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The United Nations estimates as many as 6.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia’s invasion in 2022. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh explores the story of one Ukrainian teenager seeking safety in music in Chicago.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

WASHINGTON — The United States called on Vietnam Thursday to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity following Vladimir Putin's one-day visit to Hanoi, part of the Russian president’s brief Asian tour seeking to shore up alliances in the face of mounting Western sanctions. “We expect that any country, when it engages in conversations with the government of Russia, and especially when it hosts leaders from the government of Russia, will make clear their respect for the principles of the U.N. Charter, including sovereignty and territorial integrity, and convey that those principles must be upheld across the world,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told VOA during a briefing on Thursday. U.S. diplomat to Hanoi Meanwhile, the State Department’s top diplomat for Asia is traveling to Hanoi to reaffirm ties after the U.S. and Vietnam upgraded their bilateral relationship last year. “Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, June 21 to 22,” according to a State Department press release. “He will meet with senior Vietnam government officials to underscore the strong U.S. commitment to implementing the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and to working with Vietnam in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.” Kritenbrink’s trip was planned “well before” Putin’s visit to Hanoi, according to Miller. Vietnam maintains three tiers of diplomatic relationship with other countries:  Comprehensive Partnerships; Strategic Partnerships; and Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships. The United States, China and Russia are among the countries that maintain top-tier ties with Vietnam. U.S. officials did not have an assessment, when asked by reporters, if there is any indication that Vietnamese companies or people are providing material support to Moscow for its war on Ukraine, or whether Washington has warned Hanoi against it. At the White House, John Kirby, the National Security Council communications adviser, told reporters that the U.S. will “stay focused on continuing to deepen” the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam and “broaden it, improve it, for our own mutual benefit to each other and to the region.” Putin’s visit to North Korea Russia and Vietnam pledged Thursday to deepen ties during a state visit by Putin aimed at bolstering his alliances to counter Western efforts to isolate Moscow over the war in Ukraine. Russia and Vietnam “want to push up cooperation in defense and security, how to deal with nontraditional security challenges on the basis of international law, for peace and security in the region and the world," Vietnamese President To Lam told reporters after talks with Putin. Putin traveled to Vietnam, a close ally of Moscow since the Cold War, after talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Those two countries signed a mutual defense pact. In Washington, Republican Representative Mike Turner, who is the chairperson of the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, voiced concerns over the possibility of Russia providing North Korea with technological assistance to improve its long-range ballistic missiles and their ability to directly target the United States. “I think we've all sort of felt intuitively that China, Russia, North Korea, Iran are working together in both their development of capabilities and in their threats to the United States. These symbolic meetings, I think, should allow us to focus on this as a threat that has already been occurring,” Turner said during an event at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. VOA’s White House correspondent Anita Powell and National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some material in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Our correspondent Kane Farabaugh travels to Indiana University to report on the depth of the U.S.-China economic competition. Both countries are vying for global dominance. This week on The Inside Story: Competing with China.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

nairobi, kenya — As Sudan’s humanitarian crisis grows more dire, concerns are growing that foreign actors with interests in Sudan are complicating the situation and making it harder to end a 14-month war that has driven millions from their homes and has put parts of the country on the brink of famine. Calls to end the fighting during the past year have come from around the world, including the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab League and East Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). IGAD tried to send the presidents of Kenya, South Sudan and Djibouti to Khartoum to mediate the crisis, the group’s spokesperson at the time, Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, told VOA. But so far, that initiative has not materialized. Other powers like the United States, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have led efforts to broker cease-fires that came and went without much effect. Some have questioned how each of the warring factions — the Sudan Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti — have funded the war and supported their fighters for 14 months. “There’s a lot of resources and money that is being invested in this war, particularly on the RSF side,” said Hala al-Karib, regional director for the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa. Al-Karib believes the RSF is getting military and political support from the United Arab Emirates, while the Sudanese army may be getting help from Iran and Egypt. Her views are echoed by other analysts, including Kwaku Nuamah, a senior lecturer at American University's School of International Services. Russia’s state-run militia formerly known as the Wagner Group has also been identified as a major supplier of arms to the RSF. Egypt’s support of al-Burhan is largely a reflection of long-standing ties between the SAF and the Egyptian military, Nuamah said. He added that Iran’s role in the conflict — once generally neutral, now one of active support for al-Burhan — reflects past good relations with the Sudanese government and contemporary geostrategic concerns, including Tehran’s need for allies