Rallies in Venezuela

Rallies in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela

Venezuelans on both sides of the nation’s bitter political divide took to the streets Saturday after two weeks of mass protests that have President Nicolas Maduro scrambling to squash an increasingly militant opposition movement.

In Caracas, tens of thousands of opponents of Maduro filled several city blocks in their biggest rally to date against his 10-month-old government. Across town, at the presidential palace, Maduro addressed a much-smaller crowd of mostly female supporters dressed in the red of his socialist party.

The dueling protests capped a violent week in which the government jailed Leopoldo Lopez, a fiery hard-liner who roused the opposition after its defeat in December’s mayoral elections, and dozens of other student activists. The violence has left at least 10 people dead on both sides and injured more than 100.

Maria von Trapp, 99, dies in Vermont

STOWE, Vt.

The last surviving member of the original Trapp Family Singers made famous in “The Sound of Music” died this week at her home in Vermont. Maria von Trapp was 99.

Von Trapp’s brother, Johannes von Trapp, says that she died Tuesday.

The family won acclaim throughout Europe for their singing and escaped from Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938. Their story was turned into the film and Broadway musical. Maria von Trapp was the second-oldest girl and was portrayed as Louisa in “The Sound of Music.”

Scouts sell cookies at pot dispensaries

PHOENIX

Customers of some medical-marijuana dispensaries are discovering that they don’t have to go far if they have a case of the munchies.

A few days after a teenager sold dozens of boxes of cookies outside a San Francisco pot dispensary, 8-year-old Lexi Menees returned to TruMed Dispensary in Phoenix on Saturday for the same purpose.

The girl’s mother, Heidi Carney, got the idea after hearing about what happened in San Francisco.

“For me, this isn’t anything controversial,” Carney said. “It’s medication. It’s no different than standing in front of a Walgreens or a CVS.”

Susan de Queljoe, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus-Pine Council, said selling in front of marijuana dispensaries isn’t something the organization would encourage, but that it’s up to the parents.

Cops acquitted of killing 83 protesters

CAIRO

An Egyptian court acquitted six police officers Saturday on charges of killing 83 protesters during the country’s 2011 uprising, something rights activists say could allow toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak to walk free on similar charges.

It’s the last case in a string of acquittals for nearly 100 officers charged in the killings of more than 840 demonstrators during the 18-day revolt.

Security Council OKs Syria resolution

UNITED NATIONS

The U.N. Security Council united for the first time on a resolution on Syria’s humanitarian crisis Saturday, demanding that President Bashar Assad’s government and the opposition provide immediate access everywhere in the country to deliver aid to millions of people in desperate need.

The fate of the Western and Arab-backed resolution rested with Russia, Syria’s closest ally, and China, another supporter.

After two weeks of negotiations and a watering-down of the original text, they decided to join the rest of the 15-member council in sending a strong message, especially to the Assad government, that food, medicine and other essentials must not be blocked to civilians caught in the three-year conflict.

Associated Press