Sunday, January 13, 2013

General Assembly Concludes Main Part of Session Following Consensus in Fifth Committee on Member State Contributions to Regular, Peacekeeping Budgets

Assembly President Says Implementation of Agreements Should Be Seen
‘As a Core Principal of Effective Multilateralism in the Twenty-First Century’

The General Assembly this evening — resuming a meeting suspended on Friday pending agreement by its Budget Committee — concluded the main part of its sixty-seventh session with the adoption of 22 texts, two of which set the rates Member States will pay for the regular and peacekeeping budgets over the next three years.

Noting that the more than 300 draft resolutions and decisions adopted since September ran the gamut of contemporary global challenges, Assembly President Vuk Jeremić told delegations on Friday, 21 December, that “what happens in one part of the world invariably affects us all”.  It was with that in mind, he said, that he had chosen “bringing about adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations by peaceful means” as the session’s overarching theme.  “In these tumultuous times, the enormity of this challenge is evident,” he said.

He asked States to consistently implement what had been agreed: “doing so should be seen by all Member States as a core principle of effective multilateralism in the twenty-first century”.  It was only the conduct and dedication of States that would determine the future strength of the Assembly.

Capping days of intense negotiations, the Assembly adopted a range of Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) resolutions, covering the scale of assessing Member States’ dues, the United Nations pension system and the proposed 2013 budget for 33 political missions.

By one consensus text, the Assembly retained the existing formula for assessing Member States’ financial contributions to the United Nations regular budget and its peacekeeping operations during the 2013-2015 period.  It kept in place the existing elements for the regular budget, including the average statistical base period of three to six years, a country’s gross national income (GNI) converted to United States dollars using market exchange rates, and its population size.  It also maintained the 0.01 per cent ceiling for assessing the rate of least developed countries and the 22 per cent maximum assessment rate for everyone else.

Concerning peacekeeping assessments — where each Member State is assigned to 1 of 10 levels, with corresponding discount rates — the Assembly adopted a consensus text, taking note of updates to those levels, as suggested by the Secretary-General.  By further terms, it endorsed those updates subject to certain provisions, and used them establish Member States’ fees for the period 2013‑2015.  Recognizing the need for reform, the Assembly decided to review the structure of the assessment scale during its seventieth session.

Though not tasked with passing a budget this year, the Assembly adopted a consensus text revising expenditures upwards by $243.26 million to $5.39 billion, and income by $3.99 million to $511.74 million for the current biennium.  The Secretary-General’s proposed budget for 33 special political missions also came under scrutiny, with the Assembly approving $566.48 million to keep them running in 2013.

On the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, the Assembly adopted a consensus text increasing the mandatory retirement age to 65 for new participants effective no later than 1 January 2014, and amending Fund regulations to allow for the recovery of pension entitlements from staff who defrauded participating employers.

Other Budget Committee texts addressed post-adjustment payment for staff, the financing for the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) and the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, as well as the Residual Mechanism, funding for the enterprise resource planning system and the internal justice system, and funding for commitments made at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

Acting on two outstanding texts of its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), the Assembly adopted — without a vote for the first time — a resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar, welcoming the positive developments in the country and the Government’s commitment to continue political reform, democratization and national reconciliation.

At the same time, it urged Myanmar to continue the release of political prisoners without delay and ensure the full restoration of their rights.  It expressed concern about arbitrary detention, forced displacement and rape, urging an end to such violations.  Elsewhere, it urged accelerated efforts to address violence affecting ethnic minorities, expressing concern about the Rohingya minority in Rakhine State.

The Assembly also adopted a consensus resolution on the Committee against Torture, authorizing that Committee — without prejudice to the Assembly’s intergovernmental process on treaty body strengthening — to meet for an additional week per session as a temporary measure, with effect from May 2013 until the end of November 2014, to address the report backlog.

On the recommendation of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), the Assembly adopted an updated text on the arms trade treaty by a recorded vote of 133 in favour to none against, with 17 abstentions. (See Annex III.) By its terms, it decided to convene in New York, from 18 to 28 March 2013, the Final United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, to be governed by the rules of procedure adopted on 3 July 2012.  It also decided that the text of the treaty submitted by the Conference President on 26 July 2012 would be the basis for future work, without prejudice to the right of delegates to put forward proposals on that text.  The text passed after votes on its operative paragraphs 2 and 3.

In other business, the Assembly elected Malaysia, Brazil and Peru to the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission to serve two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2013, with two seats yet to be filled.  It appointed Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal to the Committee on Conferences to serve three-year terms beginning on 1 January 2013, with five seats remaining vacant.

The Assembly also extended terms for judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and of the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia through the adoption of two more texts.

Explanations of vote were made by the representatives of Saudi Arabia, Monaco, Oman, Cuba (also on behalf of Bolivia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ecuador and Iran), Iran and Syria.

A representative of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See also spoke in explanation of vote.

