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Cambodian rapper VannDa was featured at a California festival of Asian music and culture called Sabaidee Fest. VOA’s Malis Tum and Chetra Chap report on this young rapper who’s shining a spotlight on Cambodian music, culture and history. Chetra Chap narrates.

In Washington, the garden of former President Woodrow Wilson’s historic home is being reimagined to accommodate a changing climate. VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports. Camera: Adam Greenbaum.

HARARE, ZIMBABWE — The head of U.S. Africa Command denied Thursday claims by Zimbabwean government officials that Washington is setting up a military base in neighboring Zambia and wants to move AFRICOM operations there from Germany. At an online press briefing, General Michael Langley, head of AFRICOM, rejected Zimbabwe’s claims that the United States is establishing a base in neighboring Zambia. “That's absolutely false,” Langley said from an African Chiefs of Defense Conference in Botswana. “We have no bases in Zambia. We have no plans to put one there.” He said the U.S.’s approach on the continent is “African-led and U.S.-enabled.” “We have a deep partnership with Zambia,” he said. “We have increased security cooperation with them. But there is no footprint. There's no posture. There's no base.” Zimbabwean officials declined to comment to VOA about Langley’s remarks. But Rutendo Matinyarare, chairperson of the pro-government Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Movement, alleged that Langley held a briefing in Lusaka and that the U.S. was setting up the AFRICOM hub in Zambia. Matinyarare claimed that several businesspeople who have flown into the country have seen a substantial amount of American military equipment at Zambia’s airport. “And so, the question is, ‘What are these weapons doing in Zambia?’” he said. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema denies that his country is being militarized by the U.S. He says Zambia’s army has exchange programs with a number of countries, including the U.S., which should not be mistaken for the U.S. establishing a base. Zambia says it has called on two regional bodies — the African Union and the Southern African Development Community — to mediate talks with Zimbabwe. Zambia and Zimbabwe are members of both organizations. Zambian officials have also said the fallout stems from comments that Zimbabwean President Emerson Mnangagwa made during a recent trip to Russia — namely, the accusation that the U.S. has been militarizing Zambia to consolidate power in the region and isolate Zimbabwe. Western countries imposed travel and financial sanctions on Zimbabwe’s leadership and affiliated companies in the early 2000s for alleged election rigging and human rights abuses. The U.S. recently removed sanctions on most Zimbabweans, but a few prominent figures — including Mnangagwa — remain on the list. Meanwhile, Langley told reporters that top regional security challenges throughout Africa were discussed at the just-ended defense conference. “Our African partners want this conference here because they want to own it. But we are AFRICOM, and the U.S. government is here because we have common values, common objectives, that will affect stability, security and prosperity on the continent,” he said. This year’s conference provided a “valuable wealth of information” and lessons ahead of talks next year, Langley said.

Madrid — Spain’s leader has pledged to reform the country’s media law next month to stop the spread of fake news, a move criticized by many as a threat to press freedom. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced this month that the new legislation would “end the impunity of some pseudo media largely financed by … the extreme right.” In an interview with Spanish paper La Vanguardia, he said the law would “consolidate plural, diverse media with accurate information. These are today the ones harmed by digital tabloids that spread hoaxes.” But journalists and media analysts warn the move risks endangering press freedom and limiting the media’s role as a public watchdog. Some note that the move by Sanchez and his left-wing coalition government comes in response to critical reporting about the leader’s family. His wife, Begona Gomez, was embroiled in a legal case over alleged corruption and influence peddling. She is scheduled to appear before a judge in Madrid on July 5 as part of a preliminary investigation relating to business