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Aid groups say crises in Sudan, Somalia, the Sahel, and other places are receiving a lot less funding that they need to handle the challenges they face. Earlier this month, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) said "the utter neglect of displaced people has become the new normal." Henry Wilkins reports on what refugees and non-profit groups think about current funding levels.

GENEVA — Independent investigators have accused Sudan’s warring parties of driving the country into a humanitarian abyss by blatantly disregarding fundamental human rights and international humanitarian law.  The three-member International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan presented its first oral update Tuesday and Wednesday at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.   The investigators told the council that the lack of concern for the suffering of millions of Sudanese civilians by the warring parties has led to killings, looting, mass displacement, rape and other forms of sexual violence, “and resulted in a grave humanitarian crisis.”  They accused the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching millions of people who are at risk of famine.  Citing the World Food Program, they warned that around 18 million people deprived of sufficient food will face acute hunger, with 5 million on the brink of starvation.  The U.N. reports that rampant violations and abuses, along with the deprivation of essential lifesaving aid, have led to the mass displacement of nearly 9 million people inside Sudan, as well as to more than 1.8 million people fleeing to neighboring countries.  Since the conflict began in April 2023, other armed groups have sprung up to support the two main military forces. Fact-finding mission chair Mohamed Chande Othman said the deadly conflict “now involves multiple actors within and outside Sudan and has spread from Khartoum and Darfur to most of the country.”  “We are deeply concerned that the fighting persists with tragic consequences and enormous suffering of the civilian population,” he said.   “We have received credible accounts of indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, including through airstrikes and shelling in heavily populated residential areas, as well as ground attacks against civilians in their homes and villages,” he said. He added that in the capital, Khartoum, and in nearby towns, killings, looting and sexual violence have “forced many to leave their homes and property to seek refuge in other locations.”  The investigators expressed particular concern about the situation in the Darfur region, especially the siege of the capital, El Fasher — the last stronghold of the SAF, where 1.5 million inhabitants and some 800,000 internally displaced people are in great danger.  “Already, heavy fighting between the warring parties in different parts of the city has led to significant civilian casualties, damaged homes and caused mass displacement,” Othman said. “The attack on one of the main and last functioning hospitals in the city on June 8 led to its closure, leaving the civilian population without access to lifesaving medical care.”  The fact-finding mission said it is investigating earlier large-scale attacks against civilians based on their ethnicity in other areas of Darfur. These, said Othman, “have included killings, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, forced displacement and looting.”  The investigators said they also have received credible reports of rampant sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, and that they are investigating reports “of sexual slavery and sexualized torture in detention facilities, including against men and boys.”  Othman said the mission has received worrying reports about the “widespread recruitment and use of children at checkpoints to gather intelligence, as well as to participate in direct combat and commit violent crimes,” thereby putting the lives and future of many children at risk.  A June 3 report from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on children and armed conflict ranks Sudan among the countries with the highest number of “grave violations against children” in the world.   The fact-finding mission to Sudan is calling for an immediate cease-fire, without which, it said, "it is hard to see the human rights and humanitarian situation in Sudan improving.”  Following the presentation of the report, Yassir Bashir Elbukhari Suliman, the chief prosecutor of Sudan, spoke as the representative of the concerned country. He accused the RSF of multiple crimes and atrocities against unarmed civilians, without assigning any blame to the SAF for the commission of similar acts.  Commanders of the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces have previously denied committing war crimes as they battle for control of the country.  Commenting on the situation in Sudan last month, Guterres accused both warring factions of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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.

In his “peace plan,” the Russian president repeated all the false excuses he used to start the war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un upgraded their countries’ relationship as they met Wednesday in Pyongyang. Both men signed a treaty they say contains a mutual defense clause. The developments are being criticized by the U.S. and its allies, who say the relationship is a threat to global peace. More from VOA’s Bill Gallo in Seoul, South Korea. Contributor: Kim Lewis

