Overview

• A UN high-level meeting marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons convened on September 26 at headquarters in New York.
• Hidankyo leader Tanaka Satoshi told delegates that humanity cannot coexist with nuclear weapons and warned the arms race puts people at risk of annihilation.
• Tanaka described last year's Nobel Peace Prize for Hidankyo as a warning about waning public urgency and urged nuclear-armed states to move swiftly toward abolition.
• Representatives of nuclear-armed states, including China’s deputy UN ambassador Geng Shuang, affirmed minimum deterrence doctrines and pressed the largest arsenals, notably the United States and Russia, to lead disarmament.
• In Nagasaki, six Nagasaki University students were appointed as the 14th Nagasaki Youth cohort to observe the NPT Review Conference in New York from April 25 to May 2, 2026, then deliver school outreach through August 31.