Midday Roundup: Defying critics, pope blesses spanking

Papal blessing.The Vatican is defending Pope Francis’ remarks supporting the use of corporal punishment for children in a way that maintains their dignity. The pope made the statement during his weekly general audience while talking about the traits of good fathers. He also said fathers should forgive their children, correct them with firmness, and not discourage them. The United Nations has criticized the Vatican’s position on spanking and accused personnel at Catholic schools of taking corporal punishment too far. But the Vatican maintains it has no jurisdiction over Catholic schools and that childrearing is under the purview of parents. The Vatican also announced Thursday that Pope Francis will become the first pontiff to address the U.S. Congress in an appearance scheduled for Sept. 24.

Campus shooting. The School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina is closed after a murder-suicide there Thursday. An unidentified shooter killed Professor Raja Fayad and then committed suicide, The State newspaper reported. The campus in Columbia, S.C., was locked down for several hours after the shooting.

On authority. Congress is waiting on President Barack Obama to send a formal request for use of military force in the fight against ISIS. Right now, Obama is relying on a Bush-era vote in Congress that authorized military action after the 9/11 attacks to justify anti-ISIS airstrikes and military assistance to Iraqi security forces. Having Congress grant him specific war powers to combat ISIS would send an important message to the enemy, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. But the debate in Congress is sure to be a complicated one. While Obama generally doesn’t have the support of Republicans, the GOP has called for a stronger response to the ISIS reign of terror in the Middle East. “This is not going to be an easy lift,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday.

Baghdad all-nighter. Even as ISIS holds vast swaths of Iraq hostage, the government plans to lift a decade-long curfew in Baghdad this weekend. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also announced four neighborhoods will be demilitarized and officials will work to remove blast walls and barricades in an attempt to let residents return to normalcy. The Washington Post reports Baghdad is experiencing a commercial renaissance, albeit one that ends abruptly at midnight every night. Now residents will be able to party in the city’s many nightclubs all night long. A spokesman for al-Abadi told the Post the move is designed to show the world that freedom exists in areas of Iraq that are not under ISIS control.

Back to work. Employers added more jobs than expected—about 257,000—last month, signaling a resurgence in the labor market, the U.S. Department of Labor announced today. Unemployment stayed about the same, mainly because, as the number of jobs grows, more people are entering the labor market to seek employment. Wages increased slightly, and the average work week stayed the same—34.6 hours. The biggest job gains were in the healthcare and retail sectors.