activities. Gomez has not been charged, and Sanchez said she has not committed any offense. The court probe was opened after a complaint filed by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), an anti-corruption union that has been linked to the far right. The organization has said its complaint is based on media reports. When the story broke in April, Sanchez described the allegations leveled at Gomez as a “harassment and bullying operation” against him and his wife by political and media enemies. He took five days out, saying he needed to consider his future and whether his position was worth all the abuse directed at his family. When Sanchez returned to office, he called for an end to a culture of “mud-slinging and slanderous rumors” which, he said, threatened the quality of public life. In a four-page letter posted on X, he said the Manos Limpias complaint was untrue and based on “alleged reporting” by news sites whose political bias were “overtly right-wing and far-right." Manos Limpias has said its complaint could be based on incorrect reports. But in a social media post, it said, “If they are not true then whoever published them should take responsibility. But if they are not untrue, we understand that the judicial investigation should continue.” Media reform When Sanchez briefly stepped back, thousands of journalists signed a letter of support, saying an attack by the media and judicial “extreme right” was an “attempt to subvert the popular will expressed at the polls through illicit means.” And in proposing reforms to the media law, Sanchez has said it will be allied to the Media Freedom Act introduced by the European Commission. MFA is designed to prevent political interference in media outlets and ensure transparent and non-discriminatory state advertising. But critics are wary. Nacho Cardero, director of El Confidencial — a respected news website that has published a series of reports on Gomez — said Sanchez’s proposal to legislate against the media represents a challenge to journalism. “This is a complicated moment in the story of Spain and journalism. It is putting in danger media freedom and the right of the citizens to be well-informed. The government has reacted by attacking the media. Right now, they have not said who the pseudo media is nor what are the lies,” he said. “They have said they are going to change the law to distinguish between good and bad media. But they have not said what they are going to do.” Since El Confidencial published its reports on Gomez, the government has cut ties with the news site, Cardero said, meaning they can no longer report the government’s side. This, he said, is not good for “El Confidencial, the government nor the people.” VOA emailed the Spanish government for a comment but has not received a reply. Media watchdogs have noted an increase in political polarization and attacks from media in Spain and several other countries. It’s a trend that sees leaders respond to critical reporting by accusing the media of political bias. Alfonso Bauluz, president of the Spanish wing of the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, known as RSF, condemned such attacks. “We also want to appeal to the sanity of political representatives. Straining public debate and encouraging acrimony leads to hatred, something that unfortunately is so present on social networks. And we think that it should not contaminate the press, whose task is to represent and offer all points of view,” he said. “The function of informing, criticizing power and denouncing its deviation is inherent to journalism and respect for those who exercise their profession with rigor and professional ethics is an inalienable demand,” Bauluz said. Maria Rey, president of the Madrid Press Association, told VOA that if Spain reformed the existing law, it might mean the creation of an organization to police media. “What makes us uncomfortable is the message that journalists are not sufficiently professional to regulate ourselves. Until now, there has always been responsible media to counterbalance incorrect news,” she said. “We are able to regulate ourselves. We are tremendously self-critical about our journalism,” Rey said. Cardero said that although the government wants to legislate, it is unclear if they can. The current minority government, which is dependent on smaller parties, has made legislating difficult this year. Because of that, it is unclear whether Sanchez would be able to gain enough support needed for reforms.

