John Kerry makes historic visit to Hiroshima memorial

US Secretary of State John Kerry has made a historic visit to the Hiroshima memorial in Japan, which commemorates the world's first atomic bombing.

He is the first US secretary of state to ever visit Hiroshima, where around 140,000 were killed when the US dropped its atomic bomb in 1945.

Mr Kerry was joined by foreign ministers from the G7 group of nations who are holding talks in the city.

They laid wreaths at the memorial and observed a minute's silence.

The ministers also visited the nearby Hiroshima museum, which tells the personal stories of people who died in the city.

Mr Kerry wrote in the museum guestbook that it was "a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself".

At 08:10 local time on 6 August 1945, the US B-29 bomber the Enola Gay dropped a uranium bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. It exploded 600m (1,800ft) above what is now the Hiroshima Peace Dome.

About 70,000 people died immediately. At least 140,000 people had died by the end of the year through injury and the effects of radiation.

The bombing, and a second bomb on Nagasaki three days later, forced Japan to surrender, initiating the end of World War Two.

Why is Mr Kerry's visit significant?

It comes amid efforts to strengthen the relationship between the US and Japan, particularly with growing concern about China's assertiveness in territorial disputes in Asia, affecting Japan and other US allies.

US media reports cite government officials as saying President Barack Obama is also considering a visit when he attends a G7 leaders' summit in Japan in May.

It would be the first time a sitting US president has visited Hiroshima.

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What has the US said before about Hiroshima?

President George Bush once said issuing an apology for Hiroshima would be "rank revisionism" and he would never do it.

US officials have said there will be no apology this time either by Mr Kerry.

"My visit to Hiroshima has a very special meaning about the strength of our relationship and the journey we have travelled together since the difficult time of the war," he told Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

The visit, he added, "is not about the past, it's about the present and the future."