Asia

On August 9, at a widely attended annual commemoration ceremony held to honor the victims of the atomic bombings of 1945, the Mayor of Nagasaki, Tomihisa Taue, issued an invitation urging leaders of all countries currently possessing or developing nuclear weapons to visit Nagasaki, a city which has suffered nuclear destruction.

Rafael de la Rubia exposed the World March proposals during an event gathering some of the main representatives from NGOs for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The conference took place yesterday, August 6, in Hiroshima. The central issue was the role of organizations in the revision of the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of atomic weapons.

It’s encouraging that U.S. and Russia leaders have once again put nuclear disarmament on the negotiating table, but we cannot forget that we live in a highly dangerous moment. The danger stems also from the madness of violent groups with possible access to nuclear material and the real risk of accident that could set off a devastating conflict.

Read the complete address “Peace Declaration, 2009” of Tadatoshi Akiba at Hiroshima’s bomb ceremony on 6th August. The mayor of Hiroshima and president of the NGO Mayors for Peace declare that “we support President Obama when he said in Prague in April of this year ‘the only role for nuclear weapons is to be abolished’.

The spokesman for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, Rafael de la Rubia, accepted Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba’s invitation to participate in the ceremony to remember the bombing of Hiroshima. During the event’s main speech, Akiba emphasized the U.S. president Barack Obama’s efforts towards the abolition of nuclear weapons over the next decade.

Crisis brings out the extremes in Japan’s character. While maintaining its organization and efficiency, the country has begun to increasingly target the legality of foreigners. I will begin this coverage of the comemmorative ceremonies and events surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by relating some experiences to set the context for today, August 5, 2009.

The event took place before the flame that has burned since 1945 in memory of those who died, and that will not be extinguished until all nuclear weapons are eliminated. AT the event, representatives of the World March committed to carry the flame of Hiroshima through every country the WM will travel through, demanding the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Two American journalists are on their way back to the United States following their release from imprisonment in North Korea. Euna Lee and Laura Ling of Current TV were freed after a visit by former President Bill Clinton. On Tuesday, Clinton met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and held what North Korean state media described as “wide ranging” and “exhaustive” talks.

**Editorial from Hiroshima** The economic world crisis, starting in Wall Street last year, exploded in Japan more powerfully than in any other country. A similar explosion occurred when Japan was hit by two nuclear bombs in 1945, dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now, immigrants are the first victims of the explosion caused by the present economic crisis.

Former President Bill Clinton has made a surprise visit to North Korea to try to win the release of two jailed US journalists that were be put on trial on charges of illegal entry and hostile acts. The two reporters, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, were detained along the Chinese border on March 17. The reporters work for Al Gore’s Current TV.