hello. my name is tom donkin. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: holding the world to ransom: another widespread cyber attack hits banks, shops, transport and energy networks. another setback for president trump's attempt to change american healthcare — this time, the senate delays a crucial vote. after half a century as armed revolutionaries — the farc rebels in colombia finally put down their weapons. the chinese artist ai wei—wei brings his new exhibition to washington, and, with it, his support for american dissidents. a large—scale cyber attack that started in ukraine is continuing its spread across the globe. the virus freezes computers and demands that a ransom is paid.

a danish shipping group, a russian oil giant, an american pharmaceutical company and a british advertising firm are among the big companies that have been hit. this might all sound familiar, because a similar attack targeted the uk's national health service, last month. our security correspondent, gordon corera, has been monitoring the developments. a cyber attack is sweeping across the globe, taking systems off—line. another reminder of the risks we face in our connected world. the first signs came in ukraine. systems went down this morning. some people tried to take money out of bank machines, found they couldn't. even the radiation monitoring system at the chernobyl nuclear plant was briefly taken offline. the scale was enormous. we had the virus spread, cyber virus on the transport, bank, media, infrastructure of ukraine, in government and in the co—operative sectors as well. but during the day, it became clear

that the problem was not contained in ukraine but was spreading. reports came in of companies affected from russia across europe to the uk and also the us. those affected included oil producers, shipping and pharmaceutical companies and a london—based advertising group. they were all faced with a screen like this, telling them they've been locked out of their computer and needed to pay a ransom to get back in. computer systems which have not been upgraded or patched are usually the most vulnerable. today's ransomware has some similarities but is not the same as that which struck the nhs last month and, so far, there's no sign of health services being affected. experts say the new attack in some ways is more sophisticated, but the aim is still to make money.

well, ra nsomwa re is very effective because attackers can sit at home, in the comfort of their own living rooms, somewhere possibly on the other side of the world, and mount these attacks with very low risk to themselves and very high upside. in many cases they'll make hundreds of thousands of dollars out of an attack like this. so far, the signs are that the uk has not been badly hit, but officials will be watching to see how far it spreads and how much damage this attack really does. the bbc‘s dave lee is also following the attack for us. just over one month since that huge wannacry attack and here we go again. this attack seems to target the ukraine, part of the code specifically goes after ukrainian software. however, such is the indiscriminate nature of ra nsomwa re attacks, this has now spread all over the world. here, in the us, we have seen a major pharmaceutical company have their it systems affected, and also dla piper, a major law

firm, has been caught up in the attack. security researchers are trying to see if there are any clues as to where this has come from. it is a new strain of ransomware but there are similarities between this and previous attacks. companies that took sufficient measures to upgrade their system should have been protected, but as we've seen in the past, not all firms were diligent enough to make sure that happen. —— sure that's happened. attackers are only asking for $300 as a ransom payment and from our analysis not many people seem to have paid up, it seems increasingly that these attacks aren't about making money. senate republicans in the us have delayed a vote on their proposed healthcare bill, saying it won't happen before the american fourth of july holiday. the announcement by the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, is another setback to republican efforts to replace the healthcare reforms introduced by barack obama. but mitch mcconnell says he remains optimistic. we're continuing to talk about it.

it's a very complicated subject. i remember how challenging it was for the democrats, when they were enacting this in 2009 and 2010. there are lot of discussions still going on, and i'm optimistic we're going to get there. earlier i spoke to our correspondent david willis for more analysis on the delay and what it could mean for the proposed bill. the bottomline, here, there is insufficient support from senate republicans to approve this bill. the repeal and replacement of so—called 0bamacare, otherwise known as the affordable care act. a lot of the republican senators who are concerned are worried about reports from the independent congressional budget office, which suggest under the cause of this legislation in the next decade about 22 million americans could stand to lose their health coverage. so what they've done, the senate leadership, is they've taken this bill off the table for now. they are planning to tweak it over

the course of the next few days, hold discussions with those who are still opposed to it and then bring the whole thing back for a vote after the fourth ofjuly holiday. it is a high risk strategy, to, because in the course of this delay, it could be that they will bring those who are currently recalcitrant on—board or there could be more opposition because people will go back to their districts, lawmakers will go back to their districts, will talk to their constituents and they may pick up on concerns and fears from those people about the future of health coverage in america. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. three current and former police officers in the us city of chicago have been charged with conspiring to cover up the killing of a black

teenager by a white officer. prosecutors said the officers lied to prevent an independent investigation. 17—year—old laquan mcdonald was shot dead in 2014. dashcam video showed that he was shot 16 times. 36 people have been injured in new york city when two subway train cars came off the tracks. the incident left hundreds of people stuck underground for more than an hour. the cause of the derailment, was not immediately clear. more than five and a half million trips are made on the subway system on an average day. the venezuelan president, nicolas maduro, has announced on state television that the supreme court has come under attack from a police helicopter. mr maduro described it as an act of terrorism. a police officer who's reported to have taken control of the helicopter has posted a statement calling for action against what he described as the criminal government. colombia's farc rebels have formally ended their existence as an armed group, after a violent campaign that

