In the news: Voted New Seven Wonders of the World

The statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro has been elected one of the New Seven Wonders of the World by online and telephone voters around the globe. The final results were announced today by actors Ben Kingsley and Hilary Swank, during the official ceremony in Lisbon (Portugal).

The other six Wonders are The Great Wall (China), Petra (Jordan), Chichén Itzá (Mexico), Machu Picchu (Peru), the Colosseum (Italy) and the Taj Mahal (India).

The event is a private initiative organized by a Swiss foundation and has no official status - UNESCO, responsible for officially awarding the title of World Heritage Sites to places of historical, natural and artistic significance, declined to participate. But the election was a huge success: about 100 million votes have been counted, and the ceremony was broadcast to 170 countries, with an estimated 1,6 billion viewers.

Here is a video about the ceremony, presented by Rhiz Khan for Al Jazeera, and a crossword puzzle about the new seven wonders!