his is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

UN chief says guardrails needed for AI to ‘benefit everyone’

The development of artificial intelligence, or AI, “for the good of all” requires guardrails grounded in human rights, transparency and accountability, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday.

Mr. Guterres stressed that AI must benefit everyone, including the third of humanity who are still offline, and insisted on the need to urgently find consensus on what the guiding norms for AI deployment should be.

The UN chief was speaking at the “AI for Good” summit organized in Geneva by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), bringing together governments, civil society, UN agencies, AI innovators and investors.

The event will explore ways in which AI can be used to help the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dozens of robots will be present at the Summit and their inventors will demonstrate how they can support people’s health, provide educational services, help persons with disabilities, reduce waste and assist emergency response in disasters. A press conference with the participation of several humanoid robots is expected on Friday.

Myanmar atrocities and impunity must end: Türk

The Myanmar regime’s brutal violence against civilians and its denial of life-saving humanitarian aid, reflect “utter contempt for humanity”, UN rights chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council on Thursday.

Repeated, horrific violations have been recorded by the UN human rights office, including mass killings, extra-judicial executions and beheadings, Mr. Türk said, while the military has continued to carry out atrocities in Rakhine state where the Rohingya minority are denied citizenship.

Here he is speaking to the Council about ending impunity for the violations:

“I encourage States to consider a referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. We also need to ensure accountability for possible crimes committed by different armed groups.”

The Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, also advocated before the Council for more action by UN Member States to support the “heroic” people of Myanmar, asking them to “deny the junta the three things that it needs to sustain its brutality and oppression – weapons, money, and legitimacy”.

Sudan: close to three million displaced

Nearly three million people have been displaced internally and across borders by the conflict in Sudan, according to the UN migration agency (IOM).

The agency said that among the more than 2.2 million internally displaced people, most have fled from Khartoum and Darfur towards Northern, River Nile, West Darfur and White Nile states. Food, access to health services and essential relief items for the displaced remain “critically lacking”, IOM warned.

Almost 700,000 people, both Sudanese and refugees who had been living there, have fled to neighbouring countries. The vast majority went to Egypt, followed by Chad, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia.

IOM reported on Thursday that humanitarian needs in eastern Chad were reaching “record levels”, stressing that food, water shelter and durable solutions for people on the move were urgently required.

Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees have been flowing into the area at a high rate over the past weeks, fleeing the escalation of violence in neighbouring Darfur.

Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer, UN News.