The representative of the Russian Federation introduced an amendment to a draft.  The delegate from Cyprus requested that it be put to a recorded vote.

The Fifth Committee Rapporteur introduced that body’s reports.

The representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea exercised the right of reply.

Action on Committee Texts

The Assembly today first took up reports of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), which had been pending, owing to consideration by the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) of their programme budget implications.

Acting without a vote, the Assembly adopted draft resolution XVI on “the Committee against Torture” contained in Third Committee report A/67/457/Add.2.

The Assembly turned next to draft resolution I on “human rights situation in Myanmar” (document A/67/457/Add.3), by which it would welcome the positive developments in the country and the Government’s commitment to continue political reform, democratization and national reconciliation.

Speaking before the vote on that text, the representative of Saudi Arabia said his delegation would join consensus.  His Government supported the progress being made in Myanmar and the commitments of its Government towards political reform, human rights protection and national reconciliation, among others.  The Rohingya Muslim minority had endured tragic circumstances manifested in a policy of harassment and violence, and Saudi Arabia stressed that full rights should be accorded to that minority, including, among others, citizenship and political rights.  He called for full access to humanitarian assistance for the affected persons and groups, regardless of race or religion, adding that his country had contributed $50 million towards helping those victims.

He noted that after the vote on the text in the Third Committee, the Myanmar delegation had expressed strong reservations to the term “Rohingya minority”.  That did not serve the aspiration to reach a peaceful settlement to Myanmar’s oppressed minority and was a negative indicator against the international community’s consensus.  His Government would continue monitoring the situation with hopes that Myanmar’s Government would cooperate fully with the international community towards achieving justice for the Rohingya Muslim minority.

The Assembly then adopted, for the first time without a vote, the draft resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar.

Next, the Assembly turned to draft resolution IV contained in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) report on the arms trade treaty (document A/67/409), also pending due to consideration by the Fifth Committee of budget implications.  It concerned building on progress made so far towards the adoption of a strong, balanced and effective such treaty.

The Assembly first, in a separate recorded vote of 126 in favour to 1 against (Iran), with 21 abstentions, retained operative paragraph 2, thereby setting the dates for a final conference in 2013.  (For details of the vote, see Annex I.)

Next, operative paragraph 3, by which the Assembly decided that the treaty text submitted by the Conference President on 26 July would be the basis for future work, was retained by a recorded vote of 123 in favour to 1 against (Iran) with 24 abstentions (Annex II).  The resolution as a whole was adopted by a recorded vote of 133 in favour to none against, with 17 abstentions (Annex III).

Speaking after the vote, a representative of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See welcomed adoption of the arms treaty resolution, which he said “reignites hope”, after the unfortunate stalemate at the July conference.  The international community, he said, would have a legally binding instrument, but to achieve “such a noble goal”, it was necessary to have an open and transparent process that allowed for the full participation of all States.

He said his delegation understood the inclusion of “mutatis mutandis” in the present text and recognized it as a necessary change to rectify improper treatment of his delegation during the July conference.  The Holy See was to be fully recognized within the United Nations, in accordance with the rules of procedure.

Right of Reply

The delegate of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, taking the floor in exercise of the right of reply concerning the draft resolution on the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, rejected the allegations made against his country.  “ Israel has nuclear weapons and it is the major source of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East,” he said.  “It should know very clearly that its continued possession of nuclear weapons will eventually give rise to nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, posing a threat to the regional peace and security.”  Further, the more Israel clung to its policies of continued possession of nuclear weapons, with the silent support of the United States, the more it would show itself as the “typical representative example of the double standards of the United States in the field of nuclear proliferation”.

Action on Fifth Committee Texts

Next, Fifth Committee Rapporteur JUSTIN KISOKA of the United Republic of Tanzania introduced its reports.  For further information on those texts, please see Press Release GA/AB/4057.

Acting without a vote, the Assembly adopted draft resolutions on financial reports and audited financial statements, and reports of the Board of Auditors (document A/C.5/67/L.8); programme planning (document A/C.5/67/L.10) and pattern of conferences (document A/C.5/67/L.5).

It next turned to a draft resolution on scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations (document A/C.5/67/L.6), adopting it without a vote.

Speaking before the text’s adoption, the representative of Monaco explained that her country had joined in the consensus on paragraph 6.  However, it had seen its assessments jump by 300 per cent from 2013 to 2015.  The methodology used had resulted in a distortion in evaluating Monaco’s capacity to pay.  Despite the enormous increase, however, her Government reiterated its commitment to comply fully with its international obligations and to honour its payment on time.

The Assembly then adopted without a vote a draft resolution on scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations peacekeeping operations (document A/C.5/67/L.7).

Explaining his position, the representative of Oman said that, while his country had joined the consensus, consideration should be given to the fact that there was no justification for raising the level for Oman’s to “level B”.  In view of all objective criteria, Oman should be at the same level of developing countries where the per capita income had increased gradually and nominally.  The level at which Oman had been put was a level that included all developed countries, while Oman remained a developing State.  He was not pleased with the “sudden move to level B”.

