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UK, US reps may attend A-bomb ceremony
Updated: 2010-07-29 13:37
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Britain and the United States are considering sending representatives for the first time to the anniversary ceremony of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the UK-based Daily Telegraph reported.
Envoys from these two countries have never attended the Aug 6 annual anniversary peace memorial before.
However, John Roos, the US ambassador to Japan, is likely to lay a floral wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial this year, the 65th anniversary of the World War II bombing that helped force Japan's surrender on Aug 15.
Expectations are also growing in Japan that US President Barack Obama will visit Hiroshima when he comes to Japan for an Asia-Pacific summit in November.
A record 67 nations will be sending representatives to Hiroshima for this year's memorial ceremony.
France has already announced that it will be sending an envoy to the Hiroshima ceremony for the first time, while Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations general secretary, has also accepted an invitation to this year's ceremony, making him the first UN chief to attend.
The presence of a US ambassador reflects Obama's hopes for a nuclear-free world as well as his own desire to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was hit by the second bomb.
Last year about 50,000 people, including politicians and envoys from 59 countries and the United Nations, gathered for the event near the A-bomb Dome, the skeleton of a hall incinerated by the bomb's intense heat yet which remained standing despite being near the center of the blast.
Japan is the only nation to have been attacked with atomic bombs. The bomb dropped over Hiroshima caused an estimated 166,000 deaths over the subsequent four months. The Nagasaki bombing took place three days later, bringing to an end the World War II.
Questions:
1. What year did the bombing take place?
2. What cities were bombed?
3. How many deaths is the first bomb estimated to have caused?
Answers:
1. 1945.
2. Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
3. 166,000.
（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.