lasted more than half a century, in which more than 260,000 people died. at a ceremony near the town of mesetas, the farc leader, rodrigo londono, said, now disarmament was complete, the group would transform into a peaceful political movement. presidentjuan manuel santos said the country was celebrating a day, where weapons were exchanged for words. hundreds of white butterflies were released at the ceremony, as a symbol of peace. 0ur correspondent natalio cosoy was there. the ceremony has nowjust finished here in the town of mesetas, in the eastern plainlands of colombia, marking the end of the process, the handing over of weapons from farc members. hundreds of farc members dressed in white with the word "peace" written on their t—shirts were watching.

most colombians have been watching the ceremony on tv and it will be for them to decide if they accept these former fighters as their peers in the future. google says it's considering an appeal after it was fined a record $2.7 billion by the european union. that was for breaching anti—trust rules. the technology giant has been found guilty of abusing its power, rigging online shopping searches by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of its web page, while the results of competitors are buried much further down. google has been told to stop doing it within 90 days orface more fines. amol rajan has the story. they're the new masters of the universe. google's products have changed our lives forever but, today, the company was brought down to earth in the brussels headquarters of the european commission. after a seven—year investigation into google's business practices,

commissioner margrethe vestager delivered a brutal verdict. google has abused its market dominance as a search engine by giving illegal advantages to another google product, its shopping comparison service. if you search google for something that you want to buy — say, for instance, my new cricket bat — several ads appear here at the top of the screen. these are clearly marked ‘sponsored' and are part of a service called google shopping. each time i click on one of the ads, the american tech giant earns some money. but today, the european commission ruled that this prime real estate gives google an unfair advantage. kelkoo is one of the companies that brought the case. it says google needs to be reined in. it said, right, i'm going to take over this marketplace and i'm going to demote you all and put myself at the top of the listings. anti—competitive. they can't do that when they have a 90% share in general search. they use that power, and that's wrong. google said it respectfully disagreed with the decision

and would take the 90 days granted by the commission to find a solution. 0ne former google insider says the company is being punished for its success. the reality is, google is all about creating a great user experience. the reason why people come back and we use it probably on a daily basis is because it enables us to find what we're looking for as quickly as possible, it's a frictionless experience. and they need to stay competitive. for years now, european officials have been itching to subject tech giants to fresh regulations. but over in silicon valley, many leading innovators believe social problems usually have a technological rather than legal solution. one of the great mantras of silicon valley is move fast and break things. i don't think that many people would characterise eu bureaucracy as having that kind of spirit. there are two very different worldviews, america and europe. and they have very different attitudes on competition,

on access to data, even on very fundamental things like the profit motive and whether it's a good thing or not. what i think is fascinating about this case is it really shows a very different attitude. through remarkable innovation and engineering, google has become integral to our daily routines. this record fine is a reminder that it is at base an advertising company, which uses our personal data to sell us things. if you don't like the search results, well, there's always yahoo!. amol rajan, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a german veteran of the second world war is back in the skies, but this time in a classic british fighter plane. members of the of the neo—nazi resistance movement stormed the world trade center armed with pistols and shotguns. we believe that, according

to international law, that we have a rightful claim on certain parts of this country as ourland. i take pride in the words "ich bin ein berliner." cheering and applause chapman, prison—pale and slightly chubby, said not a single word in open court. it was left to his lawyer to explain his decision to plead guilty to murdering john lennon. he believes that onjune 8th, god told him to plead guilty, and that was the end of it. the medical research council have now advised the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due mainly to smoking tobacco. it was closing time for checkpoint charlie which, for 29 years, has stood on the border as a mark of allied determination to defend the city. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: computer systems around the world have been hit by a major cyber—attack which has targeted banks, retailers, energy firms and transport networks. let's stay with that story. william beer heads up cyber—security at ey in the united states. he's in new york. he is going to talk to us. it is good of you to join us. what is your take, where has it come from and how do we stop at? that is a great question. unfortunately we are doing a lot of work on research to understand where this comes from and what is going on. the extent of the problem. what is clear is it is a more advanced attack than what we saw when wannacry hit and it is a sign of the times. we are going to see more of these in future and they will become more complicated. are there enough agencies or companies working on this to intercept attacks like this or is it even possible —

