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Senate rejects tighter gun control, Trump fires his controversial campaign manager, and more 1. [Senate rejects tougher gun laws in wake of Orlando mass shooting] The Senate on Monday, voting mostly on party lines, rejected four measures designed to curb gun sales in the latest failed attempt to tighten gun laws following a mass shooting. One of the measures would have prevented firearm sales to people on the federal terrorism watch list. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who sponsored a measure to expand background checks, said "Republicans have decided to sell weapons to ISIS." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Democrats were pushing a "partisan agenda." Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is working on a compromise to restrict gun sales to suspected terrorists. Source: [The Washington Post], [CNN] 2. [Trump fires campaign manager Corey Lewandowski] Donald Trump [fired his controversial campaign manager], Corey Lewandowski, on Monday. Allies, including Trump's three adult children, had urged him to replace Lewandowski, a loyalist who had bristled at calls for Trump to tone down his rhetoric and broaden his appeal as part of a pivot from the primaries to the general election campaign. Trump defended Lewandowski after he was accused of roughly handling a reporter at a rally. Lewandowski had clashed with the more seasoned Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman and senior strategist. Source: [The New York Times], [The Washington Post] 3. [Clinton trouncing Trump in fundraising] Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump started June far behind Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in fundraising, according to reports filed late Monday with the Federal Election Commission. Trump, who has a campaign staff of 70, raised just $3.1 million in May, and lent himself $2 million more to cover costs. Clinton, who has a staff of nearly 700, raised more than $28 million in May. She and her allies have spent nearly $26 million on advertising in June, while Trump and his allies have spent less than $2 million. Source: [The New York Times] 4. [Authorities release transcript of calls with shooter during Orlando attack] The Justice Department and FBI on Monday released the full [transcript of phone conversations with Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen] during last week's attack, which killed 49 people and wounded 53. In the call, Mateen declared himself to be an "Islamic soldier" and pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. A redacted version released earlier in the day left out ISIS' name. FBI officials said they did not want to "give credence" to the group. House Speaker Paul Ryan called the editing "preposterous," and demanded the release of the full transcripts. Source: [Reuters], [The Wall Street Journal] 5. [Supreme Court rejects challenge to state assault weapon bans] The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by firearm owners and gun rights groups over [bans on some semiautomatic weapons] in Connecticut and New York. Opponents of the ban argue that the law violates their Second Amendment rights. The court's decision follows the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history when a gunman wielding a semiautomatic rifle killed 49 people at an Orlando LGBT nightclub. A national assault weapon ban expired in 2004. The Supreme Court has not decided a major gun case since 2010. Source: [Reuters] 6. [Clinton leads nationally and in 10 battleground states, new poll says] Hillary Clinton's national lead over Donald Trump extends across all 10 battleground states, according to Monmouth University poll results released Monday. Clinton has a 7-percentage-point edge over Trump nationally, 47 percent to 40 percent. The presumptive Democratic nominee also leads her Republican counterpart by 8 points — 47 percent to 39 percent — in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Clinton is far ahead among minorities and women, while Trump has more support from white voters and men. Source: [The Hill], [Politico] 7. [UN says more people displaced by global conflicts than ever before] The United Nations reported Monday that, in 2015, more people than ever were displaced from their homes due to conflict and persecution. For the first time, the number exceeded 60 million, largely due to mass displacements in the Middle East, Central America, and parts of Africa. Globally, the number rose from 59.5 million in 2014 to 65.3 million — more than the entire population of the UK. Of those, 40.8 million were displaced internally, 21.3 million were refugees, and 3.2 million were seeking asylum in a new country. Source: [United Nations], [The New York Times] 8. [Ex-VW CEO Martin Winterkorn under investigation over diesel emissions scandal] German prosecutors on Monday opened a criminal investigation of former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn in connection with the car maker's diesel emissions scandal. Prosecutors first identified Winterkorn