Opposition to Myanmar's new military regime intensified on Saturday as spontaneous neighbourhood watch groups mobilised to thwart arrests of anti-coup activists and the United Nations (UN) demanded the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.The army takeover that brought a decade-old democracy to an end last week has unleashed a storm of anger and defiance, with huge daily protests bringing urban centres around the country to a standstill.Since taking Suu Kyi and her top allies into c

For much of its life, the United Nations (UN) has hidden behind the comfortable maxim that, “If we didn’t have it, we would have to invent it.” Now at the venerable age of 75 (old enough to have been a 2020 US presidential candidate), the organisation still enjoys widespread approval in global opinion polls. But beneath the surface, the UN faces difficulties that cannot be ignored. Judging by traditional and social media, the issues that the UN pushes tend to get little traction.

United Nations (UN) investigators called Tuesday for an expert evaluation of whether Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi can be legally implicated in the abuses committed against the country’s Rohingya minority.The fact-finding mission to Myanmar, set up by the UN Human Rights Council, said they were not equipped to determine what level of responsibility Suu Kyi should shoulder for the Rohingya crisis.“It will become a legal issue whether or not there is an element of culpability here,

United Nations (UN) ambassadors from 37 countries released a letter Friday defending China's treatment of Uighur and other minorities in the Xinjiang region, in direct response to Western criticism earlier this week. Envoys from across the European Union (EU) – along with Australia, Canada and Japan and New Zealand – had earlier co-signed a text denouncing China's conduct in Xinjiang, where one million people, mostly ethnic Uighurs, are reportedly being held in internment c