Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. JUNE 11, 2020

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As the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. passed two million, VOA’s Russian Service discussed the pandemic with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. The wide-ranging interview touched on wearing masks during protests, reopening the economy and efforts to find a vaccine.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On June 11, 1986, the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is released. The film chronicles a day of high school slacker Ferris Bueller, played by Matthew Broderick, who skips school and explores Chicago with his girlfriend and best friend. The comedy, which was directed by John Hughes, pulled in over $70 million and only cost about $5.8 million to make. The movie is widely considered a classic, and in 2014, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The weeks of protests across the country sparked by the death of George Floyd have not been seen in decades. They mark another watershed moment in America’s struggle for equal rights and racial justice.

This March, as the COVID-19 pandemic caught fire in the United States, hospitals across the country started preparing for a massive influx of patients with heart attacks. That never happened.

VIDEO: With COVID-related unemployment in the millions in the U.S., the number of people who can’t afford daily necessities is rising. In Fairfax County, Virginia, a two-day charity event brought together members of the community to donate food for the needy in the area.

The surrender of ex-warlord Ali Kushayb to the International Criminal Court has raised hope that others wanted for crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region could be turned over to the ICC, including former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.