Landmark cluster bomb treaty takes effect

A landmark international treaty to ban cluster bombs took effect on August 1, requiring signatories to stop the use, production and transfer of the deadly weapons.The bombs split open before impact and scatter multiple -- often hundreds -- of smaller submunitions, or plastic bomblets, the size and shape of a tennis ball or a table lighter over a wide area. Many of them fail to explode immediately and can lie hidden for years, killing and civilians, including children, even decades after the original conflict is over.It is pertinent to mention that China, Russia, the United States and Israel are among those that have rejected the deal, which obliges those that have ratified to destroy stockpiles.