VIDEO: The Allies’ liberation of France in World War II began with fierce battles on the shores of Normandy. Amid the blood, smoke and tears, there were stories of love, like Francine Nelson’s. She met the man of her dreams, an American GI, as the Allies liberated Paris. She married him and immigrated to the United States where the couple had three children, two of which would become helicopter pilots in the US Army and US Marine Corps. VOA spoke with Nelson, now 92, in Normandy.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On June 4, 1876, the Transcontinental Express train arrives in San Francisco, 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City, setting a record for crossing the United States using the Transcontinental Railroad, which was finished in 1869. First class passengers traveled in absolute luxury, while third class passengers accommodations were basic. Still, the experiences was short and better than crossing the country using Conestoga wagons, which was the primary mode of travel to the West before the railroad.

President Donald Trump deployed a mix of diplomacy and barbs in his joint news conference with British Prime Minister Teresa May in London Tuesday.

China has denounced U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for saluting Chinese student protesters who defied the communist government in a prolonged and deadly standoff in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 30 years ago.

On June 4, 1989, the Chinese Communist Party ordered tanks and soldiers to fire at its own people gathered at Tiananmen Square, which is located in the heart of Beijing. Three decades later, the shots fired still reverberate.

Uighur rights advocates in the United States are ramping up efforts to persuade the U.S. Congress to pass a bill focusing on China’s growing persecution of the predominantly Muslim minority group in the country’s western Xinjiang province.