News brief

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo. The prize honors the work of the Japanese organization of survivors of the United States atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki against nuclear weapons. Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said Oct. 11 that the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.” This year’s prize was awarded against a backdrop of devastating conflicts raging in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan. The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 people, three days after its bombing of Hiroshima killed 140,000. 

Setsuko Thurlow survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Now, she devotes her life to revealing the human effects of nuclear arms and ensuring that nuclear events are not forgotten – or repeated.