Today In News: July 6, 2017

Today In News: 

Courtesy of Reuters

• More than one-third of U.S. states on Thursday sued the U.S. Education Department and Secretary Betsy DeVos over the recent suspension of rules that would have swiftly canceled the student-loan debt of people defrauded by Corinthian Colleges Inc and other for-profit schools. 

• President Trump’s request for voter data could pose a threat to national security, noting the recent attempts by hackers to steal the data.

• South Korea’s new liberal president said he’s willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid heightened animosities in the wake of the North’s first intercontinental ballistic missile test-launch.

• Russia has blocked a UN Security Council statement calling for "significant measures" in response to North Korea's test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile,  arguing that the missile was in fact of medium range

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is acknowledging that Senate Republicans may not be able to pass their ObamaCare repeal legislation and is warning that action will then have to be taken to stabilize insurance markets.

• U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront North Korea "very strongly" following its latest missile test and urged nations to show Pyongyang there would be consequences for its weapons program.

• Iraq's Kurdish leader said that there was no turning back on a bid to achieve an independent Kurdish state. The vote could turn into another regional flashpoint, with states with sizable Kurdish populations (Turkey, Iran and Syria, along with Iraq) all resolutely opposed to an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq. 

• War crimes judges have ruled that South Africa flouted its duties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2015 by failing to arrest visiting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

• President Donald Trump affirmed the U.S. commitment to the defense of NATO allies in a Warsaw speech that gently criticized Russia, and he said Western civilization must stand up to "those who would subvert and destroy it”.

• Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak said this week that his country's work with President Trump's administration is "unfolding uneasily.” Kislyak’s remarks come as Trump prepares for a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit.

• Russian hackers are reportedly the main suspects behind a breach of more than a dozen power plants across the U.S., according to current and former U.S. officials. Bloomberg reported Thursday that three people close to the effort to expel the attackers cited Russia as the primary suspect in the breaches.

• The U.S. government is attempting to seize millions of dollars tied to North Korea from eight major banks after the rogue dictatorship announced on July 4 that it had developed a missile capable of reaching the United States.

• Ahead of a crucial meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump stopped short of condemning Moscow for meddling in the U.S. presidential election — although 17 US Intelligence agencies have conf and refused to say if he would raise the issue when the leaders go behind closed doors.

• 3 of the West's biggest energy corporations are lobbying Qatar to take part in a huge expansion of its gas production, handing Doha an unintended but timely boost in the Gulf dispute.

• Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub Jr. has turned in his resignation.  The move follows months of clashes with the White House over issues such as President Trump's refusal to divest his businesses and the administration's delay in disclosing ethics waivers for appointees.