Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has been assassinated while giving a campaign speech in southern Japan.
Abe, 67, immediately collapsed after being shot in the neck and was rushed to hospital.
He was pronounced dead about five hours later at 5pm local time (9am UK time).
The suspected attacker – reported to be a male in his 40s – was tackled at the scene and arrested.
Japan’s current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, says he is “lost for words”, describing Abe as a “personal friend”.
Abe – in office in 2006-07 and 2012-20 – remains the country’s longest-serving PM and best-known political figure internationally.
Global leaders are reacting with shock. PM Boris Johnson says the UK stands with the Japanese people at a “sad and dark time”.
Since the news broke this morning, messages have been pouring in from friends and contacts, all asking the same question: how could this have happened in Japan?
I felt much the same myself. Living here you get used to not thinking about violent crime.
The identity of the victim only makes the news more shocking.
Shinzo Abe may no longer be Japan’s prime minister, but he’s still a huge figure in Japanese public life, and probably the most recognisable Japanese politician of the last three decades. BBC
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