We will be holding 2 events in Edinburgh on Thursday 6th August to mark the 70th anniversary of the destruction of Hiroshima by an atomic bomb. At 12 noon paper lanterns will be floated in the pond outside the Scottish Parliament. From 6 pm to 7 pm there will be a vigil at the Mound / Princes Street. This is our main event and we invite all our supporters to bring candles, posters, words, songs………. (or just themselves)

In addition (1) a new exhibition by the WMD Awareness programme will be launched at 6 pm on 6th August in the Gayfield Venue,http://www.gayfield.co.uk/venues/ and

(2) Some people in Edinburgh(and other parts of Scotland) are interested in participating in a worldwide fast on 6th to 9th Aug. Contact us at edinburghCND@yahoo.com for more information on any of these events (see news section for more events)

(3) X Years Later Japanese with English Subtitles Directed by Hideaki Ito Award winning Film screening and discussion. Free Event. Donation requested on door. 8th August 6 – 8:30pm. Gayfield Venues (Venue 116) 11 Gayfield SquareEdinburgh EH1 3NT https://www.facebook.com/events/1455290394773637/

(4)White Light / Black Rain 9th August 6 – 8:30pm. also at Venue 116 Free Event. Donation requested on door. To mark the 70th Anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki we are showing this HBO documentary film, directed by Steven Okazaki. Features interviews with fourteen Japanese survivors and four Americans involved in the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Free. Donation requested on door. Book tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2024571Jointly organised by Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre and Edinburgh CND with WMD Awareness. Guests arriving early can view the interactive Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Bomb exhibition organised by WMD Awareness. https://www.facebook.com/events/428452880688475/

(5) Join the rally for The Big Ride send off in Edinburgh! Speakers: Dr Mona El Farra (from Gaza); Claudia Beamish (MSP and Chair of the Palestine CPG) plus others. Come and welcome the riders as they start their epic 435 mile capital-to-capital ride that aims to raise essential funds for Gaza’s children, as well as creating awareness across the UK of the Palestinian struggle.

Other News

1. There is a petition to ask Ian Murray Edinburgh MP (and Scotland’s remaining Labour MP) to stick with his anti trident committment. https://www.change.org/p/ian-murray-mp-stand-up-against-trident?just_created=true

2.The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has condemned UK air strikes in Syria. These strikes have been carried out despite the House of Commons vote in August 2013 against extending air strikes to Syria by a majority of 13. While David Cameron and Michael Fallon have both expressed support for extending the scope of the current mission, no parliamentary mandate has been sought. Fallon recently confirmed that the Government “will need to return to Parliament for approval if we propose to undertake air strikes against ISIL in Syria”.

3. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has also welcomed a final deal on Iran’s nuclear programme. Long in the making, the agreement comes after 17 days of intensive negotiation between Iran and the P5 states plus Germany. The deal follows more than a decade of tensions over claims by a number of countries that Iran’s nuclear programme has been a cover for the development of nuclear weapons. Iran has always insisted that this claim is false. Under the details of the agreement, which runs to over 150 pages of text, Iran will accept restrictions on its nuclear programme but in return harsh economic sanctions will be eased.

4. Edinburgh Stop the War Monthly Meeting 7.30pm Monday 20 JulyQuaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, EH1 2JL Richard Haley from Scotland Against Criminalising Communities will speak on the new Prevent legislation and we will be also discussing campaigning against the governments move back into direct military intervention in Iraq and Syria

5. Forgiveness Workshops Monday–Friday, 27–31 July from 10am–12noon. Salisbury Centre, EH16 5AB All welcome regardless of ability to pay. Suggested Donation for 5 mornings: £20 waged/ £10 unwaged. An opportunity for community members to share our stories with each other. Emily Berry, Director of B3W Performance Group (New York) will also present forgiveness practices for our daily lives. Emily is collecting stories from diverse communities globally & will draw on these in creating a performance piece that will premiere in New York in 2016. Participants can choose to participate in the workshops without having their stories referenced in the performance piece. How B3W use stories can be seen in Confined, their previous evening length at: https://vimeo.com/127090551 password: Forgiveness Workshops. For more info or to book a place contact EP&JC on 0131 229 0993 or email contact@peaceandjustice.org.uk or book at http://forgivenessworkshops.bpt.me/ .

6.On the 6th August anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, CND has organised a free screening of the 1965 BBC film, The War Game, in central London. Before MPs return to their constituencies CND will be hosting a photo call in Parliament to give them the chance to join us in marking Hiroshima Day. The photos will then be released in August. Please help us ensure that as many MPs as possible attend this event by asking your MP to come along this Wednesday for a photograph. You can email your MP by clicking here http://act.cnduk.org/lobby/hiroshima

7. The Australian Walkatjurra Walkabout continues: More info at http://www.walkingforcountry.com

8. Drone Campaign News for July is available: see DCN website https://dronecampaignnetwork.wordpress.com

9. Anand Patwardhan’s multi-award-winning documentary feature WAR AND PEACE (Jang aur Aman, 2002) will premier on July 27th 2015. We hope it might be shown in Edinburgh’s Take One Action film festival in Autumn

10. The documentary ‘X-years later’ is available on DVD at the peace and Justice Centre from its distribution company called Ukky production in Tokyo. The film itself was made by Director Hideaki Ito and its team in Nankai Broadcasting.

11. ACTINIC Exhibition open daily from Monday 29 June – 09 August 2015, 11am – 6pm Stills is delighted to be participating in the first ACTINIC festival and to be showcasing the work of Takashi Arai in an intimate exhibition of images from his acclaimed Daily D-Type series. This exhibition represents the first time that Arai’s work has been shown in Scotland and his first solo exhibition in the UK. Beginning in 2010, when he first became interested in nuclear issues, Arai has used the daguerreotype technique to create individual records-micro-monuments of his encounters with surviving crew members, and the salvaged hull, of the fallout-contaminated Daigo Fukuryumaru fishing boat, records that touch upon the fragmented reality of events in the past. This project led him to photograph the deeply interconnected subjects of Fukushima, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.

12. Vanunu Campaign Update:  Mordechai has now been able to pay the legal costs awarded against him after losing his libel action, some years ago, against Yediot Aharonot. Thanks to a good response to appeals sent out by us and Mordechai the £6,750 was raised and paid without too much delay. It is also the most excellent news that Mordechai has just got married to his Norwegian girlfriend, Kristin Joachimsen, a professor at the school of Theology in Oslo. The ceremony took place in a Jerusalem church before a small group of some of his brothers and friends. We sent our congratulations and very best wishes to Mordechai and Kristin. However, if you wish to send a message to Mordechai his email is: vanunuvmjc@gmail.com We are now proposing to hold a vigil outside the Israeli Embassy on October 10th, the Saturday closest to Mordechai’s birthday on Oct. 13th (to celebrate his release from Jail). It would most likely be for two hours, 12 noon to 2pm, as we did last year. The Norwegian parliament had discussed his case on June 3rd. It was made clear, at that debate, by the minister Vidar Helgesen, that if Mordechai or his wife made an application for an emergency passport or asylum the application would be seriously considered.