UN to vote Tuesday on treaty regulating arms trade

UNITED NATIONS –  The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote Tuesday on what would be the first U.N. treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar international arms trade after Iran, North Korea and Syria blocked its adoption by consensus.

Assembly spokesman Nikola Jovanovic told The Associated Press on Monday that the resolution to adopt the treaty requires support from a majority of the 193 U.N. member states. Since the treaty had strong support when it was brought before U.N. members last Thursday, its approval is virtually certain — unless there are attempts to amend it before the vote.

Many countries, including the United States, control arms exports. But there has never been an international treaty regulating the estimated $60 billion global arms trade. For more than a decade, activists and some governments have been pushing for international rules to try to keep illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists, insurgent fighters and organized crime.

Hopes of reaching agreement at a U.N. negotiating conference were dashed in July when the U.S. said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord — a move quickly backed by Russia and China. In December, the U.N. General Assembly decided to hold a final negotiating conference to agree on a treaty and set last Thursday as the deadline.

After two weeks of intensive negotiations, there was growing optimism as the deadline approached that all 193 member states would approve the final draft treaty by consensus — a requirement set by the United States. This time, the U.S. was prepared to support the final draft treaty. But Iran, North Korea and Syria objected.

Iran said the treaty had many "loopholes," is "hugely susceptible to politicization and discrimination," and ignores the "legitimate demand" to prohibit the transfer of arms to those who commit aggression. Syria cited seven objections, including the treaty's failure to include an embargo on delivering weapons "to terrorist armed groups and to non-state actors." And North Korea said the treaty favors arms exporters who can restrict arms to importers that have a right to legitimate self-defense and the arms trade.

Both Iran and North Korea are under U.N. arms embargoes over their nuclear programs, while Syria is in the third year of a conflict that has escalated to civil war and is under U.S. and European Union sanctions. Amnesty International said all three countries "have abysmal human rights records — having even used arms against their own citizens."

The General Assembly had left open the possibility of a vote on the treaty if it failed to achieve consensus.

Jovanovic said the assembly will meet at 10 a.m. EDT on Tuesday when the first order of business will be a report from the chair of the negotiations, Australian Ambassador Peter Woolcott. That will be followed by the vote.

The draft resolution, obtained by AP, would adopt the Arms Trade Treaty that was put to members last Thursday.

If approved, the resolution asks Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as depositary of the treaty, to open it for signature by member states on June 3. It calls on all nations to consider signing and then ratifying the treaty "at the earliest possible date."

In a letter to the secretary-general dated Friday, Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant asked the U.N. chief to circulate the draft resolution to all U.N. members on behalf of Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, the United States and the United Kingdom.

By the time the draft resolution was circulated Monday, treaty supporters collected a total of 64 cosponsors and they were trying to add more countries before Tuesday'spot vote.

The draft treaty would not control the domestic use of weapons in any country, but it would require all countries to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms, parts and components and to regulate arms brokers. It would prohibit states that ratify the treaty from transferring conventional weapons if they violate arms embargoes or if they promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

The final draft made the human rights provision even stronger, adding that the export of conventional arms should be prohibited if they could be used in attacks on civilians or civilian buildings such as schools and hospitals.

In considering whether to authorize the export of arms, the draft says a country must evaluate whether the weapon would be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian laws or be used by terrorists or organized crime. The final draft would allow countries to determine whether the weapons transfer would contribute to or undermine peace and security.

The draft would also require parties to the treaty to take measures to prevent the diversion of conventional weapons to the illicit market.

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Jarome Iginla scratched amid trade speculation, Flames beat Avalanche 4-3

Published March 28, 2013

Associated Press

CALGARY, Alberta –  Mike Cammalleri scored twice in the second period and Calgary held off the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Wednesday night with Flames captain Jarome Iginla out of the lineup for the first time in nearly six years amid speculation that he will traded to Boston.

Iginla was announced as a healthy scratch two hours before the start of the game. He sat out for the first time since April 8, 2007, in Colorado, ending his consecutive games streak at 441.

Jiri Hudler and Steve Begin also scored, Blake Comeau had two assists, and Joey MacDonald made 27 saves. The Flames, ahead of only Colorado in the 15-team Western Conference, won their eighth straight game on home ice to improve to 13-15-4.

Jamie McGinn, Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O'Reilly scored for Colorado. The Avalanche have lost three straight games and seven of their past eight to drop to 1-17-4.

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Supporters: UN Arms Trade Treaty must be tougher

UNITED NATIONS –  Supporters of a strong U.N. treaty to regulate the multibillion-dollar global arms trade on Monday criticized the latest draft for not being tough enough to halt the trade in illicit weapons, which fuel wars and kills thousands of innocent civilians.

