Japan
Japanese Mark 80th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima By America
Japanese today marked the 80th anniversary of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima by America in 1945.
The attack, which occurred at exactly 8.15 local time, led to the sudden death of 140,000 persons in Hiroshima.
The attack was the first in which the Atomic Bomb, also called ‘A Bomb’ was used in combat, and came just days before the Americans dropped the second ‘A Bomb’ on Nagasaki, during World War 11.
The battle field deployment of the bombs followed their development by a secret team of scientists and other experts under the aegis of the Manhattan Project, led by Enrico Fermi and Oppenheimer.
The first bomb, called Little Boy, was dropped by an aircraft which flew 2,500 kilometres from the Pacific base to strike Hiroshima.
Aside from the direct effects of the bombs, their radiation created an environmental disaster that led to health challenges, including cancers and congenital diseases.which led to the subsequent death of tens of thousands of persons more.
At today’ s event, Japanese leaders called for nuclear disarmament, saying the human cost of a nuclear accident or bomb was too huge and far- reaching to be toyed with.
The use of the bombs led to the nuclear bomb race, and the subsequent development of the dreaded Hydrogen Bomb, which, in sheer measure of Trinitrotoluene ,TNT, is 100 times more powerful than the Atomic Bomb.
Today, America, China, France, Britain, India , Pakistan, North Korea, Israel and Russia are the only nuclear weapon states in the World.
Israel
Israel Meets To Consider Approval Of New Illegal Settlements in West Bank
The Israeli Cabinet meets later today to consider the approval of new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Sources said the approval remained a fait accompli as the Jewish state moves to consolidate its hold on Palestinian land, especially in West Bank where its forces have been arresting indigenous Palestinians and digging up infrastructure and destroying buildings.
Informed sources say that as many as 3,100 illegal new settlements could be approved at the cabinet session.
The move could dichotomise the occupied West Bank and cut it off from the rest of Palestine, thereby dimming the prospect of a single, geographically contiguous Palestine State.
The move comes as more countries, including France, Britain, Canada and Portugal, say they could recognize the state of Israel at next month ‘s session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA.)
More than 150 countries have recognized the state of Palestine.
Both Israel and its main backer, America, have sharply condemned the move.
France, Britain and Canada are frontline allies of Israel and America, with both Britain and France being members of the G-7 and G-20 as well as nuclear weapon states and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council
Russia
Russian President, Putin, Receives American Envoy, Witkoff
The President of Russia, today in the White House, the Kremlin, received the visiting envoy of Donald Trump, the President of America.
Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow for talks that were not in the public domain but which analysts and observers say centred mainly on the threat of sanctions on Russia by America.
It was the fifth trip of the envoy to Russia on the same subject of the Ukraine War, since the second Trump administration was instituted in January this year.
Trump, frustrated at his failure to compel Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine, had threatened to impose stiff unspecified sanctions on Russia.
Trump had initially given a 50- day period within which Russia had to act, but drastically reduced it to just 10 days, probably under pressure from its Pro- Ukraine allies.
The 10- day period expires on August 10.
While Russian President Vladimir Viktor Putin has remained mum.on the threat and the deadline, his aides – Sergey Lavrov,Foreign Affairs, and Dmitry Peskov, Presidential spokesman- had both rubbished the ultimatum.
Trump had recently reignited the supply of American military hardware to Ukraine .
Both American and the European Union (EU) have imposed stiff sanctions on Russia for invading its neighbour and starting a war that has cost tens of thousands o
of lives on both sides.
