ANNIVERSARY OF A-BOMB MARKED

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Anniversary of A-bomb marked

An anti-nuclear weapons group has thanked those who supported a vigil in memory of the 67th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

Twenty-five supporters of the Leicester group of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) gathered on Monday to mark the occasion.

Committee member Anna Cheetham donned a mask and kimono to represent those who died.

She fell to the ground and left a chalked silhouette while Councillor Lynn Senior read a poem written for the event.

CND member John Hoffman played his bagpipes to commemorate those who died at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and in Nagasaki on August 9.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby signed up as a member of the Hiroshima Mayors for Peace organisation. He was presented with a bouquet of flowers.

LEADER IS NOW MAYOR OF PEACE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Leader is now mayor of peace

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has joined the ranks of international civic leaders taking a stance against nuclear weapons.

He was been appointed as a Mayor for Peace – a title given to mayors across the world by the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which is calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The August 1945 atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and led to the end of the Second World War.

The announcement of Leicester's inclusion in the Mayors for Peace programme comes just days before Hiroshima Day on August 6.

Sir Peter said: "The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki still stand as symbols of those weapons' terrible destructive power.

"I have been in contact with the president of Mayors for Peace, Kazumi Matsui, and assured him the thoughts of many people in Leicester would be with him."