as it faces crushing global sanctions. However, Michael Walsh, a senior fellow in the Africa program at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, cautions that hard evidence of outside support for either side in the Sudan conflict is hard to come by. "Many of the journalists who are covering the region, they are covering it from Egypt. People have been displaced, embassies have been displaced," he said. “Given the security implications of information of who’s supporting either party, it’s really difficult to get access to that information and there’s a huge risk of misinformation and disinformation.” War, humanitarian crisis The war began on April 15, 2023, when Sudanese citizens awoke to sounds of gunfire and clashes in the capital, Khartoum, pitting units of the Sudan Armed Forces against the RSF. At the time, al-Burhan was head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council; Dagalo was the deputy head. Tensions between the generals had been rising over disagreements about how the RSF should be integrated into the Sudanese army. Restructuring the military was part of an effort to restore the country to civilian rule after the ouster of former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and a 2021 military coup orchestrated by the two generals. The war quickly spread beyond the capital. Since its beginning, more than 8.8 million people have fled their homes and nearly 16,000 fatalities have been reported by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a data collection, analysis and crisis mapping project. UAE links? "Both sides have continued to violate the laws of armed conflict in multiple ways, with the support of outside actors allegedly ranging from the UAE to Russia to Iran to Egypt and others," Nathaniel Raymond, executive director at the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab, told VOA. The Yale humanitarian research lab has been tracking action in Sudan since the war started using satellite and other technology. In a report published last week, the lab used satellite images to identify an Ilyushin (IL-76) — a large Russian-made transport plane — flying June 11 near Sudan's El-Fasher region, above RSF-controlled territory. The finding is significant, Raymond said, because the same model of plane has “also been seen at facilities identified by the United Nations panel of experts as being linked to alleged UAE lethal support activities on behalf of RSF in Sudan.” A report earlier this year by a U.N. panel of experts noted that accusations that UAE had provided military support to RSF via Amdjarass city in Chad were "credible." About the IL-76, Raymond noted that “we don’t know who was flying this plane and we are working to differentiate whether it was a Sudan Armed Forces plane or was resupplying RSF or was transiting through over El-Fasher.” Regardless, he said, it makes one wonder about what activities are going on to supply both sides in the conflict. The UAE strongly rejects allegations of its involvement in the conflict and categorically denies the provision of military, logistical, financial or political support to any faction in Sudan, the UAE's foreign ministry told VOA in response to a query. The UAE pointed out to VOA that after the Sudanese authorities refused a request in 2023 by the UAE to build a hospital inside Sudan to provide medical support to the wounded, the UAE built two field hospitals close to the Chadian-Sudanese border known as Amdjarass and Abeche. They have extended an invitation to the U.N. panel of experts to visit the hospitals and observe. Why Sudan? Walsh, at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said it’s important to remember “there are some individuals in this conflict who have relationships with foreign actors that extend way before the start of hostilities in the current civil war … in Sudan. There are connections to Yemen and other conflicts.” Russia's Wagner mercenary group, which was renamed the Africa Corps after the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has also reportedly been present for years in Sudan, although Wagner denied this. The U.S. Treasury Department accused the group last year of providing the RSF with surface-to-air missiles that have contributed to “a prolonged armed conflict that only results in further chaos in the region.” According to more recent media reports, Ukrainian special forces have intervened on behalf of SAF to counter the Russian mercenary group. Ukraine has been at war with Russia for over two years now. Russia has used Wagner fighters to help fight its war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with al-Burhan in Ireland in September 2023 to discuss Russia-funded armed groups. At the meeting, Zelenskyy thanked the Sudanese general for his country's support of Ukraine's territorial integrity. There are also reports that Sudanese authorities are about to strike a deal for the construction of a logistical supply base for the Russian navy on its Red Sea coast. The Sudan Tribune reported this month that a Sudanese military delegation would visit Moscow soon to discuss the country’s needs for weapons and munitions. American University's Nuamah said Sudan is of interest to outside actors because of its strategic location on the coast of Red Sea at the crossroads of sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East; its possession of lootable natural resources such as gold; and the fact that it shares borders with numerous fragile states in a turbulent region. The Red Sea provides access to the Suez Canal and is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world. In any case, Sudan is looking at a gloomy situation for the near term. ACLED ranks Sudan as one of the 50 most violent countries in the world, saying that conditions continue to get worse as mass killings remain a key feature of that conflict. Earlier this month, about 200 people were killed during attacks by RSF soldiers on unarmed civilians in the village of Wad al-Noura, in Sudan’s Gezira state. The attack was widely condemned by the international community and prompted renewed calls for a cease-fire. Al-Karib of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, who relocated to Uganda after the war started, still has friends and family in Sudan. Painting a grim picture of the war-torn country, she said that “people are getting killed regularly just for being themselves. People are being … kidnapped and detained for lengthy periods of time. Women can’t travel from point A to point B safely. Communities are looted completely.”