BRUSSELS — The European Union's executive arm on Wednesday criticized France for running up excessive debt, a stinging rebuke at the height of an election campaign where President Emmanuel Macron is facing a strong challenge from the extreme right and the left. The EU Commission recommended to seven nations, including France, that they start a so-called “excessive deficit procedure,” the first step in a long process before any member state can be hemmed in and moved to take corrective action. “Deficit criteria is not fulfilled in seven of our member states," said EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, also pointing the finger at Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia and Poland. For decades, the EU has set out targets for member states to keep their annual deficit within 3% of Gross Domestic Product and overall debt within 60% of output. Those targets have been disregarded when it was convenient, sometimes even by countries such as Germany and France, the biggest economies in the bloc. This time, however, Dombrovskis said that a decision “needs to be done based on, say, facts and whether the country respects the treaty, reference values for a deficit and debt and not based on the size of the country.” The French annual deficit stood at 5.5% last year. Over the past years, exceptional circumstances such as the COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine allowed for leniency, but that has now come to an end. Still, Wednesday's announcement touched a nerve in France after Macron called snap elections in the wake of his defeat to the hard right of Marine Le Pen in the EU parliamentary polls on June 9. Le Pen's National Rally and a new united left front are polling ahead of Macron's party in the elections, and both challengers have put forward plans in which deficit spending is essential to get out of the economic rut. In the election campaign, Macron’s camp could use the wrist-slap as a warning that the extremes will drive France to ruin, while the opposition could claim that Macron had overspent and still impoverished the French, leaving them no choice but to spend more still. Despite the rebuke over excessive debt, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni stressed France was also moving in the right direction to address certain “imbalances,” sending a “message of reassurance" to the EU institutions. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the French economy will grow at a relatively sluggish 0.8% of GDP in 2024, before rising to 1.3% in 2025. Unlike the measures imposed on Greece during its dramatic fiscal crisis a decade ago, Gentiloni said, excessive austerity was not an answer for the future. "Much less does not mean back to austerity, because this would be a terrible mistake,” he said. He also disputed a claim that it was austerity itself that drove voters to veer to the extreme right, pointing out that lenient budget conditions had been in force for the past years and still allowed the hard right to come out as victors in many member states. “Look to what happened in the recent elections. If the theory is ‘less expenditure, stronger extremes,’ well, we are not coming from a period of less expenditure,” Gentiloni said.

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.

June 19th is known as Juneteenth, a U.S. holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the former Confederate states of the American Civil War. In observance of the day, international collaborators gathered in California to connect history with the future using an augmented reality app. Matt Dibble has our story from Oakland.

ATHENS — Greek firefighters and aircraft battled a blaze in the town of Koropi 30 kilometers (18.64 miles) south of Athens on Wednesday as strong winds fanned the flames and forced residents to flee their homes and businesses.   Traffic was suspended along a main highway connecting Koropi to Athens suburbs. One storage facility was on fire and flames crept into a boat dry dock and across fields of dry grass and olive trees, images on local TV showed.   There were no reports of deaths or injuries, a fire service official told Reuters. Civil protection and authorities evacuated two nearby villages.   "It’s a very difficult day today. We have a new fire breaking out every 10 minutes," Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said in a televised message.   Wildfires are common in the Mediterranean nation but they have become more devastating as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists relate to climate change.   On Tuesday more than 40 fires broke out across the country, the fire service said.  It was not immediately clear what caused Wednesday's blaze. Four firefighting planes, six helicopters, dozens of fire engines and more than 50 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, the fire service official said.   Much of the Athens area has had no rain for weeks, leaving large areas bone dry. Volunteers and professional firefighters dragged hoses over blackened fields in 35 degree Celsius (95°F) heat. Smoke filled the sky and was driven sideways by strong wind gusts.   "I saved my home at the last moment. It all happened so fast," a resident whose face was blackened by smoke told local Skai TV channel.   After forest fires last year forced 19,000 people to flee the island of Rhodes and killed 20 in the northern mainland, Greece has scaled up its preparations this year by hiring more staff and increasing training. 