Hopes of reaching agreement on what would be a landmark treaty were dashed last July when the United States said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord — a move quickly backed by Russia and China. In December, the U.N. General Assembly decided to hold a final conference and set Thursday as the deadline for reaching agreement on a treaty.

Whether the 193 U.N. member states will be able to reach consensus on a text in the coming days remains to be seen. If not, supporters could go to the General Assembly and put forward a resolution on proposed treaty, which would almost certainly be adopted. But the key would be whether it had the support of the major arms exporters led by the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France.

Britain's chief negotiator, Ambassador Jo Adamson, said Monday the current draft still needs improvement but "I think we continue to move in the right direction in terms of substance and process."

The Control Arms coalition, which represents about 100 organizations worldwide campaigning for a strong treaty, urged Australian Ambassador Peter Woolcott, who is chairing the negotiations, not to cave in to demands from India and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, who are also major arms exporters.

"Nearly 120 states called on Mr. Woolcott to deliver a robust treaty at the start of the conference, declaring that a weak treaty was worse than no treaty," said Anna Macdonald, Oxfam's head of arms control. "The new text is not good enough and fails to reflect the demands of the majority of the member states. ... This is not going to save lives."

She stressed that "this treaty must not be drawn by Syria," an opponent of a strong treaty along with others including Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

The draft treaty under consideration does not control the domestic use of weapons in any country, but it would require all countries to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms, parts and components and to regulate arms brokers. It would prohibit states that ratify the treaty from transferring conventional weapons if they would violate arms embargoes or if they would promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

In considering whether to authorize the export of arms, the draft says a country must evaluate whether the weapon would be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian laws or be used by terrorists or organized crime.

Ammunition has been a key issue, with some countries pressing for the same controls on ammunition sales as arms, but the U.S. and others opposed to such tough restrictions.

The latest draft calls for each country that ratifies the treaty to establish regulations for the export of ammunition "fired, launched or delivered" by the weapons covered by the convention.

Eleven Latin American and Caribbean countries in a joint statement Monday said this would leave out important items like hand grenades.

The statement, presented by Ambassador Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo, Mexico's vice minister for multilateral affairs, also criticized restrictions on the scope of the treaty.

The initial text listed a series of conventional arms that the treaty would apply to "at a minimum" such as tanks, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons. But the latest draft dropped the words "at a minimum," which the 11 countries criticized.

Oxfam's Macdonald said the phrase was eliminated at the request of the United States. The U.S. Mission declined to comment because negotiations are ongoing.

The Latin statement, supported by Germany, also complained that the inclusion of the U.N. Register on Conventional Arms as the basis for countries to define the items subject to regulation "is too restrictive" since it doesn't define small arms and light weapons which "would create a serious loophole in the treaty."

Ted Bromund, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, told AP that in the latest text Woolcott, the conference chair, "has tried to split the difference by giving the treaty supporters tighter criteria on arms transfers, keeping ammunition partly out of the treaty for the U.S., respecting India's commercial ambitions, and adding a little more emphasis on 'unauthorized' possession to please the Arab states."

"By giving everyone something, though, he risks giving everyone a reason to reject a treaty that satisfies no one fully," Bromund said.

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Japan to talk with EU on free trade negotiations

Published March 24, 2013

Associated Press

TOKYO –  Japan's Prime Minister will discuss a possible free trade pact with the European Union even as a planned summit in Tokyo to launch the negotiations gets postponed because of the financial crisis in Cyprus.

Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Monday Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will talk by phone with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy about the negotiations as well as about Cyprus late Monday.

His visit to Tokyo was canceled over the weekend. Cyprus later secured an agreement that paves the way for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout.

European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is in Tokyo and meeting with Japanese government and business officials as scheduled.

Earlier this month, Japan said it will join talks on a Pacific trade pact, the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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US says it's committed to strong Arms Trade Treaty

UNITED NATIONS –  The United States is committed to reaching agreement on a strong U.N. treaty to regulate the multibillion-dollar global arms trade during a two-week conference starting Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Hopes of reaching agreement on what would be a landmark treaty were dashed last July when the United States said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord — then Russia and China also asked for a delay.

Kerry said in a statement Friday that the United States looks forward to working with other countries to reach consensus on an Arms Trade Treaty "that helps address the adverse effects of the international arms trade on global peace and stability" by helping to stem the illicit flow of weapons across borders.

He stressed that the U.S. will not support a treaty that would be inconsistent with U.S. law and the right of Americans under the Constitution to bear firearms, or a treaty that would impose new requirements on the U.S. domestic trade in firearms and U.S. exporters.

"The United States could only be party to an Arms Trade Treaty that addresses international transfers of conventional arms solely," Kerry said.

