VOA news for Wednesday, June 28th, 2017
From Washington this is VOA news. I'm Steve Miller. The White House on Monday issued a warning that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may be preparing another chemical weapons attack. Regional analyst Anthony Billingsley said the White House is letting Syria know early on that it is watching the situation closely. Billingsley also said there are some additional concerns, "my fear is that in fact it could be a much more serious danger this time because we've had incidents over the last few weeks of the shooting down of a Syrian aircraft, shooting down of a Syrian drone, and the Russians warning the US and Allied air force that they would regard anything in the western part of Syria as a hostile aircraft." Mr. Assad said in an interview earlier this month, he insisted that he does not have chemical weapons or the means to make them. A new and highly virulent outbreak of deadest scrum scrambling software caused disruption across the world Tuesday following a similar attack in May the fresh assault paralyzed some hospitals government offices and major multinational corporations in the dynamic demonstration of how easily malicious programs can bring daily life to a halt. Ukraine in other parts of Europe were hit particularly hard by the new strain of ransomware, malicious software that locks up computer files with all but unbreakable encryption and then demands ransom for its release. The origin of the malware remains unclear. Researchers picking the program apart, found evidence its creators had borrowed from the leaked National Security Agency code, raising the possibility that the digital havoc had spread using US taxpayer-funded tools. This is VOA news. The United States on Tuesday declared China as among the world's worst offenders in human trafficking and forced labor. US Ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat trafficking-in-persons, Susan Coppedge, said this year's report emphasizes that the government's must do everything in their power to hold traffickers accountable. She also cited a few examples from China, "human rights organizations and media continue to report that local officials in western China coerced Weger men and women to participate in forced labor outside that province there and then despite the local government issuing a decree in early 2017, that practice has not ceased." The annual US State Department report downgraded China to its lowest tier 3 rating, saying it has not met the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. The designation of China as a human trafficking offender would further aggravate 10sions between Washington and Beijing at a time when US President Donald Trump has sought to enlist Chinese President Xi Jinping in an effort to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons development. Colombia took a major step closer to total peace on Tuesday when the FARC rebels completed their disarmament under last year's peace deal. President Juan Manuel Santos and Farr commander Rodrigo Londono watched the last guns being handed over to UN monitors at a rebel camp in Mesetas. President Santos spoke at the event. Today, with much emotion, we can see the end of this absurd war which did not only last more than 5 decades, but worse, affected !8,000,000 victims and saw more than !220,000 fellow men killed." More than !7,100 guns and other weapons carried by the rebel fighters were turned in to the United Nations. Other weapon stashes and explosives are still being collected. FARC will hold on to a small number of arms and provide security at 26 rebel camps before they completely shut down on August 1st. US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would delay his vote this week on a Republican health care plan until after the July 4th Independence holiday recess. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate bill was no better than the House version. "Many House members even said they only voted for the House bill because they said the Senate bill would 'make it better'. CBO's report today makes clear that this bill is every bit as "mean" as the House bill." Independent analysis has concluded that !22,000,000 people would lose their insurance coverage over the next decade, if the Senate plan is adopted. Several Republican lawmakers have also said they would not even vote to start debate on their party's proposal. From Washington, I'm Steve Miller. That's the latest world news from VOA.