will be always be on the back foot when it comes to cyber attacks? that isa when it comes to cyber attacks? that is a great question. unfortunately we know in the industry there is a shortage from 1.5 to 2 million people. we are facing a skills shortage which makes it very difficult. another thing which people tend to forget is these advancesin people tend to forget is these advances in technology we are seeing that benefits individuals and businesses also benefits criminals. this makes attacks more complicated, much more rapid and more difficult to detect. two companies take much notice of warnings about how to protect ourselves by people like yourself? —— do companies. previous attacks show it was a wake—up call. another great question. i think the industry is doing the best it can. i think a lot more work needs to be

done. patch management is a key part of the solution and isn't easy to implement. it takes time. it can break other systems. it is not a simple question of patching your systems. it does take time. we also need more involvement from the business itself. we need more involvement from leaders to help and support technical teams. this all seems like low risk, high reward for cyber criminals. is it any chance we will see anyone caught or prosecuted over this stuff? and other great question. the concept of attribution is extremely difficult when we talk about these kind of attack. while law enforcement in different countries is doing a greatjob it is clear from these attacks it is a global problem and will require global problem and will require global response if we begin to address it significantly. thank you very much for your time. william beer heads up cyber—security at ey in the united states. for more information on the attack, including an break—down of what ransomware is, you can head to our website

or simply download the news app to your smartphone. the british prime minister theresa may has said the country must hold a national investigation following the deadly tower block fire in london earlier this month. at least 79 people lost their lives and there are question marks over the cladding that was used on the building. it's not just britain that is concerned about safety. as tim allman reports. the fire may have taken place in london, but its consequences are also being felt elsewhere. this is western germany. more than 70 people have been evacuated from this 11 story tower block. after the grenfell tower, local officials aren't prepared to take any risks. translation: we have here a building with a similar structure to the building in london that burned down. we have an easily flammable cladding

and at the same time an emergency exit situation in which you can reach the staircase only via balconies. we've decided we can't take the responsibility for people living here as long as the situation is like this. the residents will be given no place to stay while the building is made safe but for many this came completely out of the blue. translation: i came back home from work and i saw the police and then we were told we had to leave in 15 minutes. i'm shocked, i don't know what's happening. in london, the burnt out shell of grenfell tower, a reminder of the terrible events that happened here. bodies are still being identified, checks of other buildings are being carried out. officials say so far cladding in 95 buildings have failed fire safety tests. a 100% failure rate so far. the government says around 600 buildings will be tested

across the uk. the bbc has learned all of london's councils were warned about the potential danger of cladding a month before the grenfell fire. but how many more tower blocks pose a potential danger in britain and across the world? one of germany's most highly decorated second world war pilots —— nicola sturgeon has scrapped plans for a second referendum and said she had reconsidered the issue after the snp lost a third of its seats in the recent general election. she says any decision on another vote will be delayed until after the uk has left the eu. we will not seek to introduce the legislation for an independent referendum immediately. instead we will in good faith redouble efforts

and put our shoulder to the wheel to influence the brexit talks in a way to protect scotland's interest. one of germany's most highly decorated second world war pilots has taken to the air over the skies of england but this time in a spitfire. 95—year—old hugo brock carried out his lifelong ambition in kent, where the royal air force held the line against german aircraft during the battle of britain. robert hall was there. the raw of a merlin engine heralding an encounter between a great machine and a great pilot. during his flying career mostly on the russian front hugo brock was credited with 81 victories in 324 missions. every german squadron had heard of the spitfire, hugo brock had waited most of his life to fly in one. translation: the spitfire was greatly respected. with these

machines you have a fantastic feeling of being free and being able to do what you want. i expect to get that feeling again today. the spitfire gained its iconic status in the summer of 1940 when the raf fought to hold off an invasion. there is still debate over whether the plains of the pilots won the battle. as his ground crew hurried to scramble this spitfire ahead of the approaching rainclouds, hugo brock clearly remembered the drill. the flight was captured by documentary cameras so the flight was captured by documentary cameras so we can the flight was captured by documentary cameras so we can share hugo brock‘s delight as he soared above the camp hill. he declined an offer to ta ke above the camp hill. he declined an offer to take the controls, saying that in this case he was just a backseat driver. then, all too soon it was over, some up in one word — wonderful. translation: the spitfire

is an excellent aircraft and they had an excellent pilot. i remember how fantastic it is to be able to fly. on one question he was adamant, the aircraft he flew all those years ago was still the best. the chinese artist ai wei—wei is a well known champion of human rights — views that led to his own detention in china in 2011. this week he's in washington promoting one of his most significant works — lego—brick portraits of people he calls freedom fighters. you can see his work at the hirshhorn gallery, and that's where jane 0'brien caught up with him. ai weiwei came up with the idea for trace, a sprawling portrait project, when he was incarcerated by the chinese authorities in 2011. he uses lego bricks to create pixelated images of 126 people he considers to be prisoners of conscience, or free—speech activists. they have strong beliefs. they are very brave. in most circumstance, they know they could lose their life.

