U.N. talks aimed at banning nuclear weapons began Monday, but the United States, Russia, China and other nuclear-armed nations are sitting out a discussion they see as impractical. With international tensions rising while public awareness of the nuclear threat has waned, “the need for progress on nuclear disarmament has rarely been as urgent as it is today,” U.N. But the U.S. and several other nuclear powers say a ban won’t work and the world should instead stick with a more gradual approach. “As a mom, as a daughter, there is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons. “It’s very difficult to eliminate a weapon that you haven’t prohibited first,” said Beatrice Fihn, the executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, an advocacy group.

Source: Indian Express March 27, 2017 20:37 UTC