The United Nations human rights arm has voiced deep concern over escalating conflict between the military and armed groups in Myanmar’s Kachin and Shan provinces that has displaced over 100,000 civilians and trapped many in the midst of active fighting.

The United Nations human rights arm has called for investigations into all acts of violence in Nicaragua, where scores of people – the majority of them students – have been killed in protests that began in mid-April.

A top United Nations rights official has welcomed the Afghan Government’s “undeniable commitment” to improving an often “dire” human rights record, while also voicing concern over continued attacks on civilians ahead of key elections later in the year.

Long-term restrictions on “freedoms of expression, assembly and association” are incompatible with the holding of “credible elections” in Turkey, said the United Nations human rights chief on Wednesday, calling on the Government to lift its extended state of emergency.