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Washington — Geopolitical tensions and growing competition in tech between the United States and China appear to be spilling over into academia despite commitments from the world’s two biggest economies to boost people-to-people exchanges. The United States remains the top choice for Chinese students seeking to study abroad with nearly 300,000 studying in American colleges and universities during the 2022-2023 school year. But reports of some cases that students and professors are facing extra scrutiny while passing through immigration and the deportation of others are raising concerns. For Chen Xiaojin, a doctoral student studying semiconductor materials at a university in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, it has been six years since she returned to her hometown of Beijing. At first, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that kept her from going home. But over the past two years, she has been deterred by accounts of Chinese students majoring in science and engineering being required to reapply for their visas upon returning to China. She also says she is worried by reports over the past six months of Chinese students being deported, even at nearby Dulles Airport. "My current research is relatively sensitive, and my boss [adviser] is getting funds from the U.S. Department of Defense, making it even more sensitive,” she told VOA. "I am afraid that I won't be able to return after I go back [to China]." Chen says that if she did return to China, she would have to apply for a new visa. In a report late last month, Bloomberg said it had found at least 20 Chinese students and scholars with valid visas who were deported at U.S. Customs since November and barred from reentry. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency does not release relevant data. Immigration attorney Dan Berger represented one Chinese student who was deported late last year. He tells VOA Mandarin that the student studied biological sciences at Yale University and was about to complete her doctorate. She visited her family in China and got a new visa but was deported by customs at Dulles Airport and barred from reentering the country for five years. Berger said he did not see anything suspicious in the transcript of the conversation between the student and the customs officer. "We have seen what seems like a pattern over the last six months of Chinese PhD students being turned around…. more than I've seen in quite a while," he said. Matthew Brazil, a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, said neither country seems willing to explain the situation. However, he believes that in most cases, the United States must have valid reasons for blocking visa holders from entering the country. In some cases, the student’s background may not match what is written on the visa application. In other cases, customs agents may also find something that the State Department missed, and once they see it, they are responsible for taking action. "I wish the Chinese side would be specific about their students who were refused entry,” he said. “The fact that both sides are mum on details and that the Chinese side is engaged with the usual angry rhetoric means that each has security concerns. And that says to me that there was good reason for the U.S. to stop these particular applicants." Brazil also sees a connection between the entry denials and export control regulations issued by the United States in October 2022 that restrict China's ability to obtain advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is one of the law enforcement agencies authorized to investigate violations of export control regulations, he said. "Beijing's intelligence agencies are known to focus attention on PRC [People's Republic of China] students and scientists headed abroad who study or work on dual-use technologies controlled under the Export Administration Act — compelling Chinese students and scientists to report on what they've learned when they return to China on holiday,” he said. “This has been true for decades." Bill Drexel, a fellow for the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said the U.S. government did find some cases where students tried to steal strategic technology for China. "I think it would both not be surprising that they found some really questionable or incriminating evidence for some students,” he said. “It would also not be surprising if, in their hunt for really solid evidence, they also may have made some mistakes on other students.” Drexel adds that “it’s just kind of an unfortunate fact of the time that we live in and the tactics that the CCP uses when it comes to these measures." In a post on X in early May, U.S. ambassador to China Nicholas Burns tried to dispel concerns about visas and entry to the United States for students and scholars. In the post, he said "99.9% of Chinese students holding visas encounter no issues upon entering the United States.” In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Monday, Burns said it is China that is making it impossible to promote people-to-people ties. Burns told the Journal that students attending events sponsored by the United States in China have been interrogated and intimidated. He also said that since U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping held their summit in San Francisco last year, China’s Ministry of State Security and other agencies had interfered with Chinese citizens’ participation at some 61 events. At a regular briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning dismissed those accusations, saying that they did not “reflect reality" and that went against key understandings reached by both countries’ presidents in San Francisco. “The United States, under the pretext of 'national security,' unjustifiably harasses, interrogates, and deports Chinese students in the U.S., causing them significant harm and creating a severe chilling effect,” Mao said. “The image of the United States in the minds of the Chinese people fundamentally depends on the actions of the United States itself.” Drexel said he believes Burns’ comments about visas and students' willingness to study in the U.S. still ring true. “On balance, it's still the case that American universities are overwhelmingly warm towards Chinese students and want them in large numbers," he said. However, Berger, the immigration lawyer, is concerned about the chilling effect recent cases involving Chinese students could have. "In general, we are being more careful about advising Chinese graduate students in STEM fields about traveling and letting them know that there is some small risk,” he said. Even though the risk is small, it does seem to be real at the moment, he said. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

An attempted military coup rocks Bolivia. The Haitian public reacts to Kenyan peacekeepers as President Rutto relents and does not sign the controversial tax law following deadly protests earlier in the week. Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy is in Brussels to address the EU Summit and North Korea is sending personnel to help Russia with “rebuilding works” in Occupied Donetsk. Iran targets journalists abroad and a look at the future of democracy

A U.N.-led conference of international envoys on Afghanistan is set to begin in Doha, Qatar, on June 30. To get the Taliban to participate, the U.N. decided not to have women and rights activists at the table, angering many. VOA Pakistan Bureau Chief Sarah Zaman reports.

