Nobel Peace Prize winner urges Putin to understand the destructiveness of nuclear weapons

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Terumi Tanaka, a survivor of the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan and the representative of an organization that won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, called on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to stop making nuclear threats.

The 92-year-old spoke at a news conference in Oslo, Norway, a day before a ceremony where he is to deliver a lecture on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that won this year's prize.

Asked by a reporter if he had a message for Putin, Tanaka said that the Russian leader's repeated nuclear threats convinced him that Putin must not understand how devastating the use of nuclear weapons would be.

He said that his organization's message to Putin — which he said had also been conveyed to the Russian leader directly — is that “nuclear weapons are things which must never be used."

“I don’t think he has even thought about this or understood this. Therefore, he is able to say these kind of things. So I think that how we can change his way of thinking is what we need to do to have him really understand what these are,” he said through a translator.

The first U.S. atomic bombing killed 140,000 people in the city of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. A second on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killed another 70,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II.

Tanaka was 13 and living in Nagasaki when the United States dropped the atomic bomb there.

While he did not suffer major injuries himself, he lost five family members, and has said that the images of burned bodies in the devastated city are etched in his memory.

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said in announcing the award weeks ago that it was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”

The committee noted that rather than embrace disarmament, nuclear powers are upgrading their arsenals, while other countries appear to be preparing to acquire nuclear weapons. It also noted that threats are being made to use the weapons in ongoing warfare, an apparent reference to Russia's threats amid its war in Ukraine.

The Japanese group's elderly members are calling for the abolishment of nuclear weapons, a message also directed at the United States.

Tanaka noted that “we are old now” but still carry a “heavy sense of responsibility” as witnesses to remind the world of the destructiveness of nuclear weapons.

"Nuclear weapons and humanity cannot coexist," he said.

Back in Japan, Empress Masako on Monday described the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo as a key event of this year that impressed upon her the importance of global peace efforts.

In a statement, she said she “felt anew the importance for the people of the world to strive for mutual understanding and work together in order to build a peaceful world."

Vanessa Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland.

Representatives of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, from left; Toshiyuki Mimaki, Terumi Tanaka and Shigemitsu Tanaka, sign the guest book ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Representative of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, Terumi Tanaka signs the guest book ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Representative of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, Terumi Tanaka sits at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Representative of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, Terumi Tanaka, speaks during a press conference ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Representative of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, Terumi Tanaka signs the guest book ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Representatives of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, from left, Terumi Tanaka, Toshiyuki Mimaki and Shigemitsu Tanaka arrive in Gardermoen, Norway Sunday evening, Dec. 8, 2024. (Amanda Pedersen Giske/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Representatives of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, from left, Terumi Tanaka, Toshiyuki Mimaki and Shigemitsu Tanaka arrive in Gardermoen, Norway Sunday evening, Dec. 8, 2024. (Amanda Pedersen Giske/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Representatives of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo Terumi Tanaka, left, and Toshiyuki Mimaki arrive in Gardermoen, Norway Sunday evening, Dec. 8, 2024. (Amanda Pedersen Giske/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Representative of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, Terumi Tanaka, speaks during a press conference ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)