We write to pass on the sad news of the death of Dr. Jean-Louis Valatx, honorary president of the Association des Vétérans des Essais Nucléaires (AVEN) - the French association of nuclear test veterans.

The international community must wake up to the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation, the Australian chairman of a new disarmament body says.

"The scale of the havoc and the devastation that can be wreaked by one major nuclear weapon alone puts 9/11 and almost everything else into the category of insignificance." - Gareth Evans.

ICAN's international affiliate, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) is holding its 19th IPPNW European Student Conference in Amsterdam from November 27 to November 30 with the theme Target Earth.

Commemorations around the globe were held August 6 and 9, marking the 63rd anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.

"... the only role for nuclear weapons is to be abolished."

- Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, August 6, 2008.

Having organised 20 meetings in many parts of France during November and December 2007, ICAN representatives along with ICAN ambassador Dr Bill Williams have presented the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention and ICAN Campaign to members of parliament. An interview was also featured on French television.

The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) has become an official supporter of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and has launched “Students for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World” to encourage global youth involvement in nuclear disarmament issues.

An ICAN forum in London attracted members of Medact, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Pugwash, Abolition 2000, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Acronym Institute, British American Security Information Council (BASIC), Pax Cristi, Pugwash, and Abolition 2000.

International Conference on the Prevention of Nuclear Catastrophe

Last month, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was launched in Melbourne, Australia. The campaign calls for a Nuclear Weapons Convention to outlaw nuclear weapons worldwide, much like the international conventions on biological and chemical weapons.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a global movement initiated by the Nobel-prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, was launched internationally on the opening day of the 2007 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) meeting.