| Nobel Peace Laureates Call for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Ten Nobel Peace Laureates and 30 organisations bestowed that honour have expressed profound concern that 74 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons “continue to pose an existential threat to humankind”, reiterated the warning of “the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war”, and accentuated the need to strengthen basic freedoms. [2019-09-30] UN Chief Warns of Nuclear Disarmament Going Reverse By Shanta Roy  NEW YORK (IDN) – As the United Nations commemorated its annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons September 26, Secretary-General António Guterres underlined two political realities facing the world community.JAPANESE | MALAY | TURKISH12 States Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty at Signature Ceremony By Santo D. Banerjee  NEW YORK (IDN | UNODA) – For the second year in a row, the “core group” of StatPhoto: Group photo at the signature and ratification ceremony of the treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Credit: UN.es supporting the Treaty for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) convened a signature and ratification ceremony on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, September 26. [2019-09-29] A New Iran Deal French Proposal on Hold as Tensions Mount Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball and Julia Masterson  WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – The latest attempt by European powers to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal hit a roadblock this month when the Trump Administration hesitated to engage in a French-sponsored initiative. [2019-09-27] Concerns About Military Build-up in Iceland By Lowana Veal  REYKJAVIK (IDN) – It was widely believed that the U.S. military left Iceland in 2006 when they abandoned the base adjoining Iceland’s international airport at Keflavik on the southwest tip of the island.But recent developments, in particular the visit of U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence to Iceland in early September and perhaps a previous visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February 2019, reveal other motives. JAPANESE | SWEDISH Special UN Meeting Calls for Entry into Force of Nuclear Test Ban Treaty By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Ten years ago, on December 2, 2009, the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared August 29 the International Day against Nuclear Tests by unanimously adopting resolution 64/35. The resolution was initiated by the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with a large number of sponsors and cosponsors with a view to commemorating the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site on August 29, 1991.ARABIC | JAPANESE UN Denies Endorsement of India in Nuclear Suppliers Group By Shanta Roy NEW YORK (IDN) – India, Pakistan and Israel, three countries armed with nuclear weapons, are not recognized as nuclear weapon states by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – a “privilege” bestowed only on the world’s five major nuclear powers: the U.S., UK, Russia, France and China, which are also members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) GERMAN | JAPANESE It Is Time to Close and Lock the Door on Nuclear Testing Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball * WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – Everybody knows that nuclear weapons have been used twice in wartime and with terrible consequences. Often overlooked, however, is the large-scale, postwar use of nuclear weapons: At least eight countries have conducted 2,056 nuclear test explosions, most of which were far larger than the bombs that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States alone has detonated more than 1,030 nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, underwater, and underground. [2019-09-02] |
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