The draft treaty under consideration does not control the domestic use of weapons in any country, but it would require all countries to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms and to regulate arms brokers. It would prohibit states that ratify the treaty from transferring conventional weapons if they would violate arms embargoes or if they would promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

In considering whether to authorize the export of arms, the draft says a country must evaluate whether the weapon would be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian laws or be used by terrorists, organized crime or for corrupt practices.

Many countries, including the United States, control arms exports, but there has never been an international treaty regulating the estimated $60 billion global arms trade. For more than a decade, activists and some governments have been pushing for international rules to try to keep illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists, insurgent fighters and organized crime.

Kerry said that while the international arms trade affects every country, more than 100 nations don't have a system for controlling international arms transfers.

"We support a treaty that will bring all countries closer to existing international best practices, which we already observe, while preserving national decisions to transfer conventional arms responsibly," he said.

Kerry said that means responsible nations should have control systems that reduce the risk that conventional arms transfers will be used "to carry out the world's worst crimes, including those involving terrorism, and serious human rights violations."

The National Rifle Association, the powerful gun-rights lobbying group in the U.S., portrayed the treaty last year as a threat to gun ownership rights.

The sensitive issue of gun regulations re-emerged in the United States following the mass shooting by a gunman in December at a school in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six educators.

Amnesty International's Deputy Executive Director Frank Jannuzi said President Barack Obama "must not be cowed or intimidated by the U.S. gun lobby and the NRA."

Jannuzi added: "The unfettered trade of conventional arms has contributed to the deaths of more than 500,000, the displacement of millions, widespread rape and the recruitment and exploitation of children as soldiers. The global arms trade must be regulated, and the United States — the world's largest exporter — should lead the way."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is confident that the U.N.'s 193 member states will overcome their differences during the upcoming negotiations and muster the political will to reach agreement on a treaty. The U.N. chief reiterated his support for a treaty that regulates international transfers of both weapons and ammunition and sets common standards for exporting states.

Kerry's statement made no mention of the key issue of ammunition.

Jannuzi said the draft treaty in July had a provision that would ban the export of ammunition in cases where a country decided that the export of weapons was prohibited.

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Nothin' but Net: Trade deadline winners and losers

Philadelphia, PA –  Let's be clear - we're all losers on this NBA Trade Deadline Thursday.

The day was not expected to bring much in terms of excitement, but this was a snoozer. Things heated up right around the 3 p.m. ET deadline, but when J.J. Redick is the biggest name moved, we've all sat around for nothing.

Small moves were the order of the day as the biggest fish dangled in the water, Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, will remain in Georgia through the end of the season.

Smith will be a free agent and reportedly seek a max contract. He went to great lengths in an interview with NBA TV to say he never actually said that specifically, but the fact that he will test the free-agent waters scared off teams, especially the Milwaukee Bucks.

Other big names rumored to be out there were nothing more than rumors.

Mitch Kupchak fell all over himself to declare that Dwight Howard wouldn't be traded from the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite the experiment not working a little bit, Kupchak stated Howard is the future of the Lakers, even though Howard could walk at the end of the season.

The Boston Celtics held on to Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo. Danny Ainge would've had to be blown over the move them, although maybe blowing up the organization might have made more sense long-term.

Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap are both still members of the Utah Jazz. Same goes for Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis and the Milwaukee Bucks.

But there were a flurry of moves, so let's examine who made out and who didn't.

WINNERS

TORONTO RAPTORS

This may be cheating, but their acquisition of Rudy Gay at the end of January was the largest move this season. Toronto is 6-3 with Gay in the lineup and he's scoring exactly the way the team envisioned when they traded for him.

HOUSTON ROCKETS

They got the ball rolling Wednesday night when they picked up Thomas Robinson, who was the fifth pick in last summer's NBA Draft, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas and Cole Aldrich.

Douglas and Aldrich barely cracked Kevin McHale's lineup. Patterson is a nice player who may have already hit his ceiling.

The Kings basically did this to save a little more than $1 million in salary. How can you justify giving up the fifth pick in the NBA Draft four months into his career for that return? It's ludicrous.

This move got the Rockets the fifth pick with tremendous upside. Robinson struggled with the Kings, but a high school love triangle is less of a soap opera than the Kings organization. Robinson could thrive under one of the best power forwards ever -- McHale -- and in an up-tempo offense.

Plus, Houston still ends up fine with its cap situation. They can afford at least one max player (Howard, Andrew Bynum, Smith) in the offseason.

Just a fantastic trade by general manager Daryl Morey.

ATLANTA HAWKS

Yes, Danny Ferry kept Smith when it seems fairly likely he'll bolt in the offseason. That doesn't mean Ferry will let Smith walk for nothing.

