Shinzo Abe, Japan’s Longest-Serving Prime Minister, Is Assassinated |
The shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign event in the city of Nara prompted an immediate outpouring of shock and sadness (WaPo) from world leaders. Authorities arrested a forty-one-year-old man and seized a gun at the scene.
Sixty-seven-year-old Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister (Kyodo), holding office from 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 2020. He continued to tower over Japanese politics after he resigned in 2020 due to health concerns. During his second term, Abe boosted Japan’s security alliance with the United States, moved away from decades of pacifism by strengthening the country’s defense, and pursued monetary easing to boost Japan’s economy. The international reaction reflected his significant foreign policy role. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Abe a “great democrat and champion of the multilateral world order.”
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“It’s really hard to overstate how shocking the death of Abe is, in a country where gun violence is extremely rare and has some of the world’s strictest gun laws. Japan lost a towering political figure, its longest serving leader. What a devastating day,” the Washington Post’s Michelle Ye Hee Lee tweets. “Japan is a democracy and it is currently engaged in the purest expression of the democratic pageant and process. The attack on former Prime Minister Abe in Nara on Friday is [an] attack on us all,” the Japan Times’ Editorial Board writes.
“From [retirement], [Abe] continued to argue for Japan to reinforce its military, faced as it is with a rising China, a bellicose North Korea, a hostile Russia and a less reliable America,” The Economist writes.
CFR’s Sheila A. Smith discussed Abe’s foreign policy legacy on The President’s Inbox podcast in 2020. |
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Blinken to Meet With China’s Foreign Minister |
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to hold two meetings (VOA) tomorrow with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) meeting in Indonesia. A U.S. official said they will discuss climate change, global health, and the situation in Myanmar. |
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Report: UAE in Talks to Run Kabul Airport |
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is finalizing a deal with the Taliban to operate the Kabul airport and several others in Afghanistan, Reuters reported.
India: The country’s Supreme Court granted interim bail (Indian Express) to journalist Mohammed Zubair for five days. Police arrested him last month for tweets they said insulted Hindus and broke laws related to maintaining religious harmony. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Israel Asks Saudi Arabia to Allow Muslim Pilgrims to Fly Direct From Tel Aviv |
The request comes amid warming ties (Times of Israel) between the countries. Saudi Arabia currently requires pilgrims from Israel to fly through a third country. Israel/Palestinian territories: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met in the West Bank (AP) to coordinate security plans ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit next week. For Foreign Affairs, F. Gregory Gause III discusses how Biden’s trip to the Middle East reflects America’s new realism in the region. |
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Ghana Reports Preliminary Finding of Marburg Virus |
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Russian Foreign Minister Walks Out of G20 Meeting |
Diplomats said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov left the foreign ministers meeting (AFP) as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. U.S./Russia: U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty (CNN) to drug charges in a Russian court. She faces up to ten years in prison in a case that U.S. officials have called wrongful and unjust. |
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Brazilian Police Arrest Man Who Threw Explosive at Campaign Rally |
The man allegedly threw a small explosive (Bloomberg) at a campaign rally for former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for president in October elections.
Canada/Russia/Ukraine: Ukraine asked Canada not to hand over a turbine to Russian state-controlled natural gas company Gazprom amid efforts to sanction Russia, Reuters reported.
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Officer Who Killed George Floyd Sentenced to Twenty-One Years in Federal Prison |
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd in 2020, was sentenced to twenty-one years (NYT) in federal prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights in a case that spurred nationwide protests against racism and police brutality. He will serve the sentence simultaneously with a twenty-two-year state sentence handed down last year. |
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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