The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution regarding nuclear weapons. This resolution reinforces an existing treaty banning nuclear tests, but that has not yet been ratified. It comes amid the growing nuclear threat posed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Liu Jieyi(front), China's permanent representative to the UN, votes in favor of a Security Council resolution at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 23, 2016. The UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution to call on all states to refrain from conducting any nuclear weapon test explosion, meanwhile commemorating the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
"The result of the voting is as follows: 14 votes in favor, zero votes against, one abstention. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 2310-2016," said Gerard Van Bohemen, Security Council President for Sept 2016.
The resolution urges all states to refrain from conducting nuclear weapon tests. It also pushes for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, or CTBT, to be put into force. The treaty has been around for 20 years, and 160 countries have ratified -- but another 44 have not, including the US.
This resolution follows the DPRK conducting its fifth nuclear test, earlier this month. The UN Security Council has called the test a flagrant disregard of nuclear non-proliferation principles.