Moving on, the Assembly adopted without a vote a draft decision on the United Nations common system (document A/C.5/67/L.14), and draft resolutions on the United Nations pension system (document A/C.5/67/L.9), administration of justice at the United Nations (document A/C.5/67/L.11) and financing of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (document A/C.5/67/L.15).

Before taking action on the draft resolution on financing of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (document A/C.5/67/L.16), the delegation of the Russian Federation said that there had not been time to properly verify the figures that had emerged on financing the tribunals.  The Secretariat had assured his delegation that subsequent amendments regarding financing would be provided in an informal way.  Unfortunately, it had not been possible to achieve consensus on the financing for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.  The Russian Federation had shown flexibility, he said, yet even its modified proposals were not reflected in the text submitted by the Committee Chair.  In his view, he said, double standards and a politicized approach were adopted with respect to the finance and technical issues.  He urged completion of the Tribunal’s work and the transfer of its remaining functions to the Residual Mechanism, in line with the relevant Security Council resolutions.  He had been pressed to propose oral amendments.

Following a request by the representative of Cyprus for a recorded vote on the amendments, the Assembly voted 59 against to 17 in favour, with 65 abstentions, thereby rejecting the proposal (Annex IV).  The draft resolution as a whole was then adopted by a recorded vote of 139 in favour to none against, with 12 abstentions (Annex V).

Acting without a vote, the Assembly adopted draft resolutions on financing of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (document A/C.5/67/L.17) and on financing of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) (document A/C.5/67/L.4).

The Assembly turned next to the two draft resolutions contained in the report of the Fifth Committee on the programme budget for the biennium 2012-2013 (documents A/C.5/67/L.18 and A/C.5/67/L.19). 

Explaining its position before action on the first draft, Cuba’s delegate, also on behalf of Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Iran, said the programme budget for 2012-2013 included estimates on special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives authorized by the General Assembly or Security Council.  The delegations were concerned at the inclusion of financial resources related to the activities of the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the responsibility to protect, as the General Assembly “has not legislated” that concept or defined it.  The delegations were concerned that the budget did not allow them to identify the level of resources related to the responsibility to protect within the overall level of funds requested for the Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide.  That inclusion did not help to reach agreement with regard to the budgetary estimates for that thematic group.  The delegations, therefore, considered it necessary to call for a recorded vote on section I of the draft resolution.

The representative of Iran said his country had always supported the United Nations in the scope of its work as long as it abided by international law.  However, the issue of the responsibility to protect was still under consideration by the General Assembly.  There was no reason to fund posts about which there was no definition, he said, and that was why his country would vote “no” on section I.

Section I was then retained by a recorded vote of 113 in favour to 12 against, with 22 abstentions (Annex VI).  The draft resolution as a whole was adopted without a vote, as was draft resolution II.

The representative of Syria, speaking after the vote, said his country had voted in favour of the draft text concerning financing for special political missions; however, he had reservations about the allocation of certain resources.  Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen had exceeded his mandate by following up on matters of two States, Lebanon and Syria, while he blatantly favoured Israel.  His delegation had joined the consensus on the programme budget for the biennium; however, regarding revised estimates for the Human Rights Council, he again expressed reservations on resources for two positions related to that matter.

Next, the Assembly took up the item on review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations (, adopting without a vote the draft resolution on the proposed programme budget outline for the biennium 2014-2015 (document A/C.5/67/L.13), as well as a draft decision on questions deferred for future consideration (document A/C.5/67/L.20).

Also acting without a vote, the Assembly adopted a resolution, under its agenda item 139, on administrative and budgetary coordination of the United Nations with the specialized agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Other Business

The General Assembly then filled three of five vacancies on the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission, as follows: Brazil, Malaysia and Peru for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2013.

Turning to the appointment of members of the Committee on Conferences, the Assembly appointed Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal to three-year terms beginning on 1 January 2013.

The Assembly next adopted without a vote a draft decision  to extend the terms of five judges on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (document A/67/L.51), as follows: Mehmet Güney (Turkey), Khalida Rachid Khan (Pakistan), Arlette Ramaroson (Madagascar), Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov (Russian Federation) and Andrésia Vaz (Senegal), who are members of the tribunal’s Appeals Chamber, until 31 December 2014 or until the completion of the cases to which they are assigned, whichever comes first.

