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The Short List: NBC fires Trump; Greece debt crisis; Supreme Court's final rulings

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NBC fired Donald Trump on June 29, 2015, after remarks he made about Mexican immigrants on June 16.


'You're fired — again!' This time, Trump's kickoff speech gets him kicked off NBC

First, Univision. Now, NBCUniversal. Donald Trump's remarks about Mexican immigrants at his June 16 presidential campaign kickoff have gotten him the boot twice. The Spanish-language Univision pulled the plug on his beauty pageants last week, and then NBC followed suit Monday, dumping The Donald's pageants and his appearances on The Apprentice. "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump," the network statement said. What did he say that was so bad? To recap, the Republican said during his campaign announcement that, if elected, he plans to build a "great wall" on the border and make Mexico pay for it because Mexico is "sending" us immigrants who are rapists, drug dealers and criminals. During an interview on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Trump made some effort to clarify his remarks, saying he actually did "like Mexico," but it's too little too late. What was Trump's response to NBC? "(T)hey will stand behind lying Brian Williams, but won't stand behind people that tell it like it is, as unpleasant as that may be."

Not a good day to hit an ATM in Greece

Greece is in big trouble. Tuesday is when the country is supposed to pay back a huge loan it received to pay off debt from a few years back. Why is Greece in this mess? Greece piled up debt by spending way beyond its means. To make matters worse, the country has a retirement age of 57, which is good for workers, but a huge burden for the government when it comes to paying out benefits. Who does Greece have to pay back? First, Athens borrowed billions from European banks to make ends meet. But then it couldn't pay back those loans. So in 2010, it got a bailout from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission to pay back the banks. Now, it has to pay back the bailout. Why is it having trouble paying? Most of the bailout money Greece received was to repay the initial creditors, not to help get the country on good footing. So when Greece didn't solve its underlying problem of an under-performing economy, things just kept getting worse. How bad is it right now? If Greece doesn't pay back the loan, it faces the prospect of default. The country closed its banks starting Monday, imposed limits on cash withdrawals and closed its stock market. What would a default mean? Greece might have to leave the eurozone, which means it wouldn't be able to use the euro anymore and would have to issue its own currency (and it's not certain people would accept it). Jobs will be harder to come by. Government services will become scarce. Basically, bad news all around. How could Greece's woes affect Europe's economy? Opinions differ. Some say there's a big unknown risk. Others say it's really Greece's problem, and the eurozone would be just fine without the country. U.S. stocks. They're buckling but not breaking. One more thing. Greece isn't the only place with big financial troubles this week. Puerto Rico is just days away from a historic economic collapse after the commonwealth's governor said the U.S. territory can't pay its $72 billion in debts.

Enjoy your break, justices: The Supreme Court's term is officially over

And this year's rulings will have major implications for how we live, die, work, vote and love. If you want to dive into all the decisions from this term, check out our interactive. Here's what came down Monday, the final day of rulings: EPA clean-air regulations. The justices shot them down. The court ruled the Environmental Protection Agency can't jump-start new rules to reduce the amount of dangerous mercury and other toxins that pollute the nation's air because we don't know how much it'll cost power plants and consumers. What now? The EPA can try to save the regulations by taking costs into consideration, so it may be only a temporary setback. Lethal injections. Still good to go. We've been talking about lethal injections a lot this year because a shortage of drugs has forced some states to experiment with less-reliable alternatives — and sometimes that led to botched executions. The dissenting justices said lethal injection is like "being burned at the stake." But the majority opinion said the method of execution is the most humane, and if you eliminate all risk of pain, you're pretty much left with outlawing the death penalty altogether. Affirmative action. They're taking it up again. The court agreed to hear another challenge to the University of Texas' use of racial preferences in admissions. The seven-year dispute kicked off when Abigail Fisher, a white applicant, was denied admission to the state university's flagship campus in Austin. The case will be heard in the fall. Gerrymandering. This one's wonky, but it's a big deal. The court said states can try to make drawing congressional district lines less partisan. What does that mean? You've heard of gerrymandering. It's when congressional maps are drawn in such a way that districts are easily won by either Democrats or Republicans. The justices said states are allowed to turn the process over to independent commissions to reduce that partisan prospect, which makes it easier for voters to choose the representatives they want. Abortion. The justices blocked Texas from enforcing new restrictions on abortion providers that would have forced clinics to close and make abortions harder to get. And that's a wrap, until the first Monday in October, when the justices return from summer break.

Bristol Palin says second pregnancy is 'planned' parenthood

She didn't want to be lectured, but she got an earful anyway. Now Bristol Palin is ticked off and changing her public description of how she feels about her second unwed pregnancy. "This pregnancy was actually planned," she declared in her latest blog post, entitled "My Little Blessing." The post, which includes an ultrasound image, doesn't disclose who the father is, nor does it offer any clear details of what she means by a "planned" pregnancy. It also didn't stop the snark. Even so, Bristol's latest post marks a turn from last week's post about the "disappointment" she speculated that many would feel at the news — seven years after her first pregnancy cast controversy over her family and their politics. What hasn't changed this time is her defiant tone. Last week, she said she wanted to be left alone, no lectures and no sympathy. Now, she's seriously annoyed at her critics — calling them a term that we can't use here — for what she described as mocking, judging and gossiping about her. "None of us are perfect," she says. "I made a mistake, but it's not the mistake all these giddy (jerks) have loved to assume."

All our bingeing has really paid off for Netflix

Remember when not having cable was the glaring symptom of a meager paycheck? We've come a long way. Not only is ditching cable totally normal, it's looking more and more like it's the future of TV. Analysts say Netflix will be watched more than all major TV networks within a year. FBR Capital Markets claims in a study that if Netflix were a TV network, its audience would surpass that of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. Some say the comparisons aren't entirely fair.Variety points out Nielsen ratings don't account for the use of DVRs or watching shows online. The bottom line: The study might not show the whole picture, but it underscores the fact that Neflix's popularity is soaring, and major TV networks are becoming less and less important for home entertainment.

Netflix's audience could surpass TV networks ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox this coming year.

If you read only one thing tonight, read this: Reports say the next iPhone is likely to add Force Touch.

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This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY.

Contributing: Richard Wolf, Gregg Zoroya, Kim Hjelmgaard, Gregory Korte, Adam Shell, Alan Gomez, Maria Puente, David Jackson, Cooper Allen, USA TODAY; Tyler Wells Lynch, Reviewed.com.

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