Venezuela's Maduro pays surprise visit to Pope

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made an unannounced trip to the Vatican on Monday to meet Pope Francis, who urged the embattled leader to alleviate people's suffering to solve the crisis in his country. A Vatican statement said the private, evening meeting "took place in the framework of the worrying situation of the political, economic and social crisis that the country is going through and which is weighing heavily on the entire population". It said the pope had urged Maduro to "courageous