Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. JULY 10, 2020

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U.S. allies are growing increasingly vocal about their willingness to push back against China, falling in line with Washington’s desires to rein in Beijing. However, there are continued differences on how to move forward.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On July 10, 1962, the U.S. Patent Office, now the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, issues a patent for the three-point seat belt. The inventor was Swede Nils Bohlin, who worked for the Swedish automaker Volvo. Four years later, Congress passed a law requiring all new cars to include the three-point seat belt. Seat belts are credited with reducing traffic fatalities by 50%, and today it is estimated that more than 80% of Americans wear them when driving.

The U.S. defense secretary and the top military officer told members of Congress on Thursday that they still do not know who gave the order to clear protesters near the White House ahead of President Donald Trump’s walk to St. John’s Church last month.

Earlier this week, Chinese authorities detained Xu Zhangrun, an outspoken law professor who has published many articles criticizing Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other top leaders. VOA has more about the professor.

VIDEO: The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday recognized about half of Oklahoma as Native American reservation land and overturned a tribe member’s rape conviction because the location where the crime was committed should have been considered outside the reach of state criminal law.

The trucking of goods and humanitarian aid from Cameroon to the landlocked Central African Republic has slowed to a trickle because of the coronavirus, raising tensions between the two sides. Despite an agreement that Cameroon drivers who test negative for COVID-19 would be given access, testing kits are in short supply at the border, forcing some trucks to wait weeks to cross.