A.M. Links: California Plastic Bag Ban Proposal Going Nowhere, Venezuelan Police Raid Warehouse For Toilet Paper, Hagel Visiting Asia

Credit: Brandon Blinkenberg/wikimedia

• California's plastic bag ban proposal is not going anywhere after it failed to pass the State Senate.

• Police in Venezuela have raided a warehouse for toilet paper, which is in short supply in the socialist-run country.

• Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is in Asia, where he hopes to reassure allies and highlight the Obama administration's commitment to its policy of pivoting to the region as the war in Afghanistan winds down. 

• Rebel reinforcements have arrived in the Syrian town of Qusair, which is under assault from government and Hezbollah forces.

• The State Department has kept Cuba on its list of state sponsors of terrorism while acknowledging that there have been some improvements on the island.

• A human rights official at the United Nations has called for a ban on the development of  lethal autonomous robots.

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