Also acting without a vote, it adopted a draft decision to extend the terms of 21 judges on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (document A/67/L.52), as follows: Appeals Chamber Judges Carmel Agius (Malta), Liu Daqun (China), Theodor Meron (United States), Fausto Pocar (Italy) and Patrick Robinson (Jamaica) until 31 December 2013; permanent Trial Chambers Judges Jean-Claude Antonetti (France), Guy Delvoie (Belgium), Burton Hall (Bahamas), Christoph Flügge (Germany), O-Gon Kwon (Republic of Korea), Bakone Justice Moloto (South Africa), Howard Morrison (United Kingdom) and Alphons Orie (Netherlands) until 31 December 2013; and ad litem Trial Chamber Judges Elizabeth Gwaunza (Zimbabwe), Michèle Picard (France), Árpád Prandler (Hungary) and Stefan Trechsel (Switzerland) until 1 June 2013, and Melville Baird (Trinidad and Tobago), Flavia Lattanzi (Italy), Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo)and Frederik Harhoff (Denmark) until 31 December 2013.

Closing Statement by General Assembly on 21 December

Reviewing achievements made during the main part of the General Assembly’s sixty-seventh session, VUK JEREMIĆ, President of the General Assembly, spotlighted the adoption by the plenary, of, thus far, 231 resolutions and 63 decisions.  Highlights included texts on human rights improvement, freedom of religion or belief, combating intolerance, strengthening the United Nations disarmament machinery and a so-called “humanitarian omnibus resolution”.

However, he said, the issue that had perhaps drawn the most attention was the “historic” vote held on 29 November on granting the State of Palestine non-Member Observer State status in the United Nations.  As those votes were cast, the President had extended an appeal to the Assembly — and to Palestine and Israel in particular — to work for peace with the aim of reaching a comprehensive settlement.  “Today, allow me to call again for a just peace in the holy land,” he said.

Indeed, in today’s globalizing, interconnected world, “what happens in one part of the world invariably affects us all”.  It was with that in mind that he had chosen “bringing about adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations by peaceful means” as the overarching theme for the sixty-seventh session, he said, adding that, “in these tumultuous times, the enormity of this challenge is evident”.

Mr. Jeremić had opened the meeting informing the Assembly that negotiations had fallen short on a draft resolution to set up the Open-Ended Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals, and that a decision on the matter — one of the main outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference — would have to be postponed until a later date.  When he turned to sustainable development during his closing statement, he said he would not be sharing the longer portion of his statement that he had prepared on that topic.

“I have certain strong beliefs which I am no longer prepared to share with this audience,” he stressed in that regard.  He personally believed that such a discussion was critical to the future of humankind, and hoped that such views would be “reflected in decisions we might make in this chamber”.  However, before such decisions or agreements occurred, he was no longer prepared to speak in public about sustainable development.

Turning to other matters, he said that, over the past few years, the Group of 20 (G-20) had come to play an increasingly important role in the debate on how to improve global economic governance.  “I believe the General Assembly, which operates on the basis of the sovereign equality principle, can provide a unique platform to exchange views and share information on shared economic concerns,” he said, announcing his intention to launch a process that would lead to the establishment of a non-intrusive form of regularized interaction between the Assembly and the G-20.

The intent of that initiative was not to infringe on established prerogatives, but to complement existing international efforts, in accordance with the G-20’s outreach to countries not in the collective and the United Nations, he explained.  In addition, he would organize a thematic debate on ways to enhance dialogue between the G‑20 “and the rest of the world”.

Among other high-level thematic debates that would be convened in the months ahead would be one in partnership with the Organization of American States (OAS) on social inequality, one on the “role of international criminal justice in reconciliation” and another on “culture and development”.  A thematic session would be devoted to examining “tools for peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa”, and a thematic debate would be held on “climate change, green energy and water sustainability”.  In addition, a thematic session would be held on the International Year of Water Cooperation, among other topics.

While those themes merited the significant attention of the Assembly, Member States must also endeavour to consistently implement what had already been agreed.  “Doing so should be seen by all Member States as a core principle of effective multilateralism in the twenty-first century,” he said.  It was only the conduct and dedication of States that would determine the future strength of the Assembly, he emphasized.

ANNEX I

Vote on Operative Paragraph 2, Arms Trade Treaty

Operative paragraph 2 of the draft resolution on the arms trade treaty (document A/67/409) was retained by a recorded vote of 126 in favour to 1 against, with 21 abstentions, as follows:

In favour:  Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Zambia.

Against:  Iran.

Abstain:  Bahrain, Bolivia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Myanmar, Namibia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen.

Absent:  Angola, Azerbaijan, Belize, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mozambique, Nauru, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe.

ANNEX II

Vote on Operative Paragraph 3, Arms Trade Treaty

Operative paragraph 3 of the draft resolution on the arms trade treaty (document A/67/409) was retained by a recorded vote of 123 in favour to 1 against, with 24 abstentions, as follows:

In favour:  Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Zambia.

Against:  Iran.

Abstain:  Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen.

Absent:  Angola, Azerbaijan, Belize, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mozambique, Nauru, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe.

ANNEX III

Vote on Arms Trade Treaty draft as a whole

The draft resolution on the Arms Trade Treaty (document A/67/409) was adopted by a recorded vote of 133 in favour to none against, with 17 abstentions, as follows:

In favour:  Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Zambia.