they know they will lose all they have. most of the people you portray here have been imprisoned by repressive regimes. but some of your portraits are of people who have been imprisoned in the united states. how do you think visitors will react to that? for many visitors they would be surprised because very often we think we are living in a free world or free society. i think this is a very shallow thinking. so we include chelsea manning, who is so brave for me. like most of ai weiwei's works, trace was constructed by others following his design. it was first shown on the site of the notorious prison of alcatraz and its transfer to washington comes at a time of heightened debate about the meaning of truth in politics, fake news and the power of social media. a medium ai weiwei has mastered. what impact do you think president donald trump has when he uses social media?

i often heard a lot of criticism, but i also think it's what we want to know, how this guy really thinks about or even the mistakes this guy can make, but the discussion is still always on the surface. it's not a really in the more profound way. unnoticed, the killer stands out. liu xiaobo, the jailed chinese dissident and nobel peace laureate, who as the exhibition opened, was moved from prison to hospital, suffering from terminal cancer. ai weiwei says he's symbolic of many others who suffer the same fate unnoticed. they can easily make you disappear. your lawyer cannot really defend you, or your family cannot know where you are. in some cases even after you're serving the time, you still cannot see your family. audiences may not sympathise with the motives of everyone portrayed in trace, but the broader aim of ai weiwei's work is to raise

questions about the nature of freedom and how it is protected or violated by governance. just before we go, time for a look at this story, a superstitious passenger has disrupted a flight to shanghai after throwing coins in the engine for good luck. the 80—year—old told police she prayed for safety. it took engineers several hours to get them out. her heart was in the right place. that is it from me and the team. if you have a story to share, you can get in touch with me on twitter. from me and the team, it is goodbye and take care. hello, good morning. really since the start of the week the weather has turned, we've seen much more rain around.

this picture was taken at swanage in dorset. instead of the sunshine of monday we had the rain of tuesday. a lot of rain far and wide across the uk, 56 millimetres of rain already on the isle of man, and then more recently we've seen the wettest weather developing in the south—east, spilling into east anglia. both those areas seeing about a month's worth of rain injust 24 hours or so. and with the rain developing more widely, particularly in england and wales, and with some heavy rain too, a lot of water on the roads, surface spray, even into the morning rush—hour, it could be quite tricky on the roads if you are going to be travelling. you can see how extensive the rain is across england and wales by wednesday morning. still some heavy bursts of rain too. briefly some rain for northern ireland but much of scotland may well stay dry. may well brighten up towards the south—east but unlikely to do so in the south—west of england, the threat of more rain coming in here. and the rain never really clears away from wales. if it does brighten up and turns a bit warmer in the south—east later, we could trigger a few heavy showers.

but further north, much cooler across the north midlands, especially northern england with the rain. quite a keen wind blowing in off the north sea. it should turn a bit drier, perhaps a little bit brighter for northern ireland, and this time the driest weather is going to be across scotland on wednesday. but again chilly with the winds off the north sea. that rain, though, continues to push its way northwards through wednesday evening and wednesday night, so it will turn wetter in scotland and northern ireland too. the rain still around across northern england and north wales, but to the south and south—east it may well be dry. quite a warm night as well but the big story, the rain that isjust continuing. but this time in a different area really on thursday. so the wettest weather going to be for scotland and northern ireland. eventually it turns a bit drier for northern england. for many parts of northern england and wales, it may be a drier day, some brighter skies, a bit of warmth as well and some humidity. but further north where we have the rain and still the winds coming in from the east or north—east, it will feel cold. quite a bit colder than it should do for this time of the year.

low pressure responsible for all the rain, which doesn't really know weather it's coming or going. as we've seen its moving northwards for a while, but into friday that low pressure dragster rain back southwards again into england and wales, where we could see some heavy bursts of rain, especially in the east of england. turning drier this time, though, for scotland and northern ireland. some sunshine but again a stronger wind, this time coming in from the north. now, pressure over the weekend should be a little bit higher. not completely dry but it will be drier and warm when the sun comes out. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: banks, retailers, energy firms and transport networks are among thousands of companies and organisations who've been hit by a major cyber—attack. users are told that their computers have been frozen until a $300 ransom is paid in untraceable bitcoins to an anonymous account. president trump's attempt to overturn his predecessor's healthcare reforms has been setback with senators delaying a key vote. five republican senators have said they'll oppose the bill. president trump held a meeting with several senators at the white house but hasn't yet

persuaded the critics. the left—wing rebel group in colombia known as the farc, has formally ended its existence as an armed group, after a revolutionary campaign lasting half a century. the group's leader told a ceremony that its disarmament was complete and farc would now transform itself into a peaceful political movement. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.