The bomb was untried, under tested and the results were harrowing.

Over 140, 000 people were killed due to the blast and thousands more have since died from injuries and diseases as a direct result of ‘little boy’.

Professor of Studio Art at the University of North Carolina, Elin Slavick, came to Newcastle last week to discuss her latest work, Hiroshima: After Aftermath, detailing photographs and pictures charting the bomb and its effects, then and now, in contemporary Japan.

Slavick’s work takes its audience on a visual journey, tackling a deep, complex and distressing subject. As she herself explained “trauma begs representation.”

The talk, held at Northumbria University, was a chance to listen to Slavick’s inspiration, drive and sense of duty in documenting these terrors of the atom bomb, her own personal protest against nuclear war.

She said: “I felt an overwhelming sense of being where I needed to be in Hiroshima, but also felt sorrow, guilt and shame.”

Accompanying the talk was a slide show of photos, drawings and etchings, all made by Slavick, and as she discussed each one, the pride she takes in her work shone through.

Slavick spoke at length of her time spent in Hiroshima, visiting and photographing the damage and transformations which the bomb has brought about: “I made hundreds of exposures while in Hiroshima, digital and analogue, colour and black and white, images of both the survival and the destruction.”

Despite the sombre subject matter, Slavick spoke with great passion and admiration for the people of Hiroshima who never forget their past, but also purposely look to a brighter future.

“With After Aftermath I want to re – shape how people think of nuclear war,” said Slavick, who made a point of documenting Hiroshima now as well as the way it was.

Some of her pictures convey this more uplifting and positive message.

Photographs of happy, free, school children, representing Japan’s future, who aknowledge war but also understand the pain and suffering it brings, are especially powerful.

The children are meaningfully positioned next to reminders of the bomb such as Hiroshima’s Peace Museum.

As an American, Slavick spoke with more than a hint of responsibility for the actions of her compatriots over the years.

In fact, one of her drawings, from Slavick’s previous book, Bomb After Bomb: A Violent Cartography, depicted a map of the world with a pin embedded in every country bombed by the United States.

This, along with the images of Hiroshima, was a stark reminder of the death and destruction which have been inflicted by the self proclaimed ‘leader of the free world.’

The 81st Annual Academy Awards is hosted in Los Angeles, California. Known to most as the Oscars, this awards night is by far the most recognised in the big screen calendar.

Those who have put on exceptional performances will be honoured, with others left heartbroken at just missing out. Though with so many great movies and performances packed into the past year, this will be felt more than ever.

There has been dozens of five star movies out over the last year and looking at who’s up for the Best Picture award, we see five of them listed straight away. The odds-on favourite to scoop the gong is Slumdog Millionaire of course, since it has already walked away with the same award at both the Golden Globes and the Baftas. The movie deserves all the success it gets as it delivers an extraordinary tale unlike anything previously seen.

A sting in the tale could yet be delivered though, with other high-grossing movies filling the list as well. Who would be wise enough to count out the equally remarkable Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a movie that keeps you gripped from the moment you see Benjamin born until the final moments of his life some two and a half hours later.

Or the exceptional The Reader, for Kate Winslet has already been noticed for her role in the movie, maybe there’s room yet to applaud the picture itself in delivering a touching story about an area of World War Two that few have thought of covering yet. The Best Picture award isn’t safely in the hands of Slumdog yet.

It is not only the pictures themselves that make a movie great, as the actors and actresses who take part in them make up for a large proportion of the acclaim or criticism it receives. A handful of these will be noticed this year for their performances, but possibly none as emotional as the late Heath Ledger. Nominated for the Actor in the Supporting Role, Ledger stepped into the shoes of The Joker character in The Dark Knight, the most previous of Batman movies.

This role has previously been filled by other actors, including legendary actor Jack Nicholson. However, Ledger took this role to another level, perhaps raising the bar to a level no-one will ever be able to reach again. Throughout The Dark Knight, the audience watches in awe at the twisted way in which The Joker is seen to wreck havoc on the fictional city of Gotham. At times, it would be forgiven for one to feel actual fear at the way the character is shown. Ledger will deserve this Oscar for given one of the best performances by an actor ever on the big screen.

Kate Winslet is also hoping to put another award on her mantlepiece with the Actress in a Leading Role award for the role of a woman who seems to show little emotion for her actions in The Reader.

The Brit faces fierce competition though by American Angelina Jolie. Playing a woman faced with finding her child missing and having to go through the despair of the events that follows it would be hard to portray. Yet Jolie makes viewers believe that the actress has actually lost her child in this movie, bringing the true story effect of it to serious light.

Whilst there are five going for this award, Winslet and Jolie make it almost a two horse race which would be foolish to predict the outcome.

Another hoping to complete the hat-trick of awards over the past month is Mickey Rourke. Continuing his return to the big time of acting, Rourke may have reached the summit with his role in The Wrestler. In some ways, the story in the movie flows much in the same way as the actor’s in the main role.

When the audience is looking at a character that was at the top of his game and is hoping to take one more chance at glory, the line between reality and fiction sometimes gets blurred. It could be argued that this is why Rourke plays the character flawlessly.

