VOA NEWS

June 6, 2017

From Washington, this is VOA news.



London police have named two of the three attackers who killed seven people and wounded more than 50 others on Saturday.

British citizen Khuram Shazad Butt was previously known to authorities but he had not been viewed as a serious threat. He was 27 years old.

In a statement, police said there was no intelligence to suggest that this attack was being planned.

The second attacker was identified as [39-year-old] 30-year-old Rachid Redouane. Both men lived in the same area of east London.

Police are continuing to investigate the identity of the third attacker.

London police carried out more raids and detained a number of people during searches at two location on Monday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said police also are still working to determine the identities of all the victims but that so far it is known they include people of several nationalities.

She said this was an attack on London and the United Kingdom but it was also an attack on the free world.



The White House says President Trump will not try to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress later this week about conversations they had earlier this year before Trump fired him.

Trump had been considering whether to invoke executive privilege on his White House conversations with Comey and keep him from testifying Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. But the White House said that "in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of facts," Trump would not try to halt the Comey testimony.

Presidents in the past have invoked executive privilege to try to keep their conversations with top aides secret.



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President Trump says he wants to privatize America's air traffic control system. He says reforms are needed to cut air travel times and fuel costs and reduce delays for travelers.

He said on Monday the government-operated air traffic control system is "stuck painfully in the past."



Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Maldives cut diplomatic ties Monday with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Qatar's Foreign Affairs Ministry said the measures are "unjustified and are based on baseless and unfounded allegations."

Qatar has long been seen by its neighbors as supporting Islamists in the region, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood - a Sunni Islamist political group outlawed by both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he does not expect Monday's actions to have an impact on the fight against terrorism in the region or globally.

"We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences, and we if there's any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the GCC remain unified. I do not expect that this will have any significant impact, if, if any impact at all, on the unified, the unified five against terrorism in the region."



A former employee of a small factory in Orlando, Florida, shot and killed five workers there, then killed himself Monday morning.

The man had a knife and a gun but did not stab anyone.

Police said the man had been fired in April and had previously been accused of assaulting a coworker.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings now: "At this time, we have no indication that this subject is a member of any subversive type organization. We have no indication that this subject is a participant in any type of terror organization. What this is at this point is likely a workplace violence incident."



The American actor and comedian, Bill Cosby, went on trial Monday on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted a woman more than ten years ago. The 79-year-old former television star faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault, which each carry a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.

Cosby sat silently in the courthouse Monday as the prosecution opened the trial by painting him as a sexual predator.

About 60 women have publicly said Cosby drugged and assaulted them but the statute of limitations has run out in nearly every case.



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