Dispatches

June 15

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced he plans to continue the family business and run for president in 2016, following his father and brother. Bush, who made the announcement at Miami-Dade College in front of a diverse, enthusiastic crowd of supporters, vowed to run a campaign “with heart” and stressed his conservative accomplishments as Florida governor from 1999 to 2007. He’s spent the last six months amassing a campaign war chest that will likely dwarf his competitors in the large GOP field. Republicans haven’t won the White House without a Bush in 43 years: A member of the Bush family has been on the GOP ticket in 1980, ’84, ’88, ’92, 2000, and ’04.

Let our people go

June 15

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution calling for Iran to release Americans wrongfully held in prison. The measure sent a bipartisan message to both Iran and the Obama administration, which hasn’t wanted to make the prisoners’ status part of nuclear negotiations. Officials have brought up the cases “on the sidelines,” but family members said that’s not enough: “It’s not very comforting to know that the issue is just being raised,” Sarah Hekmati, brother of former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, told a congressional committee. The bill demanded immediate release of Hekmati, pastor Saeed Abedini, and journalist Jason Rezaian, and information on any missing Americans in the country.

Papal green

June 18

In a much-anticipated encyclical entitled “Laudato Si,” Pope Francis appealed to biblical ideas of stewardship to denounce pollution, lament loss of biodiversity, and call for action to mitigate the effects of climate change: “The church must introduce in its teaching the sin against the environment. The ecological sin.” The pronouncement met with mixed reactions: Roman Catholic presidential candidate Marco Rubio said that while Americans have “an obligation to be good caretakers of the planet,” they should remember that fossil fuels have been central to economic growth: “There are people all over this planet and in this country who have emerged from poverty in large respect because of the availability of affordable energy.”

Joining the 3,000 club

June 19

New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez connected on his 3,000th hit to become the 29th player in baseball history to reach the milestone. Rodriguez, 39, became the third player to join the exclusive club on a home run—a first-inning shot off former Cy Young–winning pitcher Justin Verlander—and he’s only the fifth player ever to reach 3,000 with at least 500 career home runs. Rodriguez’s production has exceeded expectations in 2015 after Major League Baseball suspended him for the entire 2014 season for using performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez previously admitted to using steroids in the early 2000s, but Major League Baseball said it considers his current accomplishments clean.

Millions hacked

June 16

Lawmakers began calling for the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to resign after a massive data breach exposed the personal information of more than 4 million federal workers. Chinese hackers took Social Security numbers, birth dates, work history, and other private data for employees dating back to 1985. The breakdown came three years after the OPM’s inspector general warned Director Katherine Archuleta that the system’s weaknesses could lead to a breach, but Archuleta didn’t make any changes, citing the system’s age as an impediment. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told Archuleta during a June hearing that her inaction warranted her resignation: “You failed utterly and totally.”