Against:  None.

Abstain:  Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen.

Absent:  Angola, Azerbaijan, Belize, Burundi, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mozambique, Nauru, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe.

ANNEX IV

Vote on Oral Amendment to Financing for Former Yugoslavia Tribunal

An oral amendment to the draft resolution on the financing for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (document A/67/675) was rejected by a recorded vote of 59 against to 17 in favour, with 65 abstentions, as follows:

Against:  Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay.

In favour:  Belarus, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nicaragua, Russian Federation, Serbia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Abstain:  Afghanistan, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cameroon, Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen.

Absent:  Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belize, Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mozambique, Nauru, Nepal, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam.

ANNEX V

Vote on International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Financing

The draft resolution as a whole on the financing for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (document A/67/675) was adopted by a recorded vote of 139 in favour to none against, with 12 abstentions, as follows:

In favour:  Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia.

Against:  None.

Abstain:  Belarus, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Russian Federation, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Syria, Venezuela.

Absent:  Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belize, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mozambique, Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe.

ANNEX VI

Vote on Section I, Draft on Programme Budget for Biennium 2012-2013

Section I of the draft resolution on questions relating to the Programme Budget for the Biennium 2012-2013 (document A/67/677) was retained by a recorded vote of 113 in favour to 12 against, with 22 abstentions, as follows:

In favour:  Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Yemen.

Against:  Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Venezuela, Zambia.

Abstain:  Barbados, Belarus, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, China, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Fiji, Haiti, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Togo, Zimbabwe.

Absent:  Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belize, Bhutan, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mozambique, Nauru, Pakistan, Palau, Paraguay, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu.

NASA'S Galex Reveals The Largest-Known Spiral Galaxy

WASHINGTON -- The spectacular barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 has ranked among the biggest stellar systems for decades. Now a team of astronomers from the United States, Chile and Brazil has crowned it the largest-known spiral, based on archival data from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) mission. GALEX has since been loaned to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.

Measuring tip-to-tip across its two outsized spiral arms, NGC 6872 spans more than 522,000 light-years, making it more than five times the size of our Milky Way galaxy.

"Without GALEX's ability to detect the ultraviolet light of the youngest, hottest stars, we would never have recognized the full extent of this intriguing system," said lead scientist Rafael Eufrasio, a research assistant at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and a doctoral student at Catholic University of America in Washington. He presented the findings Thursday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Long Beach, Calif.

The galaxy's unusual size and appearance stem from its interaction with a much smaller disk galaxy named IC 4970, which has only about one-fifth the mass of NGC 6872. The odd couple is located 212 million light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Pavo.
Astronomers think large galaxies, including our own, grew through mergers and acquisitions -- assembling over billions of years by absorbing numerous smaller systems.

Intriguingly, the gravitational interaction of NGC 6872 and IC 4970 may have done the opposite, spawning what may develop into a new small galaxy.

"The northeastern arm of NGC 6872 is the most disturbed and is rippling with star formation, but at its far end, visible only in the ultraviolet, is an object that appears to be a tidal dwarf galaxy similar to those seen in other interacting systems," said team member Duilia de Mello, a professor of astronomy at Catholic University.

The tidal dwarf candidate is brighter in the ultraviolet than other regions of the galaxy, a sign it bears a rich supply of hot young stars less than 200 million years old.

The researchers studied the galaxy across the spectrum using archival data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, as well as GALEX.

By analyzing the distribution of energy by wavelength, the team uncovered a distinct pattern of stellar age along the galaxy's two prominent spiral arms. The youngest stars appear in the far end of the northwestern arm, within the tidal dwarf candidate, and stellar ages skew progressively older toward the galaxy's center.

The southwestern arm displays the same pattern, which is likely connected to waves of star formation triggered by the galactic encounter.
A 2007 study by Cathy Horellou at Onsala Space Observatory in Sweden and Baerbel Koribalski of the Australia National Telescope Facility developed computer simulations of the collision that reproduced the overall appearance of the system as we see it today. According to the closest match, IC 4970 made its closest approach about 130 million years ago and followed a path that took it nearly along the plane of the spiral's disk in the same direction it rotates. The current study is consistent with this picture.

As in all barred spirals, NGC 6872 contains a stellar bar component that transitions between the spiral arms and the galaxy's central regions. Measuring about 26,000 light-years in radius, or about twice the average length found in nearby barred spirals, it is a bar that befits a giant galaxy.

The team found no sign of recent star formation along the bar, which indicates it formed at least a few billion years ago. Its aged stars provide a fossil record of the galaxy's stellar population before the encounter with IC 4970 stirred things up.

"Understanding the structure and dynamics of nearby interacting systems like this one brings us a step closer to placing these events into their proper cosmological context, paving the way to decoding what we find in younger, more distant systems," said team member and Goddard astrophysicist Eli Dwek.

The study also included Fernanda Urrutia-Viscarra and Claudia Mendes de Oliveira at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and Dimitri Gadotti at the European Southern Observatory in Santiago, Chile.

