Hot planet on a path of 'suicidal emissions' from fossil fuel burning
The U.N. secretary-general demanded that nations act far faster and more decisively to combat the climate crisis.
John Heilprin
Award-winning U.N.-accredited journalist, with 30+ years on four continents, almost half of it for AP in Washington, New York and Geneva.
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Geneva
Under pressure, global postal system grapples with tech and costs
For only a second time in its 144-year history, the Swiss-based Universal Postal Union held an "Extraordinary Congress," this time under U.S. pressure to change international postal rates.
Human rights experts outraged at Myanmar's crackdown on press
Newly installed U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet took on Myanmar's government, defending the right to press freedom and calling for the release of two journalists.
Evidence of election meddling competes with voting assistance
Russians and Americans have a complicated history of election meddling abroad but they are not equivalent, international organizations and democracy proponents say.
Trump threatens pullout from WTO in latest snub of multilateralism
U.S. President Donald Trump said he'd withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization, an independent colossus that underpins trade rules, it it doesn't 'shape up.'
Possible war crimes by all sides in Yemen identified by U.N. experts
A panel of experts said in an initial report to the U.N. Human Rights Council that the possible war crimes include rape, torture, disappearances and "deprivation of the right to life."
Human rights experts urge prosecution in Myanmar 'genocide'
A panel of U.N. human rights investigators identified six Myanmar military leaders that it said should be prosecuted at The Hague for genocide against Rohingya Muslims.
Difficulties counting the uncounted death toll in Syria add to horrors
The number of people killed in Syria is commonly assessed at more than half a million, but the existing data are "convenience samples" and almost certainly an undercount.
Frontier of machine learning raises questions and risks for human rights
International organizations are calling on governments and technology companies to adopt a human rights declaration.
Kofi Annan, Nobel-winning former U.N. secretary-general, dies at age 80
The charismatic statesman from Ghana, who spent virtually his entire career as a U.N. administrator and rose to become the world body's first Black African U.N. secretary-general, has died, his foundation announced in the Swiss capital.
U.N. rights chief urges more global support for people and not nations
The departing U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, a Jordanian prince and diplomat, warned people's rights must be defended amid a rise in populist-driven authoritarians.
Faced with U.N. scrutiny, China on defensive over Uyghur detentions
China's government rejected the concerns of U.N. human rights experts that at least 1 million ethnic Uyghurs are being detained and indoctrinated in the remote Xinjiang Province.
Military space force proposed by Trump may flout international treaty
More than a half-century after the world agreed to keep the peace in outer space, U.S. President Donald Trump's militarization plans could violate international space law.
Chile's former president Bachelet named U.N. human rights chief
Bachelet got involved in politics after becoming a Chilean human rights activist in the early 1970s, owing to her family becoming political prisoners and the death of her father, an air force general, after months of torture while in prison.
U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal widens transatlantic rift
With the U.S. reversal, Iran's planned economic opening to the West depends on its European, Russian and Chinese partners.
Trump urged to cease news media attacks that could trigger violence
Experts warned the Trump administration's vitriolic language and combative actions against journalists are purposely meant to undermine the mission of U.S.-based news organizations.