International issues

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.

Eduardo Gozalo, Aurora Marquina, Alvaro Orus and a few others reached the meadow at 3400 metres and set up Base camp 1, with the plan to continue the climb towards the peak of Mount Ararat, the mythical site where it is said Noah’s Ark came to rest after the Great Flood. They will continue towards Base 2, located at 4500 metres.

**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.

A group of high-ranking Latin American diplomats are planning to head to Honduras to pressure the coup-installed leaders to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya. The trip is being organized by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and the Organization of American States. On Monday, Cesar Caceres, a spokesperson for the coup government, rejected calls for Zelaya’s return.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has begun a seven-nation, eleven-day trip to Africa. Her trip begins in Kenya, where she is expected to meet with Somalia’s President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Somalia at present is at war, since January 2009 when the southern half of the country fell into the hands of radical Islamist rebels.