The GALEX mission is led by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, which is responsible for science operations and data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena, manages the mission and built the science instrument. GALEX was developed under NASA's Explorers Program managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In May 2012, In May 2012, NASA announced it was loaning GALEX to Caltech, which continues spacecraft operations and data management using private funds.

Major NASA Air Pollution Study to Fly Over California

WASHINGTON -- A multi-year NASA airborne science mission is on its way to California to help scientists better understand how to measure and forecast air quality globally from space. Two NASA aircraft equipped with scientific instruments will fly over the San Joaquin Valley between Bakersfield and Fresno in January and February to measure air pollution. One aircraft will fly within 1,000 feet of the ground.

The aircraft are part of NASA's five-year DISCOVER-AQ study, which stands for Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality. Its researchers are working to improve the ability of satellites to consistently observe air quality in the lowest part of the atmosphere. If scientists could better observe pollution from space, they would be able to make better air quality forecasts and more accurately determine where pollution is coming from and why emissions vary.

A fundamental challenge for space-based instruments monitoring air quality is to distinguish between pollution high in the atmosphere and pollution near the surface where people live. DISCOVER-AQ will make measurements from aircraft in combination with ground-based monitoring sites to help scientists better understand how to observe ground-level pollution from space.

"DISCOVER-AQ is collecting data that will prepare us to make better observations from space, as well as determine the best mix of observations to have at the surface when we have new satellite instruments in orbit," said James Crawford, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. "NASA is planning to launch that satellite instrument, called TEMPO, in 2017."

Because many countries, including the United States, have large gaps in ground-based networks of air pollution monitors, experts look to satellites to provide a more complete geographic perspective on the distribution of pollutants.

A fleet of Earth-observing satellites, called the Afternoon Constellation or "A-train," will pass over the DISCOVER-AQ study area daily in the early afternoon. The satellites' data, especially from NASA's Aqua and Aura spacecraft, will give scientists the opportunity to compare the view from space with that from the ground and aircraft.

"The A-Train satellites have been useful in giving us a broader view of air pollution than we've ever had before," said Kenneth Pickering, DISCOVER-AQ's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "DISCOVER-AQ will help scientists interpret that data to improve air-quality analysis and regional air quality models."

Test flights are scheduled to start Jan. 16 with science flights continuing through mid-February. A four-engine P-3B turboprop plane from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., will carry eight instruments. A two-engine B200 King Air aircraft from Langley will carry two instruments. Sampling will focus on agricultural and vehicle traffic areas extending from Bakersfield to Fresno. The flight path passes over six ground measurement sites operated by the California Air Resources Board and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

The117-foot-long P-3B will fly spiral flights over the ground stations. These flights will be from an altitude of 15,000 feet to as low as 1,000 feet. They will sample air along agricultural and traffic corridors at low altitudes between the ground stations. The smaller B200 King Air will collect data from as high as 26,000 feet. The plane's instruments will look down at the surface, much like a satellite, and measure particulate and gaseous air pollution. The two airplanes will fly from NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif.

The DISCOVER-AQ mission is a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and University of California campus branches in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara. Other partners in the California campaign include the National Center for Atmospheric Research; the University of Maryland in College Park and Baltimore County; University of Colorado, Boulder; Pennsylvania State University, State College; University of Innsbruck in Austria; and Millersville University, Millersville, Penn.

DISCOVER-AQ is an Earth Venture mission, part of the Earth System Science Pathfinder program managed at Langley for the Earth Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

NASA Prepares for Launch of Next Earth Observation Satellite

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is scheduled to launch Feb. 11 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A joint NASA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mission, LDCM will add to the longest continuous data record of Earth's surface as viewed from space.

LDCM is the eighth satellite in the Landsat series, which began in 1972. The mission will extend more than 40 years of global land observations that are critical in many areas, such as energy and water management, forest monitoring, human and environmental health, urban planning, disaster recovery and agriculture. NASA and the USGS jointly manage the Landsat Program.

"For decades, Landsat has played an important part in NASA's mission to advance Earth system science. LDCM promises to extend and expand that capability," said Michael Freilich, director of the Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "USGS's policy of offering free and open access to the phenomenal 40-year Landsat data record will continue to give the United States and global research community a better understanding of the changes occurring on our planet."

After launch, LDCM will enter a polar orbit, circling the Earth about 14 times daily from an altitude of 438 miles (705 kilometers), returning over each location on Earth every 16 days. After launch and the initial checkout phase, the USGS will take operational control of the satellite, and LDCM will be renamed Landsat 8. Data will be downlinked to three ground stations in Gilmore Creek, Alaska; Svalbard, Norway; and Sioux Falls, S.D. The data will be archived and distributed at no cost to users from the USGS's Earth Resources Observation and Science Center in Sioux Falls.

