A defiant Morsi adds chaos to the start of his trial in Egypt

How powerful are the Mexican drug cartels? Powerful enough, evidently, that in one Mexican city they've been able to shut off the sale of tortillas. Really.

The BBC's News from Elsewhere blog reports that such dictates from cartel commanders come on top of the continuing violence, which includes the murder of five priests in a neighboring area.

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Son of a Nazi art dealer hoards food and $1.3 billion trove of stolen art

In a classic hoarder's apartment in Munich, choked with tins containing old food and noodles, police found art by Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, and Renoir.

The Telegraph reports that police suspect many of the 1500 pieces were among the "degenerate art" confiscated from Jews in Nazi Germany.

The apartment owner was caught in a German sting targeting people with undeclared Swiss bank accounts. His father was art dealer Hildebrandt Gurlitt, who claimed the confiscated artwork had been destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden in 1945.

How do you explain widespread US spying? Here's the NSA's top 10 reasons

It's not easy to justify eavesdropping on leaders of friendly nations and their citizens. So the NSA prepared a handy list of responses for White House officials, for Congress and even for leaking to the media.

Al Jazeera America reporter Jason Leopold used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the NSA "talking points." He told PRI's The World that two themes — 9/11 and the need to "connect the dots" — ran through the top 10 reasons.

Today is Russia's Day of Unity – but not for everyone

The anti-gay climate in Russia continues with a weekend attack at an LGBT center as the latest example.

One person was hospitalized after men armed with compressed air pistols attacked the center in St. Petersburg — just a day after an anti-hate rally organized by Russian LGBT activists. The Telegraph reports that the violence occurred on the eve of Russia's Day of National Unity, which has been taken over by far-right groups. 

Here's how Einstein screwed up General Relativity, and other tales of brilliant blunders

Even scientific geniuses make mistakes. For example, Einstein threw in an extra "cosmological constant" into his General Relativity equations to explain why gravity wouldn't cause the university to collapse on itself.

Later, he removed it — and it turns out that was the real mistake. Studio 360 looks at a new book, written by a NASA astrophysicist, that examines the scientific blunders of some of the world's greatest scientists.

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Weather around the world

Tropical Storm Sonia has turned into a tropical depression as it moves across the central Mexico Pacific coast. Six to 10 inches of rain are forecast for the area in Sinaloa state, with sustained winds of 35 mph and stronger gusts, according to the US National Weather Service.