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

SYDNEY — Chinese Premier Li Qiang has wrapped up a three-country tour of the Asia-Pacific region, boosting trade ties and rebuilding relations. But the trip also saw a reemergence of some thorny diplomatic issues.   Through this visit Li, the second most powerful official in China, became the first premier to visit New Zealand and Australia since 2017.   He wrapped up his trip with a stop in Malaysia, marking an almost decade-long lull since his predecessor Li Keqiang visited the Southeast Asian nation in 2015. Li’s tour heralded some results, including the announcement of new trade deals with New Zealand and Malaysia.   But a bizarre incident in Canberra involving Chinese officials and a formerly imprisoned local journalist was described as “entirely inappropriate” by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.   Li’s tour began in a more muted manner, with the premier meeting New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon for talks in Wellington.   The pair announced new agreements on trade and climate change, with Li describing the two countries as “good friends.”  Luxon, though, said the split was “probably 50-50” in time spent discussing differences between the two countries compared to their common interests.   New Zealand’s leader had a “challenging course” to navigate, according to Kathryn Paik, a senior fellow with the Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, balancing economic priorities with concerns over China’s increasing engagement in the Pacific.   “This balancing will become more difficult, as New Zealand continues to become more aware of the detrimental effects of Chinese actions abroad,” Paik told VOA.   The Chinese premier also raised concerns about New Zealand’s potential participation in the AUKUS security alliance — a trilateral pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States — that is seen as a counter to Beijing's influence in the Indo-Pacific region.   From New Zealand, Li touched down in Australia for a meeting closely watched after relations between the two took a nosedive during the pandemic.   Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison was a vocal critic of China on a number of issues, from human rights to calling for an international inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Beijing hit back, slapping tariffs and restrictions on a variety of Australian goods and commodities.   The Albanese administration has worked to rebuild the relationship with the key trading partner and this visit was evidence of how far things have come.  Canberra and Beijing “are back to the normal pattern of relations now,” said former Australian Ambassador to China Geoff Raby.  “Sure, there are big differences and issues that we disagree on. But that's the same in all relationships,” Raby told VOA.   Beijing’s so-called “panda diplomacy” was on full display during the visit, with Li announcing China would send Adelaide Zoo two new giant pandas, replacing Wang Wang and Fu Ni who are returning to their homeland.   The premier also offered 15-day, visa-free entry for Australian visitors to China, something also promised to New Zealand citizens during his visit there.   Albanese said he and Li also discussed improving military dialogue between the countries, after a recent incident when a Chinese jet dropped flares in the pathway of an Australian defense helicopter over the Yellow Sea.  But while Albanese may have said the trip “renewed and revitalized” relations with China, all local media outlets could talk about was what happened with Cheng Lei — an Australian journalist who recently returned home from three years detention in China. Lei was reporting on a press conference at Canberra’s Parliament House when Chinese officials appeared to block cameras from filming her.   “It was a complete stuff-up by the Chinese side, stupid, completely stupid. They are their own worst enemies,” said former ambassador Raby.   “It really did deflect attention within Australia from the positive aspects of the visit. It was such a stupid thing,” Raby told VOA.   The final leg of Li’s tour was in Malaysia, with the Chinese premier marking fifty years of diplomatic relations with his hosts.   Li met with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the pair witnessed the signing of a slew of new deals, such as a five-year agreement to boost economic and trade cooperation.  The pair also jointly pushed a lever to break ground at the construction of a new railway station that will form a key part of China’s prized Belt and Road Infrastructure project.  In addition, China promised to begin importing fresh durians from Malaysia. The Southeast Asian nation is one of the world’s biggest producers of the notoriously smelly fruit.   Malaysia, like much of the Indo-Pacific, is walking a tightrope in balancing relations with its biggest trading partner China and the United States. Kuala Lumpur recently received large investments from major U.S. companies including Microsoft and Google.   It’s an approach of “strategic ambiguity,” according to James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania. “They don’t show their hand too openly.”

