►President Barack Obama on Monday endorsed banning assault weapons [1] and high-capacity magazines, and stricter background checks for buyers. In the coming days, the president is expected to reveal a plan to address gun violence based on recommendations of Vice President Joe Biden’s gun task force. Although Obama says not all of the ideas will make it through Congress [2], Biden has identified 19 executive actions the president could enact on his own.

►The UK Foreign Commonwealth Office issued a travel advisory [3]telling British residents to avoid travel to Mali and to leave immediately if they are already there. French forces have stepped up their operations in the country by sending 750 troops. “Paris has poured hundreds of soldiers into Mali [4] and carried out air raids since Friday in the northern half of the country, which was seized last year by an Islamist alliance combining al Qaeda's north African wing AQIM with Mali's home-grown MUJWA and Ansar Dine rebel groups,” Reuters reports.

►The University of California has added more security guards, surveillance cameras, and rules to limit access to campus at night as part of a security plan [5] in response to a shooting on Halloween. Dorms will have 100 percent ID checks and guests will only be allowed entry after a fingerprint scan.

►Australia is cracking down on weapons trafficking [6] by making the maximum penalty life imprisonment. ♦ The son of Rand Paul has been charged with assaulting a flight attendant [7] and underage drinking after getting rowdy on a flight from Kentucky to North Carolina. ♦ And in a move to help reduce veteran unemployment, Wal-Mart announces that it will hire any veteran looking for a job [8] as long as it’s within a year of discharge and they did not received a dishonorable discharge.