10 things you need to know today: June 18, 2013

1. AFGHAN FORCES TAKE OVER SECURITY LEAD FROM NATO

Afghan forces formally took over the lead security role in their country from NATO on Tuesday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the handover during a ceremony in Kabul. "You are the sons and guardians of this country," he told his troops, "and it is your responsibility to protect it." NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said foreign soldiers would now shift from spearheading combat to supporting Afghan units. "By the end of 2014," he said, "our combat mission will be completed." [CNN]

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2. PUTIN AND OBAMA CLASH OVER SYRIA

Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing increasing isolation over Syria at a Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland, after a frosty Monday meeting with President Obama. Putin has criticized Obama's decision to send weapons to Syrian rebels, and rebutted the U.S. conclusion that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime has used banned chemical weapons. Obama and Putin, an Assad ally, say that despite their differences they share an interest in ending Syria's civil war. [Wall Street Journal]

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3. NAVAL ACADEMY FOOTBALL PLAYERS COULD FACE RAPE CHARGES

Several U.S. Naval Academy football players could soon face charges for the alleged rape of a female midshipman at a party last year, officials at the Annapolis, Md., school said Monday. The woman said she got drunk at an off-campus "football house," and later learned that three players were saying they had sexual intercourse with her while she was passed out. The case burst into view just as Congress is discussing how the military is handling a surge in sexual assault cases. [Washington Post]

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4. PROTESTS ERUPT IN BRAZIL

An estimated 200,000 people marched in the streets of Brazil's main cities on Monday in the biggest protests the South American nation has seen in 20 years. The demonstrations were fueled by anger over police violence, government corruption, and inadequate public services. The demonstrations, organized through social media, were mostly peaceful — even festive — though some of the 100,000 protesters threw rocks at police in Rio de Janeiro. [Reuters]

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5. MILITARY TO ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR ALLOWING WOMEN IN COMBAT ROLES

U.S. military leaders have outlined plans being unveiled Tuesday that will let women assume combat roles. Female soldiers could start training as Army Rangers by mid-2015, and as Navy SEALs the following year. The plans also will include reviewing — and possibly changing — some of the physical and mental standards that soldiers will have to meet to qualify for some infantry, armor, special forces, and other front-line jobs. [Associated Press]

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6. SUPREME COURT TOSSES OUT ARIZONA VOTER ID LAW

The Supreme Court struck down an Arizona voter-registration law on Monday, saying the state cannot require new voters to show proof of citizenship. The justices, in a 7-2 decision, said that the 1993 federal "motor voter" law set the national standard by requiring people to claim U.S. citizenship on a mail-in post card, under penalty of perjury, and that states could not impose additional requirements on their own. [Los Angeles Times]

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7. MONSOON RAINS FLOOD NORTHERN INDIA

At least 73 people were killed on Monday and Tuesday when heavy rains hit northern India. Another 72,000 people — pilgrims bound for Himalayan shrines — were left stranded by flooding and landslides in monsoon-ravaged Uttarakhand state. Authorities are dropping food and fresh water by helicopter, but fresh rains are keeping rescuers from reaching some of the hardest-hit areas. [Hindustan Times]

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8. OBAMA HAS NEARLY COMPLETED PROMISED GUN-CONTROL EXECUTIVE ACTIONS

The White House says in a report issued Tuesday that President Obama has "completed or made significant progress" on 21 of the 23 executive actions in his new gun-control push. But the report, which Vice President Joe Biden will discuss Tuesday, says "Congress must also act" by passing measures, including expanding background checks and making gun trafficking a federal crime, to reduce gun violence. [USA Today]

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9. FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS LAUNCH A NEW HUNT FOR HOFFA'S REMAINS

The FBI on Tuesday is resuming a new search for the remains of Jimmy Hoffa, a former Teamsters union boss who disappeared in 1975. Hoffa was kidnapped on a day when he was meeting with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit Mafia captain. Several former leads have turned out to be false. But federal authorities, going on a solid new tip, are now digging in a field outside Detroit, where an aging local Mafia captain says Hoffa was hit with a shovel and buried alive. [Detroit Free Press]

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10. SAATCHI ADMITS ASSAULTING WIFE NIGELLA LAWSON

British authorities issued a warning to art collector Charles Saatchi after he reportedly admitted grabbing his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, by the throat during a June 9 argument at a London restaurant. Police confronted Saatchi after tabloid newspapers published photos. Saatchi, 70, at first described the dispute as a "playful tiff," but ultimately accepted the official warning — which carries no penalty but can be used in court as evidence of bad character. [Associated Press]