Japan Marks Hiroshima Bomb Anniversary with Low-key Ceremonies
Voice of America
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN - Japan on Friday marked 76 years since the world's first atomic bomb attack, with low-key ceremonies and disappointment over a refusal by Olympics organizers to hold a minute's silence.
Survivors, relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries attended this year's main event in Hiroshima to pray for those killed or wounded in the bombing and call for world peace. Virus concerns meant the general public were once again kept away, with the ceremony instead broadcast online. Participants, many dressed in black and wearing face masks, offered a silent prayer at 8:15 am (2315 GMT Thursday), when the first nuclear weapon used in wartime was dropped.South African President and President of the African National Congress (ANC) Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his remarks in the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) National Results Center at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, on June 2, 2024. Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters stand outside the Alexandra Library polling station in Alexandra, near Johannesburg, on May 29, 2024. Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), South African main opposition party, John Steenhuisen, center, speaks with the media at the Independent Electoral Commission National Results Center in Midrand, May 31, 2024. uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party leader and South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma addresses his supporters outside the Johannesburg High Court in Johannesburg, June 3, 2024. Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, right, reacts as he arrives for a press conference at the Independent Electoral Commission National Results Center at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, South Africa, June 1, 2024.