as a suspect in September, then said he wasn't a few days later. Now they are investigating whether he was linked to manipulating the market for the company's stock by failing to come clean about the scandal sooner. VW admitted late last year that it cheated on emissions tests with software it put into as many as 11 million diesel vehicles. Source: [CNN] 9. [Supreme Court rules evidence from some illegal searches can be used in court] The Supreme Court ruled Monday that prosecutors can use evidence found during illegal stops if police knew defendants had outstanding arrest warrants. The case involved a Utah man who left a house that was being watched for drug activity, and was arrested and searched after police learned he had an outstanding warrant for a traffic violation. He had drugs on him. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the 5-3 majority, said the search did not violate the Fourth Amendment because the warrant was valid. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in a scathing dissent that the ruling meant "your body is subject to invasion while courts excuse the violation of your rights." Source: [The New York Times], [The Washington Post] 10. [Police arrest suspect over Brussels bomb scare] Belgian police on Tuesday arrested a man wearing what appeared to be a fake explosive belt after a bomb scare at a shopping mall in the capital city of Brussels. The belt turned out to be filled with "salt and biscuits," police said. Authorities evacuated the shopping mall during the bomb scare. They also taped off five streets around the mall, and closed five subway stations. The incident came a week after reports that ISIS extremists had left Syria for France and Belgium to stage attacks. Source: [Daily Mail] MOST POPULAR [Forgive Pope Francis for his sins against reason] Michael Brendan Dougherty [The ugly secret of working moms] Starshine Roshell [Bernie Sanders wants to make the Democratic Party more democratic — or does he?] Paul Waldman [Corporate America has a secret slave labor force] Jeff Spross [Why Britain should leave the EU] Michael Brendan Dougherty CAPTURED: A PHOTO BLOG Lauren Hansen [Dogs and their dads, dressed to impress] [Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.] [Unsubscribe from this list] | [Update subscription preferences] | [Privacy Policy © 2015 THE WEEK PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE WEEK ® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OWNED BY FELIX DENNIS.] Get 4 Risk-Free [issues of The Week] [TRY IT OUT] [Subscribe] [Subscriber login] [Give a gift] [Back issues] [Classroom subscriptions] [Newsletters] [Privacy policy] [Terms & conditions] [The Week UK] [Contact Us] [Ad info] [RSS] 1.[Senate rejects tougher gun laws in wake of Orlando mass shooting] The Senate on Monday, voting mostly on party lines, rejected four measures designed to curb gun sales in the latest failed attempt to tighten gun laws following a mass shooting. One of the measures would have prevented firearm sales to people on the federal terrorism watch list. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who sponsored a measure to expand background checks, said "Republicans have decided to sell weapons to ISIS." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Democrats were pushing a "partisan agenda." Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is working on a compromise to restrict gun sales to suspected terrorists. Source: [The Washington Post], [CNN] 2.[Trump fires campaign manager Corey Lewandowski] Donald Trump [fired his controversial campaign manager], Corey Lewandowski, on Monday. Allies, including Trump's three adult children, had urged him to replace Lewandowski, a loyalist who had bristled at calls for Trump to tone down his rhetoric and broaden his appeal as part of a pivot from the primaries to the general election campaign. Trump defended Lewandowski after he was accused of roughly handling a reporter at a rally. Lewandowski had clashed with the more seasoned Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman and senior strategist. Source: [The New York Times], [The Washington Post] 3.[Clinton trouncing Trump in fundraising] Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump started June far behind Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in fundraising, according to reports filed late Monday with the Federal Election Commission. Trump, who has a campaign staff of 70, raised just $3.1 million in May, and lent himself $2 million more to cover costs. Clinton, who has a staff of nearly 700, raised more than $28 million in May. She and her allies have spent nearly $26 million on advertising in June, while Trump and his allies have spent less than $2 million. Source: [The New York Times] 4.