VOA NEWS

December 31, 2019

This is VOA news. I'm Marissa Melton.



The United States is defending the use of airstrikes on Sunday to target an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, warning it could strike again despite criticism from top Iraqi officials and renewed threats from the militia itself.

A senior State Department official told reporters Monday that the United States is "not going to let Iran get away with using a proxy force to attack American interests." The official described the strikes as defensive in nature.

The U.S. airstrikes targeting weapons storage facilities and command and control locations across Iraq and eastern Syria killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more.

U.S. officials said the strikes were in response to a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base on Friday, which killed a U.S. defense contractor.

The strikes have sparked anger and criticism by top Iraqi officials.



There is an increasing number of calls for federal action to help curb religious attacks. AP correspondent Tim McGuire has more.

Senate Minority Leader Schumer says the people in this country have to address a frightening trend.

"Current state of hate in America has become a national crisis."

Schumer wants to quadruple federal security grant funding for houses of worship after two weekend attacks. In one, a man used a machete to wound five people, one critically, as they celebrated Hanukkah at their rabbi's home north of New York City. The other involved a fatal shooting in a Texas church yesterday.

The alleged New York attacker, Grafton Thomas, is charged with federal hate crimes. His lawyer, Michael Sussman, says he has serious mental health problems.

"... before political leaders use this as a means of demagoguing about a particular issue, we need to know the facts."

I'm Tim McGuire.



The Taliban says it does not intend to stop fighting in Afghanistan, rejecting as "false and baseless" reports the insurgent group is ready to declare a temporary cease-fire in a bid to seal a peace deal with the United States.



This is VOA news.



Australia's long bushfire crisis is continuing with large parts of the state of Victoria now threatened. From Sydney, Phil Mercer has more.

There are fears that extremely hot and windy conditions could merge three major bushfires in East Gippsland to form a devastating mega blaze. The authorities say the situation is potentially "life threatening" for residents and tourists.

The intensity and scale of the fire crisis have unnerved many Australians.

Nine people have died since the fires began, hundreds of houses have been lost and about five million hectares of land left scorched.

Phil Mercer, for VOA news, Sydney.



Longtime congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis says cancer is his latest battle. AP correspondent Shelley Adler has more.

The veteran Democrat from Georgia has fought many struggles in his lifetime. Yet, he says quote, "I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now" after announcing that he has advanced pancreatic cancer.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among the many who sent her best wishes. Earlier this month, Pelosi spoke of the much loved Lewis on the House floor.

"John Lewis, the Conscience of the Congress - what an honor it is for each and every one of us to serve with him, to call him colleague and for many cases to call him friend."

I'm Shelley Adler.



A Chinese court sentenced a scientist who created the world's first "gene-edited" babies to three years in prison on Monday. David Doyle has more.

A scientist who created the world's first "gene-edited" babies was jailed for three years on Monday on the charge of illegally practicing medicine, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.

He Jiankui took a backlash when he announced in November, 2018 that he had used gene-editing technology to change the genes of twin girls. That procedure was to protect them from getting the AIDS virus in the (future.)

The court also handed lesser sentences to Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou for having conspired with He in his work.

The court was quoted as saying, "the three in seeking fame and wealth, deliberately violated national regulations in scientific research," adding that they had "crossed the bottom line" of medical and scientific research ethics.

That's Reuters' David Doyle reporting.



The White House says Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Donald Trump to thank him for "information that the United States provided that helped foil a potential holiday terrorist attack in Russia."

Russian media cited the Federal Security Service as saying two Russians "who wanted to carry out a terror attack in St. Petersburg on the New Year's holidays" were detained on the basis of the U.S. tip.



I'm Marissa Melton. You're listening to VOA news.