"The Landsat program provides the nation with crucial, impartial data about its natural resources," said Matthew Larsen, USGS associate director for climate and land use change in Reston, Va. "Forest managers, for instance, use Landsat's recurring imagery to monitor the status of woodlands in near real-time. Landsat-based approaches also now are being used in most western states for cost-effective allocation of water for irrigation. This mission will continue that vital role."

LDCM carries two instruments, the Operational Land Imager (OLI), built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. These instruments are designed to improve performance and reliability over previous Landsat sensors.

"LDCM will be the best Landsat satellite yet launched in terms of the quality and quantity of the data collected by the LDCM sensors," said Jim Irons, LDCM project scientist at Goddard. "OLI and TIRS both employ technological advances that will make the observations more sensitive to the variation across the landscape and to changes in the land surface over time."

OLI will continue observations currently made by Landsat 7 in the visible, near infrared, and shortwave infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It also will take measurements in two new bands, one to observe high altitude cirrus clouds and one to observe water quality in lakes and shallow coastal oceans as well as aerosols. OLI's new design has fewer moving parts than previous versions.

TIRS will collect data on heat emitted from Earth's surface in two thermal bands, as opposed to the single thermal band on previous Landsat satellites. Observations in the thermal bands are vital to monitoring water consumption, especially in the arid western United States.

The LDCM spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences Corp. in Gilbert, Ariz., will launch from Vandenberg's Space Complex 3 aboard an Atlas V rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is responsible for launch management.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

HR 6649 “Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2012” passes US House despite opposition by Congressmen Sherman, Bilirakis, Engel & Sarbanes but fails to reach the US Senate in time.

HR 6649 sought to give Turkey two "free" US Navy ships

- The bill seeks to grant “gratis” two US Navy frigates to Turkey -


LOS ANGELES - Jan 3, 2012
On December 31, 2012, the US House of Representatives, passed Resolution 6649, dubbed the Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2012 that contained the “gratis” (i.e. free of charge) transfer of two guided-missile frigates from the US Navy to the government of Turkey.


At the urging of outgoing US House Foreign Affairs Committee Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and outgoing Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-CA), the US House voted to suspend the rules and pass the resolution with two-thirds majority. However, the legislation was not brought on time to the floor of the US Senate and will need to be re-introduced in the 113 th Congress.
Four Congressmen spoke in opposition of the bill. In particular, in his House Floor speech Rep. Brad Sherman of CA (CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO), while accepting that Turkey is a NATO ally and shares a border with Iran and Syria, urged Congress to not pass a bill “in the dead of night” offering two naval ships for free without markup and debate. He noted that Turkey cannot use such ships in its defense from Iran or Syria since they only share a land border and raised the issue of Turkey having used its navy for the 1974 invasion of Cyprus. Among other things he stressed that “Turkey has recently threatened legitimate Cypriot and Israeli efforts to cooperation on energy exploration.  Ankara has boosted Turkish armed naval presence around the natural gas fields between Israel and Cyprus and declared invalid an agreement between Cyprus and Israel on demarcating their respective energy exploration areas.”
Other Congressmen who spoke in opposition of the bill were Eliot Engel (D-NY), the incoming Ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and John Sarbanes (D-MD).
Congressman Engel, in his remarks, stressed: "Some people say this should continue because, after all, Turkey is an ally and we need to help them. Well, I look at it the other way. They're a NATO ally, so they have responsibility. And the way they're acting has been anything but responsible. This is not an inconsequential or trivial matter."

Representative Sarbanes, in his comments, remarked that: "This is not a non-controversial bill. I know it's being brought here on suspension as though it is, and I'm sure in the past when we've had these transfers of vessels, excess defense materials and so forth, often that is a non-controversial action to take. In this case, it's anything but non-controversial, and I'm surprised, frankly, that the majority would bring the bill to the floor in this form."

In his remarks, Rep. Bilirakis explained his opposition to H.R.6649, noting that: "the Turkish navy, as recently as last year, held naval live-fire exercises in the eastern Mediterranean. These provocative exercises took place near the natural gas fields of Israel and the Republic of Cyprus and threatened to disrupt peaceful and productive economic activity. Instead, Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that, in the eastern Mediterranean, Congress will continue to work to foster the relationships between the United States, Greece, Israel, and Cyprus in order to promote and foster issues of mutual, economic, and diplomatic importance."
In the end, the HR 6649 passed the US House but never made it to the floor of the US Senate for approval and was not signed into law. However, this was purely a timing issue and it will most likely be re-introduced during the 113 th Congress.
The American Hellenic Council, along with other Greek-American groups, notably the Hellenic-American Leadership Council and the American Hellenic Institute moved fast to oppose the passage of the bill or to instill language that opposes the unconditional transfer of those naval ships to Turkey without assurances that Turkey will abide by international maritime law and stop intimidating its neighbors Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
We rushed to inform our elected officials from California to oppose this bill that was brought up at the last moment in the middle of the fiscal cliff crisis. We want to thank Rep. Sherman, Bilirakis, Engel & Sarbanes for taking the honorable position on this issue.” mentioned Alexander Mizan, Executive Director of the AHC.
“Although we were disappointed to find out that several Congress members that we have relationships with favored the bill, we did find some common ground with Los Angeles-based Congressman Sherman on the matter, who spoke against this bill. It will be an uphill battle but we are hoping that with the help of the Armenian and Jewish communities, with whom we are working together, we will be able to inform and educate our elected officials on the matte” Mizan mentioned.
The bill is expected to be reintroduced during the 113 th Congress and the AHC is already making contacts with Members of Congress asking them to oppose it.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