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — The Central African Republic government has rejected calls from the opposition and civic society groups to postpone the country’s first local elections in more than 35 years. Opponents of the polls say funds are not available and security remains fragile at best, but the CAR government and the United Nations assert the October elections will help restore democracy and peace to the troubled state. The Central African Republic’s opposition and civil society groups say a day hardly goes by in the country without reports of rebels either killing civilians or abducting people for ransom. Rebels and armed groups also loot for survival and create chaos in towns and villages across the borders in Cameroon, Sudan, South Sudan, and three other neighboring countries. Martin Ziguele is the leader of the MLPC party, the Movement for the Liberation of the People of the CAR. He also served as the country’s prime minister from 2001 to 2003. He said the violence makes it impossible for local elections to be held in October of this year as the CAR government plans. Ziguele said besides asking the government to bring back peace to the troubled state before any local elections, opposition and civil society want structural reforms so that the CAR has an independent elections management body. He said he is surprised that the CAR wants to organize local elections this year when the political, economic and security situation that prevented elections in 2023 has not improved. Ziguele spoke Thursday at a press conference in the CAR capital, Bangui, and said elections will be disrupted if the central African state’s government fails to listen to opposition and civil society.  Ziguele did not say his party or others would disrupt the polls.   Opposition and civil society groups accuse CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera of preparing to rig the local elections in favor of his party, the United Hearts Movement, or MCU. They say by organizing an August 2023 referendum to scrap a two-term limit and extend the presidential mandate from five to seven years, Touadera indicated he wants to consolidate power. Touadera, who was voted president of CAR in 2016, rejects the accusation and said he is responding civilians' call to lead the country out of sectarian violence. Maxime Balalou is the government spokesperson. He said the government of the CAR has taken enough security measures to stop what he calls selfish opposition and civil society groups that want to see the central African nation in chaos by disrupting local elections. Balalou said it is an open secret that opposition and civil society groups calling for a boycott of polls are very unpopular and cannot democratically win local elections. Balalou spoke Thursday on state TV. He said MINUSCA, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, is protecting civilians and reducing a humanitarian, human rights and political crisis. This month, MINUSCA and the United Nations Development Program signed a $1 million agreement to help civilians register and qualify to vote in the October local elections. The CAR says it needs $15 million to organize the elections, a date for which has not yet been made public.  The government says elections, which have not taken place since 1988 because of political instability and armed conflict will restore peace and democracy and reinstitute local governance and accountability.  The C.A.R. has been engulfed in violence and chaos since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power and forced then-President Francois Bozize from office. A Christian-dominated militia called the anti-Balaka fought back, and both groups were accused of killing civilians. The fighting has forced close to a million Central Africans to flee to neighboring countries.

