10 things you need to know today: June 17, 2016

1. Obama calls for tougher gun laws during Orlando visit

President Obama made an urgent appeal for tougher gun control laws during a visit to Orlando on Thursday, as mourners in the city held the first funerals for the 49 people killed in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub. Obama spent much of the day meeting with the families of victims, survivors, and first responders to offer his comfort and support. "Our hearts are broken, too," Obama told grieving relatives. "We stand with you." Obama called on lawmakers to come up with ways to help "end the plague of violence that these weapons inflict on so many lives."

The Washington Post

2. British lawmaker killed, leading to Brexit campaign halt

A British lawmaker, Jo Cox, was fatally shot and stabbed Thursday as she prepared to meet with constituents. Cox, a rising star in the center-left Labour party, was a former humanitarian worker who championed Syrian war victims and keeping Britain in the E.U. A suspect identified by locals as Tommy Mair, 52, was arrested. A watchdog group said he had ties to U.S. white supremacists. Witnesses said the killer shouted "Britain first" during the attack. After the murder, campaign events were suspended ahead of next week's referendum on whether Britain should exit the European Union.

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USA Today

3. Dozens of U.S. diplomats call for airstrikes against Assad regime

More than 50 State Department officials have signed an internal memo protesting U.S. policy in Syria and calling for targeted airstrikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The Obama administration has stopped short of attacking Assad forces to avoid a direct conflict with Russia and Iran, Assad's allies. The protest memo says targeting Assad's regime is the only way to force it to accept a diplomatic solution, end "the deaths and suffering," and shore up a coalition necessary to defeat the Islamic State.

The Wall Street Journal The New York Times

4. Sanders pledges to work with Clinton to beat Trump, but doesn't concede

Bernie Sanders told supporters in a video address Thursday that he would continue pushing the Democratic Party to become more inclusive, declining to concede to Hillary Clinton but vowing to work with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to defeat Donald Trump. "We cannot have a president who insults Mexicans and Latinos, Muslims, women, and African-Americans," Sanders said. He vowed to work with Clinton "to make certain that your voices are heard and the Democratic Party passes the most progressive platform in its history."

The Week

5. McCain says Obama 'directly responsible' for Orlando attack

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday that President Obama was "directly responsible" for the Orlando mass shooting by a man who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. "Because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al Qaeda went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama's failures, utter failures," McCain said. An early advocate of invading Iraq, McCain claimed he "misspoke" after the media reported the remarks. "I did not mean to imply that the president was personally responsible," he said. McCain ran against Obama in the 2008 election.

Reuters

6. U.N. report says ISIS committing genocide against Yazidis

The Islamic State is committing genocide and other war crimes against members of the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq and Syria, United Nations investigators reported Thursday. "Genocide has occurred and is ongoing," said Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria. "ISIS has subjected every Yazidi woman, child, or man that it has captured to the most horrific of atrocities." The investigators said ISIS had committed mass killings of Yazidi men and boys who refused to convert to Islam.

United Nations The New York Times

7. Disney will post alligator warning signs

Walt Disney World Resort plans to post signs warning that alligators swim in lakes and canals around its resorts, the Orlando Sentinel reported Thursday. Disney began reviewing its signs and safety procedures after 2-year-old Lane Graves was attacked and killed by an alligator while wading in a lake near a Disney resort. There was a sign saying "No swimming," but no warning of alligators. Since the attack, tourists have come forward to report alligator sightings, and a Disney employee said he had told management that the beach where the child was killed should be fenced off.

Orlando Sentinel NBC News

8. Searchers find EgyptAir plane's black boxes

A search vessel crew has recovered the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder from EgyptAir Flight MS804, which crashed in May on the way from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian investigators said. All 66 people on board were killed in the crash. Investigators said the cockpit voice recorder was damaged, but its memory was intact. Airbus, which built the plane, said finding the so-called black boxes would be crucial to determining what caused the crash. Terrorism is considered a likely cause, but human and technical error have not been ruled out.

BBC News The Week

9. Philadelphia becomes first big city to impose soda tax

Philadelphia's City Council approved a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on sugary and diet drinks on Thursday, becoming the first major U.S. city to do so. Two previous efforts to impose a local soda tax failed. This time, Mayor Jim Kenney (D) told the council the estimated $91 million in new tax revenues would pay for pre-K programs, community schools, and recreation centers. The beverage industry spent millions of dollars on a campaign to block the tax, and is expected to sue if it is approved.

The Associated Press NBC Philadelphia

10. Cavaliers beat Warriors to force decisive Game 7 in NBA Finals

LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 115-101 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, forcing a decisive seventh game to decide the NBA Finals. James scored 41 points for the second straight game to help his team come back from a 3-1 deficit and tie the series at 3-3. James' performance — he also had 11 assists, eight rebounds, four steals, and three blocked shots — overshadowed a strong game by Warriors star and back-to-back NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who scored 30.

ESPN