BRASILIA — The murder of British reporter Dom Phillips in the Amazon rainforest two years ago was not an isolated crime in a region where violence against journalists has soared in recent years, a report published on Wednesday said.   As the world's interest in the Amazon as a barrier against climate change has grown, so has the work of journalists reporting on environmental and other crimes in the vast and often lawless region but it has come at a price.   Cases of violence against journalists more than doubled from 20 to 45 between 2021 and 2022, years when former hard-right President Jair Bolsonaro was in office, according to the Vladimir Herzog Institute, a nonprofit rights organization.   Bolsonaro eased environmental controls and gutted enforcement agencies to foster development in the Amazon, which spawned a boom in illegal gold mining and logging.   President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took office last year, has said he will confront organized crime contributing to destruction of the world's largest tropical rainforest. Deforestation has slowed but progress has been hard on other fronts.   Violence against journalists retreated in 2023, the report from the Herzog Institute showed, but remained slightly above the historical average.   Dom Philips was shot in 2022 by illegal fishermen when traveling with Bruno Pereira, an expert on isolated indigenous people who was tracking the activity of poachers on protected reservation land.   The Herzog Institute report, which documents 230 cases of violence against journalists in the Amazon since 2013, said reporters have left the rainforest fearing for their lives after receiving threats from miners, loggers and ranchers who have occupied indigenous lands. In 2020, Roman dos Anjos, who reported on illegal gold mining in the Yanomami reservation, was kidnapped, beaten and left in the forest with broken limbs. He survived the ordeal and is still waiting for his kidnappers to be brought to justice.   In 2020, a journalist who investigated the sale of mercury, which is used by wildcat miners to separate the gold from ore, was chased and threatened by miners in Rondonia state capital Porto Velho. On a reporting trip a year later, gunmen fired in the air to scare him away, the Herzog Institute said.   In 2022, in the same city, criminals machine-gunned the office of the local newspaper Rondonia ao Vivo, which had criticized the interests of farmers pushing the agricultural frontier into Indigenous lands, the report said.   "The Brazilian State urgently needs to ensure the safety of journalists and their sources," TV reporter Sonia Bridi, a veteran of Amazon coverage, wrote in the report. "The Amazon is a territory increasingly controlled by criminal organizations."

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.

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.

New Delhi — A group of U.S. lawmakers met the Dalai Lama in India’s northern town of Dharamshala Wednesday, amid cheers from Tibetans in exile and an angry reaction from China, which calls the Tibetan spiritual leader a separatist and a splittist. The visit follows the passage last week of a bill by the U.S. Congress that seeks to encourage dialogue between Beijing and Tibetan leaders in exile, who have been seeking more autonomy for Tibet. Talks with the Dalai Lama’s representatives and China stalled in 2010. "This bill is a message to the Chinese government that we have clarity in our thinking and our understanding of this issue of the freedom of Tibet,” Nancy Pelosi, former House Speaker, said to cheers from hundreds of Tibetans whom the lawmakers addressed at a public ceremony after meeting the Dalai Lama at his residence. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to soon sign the legislation called "Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act," also referred to as the Resolve Tibet Act. In Dharamshala, where the Tibetan government in exile is based, the visit of the U.S. lawmakers brought hope. “It is a jubilant moment for all Tibetans. We are all overjoyed. The visit is very significant because it comes soon after the passage of the bill which we hope will soon be passed into law,” Tenzin Lekshay, spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration, told VOA. Congressman Michael McCaul, who led the seven-member visiting delegation, said the bill reaffirms American support for what he referred to as the Tibetan right to self- determination. He said that their delegation had received a letter from the Chinese Communist Party, warning them not to visit. Beijing said the U.S. should not sign into law the bill passed by Congress. “China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Lin Jian said on Tuesday, as the lawmakers arrived in the Indian town. The Chinese embassy in New Delhi reiterated Beijing’s concerns. “We urge the U.S. side to fully recognize the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honor the commitments the U.S. has made to China on issues related to Xizang, stop sending the wrong signal to the world,” it said in a statement Tuesday night. Xizang is China’s name for Tibet. In his remarks to Tibetans, McCaul said it is important that China not influence the choice of the Dalai Lama’s successor. “Beijing has even attempted to insert itself into choosing the successor of the Dalai Lama," he said. “We will not let that happen.” The issue is contentious. China says it has the right to approve the spiritual leader’s successor while according to Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama is reincarnated after his death. The Dalai Lama has said his successor is likely to be found in India but Tibetans in exile fear China will try to designate a person to be the successor, in an effort to bolster control over Tibet. Meanwhile, Tibetan spokesman Lekshay said China needs to come forward to reinstate a dialogue with exiled Tibetan leaders. “It is a time for introspection for China to see what is going wrong, particularly with the Tibet issue which has been a longstanding conflict. China needs to be more positive.” Beijing does not recognize the exiled administration. A formal dialogue process between the Dalai Lama's representatives and the Chinese government ended in 2010 after it failed to produce a concrete outcome. Pointing out that they are asking for autonomy within China and not independence, Lekshay said the Tibetan administration in exile did not represent a separatist movement. Tibetans in exile say they fear that their culture, language and identity is under threat due to Chinese assimilation of the region. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959, has been instrumental in putting the Tibetan cause in the global spotlight but in recent years some Tibetan activists have expressed concerns that the Tibet cause is not getting appropriate attention in Western capitals. The Himalayan town of Dharamshala has been the Dalai Lama’s home since he fled Tibet over six decades ago following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

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.