Jakarta, Indonesia — Indonesia aims to launch 19 satellites into low-Earth orbit next year, part of an ambitious plan to move the country into the forefront of the world's growing space industry and reduce its reliance on other countries for its satellite data. The broader program, known as the 2045 space map, is set to begin next year. Officials hope to boost Indonesia's economy and drive foreign direct investment by leveraging its unique geography as a near-equatorial, fuel-efficient launch point for space travel and research. While the satellite launches would support key economic sectors such as agriculture and mining with remote-sensing technology to track weather patterns, mining emissions and mineral-rich areas, the longer-term plan includes development of a leading-edge spaceport to reduce reliance on foreign launch sites. But according to officials at BRIN, Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency, there's still no confirmation of which company or government agencies would be responsible for the spate of launches planned for 2025. “The main constraint was the government’s financial planning and budget cuts. We also couldn’t clinch foreign investment partners to join in developing the spaceport because it is high technology and high cost,” said BRIN researcher Thomas Djamalludin. Starlink, SpaceX and Elon Musk Jakarta has relied on Elon Musk's SpaceX for launching its satellites from Cape Canaveral, Florida, since 2019, and the billionaire entrepreneur last month launched a Starlink internet services satellite directly from Bali. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has repeatedly invited Musk to use the Papuan province island of Biak as a primary Starlink launch site, which has drawn outrage from locals who say developing the island as a spaceport will devastate its fragile ecology. Although Biak has an airstrip, military base, deep-water seaport and ground stations, the 500 hectares (1.9 square miles) of government-owned land suitable for the spaceport would require foreign investment to cover the preliminary $613 million required to build the initial phase of the project. The total cost is dependent on what additional facilities investors want to build at the space port. Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia's coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, said that Starlink is mulling the offer but that there are no immediate plans for collaboration. According to Djamalludin of BRIN, China, which has dominated Indonesia's 5G market and is on track to be the nation's largest foreign investor, had expressed interest. However, a catastrophic April 2020 rocket launch that destroyed Indonesia's $220 million Nusantara-2 satellite has complicated Jakarta's relationship with China's state-owned China Great Wall Industry Corporation. Beijing has since dialed back its financial interests, declaring the Biak location too distant, while Jakarta has doubled down on wooing SpaceX for the upcoming launches, deeming the company more reliable, offering more time slots and cheaper reusable rockets. Indonesia's director of investment promotion at the Investment Coordinating Board, Saribua Siahaan, told VOA that Jakarta continues offering financial incentives, along with an easy investment permitting process for public-private partnerships. No takers in 2023 As recently as 2023, BRIN officials promoted their spaceport plans at the G20 Space Economy Leaders' Meeting and Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum. China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and India were invited as potential partners, but none signed on. “Despite the 2013 Space Law having been in effect for nearly a decade, [Indonesia’s] government has yet to finalize implementing regulations for commercialization of space and spaceport development,” said Indonesian space-law scholars Ridha Aditya Nugraha and Yaries Mahardika Putro in a recent Jakarta Post op-ed. Indonesia was the first country in ASEAN to enforce national space legislation. The 2013 Space law provides a legal framework regarding outer space, and it lays the foundation for space industry growth. Foreign direct investment in space activities brings legal certainty that can attract investors. In the past decade, though, implementation of regulations has not occurred and that has made it difficult for the related ministeries to make Indonesia a space-faring country. “This must be resolved immediately if Indonesia is serious about making outer space a revenue center and the driver of the economy in the future,” the op-ed said.

Nairobi — Protesters were back on Nairobi’s streets Thursday saying they didn't think the olive branch offered by Kenyan President William Ruto — putting on hold an unpopular tax bill — was genuine. Police fired tear gas canisters to disperse crowds in Nairobi’s commercial district, where most businesses were closed. The message of protesters to the president was clear: "Ruto must go, Ruto must go." Demonstrators tell VOA they are not scared to protest even if tear gas is being fired left and right. "The police is trying to scare us away, people who have come to peacefully protest. On my behalf I am here to peacefully protest. But the president, it's time for him to go, to resign," said Karege. Another protester said: "We've been thrown teargas all along. We don't have a problem with his excellency, the only thing we are seeking is peace." For another one, the president shouldn't be overtaxing the population to repay debt when ordinary Kenyans have not benefited from money borrowed by the government. "We want to hear the measures he has put in place to curb high taxation. High taxation because the government has taken a lot of loans from the IMF and the World Bank and we as Kenyans, we have not seen what the loans have done, it has not benefited us as citizens of Kenya. It has only gone to a few specific individuals, so we are really requesting the president, let those involved in corruption be brought to justice," said Kibsang. In an address to the nation Wednesday, Kenyan President Ruto said that he’s decided not to sign a controversial bill that included a series of tax increases. He spoke one day after more than 20 people were killed during protests against the bill that led to clashes with police. The president defended the proposed tax increases, saying the money would be used to help farmers and to employ teachers, among other priorities. He said it was necessary for Kenyans to discuss how to manage the country’s budget and debt, and said he would engage with the young people of the nation. Earlier Wednesday, Frederick Odhiambo Ojiro, an activist and rapid response officer at human rights group Haki Africa, told VOA that he did not think the president's speech was sincere. He said protesters plan to camp outside the State House. "We have to move to occupy State House until the president resigns because the president also fell short of castigating the men and women in uniform that he had used to silence the masses," he said. "The president was not genuine in his statement, he was just trying to cover his face. We still have to press, we still have to demand that the atrocities committed by this president, they are accounted for. " When we spoke to Ojiro, he was in a hospital caring for comrades who were injured in the recent protests. "Currently we have 116 comrades who are still in the hospital and the more than 200 who were treated the other day at night and released. So today I am waiting for other comrades who have been coordinating the mobilization of the financial support to just support comrades who need financial attention in terms of payment of the bills and other basic amenities," he said. The protesters were not able to access the State House Thursday because all the roads leading to it were blocked by police.

