The Washington Post - Anthony Faiola, 10/18/13

Pope Francis’s viral quotes on wealth, abortion, atheists, war and gay Catholics: The quotable pontiff’s style is made for the Twitter age. Here are some of his most widely shared quotes, from ‘Who am I to judge?’ to ‘even the atheists’ are redeemed.

Since succeeding Benedict XVI, Francis has publicly sought to transform the tone of his office, extending surprise olive branches to everyone from gays and lesbians to professed atheists. But much more quietly, Vatican officials and observers say, the new pontiff has also begun to alter the atmosphere inside the Holy See, taking steps to shed light on the notoriously opaque Vatican Curia.

Aljazeera - 10/19/13

Thousands of Portugese took the streets of Portugal's two most populated cities to demonstrate against planned cuts of pensions and salaries.

Saturday's demonstrations are a response to the government's decision to extend austerity measures in the 2014 budget.

More: Aljazeera.com

The New York Times - 10/17/13, By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and CHARLIE SAVAGE

During his tenure at the Defense Department, Jeh C. Johnson helped shape the Obama administration’s national security policies. Alex Wong/Getty Images

But he has also criticized the Obama administration for being too secretive about matters like targeted killings using drone strikes.'

“The problem is that the American public is suspicious of executive power shrouded in secrecy,” Mr. Johnson said in a speech at Fordham University this year. “In the absence of an official picture of what our government is doing, and by what authority, many in the public fill the void by imagining the worst.”

More: NYTimes.com

RT - Edited 10/20/13

Organizers estimated that 70,000 people took part in the protest, while authorities placed the number closer to 50,000.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Enrico Letta - who is presiding over a fractious Left-Right coalition - presented the 2014 budget that immediately came under a firestorm of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.

More: RT.com