6 What in the world

On Thursday, June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much anticipated ruling on the controversial Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as Obamacare). The court struck down the provision, based on Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce, on the overreach of Congress in requiring a person to buy health insurance. But they upheld in their 5-4 decision the constitutionality of the entire law on the basis that the fine is tantamount to a tax, which Congress does have authority to levy. A  deft bit of jurisprudence there.

The Manaus Brazil Temple was formally dedicated Sunday, June 10, in three sessions by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency. The dedicatory sessions were broadcast to congregations of the Church in Brazil. The new temple, located in a beautiful site alongside the Rio Negro (which a few miles downstream joins another major river to form the Amazon River), is the 138th operating temple in the Church.

Numerous wildfires have been burning throughout the unusually dry West, particularly in Colorado and Utah. Dry conditions, coupled with strong winds, have spread the fires and stretched the resources of fire fighters. Many communities are cancelling fireworks celebrations in connection with the Fourth of July because of dry conditions.