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Uprising’s guest expert Maya Rockeymoore, President of the Center for Global Policy Solutions, a social change non-profit dedicated to making policy work for people and their environment, analyzes today’s news headlines:

The US Senate has approved the arming and training of Syrian rebel groups in a vote of 78-22. The vote comes a day after the House passed a similar bill, marking a rare moment that Congress has quickly passed a high-profile initiative led by President Obama. The measure is an amendment to a spending bill and does not cover airstrikes on the Islamic State rebels, which Obama says he already has the authority to launch. Meanwhile France joined in the war in a big way this week, announcing it had destroyed one of the ISIS headquarters in northern Iraq via airstrikes. Click here for an Al Jazeera America article, and here for a Guardian article about the story.

In a setback to privacy advocates, a judge ruled against a personal lawsuit by a California business man who wants access to data being collected on him by police license plate scanners. In many cities around the country, including San Diego where Mr. Michael Robertson’s suit was filed, police routinely digitally scan and store car license plates via cameras mounted on police cars and stop lights. Groups like the ACLU have been attempting to obtain sample data. Mr. Robertson explained his suit to AP, saying, “If I’m not being investigated for a crime, there shouldn’t be a secret police file on me” that details “where I go, where I shop, where I visit…That’s crazy, Nazi police-type stuff.” Click here for a Guardian newspaper article about the story.

And finally a measure approving the renewal of the Debbie Smith Act, passed the Senate yesterday, after it was initially approved by the House in April. The bill funds the processing of rape kits that are backlogged, sometimes for years, in law enforcement agencies around the country. About 400,000 rape kits have remained untested nationwide. The bill now heads to President Obama’s desk for his signature. Click here for an Al Jazeera America article about the story.