Both parties cast blame on the other for the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts but gave little guidance on what to expect in the coming weeks.

NPR: Spending Cuts Seem Here To Stay

But the Vatican does not accept Pius XII was culpable of assenting to the Holocaust, and - even if it did - it would be impossible to cast blame on a pope whom the current pope has begun moves to beatify.

BBC: Vatican's Mid-East balancing act

The grand jury report has also cast blame on Pennsylvania's regulatory agencies, arguing that they did nothing to respond to a series of complaints and site violations against Dr Gosnell as well as after the death by overdose of Karnamaya Mongar, a refugee from Nepal.

BBC: Philadelphia abortion doctor tried on 'baby murder' case

Meanwhile, the partisan rhetoric by both sides seeking to cast blame on the other continued unabated, signaling continued political brinksmanship over tax and spending issues beginning with the March 27 deadline for Congress to authorize funding to run the government until the current fiscal year ends on September 30.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS