BBC News with Nick Kelly
The U.N. General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved the first-ever international treaty to regulate the multibillion-dollar arms trade. It sets new standards for the export of conventional weapons from kalashnikov to battle tanks. Countries will have to report arms sales and assess whether they could be used to abuse human rights. The Australian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Peter Woolcott cheered the negotiations.
“The arms trade treaty will set new international standards as well as be a forum to transparency and accountability in the conventional arms trade. So it will stop arms trade in transfer irresponsibly and illegally in order that they might commit atrocities in human rights violations and violations of humanitarian law. So I think it’s gonna contribute to regional and international peace and security and it will promote economic development in the process.”
Only three countries voted against the treaty—Iran, Syria and North Korea, while 23 abstained. Critics doubt the treaty will make any difference to the black market in weapons. The United States has called on China and Russia to try to rein in North Korea after it announces it will restart a dormant nuclear reactor. Within the past few minutes the U.S Secretary of State John Kerry said such a move would be a provocative and serious move. He was speaking at a news conference with his South Korean counterpart. Earlier the U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that North Korea was on a collision course that could lead to war.
President Obama has unveiled details of a bold new US initiative to study the human brain. Mr. Obama described the program which he compared in scope to mapping the human genome as enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked. He said the aim would be to find treatments and cures for a number of disorders including Alzheimer’s and post-traumatic stress disorder known as PTSD.
“Think about what we could do once we do crack this code. Imagine if no family had to feel helpless watching a loved one disappear behind the mask of Parkinson’s or struggle in the grip of epilepsy. Imagine if we could reverse traumatic brain injury or PTSD for our veterans who are coming home.”
The White House said researchers would try to produce dynamic pictures of the brain.
The mother of the late pop star Michael Jackson is suing the concert promoter AEG Live for billions of dollars. Katherine Jackson blames the company for hiring the doctor who was found guilty of her son’s manslaughter. AEG Live denies responsibility. The doctor was jailed for four years after supplying Jackson with a powerful sedative before his death.
The Islamist political party of the Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has condemned US criticism of legal action against the well-known satirist Bassem Youssef. The Freedom and Justice Party described an expression of concern by the US State Department as a brazen interference in Egyptian domestic affairs. Mr. Youssef is facing charges of insulting the president.
World News from the BBC
Amnesty International has described its outrageous reports in the Saudi media that a man may be sentenced to paralysis as a punishment for having paralyzed another man. Saudi media says that the 24-year-old could be paralyzed from the waist down if he fails to pay some 270,000 dollars to his victim. Amnesty described the potential punishment as a form of torture.
Prosecutors in Brazil have charged four men in connection with the death of 241 people in a nightclub fire two months ago. The two owners of the nightclub and two members of the band that was playing at the time have been charged with manslaughter. Police said the fire in Santa Maria was triggered by fireworks used by the band.
A survey published weeks before general elections in Pakistan suggests that an overwhelming majority of young people are pessimistic about their future. The British council interviewed more than 5,000 voters aged under 30. Orla Guerin reports.
The survey paints a picture of a pessimistic generation disenchanted with democracy after five years of civilian rule. Ninety-four percent of respondents said Pakistan was going in the wrong direction up from 50% in 2007. More than half said democracy had not been good for them or the country. When asked to pick the best political system for Pakistan, Sharia law was the top choice followed by military rule, democracy came in third.
And as Venezuela’s official election campaign gets underway, the interim President Nicolas Maduro has visited the house where the late President Hugo Chavez was born. Mr. Maduro met relatives and supporters of Mr. Chavez in his hometown and vowed to continue his social reform program. The election on April 14th will choose a replacement for Mr. Chavez who was in office for 14 years and died a month ago.