The U.N. human rights office said Israeli forces may have violated the laws of war in Gaza and failed to distinguish between civilians and fighters. More drone and missile attacks in Ukraine overnight as discussions about a new nuclear reactor get underway. Vladimir Putin is in Vietnam and China is seeking to expand its influence in Georgia. Plus, stories from Africa, Afghanistan and the UN on World Refugee Day.

Geneva — A human rights expert says the Eritrean government is maintaining its iron grip on society by systematically repressing the fundamental rights and freedoms of its people through violent and threatening means. “The human rights situation in Eritrea remains dire. Patterns of gross human rights violations, including the widespread use of arbitrary and incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance persist unabated,” Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, told the U.N. Human Rights Council Thursday. “The authorities continue to enforce a system of indefinite military national service that amounts to forced labor and has been consistently linked to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment,” he said. This is the fourth report on Eritrea submitted by Babiker to the council since he was appointed special rapporteur in September 2020. Regretfully, he observed that nothing has changed over the years. The same issues of concern continue to be raised time after time, he said, noting that no measures have been taken to improve and change “policies and practices that perpetuate the human rights crisis in the country.” The report finds that “due process rights continue to be systematically violated,” that hundreds of dissidents, human rights defenders, religious leaders, journalists and other perceived government critics are arbitrarily detained “for indefinite and prolonged periods without ever being charged or tried.” The report says civic space continues to be completely closed in Eritrea; that there is no freedom of expression, association, and assembly; no independent media; and that dissent is systematically suppressed, “including through arbitrary detention or enforced disappearance.” The special rapporteur told the council that “the stifling of civic engagement and suppression of critical voices by the Eritrean authorities also extends to Eritrean communities worldwide.” He said Eritrean authorities have developed a pattern of “transnational repression” to control diaspora politics and silence pro-democracy activists abroad through methods such as kidnappings and enforced disappearances, surveillance, violence, threats, harassment and smear campaigns. “Over the past year and a half, we have witnessed an escalation of violence and polarization in the diaspora, which is hurting Eritrean communities and society at large,” he said. “Clashes between Eritrean government supporters and detractors in dozens of cities across the globe have resulted in several Eritreans killed, hundreds injured, dozens arrested, and public property being destroyed.” Despite the accumulating dangers abroad, Babiker said that Eritreans continued to flee the grave human rights situation in their country, noting that an estimated 17% of the population has sought asylum as of 2024. Commenting on another issue, Babiker noted that Eritrean forces continue to be present in parts of the Tigray region of Ethiopia, though Eritrea is not party to the November 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which purportedly ended the war in that region. Babiker said Eritrean forces in Tigray “continue to be involved in human rights and international humanitarian law violations,” including extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, and forced labor. The presentation of the special rapporteur’s report to the council coincided with Eritrea’s “Marty’s Day,” a day of remembrance for those who perished in the war while fighting for Eritrea’s independence between 1961 and 1991. That fact was not lost on Habrom Zerai Ghirmal, charge d’affaires at the Permanent Mission of Eritrea in Geneva, who responded to Babiker’s report “with a heavy heart.” He lashed out at the special rapporteur for participating in “the annual ritual of demonizing Eritrea” on this day of “immense historical importance.” He said that “Eritrea abhorred that once again, the very countries today sponsoring the resolution against Eritrea were the very same states that prolonged the border conflict by refusing to uphold their moral and legal obligations as guarantors and witnesses of the agreements signed.” “Those states that engineered the country-specific mandate, the nine- year-long illegal and unfair United Nations sanctions…did not have the moral authority to talk about the promotion of human rights in Eritrea,” he said. Undeterred by the reprimand, Babiker called on member states to maintain international scrutiny of Eritrea. “The international community must not forsake Eritrean victims of violations,” he said, while urging the Eritrean government to take “meaningful steps toward reform."