Yangon — Myanmar authorities arrested 22 people for marking the birthday of imprisoned democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, local media reported on Wednesday.   Police in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, arrested 22 people who had posted pictures of themselves wearing flowers in their hair -- long a signature Suu Kyi look -- Eleven Media reported, citing an anonymous official.   Other local media said around a dozen had been arrested in the central Myanmar city for wearing flowers or praying with them in public.    A prominent pro-junta Telegram account posted several photos claiming to show those arrested, including one showing five people with their legs placed in stocks.    Suu Kyi, who turned 79 on Wednesday, has been detained by the military since it toppled her government and seized power in 2021.   The coup and subsequent crackdown on dissent have sparked a widespread armed uprising that the military is struggling to crush.   The junta has rebuffed numerous requests by foreign leaders and diplomats to meet Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who has reportedly suffered health problems during more than three years in detention.   Suu Kyi's only known encounter with a foreign envoy since the coup came in July last year, when then-Thai foreign minister Don Pramudwinai said he had met her for more than an hour.    Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence imposed by a junta court after a trial condemned by rights groups as a sham to shut her out of politics.   Her son told AFP in February she was in "strong spirits" after receiving a letter from her -- their first communication since she was detained in the coup. 

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Officials in Chad say they have opened investigations and are calling for calm after an explosion and fire at a military ammunition depot in the capital N'Djamena late Tuesday killed an undisclosed number and wounded others, causing panic in the central African state. Efforts are ongoing to put out the blaze igniting weapons and ammunition. Chad state TV reports that President Mahamat Idriss Deby has ordered the mobilization of firefighters and military to assure the safety of civilians after deepening sounds of explosions from a military ammunition depot late Tuesday scared residents in the Goudji neighborhood of N’Djamena.  Chad media reports that Deby posted on his social media platforms such as Facebook that the fire caused human and material damage but the leader did not say how many people were killed and wounded. Deby expressed condolences to bereaved families, wished the injured a quick recovery and called for calm among civilians in the capital city, according to Chad state TV. Deby ordered investigations into the causes of the blast, local media reported. Oumar Mokar sells spare parts for motors at the Central Market in N’Djamena.   Oumar says many panic-stricken civilians ran to nearby homes and schools for safety and also remained at home Wednesday morning when they found a large number of government troops on the streets.    Oumar spoke to VOA Wednesday via a messaging app from N'djamena. He said business was resuming gradually with many merchants returning to their shops. He said government troops and firefighters rushed several wounded persons to hospitals in Chad's capital. VOA could not independently verify the claims. The government said there were ‘disruptions’ in transportation but did not provide details.  Tuesday's explosion occurred after Deby presided over a meeting of top military and security officials in N’Djamena this week. Deby said Chad's security is threatened by disgruntled armed gangs and people who want to see Chad in chaos. Mahamat Charfadine Marguin, Chad's Public Security minister spoke on Tuesday after the meeting. He says the security situation in Chad had remained tense ever since Deby was inaugurated as President on May 23 to end three years of military transition and a return to constitutional order. Margui says Chad is planning to deploy its military to hot spots to preserve peace, national unity and territorial integrity as Deby promised during his inauguration.   The central African states Constitutional Council declared Deby the winner of Chad's May 6 presidential election with 61% of the vote. Opposition parties contested the results and accused Deby of vote-rigging, a claim Deby described as unfounded. 

