‘Hiroshima must never fade from memory’, says Barack Obama

Barack Obama has become the first incumbent US president to visit Hiroshima, laying a wreath at the site of the world’s first atomic bombing in a gesture Tokyo and Washington hope will showcase their alliance and invigorate efforts to end nuclear arms.

Even before it occurred, though, the visit stirred debate, with critics accusing both sides of having selective memories and pointing to paradoxes in policies relying on nuclear deterrence while calling for an end to atomic arms.