A wrongfully detained journalist in Russia faces espionage charges in a closed-door trial. In Ecuador, an anchor is held at gunpoint live on air. Plus, how AI could impact the upcoming American election. This week on the Inside Story: A Free Press Matter.

BANGKOK — Thai banks and registered companies are taking on an expanding and leading role securing weapons to Myanmar’s military regime even as it grows increasingly isolated amid a brutal civil war claiming thousands of lives, a United Nations report released Wednesday says. The report, Banking on the Death Trade: How Banks and Governments Enable the Military Junta in Myanmar, says international sanctions have helped to slash the regime’s purchase of weapons through the global financial system by a third from the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, which runs April to March, to some $253 million. “That is a very significant step in the right direction and shows the impact that international action can take,” said the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, the report’s author. Andrews attributed much of the drop in trade to Singapore, which investigated its own banks and companies in the wake of a report he wrote last year that named the city-state among Myanmar’s main pipelines for arms since the military’s 2021 coup. The new report says Myanmar’s military purchases through the global financial system from companies registered in Singapore crashed between 2022 and 2023 some 90% as a result, from $110 million to just $10 million last year. “The bad news is that we’ve seen the opposite happen in Thailand, where there has been a significant increase in both the facilitation of weapons procurement transactions by Thai banks and the export of weapons materials from Thai companies into Myanmar,” Andrews told VOA. According to his report, Myanmar’s military purchases from companies registered in Thailand over the same period doubled to $120 million, topping all other countries, including China and Russia. China and Russia saw their companies’ arms trade with Myanmar through the global financial system fall in 2023, to $80 million and $10 million respectively. India’s trade stayed steady at $15 million. Myanmar’s recent military purchases via Thailand, the report says, included items ranging from chemicals to machine tools and radios to spare parts for fighter jets and helicopters, which the junta is widely accused of using to deadly effect on civilian targets. Myanmar’s military regime has denied targeting civilians and claims it is taking proportionate action against “terrorists.” Andrews’ report does not claim that the Thai government was directly involved in the arms trades, or that all the military material and goods were made or assembled in, or exported from, Thailand. It also does not capture any arms trade outside of the global financial system, including any deals that may have been settled with hard cash or by barter. Previous research by Andrews and others showed most weapons shipments to Myanmar since the coup starting out from China and Russia. Even so, this week’s report highlights the major role international commercial banks continue to play in arming Myanmar’s military despite the mounting allegations of the junta’s war crimes. It names 16 banks in Thailand and six other countries across Asia handling $630 million worth of military-related purchases for the junta over the past two years. Despite the impact sanctions have had in stemming that trade, Andrews told VOA countries keen on thwarting Myanmar’s junta can do much more to enforce, coordinate and add to the sanctions, to leave fewer gaps for the junta to exploit. Countries that have placed sanctions on Myanmar have not all sanctioned the same companies, and some companies vital to the junta’s arms trade still have not been sanctioned at all. Andrews said the junta has reacted to sanctions on two of its key banks for military trades, for example, by redirecting most of that business through another bank still free of sanctions. The junta has also gotten better at disguising its arms purchases. “What is critical now is that the response of the international community, specifically with respect to sanctions, be coordinated, be strategic and be focused, and that the international community work together to enforce these sanctions and eliminate these loopholes,” he said. “The reason that is so important is because, given the fact that the junta is on its heels … their response is to escalate attacks on civilians,” he said. Citing research by Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a U.S.