In Japan, hundreds of dignitaries and more than 50 current and former world leaders gathered in Tokyo earlier today for the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, three months after he was shot dead by an assassin wielding a homemade gun. Members of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces fired cannons in a 19-gun salute, as Abe’s widow, Akie Abe, carried the late leader’s ashes to a funeral ceremony. Among those attending were Vice President Kamala Harris and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, thousands of protesters marched through Tokyo’s streets chanting, “No state funeral!” Protesters took aim at Abe’s push to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution, his ultranationalist views and his refusal to apologize for war crimes committed by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
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