The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to ban semi-automatic assault weapons in response to the latest mass murders. A previous ban, passed in 1994, was allowed to expire ten years later, and nothing has been done since. The House bill isn’t expected to clear the divided Senate, but the House action forces gun control onto the agenda of the House-Senate reconciliation committee. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Daily Office Asia-Pacific 