The deal the Bucks were offering (Luc Mbah a Moute/Ekpe Udoh/Beno Udrih) is simply not good enough for Smith.

In this age of NBA free agency, the team you were under contract with can offer you more money. That's why the Hawks could easily work out a sign-and- trade with whomever Smith likes this summer. Smith gets a five-year max deal and whatever that team can part with is most likely better than the Bucks trio.

Plus, Smith may help the Hawks win a round in the playoffs.

ORLANDO MAGIC

They got Tobias Harris, Doron Lamb and Udrih from Milwaukee for Redick, Ish Smith and Gustavo Ayon. Redick is the flashy part of this deal, but what did Orlando really lose?

Redick is a pro and a good locker room presence. But he's shooting his lowest 3-point percentage since the 2008-09 season. If you're going to hang your hat on long-distance shooting, the number should be higher than 39 percent.

Harris is a second-year, 6-foot-8 forward with great athleticism. Lamb is a rookie from Kentucky who can shoot the ball. He bounced back and forth from the D-League to the Bucks so much, well, here's hoping he was renting. Udrih is a backup point guard.

For a rotation guy like Redick, this is a healthy haul. Harris and Lamb go along with a young nucleus of Nikola Vucevic, Arron Afflalo, Moe Harkless and Andrew Nicholson.

It's not sexy, but the Magic are re-stocking the shelf with young prospects.

LOSERS

SACRAMENTO KINGS

This franchise is such a disaster it wouldn't surprise me if Mayor Kevin Johnson threw his arms up and said, "Take them, Seattle." Johnson is clawing and fighting to keep the Kings in California's capital, and what does he see in return, a team that just gave up the fifth pick in last year's draft for almost nothing.

Patterson is OK. Douglas has been productive, but he'll be third on the depth chart at the point behind Isaiah Thomas and Aaron Brooks.

What is the rationale? If Sacramento likes Patterson that much more than Robinson, this makes sense, but it begs the question, why bother drafting Robinson in the first place? If the Kings were willing to part with him four months into his rookie season, they couldn't have been that in love with him to warrant taking him so high.

Robinson hasn't been great by any means. He hasn't been awful, either. He hasn't really gotten a fair shake, so the Rockets could've absolutely gotten an untapped gold mine.

This one is such a bad trade for the Kings it might become historic down the line.

UTAH JAZZ

It's hard to fault a Jazz team for staying pat, but with Millsap and Jefferson both free agents at the end of the year, coupled with Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter absolutely ready for huge minutes on the bench, Utah could've moved one of them for point guard help.

The rumor out there was Millsap for the Los Angeles Clippers backup guard Eric Bledsoe. Whether that had legs or not stays a mystery.

"A lot of the stuff that was out there was completely inaccurate," said Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey.

Again, sign-and-trade deals can be worked out in the summer, but Utah has found itself a little more in the mix in the Western Conference than expected. They are a half-game behind the Golden State Warriors for the sixth seed. Perhaps holding on to these two will help this season, but there's almost no way on Earth both are back for next.

Point guard help also could have paid dividends immediately. Mo Williams is out with a finger injury and Jamaal Tinsley redefines "adequate at best."

"We really didn't even have any tough decisions," Lindsey said. "I could be wrong ... but the right thing for us was to be disciplined."

We'll see.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

I'm not sure I totally get what they did on Thursday.

They failed to acquire Smith because their offer was pretty pathetic. Can't fault them for low-balling the Hawks since there's no guarantees Smith re- signs in the offseason.

They hold on to both starting guards, Jennings and Ellis, when both definitely won't be back next season, maybe neither.

Then, Milwaukee gave up a little too much for Redick. Harris and Lamb are both prospects with a ton of upside. They're both raw, but worth a shot for a below-average 3-point shooter.

Redick has value, but does he significantly crack this backcourt lineup of Jennings and Ellis? Both are in the top 20 in minutes played this season, which may be a good reason to bring in some help, but the duo is still going to play a ton. They are Milwaukee's best players.

FANS OF THE NBA

I'm reminded of a Cloris Leachman line from a "Comedy Central Roast." She's mocking her fellow dais mates and says, "Somebody punch me in the face so I can see some stars."

Everybody stayed pat. No one had the guts, or brazen stupidity, to pull off a blockbuster. It's wise, generally speaking, for these GMs to be conservative, but watching NBA TV and checking Twitter for updates had to be excruciating.

Moves will happen over the summer with sign-and-trades becoming so proficient. It will render the trade deadline moot soon, thanks in part to every team trying to avoid the luxury tax.

This used to be a fun day, filled with speculating and second-guessing. Did the Eric Maynor-for-a-trade-exemption deal generate a lot of buzz amongst your friends?

Thursday was the NBA Trade Deadline all right. Emphasis on "dead."

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