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PBC News & Comment: Supreme Court OK’s Connecticut Ban on Assault Weapons

Despite Supreme Court approval of assault weapons bans, Dems in Senate keep pushing dangerous “No Fly, No Buy” amendment……–Supremes allow lower court ruling to stand, sending clear message that assault weapons bans are constitutional

–Court also weakens protections from illegal searches, drawing blistering dissent from Sotomayor

–Senate is expected to vote today on 4 amendments, as Dems hope to use Orlando to force support for “No Fly, No Buy”

–our latest Newsbud Report includes coverage of the political response to Orlando

–FBI releases partial transcript of Mateen calls to 911, and we note differences in coverage by 3 outlets

–Trump continues stoking fear of Muslims, says we should be profiling, even though he says he hates it; and he fired his campaign manager

–in response to State Dept. dissent memo on Syria, John Kerry indicates that he agrees, exposing major rift with Obama

–last Thursday, US and Russian fighters had a mid-air confrontation over Syria, prompting high-level exchange

–Iraqi military reports regaining control of Falluja from IS

–Sanders campaign pushed Obama and Clinton to embrace increase in Social Security benefits

–the call by Sanders to reform superdelegates and caucuses wins support from California Dems, strong opposition from Black Caucus

NY Times editorial slams Congress for blocking closure of Guantanamo, and urges Obama to allow UN inspection

–Oakland lost NBA championship to Cleveland, and has had 4 police chiefs in last 2 weeks

Briefly:

–65,000 Okinawans protest US base after another murder of a local resident blamed on American civilian

–desperate Venezuelans ransack stores as food shortage grows

–65 million people are displaced by wars in the world, another 19 million displaced in 2015 by natural disasters