[Authorities release transcript of calls with shooter during Orlando attack] The Justice Department and FBI on Monday released the full [transcript of phone conversations with Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen] during last week's attack, which killed 49 people and wounded 53. In the call, Mateen declared himself to be an "Islamic soldier" and pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. A redacted version released earlier in the day left out ISIS' name. FBI officials said they did not want to "give credence" to the group. House Speaker Paul Ryan called the editing "preposterous," and demanded the release of the full transcripts. Source: [Reuters], [The Wall Street Journal] 5.[Supreme Court rejects challenge to state assault weapon bans] The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by firearm owners and gun rights groups over [bans on some semiautomatic weapons] in Connecticut and New York. Opponents of the ban argue that the law violates their Second Amendment rights. The court's decision follows the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history when a gunman wielding a semiautomatic rifle killed 49 people at an Orlando LGBT nightclub. A national assault weapon ban expired in 2004. The Supreme Court has not decided a major gun case since 2010. Source: [Reuters] 6.[Clinton leads nationally and in 10 battleground states, new poll says] Hillary Clinton's national lead over Donald Trump extends across all 10 battleground states, according to Monmouth University poll results released Monday. Clinton has a 7-percentage-point edge over Trump nationally, 47 percent to 40 percent. The presumptive Democratic nominee also leads her Republican counterpart by 8 points — 47 percent to 39 percent — in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Clinton is far ahead among minorities and women, while Trump has more support from white voters and men. Source: [The Hill], [Politico] 7.[UN says more people displaced by global conflicts than ever before] The United Nations reported Monday that, in 2015, more people than ever were displaced from their homes due to conflict and persecution. For the first time, the number exceeded 60 million, largely due to mass displacements in the Middle East, Central America, and parts of Africa. Globally, the number rose from 59.5 million in 2014 to 65.3 million — more than the entire population of the UK. Of those, 40.8 million were displaced internally, 21.3 million were refugees, and 3.2 million were seeking asylum in a new country. Source: [United Nations], [The New York Times] 8.[Ex-VW CEO Martin Winterkorn under investigation over diesel emissions scandal] German prosecutors on Monday opened a criminal investigation of former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn in connection with the car maker's diesel emissions scandal. Prosecutors first identified Winterkorn as a suspect in September, then said he wasn't a few days later. Now they are investigating whether he was linked to manipulating the market for the company's stock by failing to come clean about the scandal sooner. VW admitted late last year that it cheated on emissions tests with software it put into as many as 11 million diesel vehicles. Source: [CNN] 9.[Supreme Court rules evidence from some illegal searches can be used in court] The Supreme Court ruled Monday that prosecutors can use evidence found during illegal stops if police knew defendants had outstanding arrest warrants. The case involved a Utah man who left a house that was being watched for drug activity, and was arrested and searched after police learned he had an outstanding warrant for a traffic violation. He had drugs on him. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the 5-3 majority, said the search did not violate the Fourth Amendment because the warrant was valid. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in a scathing dissent that the ruling meant "your body is subject to invasion while courts excuse the violation of your rights." Source: [The New York Times], [The Washington Post] 10.[Police arrest suspect over Brussels bomb scare] Belgian police on Tuesday arrested a man wearing what appeared to be a fake explosive belt after a bomb scare at a shopping mall in the capital city of Brussels. The belt turned out to be filled with "salt and biscuits," police said. Authorities evacuated the shopping mall during the bomb scare. They also taped off five streets around the mall, and closed five subway stations. The incident came a week after reports that ISIS extremists had left Syria for France and Belgium to stage attacks. Source: [Daily Mail] MOST POPULAR [Forgive Pope Francis for his sins against reason] Michael Brendan Dougherty [The ugly secret of working moms] Starshine Roshell [Bernie Sanders wants to make the Democratic Party more democratic — or does he?] Paul Waldman [Corporate America has a secret slave labor force] Jeff Spross [Why Britain should leave the EU] Michael Brendan Dougherty CAPTURED: A PHOTO BLOG Lauren Hansen [Dogs and their dads, dressed to impress] [Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.] [Unsubscribe from this list] | [Update subscription preferences] | [Privacy Policy] © 2015 THE WEEK PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE WEEK ® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OWNED BY FELIX DENNIS. Get 4 Risk-Free [issues of The Week] [TRY IT OUT]