Vatican criticizes questions on pope

Vatican criticizes questions on pope

VATICAN CITY

The honeymoon that Pope Francis has enjoyed since his remarkable election hit a bump Friday, with the Vatican lashing out at what it called a defamatory and “anti-clerical, left-wing” media campaign questioning his actions during Argentina’s murderous military dictatorship.

On Day 2 of the Francis pontificate, the Vatican denounced news reports in Argentina and beyond resurrecting allegations that the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio failed to confront openly the junta responsible for kidnapping and killing thousands of people in a “dirty war” to eliminate leftist opponents.

Bergoglio, like most Argentines, didn’t publicly confront the dictators who ruled from 1976 to 1983, while he was the leader of the country’s Jesuits. And human-rights activists differ on how much blame he personally deserves.

Md. lawmakers vote to ban death penalty

ANNAPOLIS, Md.

Maryland lawmakers approved a measure abolishing the death penalty Friday and sent the bill to Gov. Martin O’Malley, who long has supported banning capital punishment.

The House of Delegates voted 82-56 for legislation already approved by the Senate. Eighty Democrats and two Republicans voted for the bill, which needed 71 votes to pass. Eighteen Democrats joined 38 Republicans to vote against it.

UN: 28% of N. Korea kids malnourished

UNITED NATIONS

More than a fourth of all North Korean children are stunted from chronic malnutrition, and two-thirds of the country’s 24 million people don’t know where their next meal is coming from, the United Nations said Friday.

The report illustrates a major domestic challenge for North Korea’s new, young leader, Kim Jong Un.

A team from the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, reporting from North Korea, found that 2.8 million North Koreans “are in need of regular food assistance amidst worrying levels of chronic malnutrition and food insecurity.” It said 4 percent of North Korean children are acutely malnourished.

Colo. lawmakers OK gun limits

DENVER

A landmark expansion of background checks on firearm purchases was approved Friday by lawmakers in Colorado, a politically moderate state that was the site of last year’s mass shooting at a suburban Denver movie theater.

The bill previously passed the state Senate and now heads to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is expected to sign it into law within two weeks.

Earlier this week, Colorado lawmakers approved a 15-round limit on ammunition magazines. It is also awaiting the expected approval of the governor.

Chavez won’t be embalmed after all

CARACAS, Venezuela

Venezuela’s information minister says the government has decided that the body of Hugo Chavez will not be embalmed for permanent display, as officials had said it would be.

Ernesto Villegas’ tweet Friday night says the government has discarded the option based on the advice of a Russian medical commission.

The message says the commission had said Chavez’s body would have to be sent to Russia for seven to eight months to be properly embalmed.

Acting President Nicolas Maduro announced last week that Chavez’s body would be perpetually displayed, but then on Wednesday he said that now seemed “highly unlikely.”

Associated Press