JOINING the Russians and the French, the US senate overwhelmingly voted to suspend, and ultimately ban, the testing of nuclear weaponry. Two months back the House of Representatives also voted in favour of the ban. Yet, this concession to the new world order may fail if defense secretary Dick Cheney has his way and obtains a presidential veto.

The vote proposes a nine-month moratorium, starting October this year, on all nuclear-arms testing. No more than five explosions will be allowed per year for the next three years for testing the safety and reliability of weapons. A total ban will be imposed after September 1996.