UN chief warns that rise in global distrust and improvements in nukes are `recipe for annihilation’

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. chief is warning that an alarming rise in global distrust and division coupled with efforts by countries to improve the accuracy and destructive power of nuclear weapons is “a recipe for annihilation.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ comment is in a statement he released Tuesday to mark the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. He says that with nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled around the world “a legally binding prohibition on nuclear tests is a fundamental step in our quest for a world free of nuclear weapons.” The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has not entered into force because it needs ratification by eight nations that had nuclear power reactors or research reactors when the U.N. adopted the treaty in 1996.