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UN Security Council Marks 25th Anniversary of Test Ban Treaty

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The Security Council on Monday marked the 25th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, with calls for its entry into force and the elimination of nuclear weapons everywhere.

Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), Robert Floyd, pointed to its “near universal adherence”, with 185 signatures and 170 ratifications.

He said that the Treaty “has created and sustained a norm against nuclear testing so powerful, that less than one dozen tests have been conducted since adoption, and only one country has violated it this millennium.

Before the adoption of the treaty in 1996, the average explosive yield of nuclear tests each year was equivalent to nearly 1,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs.

“Nuclear testing not only created geopolitical instability and supported the development of more powerful and deadly nuclear weapons, it also caused untold human suffering and environmental damage. Because of the CTBT, we have left this world far behind,” Floyd said.

In addition to its core mission, the Treaty includes a verification regime in the form of a global network, that provides useful data for civil and scientific purposes, including tsunami warning and climate change studies.

Established under the treaty, the International Monitoring System (IMS) provides round-the-clock, real-time monitoring of any explosive nuclear activities on Earth, and is now more than 90 per cent complete, with over 300 stations certified.

Despite its 185 signatures, the Treaty is yet to enter into force, which would require ratification by eight countries (the US, China, Iran, Israel, Egypt, India, Pakistan and North Korea).

Floyd said “anniversaries are a time for renewal of commitments.”

He cited a “real appetite for civil society and youth engagement” on the issue, and declared that the ultimate objective is clear: the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

“But we cannot hope to achieve a nuclear weapons-free world without a universally applied, non-discriminatory, and verifiable prohibition on nuclear testing,” he argued.

Still to this day, there are still 13,400 nuclear weapons around the globe. Some countries continue to seek nuclear capabilities, and others are working to expand their nuclear arsenals.

Addressing Council Members, the UN Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, pointed to a “worrisome trend towards the modernization and expansion of nuclear arsenals”.

“As the global arms control regime has crumbled, multilateral nuclear disarmament diplomacy has atrophied. As relations continue to decline amongst States that possess nuclear weapons, we cannot take for granted that the norm against nuclear testing will hold,” she said.

Nakamitsu said: “nuclear testing has done lasting damage to pristine environments, human health and some of the most vulnerable communities”, from the deserts of Nevada, to the steppes of Semipalatinsk; from the outback of Australia to the atolls of the South Pacific.

Besides those impacts, she argued that the tests have also “enabled the quantitative and qualitative improvements of nuclear weapons, announcing the arrival of new nuclear-armed States and facilitating dangerous growth in the arsenals of their predecessors.”

For the Under-secretary general, the 25th anniversary of the treaty is a reason to celebrate, but also to rethink what can be done to overcome the challenges that still lie ahead.

She argued that this can be done on several fronts.

First, further empowerment of young people. Second, it has to be understood that the CTBT does not operate in a vacuum, and that it works in tandem with other processes. Third, and finally, the international community must continue to strengthen the CTBTO’s technical capabilities.

Magdalene Wanyaga, a Kenyan member of the CTBTO Youth Group, also participated in the meeting, sharing her views on how civil society and youth can creatively contribute to this mission.

Last week, the high-level Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT, included global calls for it to become binding and fulfil its potential to end all nuclear explosions.

Ministers and senior officials from more than 60 countries participated, joining UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and UN General Assembly President, Abdulla Shahid.

At the event, Guterres urged eight key countries which have not yet signed or ratified the Treaty, to do so without delay.

“Given its necessity and readiness, it is both disappointing and frustrating that the Treaty has not yet entered into force. We all know the reason for this – the eight remaining Annex II States whose ratifications are required for the Treaty’s entry-into-force,” he said. (NAN) 

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Earthquake Shakes Western Greece

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A strong earthquake has shaken western Greece on Friday morning, but no casualties reported.

The Greek Geodynamic Institute in Athens, said the 5.8 magnitude quake occurred at 9:12 am (0812 GMT) local time.

The epicentre of the quake was about 20 kilometres below the seabed off the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula near the islet of Stamfani, also known as Strofades.

It was preceded by a smaller quake with a magnitude of 4.

1.

Greece’s Civil Defence organisation did not initially say whether there were any casualties or damage to buildings.

A tsunami warning was not issued.

“We felt the tremors very strongly,” a resident of the nearby Olympia region said, adding that

“everyone here is on the streets.

 Local media reported that many schools had been evacuated as the quake was felt throughout western Greece, and on the tourist island of Zakynthos and as far away as Athens, about 300 kilometres away.

The deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea is located between western Greece and Sicily in Italy, with a depth of over 5,000 metres.

The African and European tectonic plates meet in this region, which make it prone to strong earthquakes. (dpa/NAN)

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Russian Army Fires Ballistic Missiles at Kiev from Crimean Peninsula

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The Russian Army has hit the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with ballistic missiles, injuring four people and damaging an uninhabited three-storey building, according to officials.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said  that two of the injured  people were in a central neighbourhood and  had been taken to hospital.

Rocket debris also fell in two other neighbourhoods.

According to the Ukrainian air force, two ballistic missiles were fired at the city of millions, from the Russian-controlled Crimea Peninsula.

Both were shot down.

Half a dozen explosions from anti-aircraft missiles had previously been heard in the city centre.

The air raid warning was only triggered a few seconds beforehand, it said.

Ukraine has been facing  Russian invasion for over two years.

Since then, the Ukrainian air defence system has been massively reinforced with Western systems. (dpa/NAN)

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Cambodia Arrests 2 Foreigners for Smuggling 2.27 kg Narcotics

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Cambodian customs police at the Phnom Penh International Airport said they have arrested two South Korean nationals for an attempt to smuggle 2.27 kg narcotics to South Korea.

The duo, a man and woman, were caught Sunday night while they checked in for a ZA215 flight bound for Seoul.

The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia said in a news release on Monday.

In their body searches, our customs officials found many packs of drugs wrapped around their waists, the news release said.

“As a result, some 1.29 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 0.98 kg of ketamine were seized from the two suspects’ possession.’’

The Southeast Asian country has no death sentence for a drug trafficker.

Under its law, someone found guilty of trafficking more than 80 grammes of illicit drugs could be jailed for life.

According to the country’s Anti-Drug Department (ADP), Cambodia nabbed 3,899 drug-related suspects, including 106 foreigners, in 1,659 cases from Jan. 1 to March 3, 2024.

According to the report they confiscated a total of 2.79 tonnes of narcotics.

Most of the seized drugs were ketamine, crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine tablets, heroin, ecstasy, and cocaine. (Xinhua/NAN)

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