The first LHC protons run ends with new milestone

Geneva, 17 December 2012. This morning CERN1 completed the first LHC proton run. The remarkable first three-year run of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator was crowned by a new performance milestone. The space between proton bunches in the beams was halved to further increase beam intensity.
“This new achievement augurs well for the next LHC run starting in 2015,” said CERN’s Director for Accelerators and Technology, Steve Myers, “High intensity beams are vital for the success of the LHC programme. More intense beams mean more collisions and a better chance of observing rare phenomena.”
To put this into context, of the 6 million billion proton-proton collisions generated by the LHC, the ATLAS and CMS experiments have each recorded around 5 billion collisions of interest over the last three years. Of these, only around 400 produced results compatible with the Higgs-like particle whose discovery was announced in July.
A beam in the LHC is not a continuous string of particles, but is divided into hundreds of bunches, each a few tens of centimetres long. Each bunch contains more than a hundred billion protons. During the last few days, the space between bunches has been successfully halved, achieving the design specification of 25 nanoseconds rather than the 50 nanoseconds used so far. Halving the bunch spacing allows the number of bunches in the beam to be doubled. A record number of 2748 bunches was recorded in each beam last weekend, almost twice as many as the maximum reached previously in 2012, but at the injection energy of 450 GeV and without collisions. Several hours of physics were then performed with up to 396 bunches in each beam, spaced by 25 nanoseconds, each beam being accelerated to the energy of 4 TeV.
“The LHC’s performance has exceeded all expectations over the last three years,” said Steve Myers, “The accelerator delivered more than 6 million billion collisions and the luminosity has continuously increased. It’s a fantastic achievement, and I’m incredibly proud of my team.”
The luminosity, a crucial parameter measuring the rate of collisions of an accelerator, has reached a value of 7.7x1033cm-2s-1, more than twice the maximum value obtained in 2011 (3.5x1033cm-2s-1). The collision energy was increased from 7 TeV in 2011 to 8 TeV in 2012.
This year-on-year improvement in performance has allowed the LHC experiments to obtain important results quicker than expected. In addition to the spectacular discovery of a Higgs-like particle announced in July, the experiments have led to many other studies improving our understanding of fundamental matter.
At the beginning of 2013, the LHC will collide protons with lead ions before going into a long maintenance stop until the end of 2014. Running will resume in 2015 with increased collision energy of 13 TeV and another increase in luminosity.

CERN is granted the status of observer to the United Nations General Assembly

Geneva, 14 December 2012. The United Nations General Assembly in New York today adopted a resolution granting CERN1 observer status. This status gives the Organization the right to participate in the work of the General Assembly and to attend its sessions as an observer.
"It's a great honour for CERN to accede to the status of observer at the UN General Assembly", said CERN Director-General, Rolf Heuer. "CERN has a long tradition of close cooperation with the United Nations and its agencies, which dates back to 1954 when the Laboratory was founded under the auspices of UNESCO". In addition to this historical link, CERN has signed cooperation agreements with the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) and several of the UN specialised agencies.
The resolution to grant observer status to CERN was submitted by the Organization's two Host States, Switzerland and France, and was supported by its eighteen other Member States as well as by several non-Member States. The main factor behind it was that CERN's activities cover areas of considerable interest to the General Assembly. CERN and the United Nations are both actively involved in disseminating knowledge in the fields of science and technology, particularly with a view to development. Through its projects, which bring together scientists from all over the world, CERN also promotes dialogue between nations and has become a model for international cooperation.
"The granting of observer status demonstrates the importance that the UN attaches to science and to its role in society", said Rolf Heuer.  "CERN looks forward to offering the General Assembly and the other UN bodies the benefit of its expertise in the field with a view to promoting the essential role of basic science in development".
The United Nations and CERN have a very complementary role to play in accomplishing this mission. CERN has unique expertise in science and technology. The network of UN Member States will be instrumental in disseminating CERN's knowledge more widely and allowing developing countries to benefit from it. Capitalising on this complementarity, CERN and UNESCO are collaborating to strengthen the scientific and technological capabilities of countries in Africa in particular, for example by developing training programmes for teachers and librarians.
The adoption of the resolution in New York on Friday, 14 December will be followed by a meeting between Rolf Heuer and the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on Monday 17 December.
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