-based research group, he said the junta has picked up air strikes fivefold in the past six months alone. The junta has lost significant territory to armed resistance groups across the country over the same period and is now believed to be in control of less than half of Myanmar. Andrews said the junta’s weapons supplies would also be hit hard if Thailand were to follow Singapore’s lead and crack down on its own companies doing business with Myanmar’s military and known suppliers. Unlike Singapore, though, Thailand’s government has not explicitly come out against trading arms with Myanmar. Asked for comment, Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said the government was looking into the report. “Our banking and financial institutions follow banking protocols as any major financial hub. So we will have to first establish the facts before considering any further steps,” he said in a statement shared with VOA. “This is a matter of policy which has to be carefully considered, particularly the impact of sanctions on the wider population,” he said. “Thailand has always taken the position not to support any action that impacts the wider population.” In a separate statement, a group of past and present lawmakers from across Southeast Asia said it was “alarmed” by Myanmar’s shift from Singapore to Thailand to source weapons and urged all 10 governments of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to learn from Singapore. The bloc agreed to a five-point peace plan for Myanmar in April 2021 but has failed to make any headway besides providing some humanitarian aid. In the statement, Philippines lawmaker Raoul Manuel said the role of Southeast Asian companies in helping to arm the junta only undermines the bloc’s peace efforts. “ASEAN’s efforts to resolve the conflict in Myanmar cannot be taken seriously if ASEAN member states are helping to arm and fund the murderous Myanmar junta, which has already killed thousands of its own people and continues to indiscriminately attack the civilian population,” he said.

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United Nations — A new U.N.-backed report says hunger in war-torn Sudan is at unprecedented levels, with more than 25 million people experiencing emergency levels of hunger, 755,000 in catastrophic conditions, and the risk of famine in several regions. “WFP’s team in Sudan is working day and night in perilous conditions to deliver lifesaving assistance, yet these numbers confirm that time is fast running out to prevent famine,” Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program, said in a statement Thursday. “For each person we have reached this year, another eight desperately need help.” McCain said humanitarians urgently need more funding and also for access to be massively expanded so they can scale-up relief operations. Food security experts gathered the data between April 21 and June 13. Their latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, report says Sudan is facing the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded by the IPC in the country. The IPC was established in 2004. The experts concluded that more than half of the population — 25.6 million people — are projected to experience crisis levels of hunger or worse during the lean season, which runs from now through September. In 10 of Sudan’s 18 states, 755,000 people are facing IPC 5 – or catastrophe levels. That includes all five states comprising Greater Darfur, South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile, Al Jazirah, and Khartoum states. The food experts warned that if the conflict escalates further, there is a risk of famine in 14 areas, including Greater Darfur, Greater Kordofan, Al Jazirah states and some hotspots in the capital, Khartoum. The IPC says its latest findings “mark a stark and rapid deterioration” of the food security situation compared to their last report in December. The report said 17.7 million people were facing acute hunger, including nearly 5 million people in emergency levels of hunger. Now, the IPC says that emergency level has risen to a projected 8.5 million people. Children are at particular risk. "Hunger and malnutrition are spreading at alarming rates, and without concerted international action and funding, there is a very real danger the situation will spiral out of all control,” Catherine Russell, executive director of the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, said in a statement. “There is no time to lose,” she said. “Any delay in unfettered access to vulnerable populations will be measured in the loss of children's lives." A power struggle between the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces for the last 14 months has created a massive humanitarian crisis. More than 6 million people have been internally displaced, on top of the nearly 4 million who were displaced before the current conflict. Another 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, including Chad, South Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. The WFP says it has reached more than 3 million displaced and vulnerable people in Sudan since January, and it is scaling up to reach 5 million more by the end of this year. The food agency also is working to expand access and open new humanitarian routes, from neighboring countries and across conflict front lines. Additionally, the Food and Agriculture Organization is working to assist the country’s farmers and pastoralists with seeds, animal vaccinations and other critical supplies to restore domestic food production. While UNICEF is scaling up nutritional screening, malnutrition therapies and vaccinations, it also is distributing clean drinking water to upwards of 5 million people, as part of a multi-pronged effort to prevent famine and disease.

Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would have shielded members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids but also would have provided billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic. After deliberating more than six months, the justices in a 5-4 vote blocked an agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims. The Sacklers would have contributed up to $6 billion and given up ownership of the company but retained billions more. The agreement provided that the company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said "nothing in present law authorizes the Sackler discharge." Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. "Opioid victims and other future victims of mass torts will suffer greatly in the wake of today's unfortunate and destabilizing decision," Kavanaugh wrote. The high court had put the settlement on hold last summer, in response to objections from the Biden administration. It's unclear what happens next. "Today's Supreme Court ruling marks a major setback for the families who lost loved ones to overdose and for those still struggling with addiction," Edward Neiger, a lawyer representing more than 60,000 overdose victims, said in a statement. "The Purdue plan was a victim-centered plan that would provide billions of dollars to the states to be used exclusively to abate the opioid crisis and $750 million for victims of the crisis, so that they could begin to rebuild their lives. As a result of the senseless three-year crusade by the government against the plan, thousands of people died of overdose, and today's decision will lead to more needless overdose deaths." An opponent of the settlement praised the outcome. Ed Bisch's 18-year-old son Eddie, died from an overdose after taking OxyContin in Philadelphia in 2001. The older Bisch, who lives in New Jersey, has been speaking out against Purdue and Sackler family members ever since and is part of a relatively small but vocal group of victims and family members who opposed the settlement. "This is a step toward justice. It was outrageous what they were trying to get away with," he said Thursday. "They have made a mockery of the justice system and then they tried to make a mockery of the bankruptcy system." He said he would have accepted the deal if he thought it would have made a dent in the opioid crisis. He's now calling on the Department of Justice to seek criminal charges against Sackler family members Arguments in early December lasted nearly two hours in a packed courtroom as the justices seemed, by turns, unwilling to disrupt a carefully negotiated settlement and reluctant to reward the Sacklers. The issue for the justices was whether the legal shield that bankruptcy provides can be extended to people such as the Sacklers, who have not declared bankruptcy themselves. Lower courts had issued conflicting decisions over that issue, which also has implications for other major product liability lawsuits settled through the bankruptcy system. The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, an arm of the Justice Department, argued that the bankruptcy law does not permit protecting the Sackler family from being sued. During the Trump administration, the government supported the settlement. The Biden administration had argued to the court that negotiations could resume, and perhaps lead to a better deal, if the court were to stop the current agreement. Proponents of the plan said third-party releases are sometimes necessary to forge an agreement, and federal law imposes no prohibition against them. OxyContin first hit the market in 1996, and Purdue Pharma's aggressive marketing of it is often cited as a catalyst of the nationwide opioid epidemic, with doctors persuaded to prescribe painkillers with less regard for addiction dangers. The drug and the Stamford, Connecticut-based company became synonymous with the crisis, even though the majority of pills being prescribed and used were generic drugs. Opioid-related overdose deaths have continued to climb, hitting 80,000 in recent years. Most of those are from fentanyl and other synthetic drugs. The Purdue Pharma settlement would have ranked among the largest reached by drug companies, wholesalers and pharmacies to resolve epidemic-related lawsuits filed by state, local and Native American tribal governments and others. Those settlements have totaled more than $50 billion. But the Purdue Pharma settlement would have been only the second so far to include direct payments to victims from a $750 million pool. Payouts would have ranged from about $3,500 to $48,000. Sackler family members no longer are on the company's board, and they have not received payouts from it since before Purdue Pharma entered bankruptcy. In the decade before that, though, they were paid more than $10 billion, about half of which family members said went to pay taxes.