Paris — Nearly 2,000 children die every day from health problems linked to air pollution, which is now the second biggest risk factor for early death worldwide, a report said Wednesday.   Exposure to air pollution contributed to the deaths of 8.1 million people -- around 12 percent of all fatalities -- in 2021, according to the report from the U.S.-based Health Effects Institute.   This means air pollution has overtaken tobacco use and poor diet to become the second leading risk factor for early death, behind only high blood pressure, it said.   Little kids are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, and the institute partnered with the U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF for its annual State of Global Air report.   Air pollution contributed to the deaths of more than 700,000 children under the age of five, the report found.   More than 500,000 of those deaths were attributed to cooking indoors using dirty fuels such as coal, wood or dung, mostly in Africa and Asia.   "These are problems we know that we can solve," Pallavi Pant, the Health Effects Institute's head of global health, told AFP.   'Profound effects on next generation'   Nearly every person in the world breathes unhealthy levels of air pollution every day, the report found. Over 90 percent of the deaths were linked to tiny airborne pollutants called PM2.5, which measure 2.5 micrometers or less, it said. Inhaling PM2.5 has been found to increase the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and a range of other health problems.   The report aimed to link the rates of such diseases with air pollution levels. But despite the "pretty stark" figures, the report could still be underestimating air pollution's impact, Pant said.   It did not take into account how air pollution could affect brain health, neurodegenerative diseases or what impact using solid fuels for heating could have, she explained. The report also found that ozone pollution -- which is expected to get worse as the world warms due to human-driven climate change -- was linked to nearly 500,000 deaths in 2021.   "Increasingly, many parts of the world are seeing very short, intense episodes of air pollution," during events such as wildfires, dust storms or extreme heat, which can drive up ozone levels, Pant said.   There are "very similar solutions" for both climate change and air pollution -- particularly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, she added.   More can also be done about using dirty solid fuels for cooking indoors, Pant said, pointing to how China had made significant improvements in this area.   More than two billion people cook on basic stoves or over open fires indoors, inhaling the harmful smoke.   Partly due to access to cleaner cookstoves, the rate of small children dying from problems linked to air pollution has fallen by more than 50 percent since 2000, the report said.   In May, the International Energy Agency announced that $2.2 billion had been pledged by governments and companies to improve access to less deadly cooking methods.   The report released Wednesday used data covering more than 200 countries and territories from the Global Burden of Disease study conducted by the U.S.-based Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation.   "Every day almost 2,000 children under five years die because of health impacts linked to air pollution," UNICEF's Kitty van der Heijden said in a statement. "Our inaction is having profound effects on the next generation." 

PRETORIA — South Africa put on a display of pomp and ceremony on Wednesday for Cyril Ramaphosa's inauguration as president for a second term that will see his African National Congress share power with other parties after it lost its majority in parliament.   African heads of state and dignitaries gathered outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, seat of the South African government, to watch Ramaphosa's motorcade arrive with a guard of honor on horseback.   Ramaphosa will head what he calls a government of national unity with five other parties, including the ANC's largest rival and virulent critic, the pro-business Democratic Alliance. While investors have welcomed the inclusion of the DA, which wants to boost growth through structural reforms and prudent fiscal policies, analysts say sharp ideological divisions between the parties could make the government unstable.   Just before the election, Ramaphosa signed into law a National Health Insurance bill that the DA says could collapse a creaking health system. It was unclear what would happen to that law under the new government.   The DA advocates scrapping the ANC's flagship Black economic empowerment program, saying it hasn't worked -- a highly contentious topic in a nation grappling with huge inequalities, some inherited from apartheid.   Ramaphosa has yet to announce the make-up of his new government, which he will have to negotiate with members of the new alliance.   "The president does not want the country to go through a prolonged period of uncertainty," his spokesman Vincent Magwenya told state broadcaster SABC. "This time around, there is a small layer of complexity in that he has to consult with the various parties that form part of the government of national unity. Those consultations have been underway. They will continue, even tonight," he said.  A former liberation movement, the ANC came to power under Nelson Mandela's leadership in the 1994 elections that marked the end of apartheid. Once unbeatable, it has lost its shine after presiding over years of decline.   It remains the largest party after the May 29 election, with 159 seats out of 400 in the National Assembly, but lost millions of votes compared with the previous election in 2019. The DA's vote share remained stable and it has 87 seats.   Voters punished the ANC for high levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment, rampant crime, rolling power cuts and corruption in party ranks. 

Seoul, South Korea — North Korea and Russia have signed a treaty containing a mutual defense clause, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced Wednesday, during a rare Putin visit to Pyongyang. Following a day of highly publicized events, Putin and Kim signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership agreement,” formally upgrading relations that have expanded since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The text of the agreement has not been released. But following the signing, Putin said the deal contains a clause that “provides for the provision of mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties,” according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. Following the signing ceremony, Kim called Russia the “most honest friend and comrade,” insisting the treaty is peaceful and defensive in nature, according to Russian state media. The development is sure to rattle Western leaders, who have condemned Russia-North Korea cooperation as a violation of international law. U.S. officials accuse North Korea of supplying Russia with thousands of containers of munitions, including ballistic missiles, for use on the Ukraine battlefield. “Kim Jong Un has been able to extract more concessions than we thought he would be able to from his support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” said a Korea specialist and professor of international relations at King's College London.