Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. JUNE 12, 2020

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VIDEO: As protests against police violence continue in the U.S., residents are looking at their local police forces and asking questions. That is happening in Oakland, Calif., where the term “Black Lives Matter” was coined seven years ago. The city has created a volunteer citizen board to review police disciplinary cases and recommend policy changes.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan gives his famous “tear down this wall” speech near the Berlin Wall in West Germany. In the speech, Reagan urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall dividing Berlin. The wall was build in 1961 as a way to keep East German citizens from escaping to the West. In November of 1989, East Germans and West Germans tore the wall down themselves as the Communist regime began to lose its grip on power in the failed state. On October 3, 1990, Germany was reunified.

After weeks of civil unrest in America, President Donald Trump is promising that his administration will aggressively pursue economic development in minority communities and confront health care disparities in those areas. While details have yet to emerge, the White House said this is part of a four-point plan “to build safety, opportunity and dignity.”

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s agreement to give a U.S. military pact its second chance despite distaste for Washington shows his relations with China are chafing after four years, analysts believe.

A popular podcasting platform, Pocket Casts, has been removed from Apple’s app store in China at Beijing’s request, according to the company’s Twitter thread.

VIDEO: Protests against police brutality and racial injustice have continued as George Floyd was laid to rest. Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren examines the reaction to the videotaped death of a handcuffed black man by a police officer.