictions since it suitably allows for both spouses to express their consent, it cannot be at odds with Italian law just because it is not provided for by the legal order. In Italy, it was previously the case that no one could marry via Skype or any other video calling application. Each marriage would then be considered on a case by case basis.

An Italian magazine said on Wednesday that a United States spy agency had eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly including when former Pope Benedict's successor was under discussion, but the Holy See said it had no knowledge of any such activity.

Panorama magazine said that among 46 million phone calls followed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in Italy from December 10, 2012, to January 8, 2013, were conversations in and out of the Vatican. In a press release before full publication on Thursday, Panorama said the "NSA had tapped the pope". It cited no source for its information.