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Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe passes away at 67

Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, who sought to lift the economy out of chronic deflation with his bold "Abenomics" policies, beef up the military and counter China's growing clout, has died at 67.

Abe, who left office in 2020, was shot and killed on Friday during an election campaign speech in an attack his protege and incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called "absolutely unforgivable".
The lawmaker first became premier in 2006, lasting just a year before returning for a rare second stint in 2012 pledging to revive a stagnant economy, loosen the limits of a post-World War Two pacifist constitution and restore traditional values.

Abe became Japan's longest-serving premier in November 2019, but by summer 2020, support had been eroded by his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak as well as a series of scandals including the arrest of his former justice minister.

2 years ago | [YT] | 44