DefenceTalkUnited Nations: France carried out its first air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria on Sunday, launching a military operation as Russia and Western powers sought the upper hand in shaping the future of the war-torn country. President Francois Hollande said six French warplanes hit an IS training camp near the eastern city […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-carries-out-first-air-strikes-on-is-in-syria-65482/

DefenceTalkUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called on world governments to step up arms control, in particular by keeping track of ammunition flows that fuel fighting. “Deny access to illegal weapons and ammunition and you deny criminals, armed groups and extremists a central means to perpetrate violence, intimidation and harm,” Ban told a UN Security […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-urges-action-against-spread-of-small-arms-64209/

DefenceTalkThe head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Monday he is “seriously” worried about the North Korean nuclear program, which has not been subject to international inspections since 2009. “I remain seriously concerned about the nuclear program of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK),” said Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-worried-nkorea-nuclear-program-63346/

DefenceTalkA treaty laying down international rules for the $85 billion dollar global arms trade goes into force on Wednesday, with campaigners vowing to make sure it is strictly implemented. The United States — by far the world’s largest arms producer and exporter — has signed the treaty, but has yet to ratify it. Other key […]https://www.defencetalk.com/global-arms-treaty-enters-into-force-on-wednesday-61213/

DefenceTalkIndia has voted against the provisions of draft resolutions calling for signing of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), ruling out the possibility of joining the treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state, local media reported on Saturday. A U.N. Assembly committee Friday adopted a resolution in New York calling on all countries which have not signed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/india-votes-against-u-n-draft-resolution-on-nuke-pact-60958/

DefenceTalkNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-Un guided the military’s latest rocket-firing drill, state media said Sunday, confirming the missile launch which was conducted in defiance of UN censure. Saturday’s launch was the first since the UN Security Council on July 17 officially condemned Pyongyang for its recent series of ballistic missile tests, in violation of UN […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-defies-un-censure-to-fire-missile-into-sea-60267/

DefenceTalkMilitants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a militant offensive sweeps closer to Baghdad, prompting the UN Security Council to convene crisis talks Thursday, with the US said to be considering air strikes on the rebels. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the second city of Mosul on Tuesday […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-calls-crisis-talks-as-iraq-militants-advance-on-baghdad-59870/

DefenceTalkA total of 18 countries filed documents Wednesday ratifying a UN treaty to regulate the $80-billion-a-year conventional arms trade. One year after the Arms Trade Treaty was adopted by the General Assembly, 31 countries have ratified it. The treaty will take effect once 50 UN member states ratify it. So far, 118 countries have signed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eighteen-countries-ratify-un-treaty-on-arms-trade-59220/

DefenceTalkUS President Barack Obama’s administration signed a UN treaty Wednesday to track exports of firearms and other conventional weapons, offering a major boost to the pact despite opposition at home. The United States is the world’s largest exporter of conventional arms, accounting for 30 percent of the $90 billion global industry. The landmark treaty aims […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-biggest-exporter-signs-landmark-un-arms-treaty-49212/

DefenceTalkItaly’s parliament on Wednesday ratified the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty, which is intended to stop arms supplies to countries at war or that abuse human rights. The treaty was adopted by the United Nations in April to regulate the $80 billion (59 billion euros) annual trade in conventional arms and stop supplies to states where […]https://www.defencetalk.com/italy-becomes-first-eu-state-to-ratify-un-arms-treaty-49214/