Over 40 countries sign UN nuclear ban treaty

Sep 21 (NHK) - More than 40 countries have signed a global treaty at UN Headquarters to legally ban nuclear weapons.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stressed the significance of the treaty at the signing ceremony on Wednesday.

Guterres said the treaty is an important step toward the universally held goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, and these doomsday weapons must not be allowed to endanger the world and children's future.

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera, who chaired the talks on the treaty, denounced the nuclear powers for forcing people and the earth to live in fear. He called on nuclear states to join the treaty.

Representatives from 42 countries signed the treaty.

It will enter into force 90 days after 50 countries have ratified it.

The treaty was adopted last July at a UN conference by a vote of 122 in favor. It prohibits a full range of nuclear weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, and produce, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.

But the treaty was boycotted by nuclear states and countries such as Japan that depend on nuclear weapons for protection.

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