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President Donald Trump announced Monday that he had located a gold-painted golf club given to him by the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — one of dozens of presents from foreign leaders sought by House Democrats. “I am pleased to report that after a search, we were able to find the gold (paint!) Driver given to me by my friend & former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe,” Trump, 76, announced on his Truth Social platform.“It was in a locker, with other clubs, at Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach County, Florida. It has never been used,” he...

NARA (Kyodo) -- A man was indicted on charges of murder and violating the firearms control law for fatally shooting former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during an election campaign speech in July, prosecutors said Friday after months of a psychiatric evaluation. The prosecutors concluded that Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, is competent to stand trial following mental examinations undertaken since late July. His detention period for the examination expired on Tuesday. Yamagami has told investigators that he held a grudge against the Unification Church and targeted Abe because he was a grandson of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, who helped the...

Japan's National Police Agency chief said on Thursday (Aug 25) he will resign to take responsibility for the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, citing the need for a "fresh start" for the organisation and its security duties. Itaru Nakamura is the most senior official to step down in connection with Abe's assassination at a campaign rally in the western city of Nara on July 8, where experts have said security was seriously flawed. "In the process of verifying our new security plan, we have come to realise that our security duties would need a fresh start," Nakamura told...

Why has the Abe murder vanished from the news? One of the most important stories certainly of the year if not the decade it is treated like a low level crime story. Abe was truly the best and most powerful friend the US had in Japan and the westpac region. His murder is virtually on a JFK level of importance. However, the media have it seems been given the word to send the event and its possible Chinese connection down the memory hole just like the destruction of Notre Dame de Paris.

The mother of the man arrested for the killing of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is a member of the Unification Church, the church's Japan head said on Monday (Jul 11). A police investigation into the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe prompted the head of the country's branch of the Unification Church to confirm on Monday that the mother of the suspect in the killing is a member. Tetsuya Yamagami, an unemployed 41-year-old, has been identified by police as the suspect who approached Abe and opened fire during a campaign speech on Friday, an attack that...

Abe’s removal from the Japanese political scene opens a door to what some American analysts fear is a dangerous moment. The shock over his assassination could shake Japanese confidence in their future, coming at a time of war in Europe, challenges from China, and questions about the future of American politics and credibility. “Japanese leaders sense that and the country can go in two ways – Japan can be rational and cool, and adjust Japanese strategy,” argues Curtis. “Or they can play the Trump card and appeal to anxiety and apprehension to stir up support for a populist program.” Moves...

CBS “Mornings” on Friday remembered former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following his assassination while on the campaign trail at the age of 67. According to CBS reporter Elizabeth Palmer, Abe was a “polarizing figure,” “a right-wing nationalist and conservative.” She advised that although Abe’s “political opinions were controversial,” the country was “united in shock and sympathy at the news of his death.” “It would be hard to overstate just how much of a shock this is in the normally nonviolent Japan,” Palmer stated. People are really feeling traumatized.” “Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister when he left office in...

TOKYO - The Unification Church in Japan on Monday (July 11) said the mother of the gunman who last week assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe was a member of the church. The gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has told police following the assassination that he targeted Mr Abe in his belief that the former PM was linked to a "religious group" that his mother had joined, paying exorbitant dues that left his family bankrupt and broken. In a news conference on Monday, Reverend Tomihiro Tanaka - who leads the Japan branch of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification,...

Japanese voters went to the polls Sunday in the shadow of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was gunned down while making a campaign speech. Abe's governing party appeared to be cruising to a major victory. As people voted, police in western Japan sent the alleged assassin to a local prosecutors' office for further investigation. A day earlier a top regional police official acknowledged possible security lapses that allowed the attacker to get so close and fire a bullet at the still-influential former Japanese leader. In a country still recovering from the shock, sadness and fear of...

The Associated Press ran a “fact check” on a meme joking about Shinzo Abe having information that could lead to the arrest of Hillary Clinton. The meme has been around for ages due to the amount of mysterious and arguably convenient deaths surrounding the Clintons. >P> Following the tragic assassination of Shinzo Abe, comedian and podcast host Michael Malice tweeted a fake screenshot of the former Japanese prime minister saying “I have information that will lead to the arrest of Hillary Clinton.” The tweet was “liked” by over 12,000 people who understand jokes. The Associated Press was apparently very concerned...

Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe shot while giving speech in Nara

As teenager Kenta Takahashi gathered with a crowd of mourners to pay tribute to Shinzo Abe at the site where he was shot on Friday, he recalled the precious few minutes when he got to meet his idol in person. The 13-year-old had the rare chance to meet Mr Abe two weeks ago while the former prime minister was on the hustings, supporting candidates from his political party ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections. The pair briefly talked, with the former prime minister offering some kind words of advice before fist-bumping with the teen in a moment that Kenta will cherish...

**SNIP** Videos of the shooting circulating online show the gunman approaching Abe from behind before firing two shots, both producing extremely loud cannon-like booms and plumes of white smoke. Police later said they found multiple homemade guns and explosives when they searched Yamagami’s house, adding that he had allegedly admitted to shooting Abe with a DIY firearm. From images of the gun, captured by bystanders including a reporter for Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, experts immediately suspected it was homemade. “The box-like device is wrapped in black tape and smoke can be seen coming from the muzzle. It’s certainly no standard...

TOKYO -- The assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will drastically transform Japan's policy priorities on both the domestic and foreign fronts as the country lost a giant who was able to shift the political landscape from behind the scenes. Japan's longest-serving prime minister left an indelible mark on the country's political agenda over the past 10 years. After Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party won back control of government in 2012, he immediately set out to reshape Japan's economic policy. He entered into an accord with the Bank of Japan in 2013, setting a 2% inflation target. There...

A gunman at an election rally in Nara ended the life of the longest-serving and one of the most popular prime ministers in Japanese history. On July 8, just before 6 PM, it was reported that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had died, according to multiple sources and local media. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Is Shot During a RallyThis is how the day unfolded.Very detailed account follows at the link>

Mark this down as the year's most grotesquely insensitive metaphor. On Friday's Morning Joe—hours after the news broke that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been assassinated with shots to the back—Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, in a scathing statement about Boris Johnson, said: "He sort of failed up, upward through his career until he became Prime Minister after knifing Theresa May in the back." Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Former President Donald Trump told Breitbart News exclusively here that he is considering attending the funeral of the assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and that he is communicating with Abe’s family about the matter. “We’re going to see how it goes,” Trump said when asked if he would attend Abe’s funeral. “We’re talking to their family. We love the family. His wife is a phenomenal woman. He is so loved in Japan I can imagine that is going to be an incredible celebration of life. He was just very special. Every aspect of that...

Abe’s own grandfather, Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, was stabbed in the thigh in 1960 and severely injured during a reception at the Prime Minister’s Office. That same year, Inejiro Asanuma, then head of the Japan Socialist Party, was fatally stabbed by a 17-year-old rightist while making a speech at a public hall in Hibiya, Tokyo. In the years that followed, Prime Minister Takeo Miki, Deputy Prime Minister Shin Kanemaru and Prime Minister Morihiro Hokosawa were either attacked or shot in 1975, 1992 and 1994, respectively. They all survived the attacks. Local-level politicians have also been attacked. In 1990 — two...

After being shot Abe was airlifted to a hospital but he was not breathing and his heart had stopped, officials said. He was declared dead hours laterJapan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe succumbed to his injuries on Friday after being shot during a campaign speech in western Japan earlier in the day. Earlier, as the news of the attack alarmed people across the world, Chinese nationalists began to celebrate the incident on Weibo and terming the attacker a 'hero'. The post was shared on the Twitter handle of Badiucao - a Chinese political cartoonist, artist and rights activist based in...

Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo spent much of his public effort in the months leading up to his assassination on Friday advocating for defending the nation of Taiwan from a potential Chinese invasion, outraging the Communist Party into threatening a “bloodbath” if he did not stop. Abe served as prime minister for a year in 2006 and again from 2012 to 2020, making him the country’s longest-serving leader in that role. He resigned in 2020, citing a longtime struggle with ulcerative colitis that had also curtailed his first term in office, but he remained a prominent figure in Japanese...