Brad Pitt also plays a flawless role in his representation of Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Pitt manages to convince the audience that they are following the whole life of one person, been able to adapt to playing a young character and an elderly character throughout the timeframe of the film.

Both actors will be hoping to be awarded for their great acting by picking up the Actor in a Leading Role, but only one will be able to hear their name being read as winner.

If one thing is certain, this Sunday promises to be a celebration of the grand movie-making and acting that has gone on over the year. By the end of the night, everyone will know the answer to who the Oscar goes to.

Recent months have seen the publisher of the esteemed Chicago Tribune filing for bankruptcy, resulting in the resignation of its editor, and the credit rater Fitch claiming that the American press is in such a bad financial state that some US cities could be without a single daily newspaper as soon as 2010.

The Wall Street Journal, the New York-based financial bible, has shed 25 journalistic jobs after parent company News International announced a 42% drop in operating income for the last quarter of 2008.

Sunderland journalist Ray Nichols, whose son Adam works for the Murdoch-owned New York Post, said: “The American industry reflects a similar climate to what we have in Britain. There is a new momentum now with the crisis.”

But he held out some hope for those who want to work in the US one day. “The American industry is tough to get into, but if you have any kind of track record in Britain then it goes a long way in America,” he said. “New York has a fair proportion of UK print journalists because they are trained in shorthand.”

Witter, 34, looked impressive as he knocked out Argentine, Victor Hugo Castro, in the third round, but Williams, 35, was woeful as he was humiliated by the unknown Pole Albert Sosnowski in less than eight rounds.

Junior ‘Hitter’ Witter hadn’t been in a ring since May, when he lost his WBC world light welterweight title to American Timothy Bradley.

Castro was no match for ‘Hitter’ as the Bradford fighter showed off his speed and power making the Argentine look distinctly poor.

“This is what I do, I destroy people, I’m back and I’ll be world champion soon.”

Castro relied far too much on his defense, and seemed content to spend the bout blocking.

Sensing his head shots weren’t getting through, Witter was quick to go to the body, smashing his opponent with a barrage of punches.

Castro was knocked down by a body shot in the second round and almost didn’t make it up before the bell sounded which only postponed the inevitable.

The same pattern emerged in the third round and it was obvious Castro couldn’t cope, when he was hit with another thundering body blow, the fight was over.

Then it was the turn of current British heavyweight champion, Danny ‘The Brixton Bomber’ Williams.

Williams came into the fight facing critics over his last bout, a controversial victory over John McDermott.

McDermott seemed to be ahead and after Williams was deducted three points late on, the outcome seemed obvious, but somehow ‘The Brixton Bomber’ was awarded a majority points decision.

Williams was supposed to be facing McDermott in a re-match but injury forced him to drop out and Sosnowski stepped in with just one weeks notice.

This should have been a nice easy fight for the British champ who in 2004, knocked out Mike Tyson and fought the impressive Vitali Klitschko for a world title.

But right from the start Sosnowski took the fight to Williams, who looked slow and lacked any class.

As the fight wore on Williams was tiring and the more tired he got the more the Pole seemed inspired.

In the eighth round Williams finally went down under the pressure of Sosnowski’s punches, just beating the count.

Sosnowski didn’t have long to wait for the victory, about 30 seconds later with punch after punch landing the referee stopped the fight.

Williams refused any post bout interviews, prompting rumors he may retire.

Witter on the other hand has been talking up his chances of a re-match with Timothy Bradley or a shot at the WBA title currently held by Ukrainian, Andreas Kotelnik.

“I’ve proved tonight that I’m back on top form and I’ve got what it takes I will be a two-time world champion, for sure.”

On Sunday, Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One world championship in Brazil, resulting in him being the youngest driver to take the title at the age of 23 and the first British champion in 12 years.

The following Tuesday, with great honour, Democrat Barack Obama won the presidential campaign, making him the first black president of the United States of America.

With this phenomenal success in a short period, Black history shall not be looked back in vain.

According to ITV, an average of 8.8 million viewers tuned in to watch Lewis Hamilton win the championship, making it the most watched race since ITV began broadcasting the sport in 1997.

Hamilton took the championship title away from Damon Hill who won it in 1996. Along with this Hamilton also has taken the title of being the youngest member of this sport away from Fernando Alonso.

With all the adrenaline pumping, Lewis says: “It’s amazing. I need to get my breath back. Give me some time.”

After all the excitement, once Hamilton managed to get out of his vehicle and escape the media mob he was praised by his dad Anthony Hamilton, brother Nicholas and girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger from girl band the Pussycat Dolls.

After it was announced Obama had won the election, he made a speech in front of thousands of supporters in his home town Chicago.

With his love and gratitude to his family and daughters he says: “Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House.”

With Obama’s inspirational speeches and determination, there is no doubt about it; he is the best man for the job.

With this in mind he detained votes from Florida, Virginia and Colorado, all of which voted Republican in 2004. I guess blue is the new red.

Due to inauguration, Obama will have to wait until 20 January 2009 to become the official president of the United States.

So let’s hope for a brighter new year to come.