Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. DECEMBER 30, 2019

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VIDEO: While the ongoing trade dispute with China has caused problems on both sides of the Pacific, U.S. garlic farmers are benefiting greatly.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On December 30, 1853, the boundaries of the modern U.S.-Mexico border are established with the signing of the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City. Specifically, the agreement established the border west of El Paso, Texas. For $10 million, the U.S. acquired some 30,000 square miles of land in what would become parts of New Mexico and Arizona.

An increasing number of more affluent Americans are opting to rent as a way of life in what many see as a key housing trend of the 2010s.

Vietnam’s turn this year as chair of Southeast Asian nations’ bloc gives it a new outlet to resist China in a festering maritime sovereignty dispute involving three other member countries.

Chinese pastor Wang Yi, founder of Early Rain Covenant Church, has been sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of inciting state subversion and illegal business operation, a court in Sichuan in southwest China said on Monday.

VIDEO: Two million Cambodians were killed during the Khmer Rouge’s four-year reign. On Plugged In , Youk Chhang tells Greta Van Susteren his story of surviving genocide, reconciling what he witnessed and endured to honor the victims and hold his torturers accountable.