Nuclear talks end in failure

A FOUR-WEEK UN review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ended Friday (Saturday in Manila) without adopting a consensus document, with negotiators failing to narrow differences over a proposal to make the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone.

The failure to produce an outline for actions for the next five years at the meeting, which took place in the 70th anniversary year of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will likely raise concerns that efforts to advance disarmament toward a world free of nuclear arms will lose momentum.