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On World Press Freedom Day, the issue in MENA is no longer only whether journalists can publish, but whether they can still reach audiences, verify facts, and remain visible in a digital public sphere shaped by pressure, fear, and restriction.

At an Oman-hosted NPT side event, Arab diplomats and U.N. officials warned that the long-stalled Middle East WMD-Free Zone remains a central test of the treaty’s credibility and the unfinished 1995 bargain.

Kazakhstan marked 20 years of the Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone at the U.N., presenting Semipalatinsk as proof that regional nuclear restraint can work. But the discussion quickly turned to the harder question: whether any of its lessons can apply to the stalled Middle East WMD-free zone.

The Security Council warned that rising threats to the Strait of Hormuz and other key waterways are testing the world’s ability to protect global trade, energy flows and freedom of navigation.

The 2026 NPT Review Conference opened at the United Nations with warnings over rising nuclear risks and an immediate clash over Iran’s leadership role, exposing the strain behind the treaty’s consensus tradition.

The 11th NPT Review Conference opens at the U.N. under pressure from stalled disarmament, attacks on nuclear facilities, AUKUS, Iran, and the unresolved Middle East WMD-free zone. Diplomats warn the treaty’s old bargain now faces a harder question: does restraint still offer security?

U.N. disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu warned that the NPT faces a critical test as states prepare for the 11th Review Conference in New York. With nuclear tensions rising, Iran’s file unresolved, and trust between nuclear and non-nuclear states under strain, the conference will test whether the treaty can still deliver more than just diplomatic survival.

The first public dialogues in the race for the next U.N. Secretary-General did not settle the contest, but they did bring the field into sharper focus. Michelle Bachelet, Rafael Grossi, Rebeca Grynspan, and Macky Sall now look less like overlapping résumés and more like four distinct answers to the same institutional crisis.

Rebeca Grynspan enters the U.N. secretary-general race with economic gravitas, multilateral fluency and reform credibility, but also with a central question hanging over her candidacy: whether deep knowledge of development, debt and institutional diplomacy can translate into enough political force to lead the entire United Nations.

Macky Sall enters the U.N. secretary-general race with presidential stature and African political weight, but also under a cloud of controversy over legitimacy, sponsorship and accountability questions tied to his record in Senegal.