Iran vows revenge after US drone strikes kill Quds forces' Chief Gen. Soleimani. #SoleimaniKilling #US #WorldWar #USAirStrikes

Gravitas: Soleimani's killing: Will it trigger a world war?

The mayor of Hiroshima urged Japan to sign a landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons as the city Tuesday marked 74 years since being targeted in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hiroshima-marks-73rd-anniversary-of-atomic-bombing-in-wwii-157247">world's first atomic attack</a>.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led commemorations at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima as residents offered silent prayers, lit candles and placed wreathes to remember those killed in the August 6, 1945 bombing.

And mayor Kazumi Matsui used the occasion to push the Abe administration to sign the UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW), approved by more than 120 nations, but rejected by the US and other nuclear armed countries.

"I call on the government of the only country to experience a nuclear weapon in war to accede to the hibakusha's (atomic bomb victims) request that the TPNW be signed and ratified," said Matsui.

"I urge Japan's leaders to manifest the pacifism of the Japanese constitution by displaying leadership in taking the next step towards a world free from nuclear weapons."

The mayor urged world leaders to come to the city to see the memorial for themselves, amid expectations that Pope Francis will visit later this year.

The ongoing threat from atomic weapons in the region was demonstrated as nuclear-armed North Korea fired off two "unidentified projectiles" off its eastern coast -- the latest in a series of tests.

Meanwhile, the US and Russia failed to renew a<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-formally-withdraws-from-1987-nuclear-pact-with-russia-mike-pompeo-240169"> Cold War-era nuclear pact </a>last week, triggering renewed fears of an arms race.

Japan remains the only country to have experienced atomic attack -- against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, days ahead of the country's surrender on August 15, 1945 to end World War II.

For his part, Abe reiterated a pledge to serve as a "bridge" between nations with and without nuclear weapons to rid the world of them.

"With help from both sides, I will patiently encourage them to engage in dialogue and I am resolved to lead international efforts towards this end," he said.&nbsp;

The mayor of Hiroshima urged Japan to sign a landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons as the city Tuesday marked 74 years since being targeted in the world's first atomic attack.

The mayor of Hiroshima urged Japan to sign a landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons as the city Tuesday marked 74 years since being targeted in the world's first atomic attack. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led commemorations at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima as residents offered silent prayers, lit candles and placed wreathes to remember those killed in the August 6, 1945 bombing. And mayor Kazumi Matsui used the occasion to push the Abe administration to sign the UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW), approved by more than 120 nations, but rejected by the US and other nuclear armed countries. "I call on the government of the only country to experience a nuclear weapon in war to accede to the hibakusha's (atomic bomb victims) request that the TPNW be signed and ratified," said Matsui. "I urge Japan's leaders to manifest the pacifism of the Japanese constitution by displaying leadership in taking the next step towards a world free from nuclear weapons." The mayor urged world leaders to come to the city to see the memorial for themselves, amid expectations that Pope Francis will visit later this year. The ongoing threat from atomic weapons in the region was demonstrated as nuclear-armed North Korea fired off two "unidentified projectiles" off its eastern coast -- the latest in a series of tests. Meanwhile, the US and Russia failed to renew a Cold War-era nuclear pact last week, triggering renewed fears of an arms race. Japan remains the only country to have experienced atomic attack -- against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, days ahead of the country's surrender on August 15, 1945 to end World War II. For his part, Abe reiterated a pledge to serve as a "bridge" between nations with and without nuclear weapons to rid the world of them. "With help from both sides, I will patiently encourage them to engage in dialogue and I am resolved to lead international efforts towards this end," he said.

Mayor urges Japan to sign UN nuke ban on Hiroshima anniversary

The Imitation Game: Bank of England picks World War-II code breaker Turing on £50 notes

Commuters at London Bridge station came across a somewhat unusual sight during their morning travels on Friday (May 31): a full scale replica World War Two Spitfire on the concourse of the busy terminal.

Replica Spitfire goes on display at London station for D-Day anniversary

Frank DeVita a World War II veteran remembers the D-Day invasion.

US D-Day vet tells his story: 'Why am I alive?'

Japan on Wednesday&nbsp;passed a law compensating tens of thousands of people sterilised, often without their consent, under a government programme to prevent the birth of "inferior descendants" that remained in effect until 1996.

Many of the victims were physically or cognitively disabled, but others suffered from mental illness, leprosy - now a curable affliction known as Hansen's disease - or simply had behavioural problems.

The law, which states that "we seriously reflect and deeply apologise," promises to pay each victim 3.2 million yen ($29,000) in compensation.

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/how-world-war-i-shaped-the-20th-century-and-beyond-176601">How World War I shaped the 20th century and beyond</a>

It was unanimously passed by Japan's upper house of parliament, after previously passing the more powerful lower house. According to the law, victims have five years to apply for the compensation, subject to approval by a board of experts.

Japan's "Eugenics Protection Law" came into effect in 1948 as it struggled with food shortages and rebuilding a ravaged nation, and was only revoked in 1996. During that time an estimated 25,000 people were sterilised, with at least 16,500 not giving consent, which eugenics board could order if it signed off on the procedures after an often cursory review. Few records remain. 
&nbsp;

Japan on Wednesday passed a law compensating tens of thousands of people sterilised, often without their consent, under a government programme to prevent the birth of "inferior descendants" that remained in effect until 1996.

Japan on Wednesday passed a law compensating tens of thousands of people sterilised, often without their consent, under a government programme to prevent the birth of "inferior descendants" that remained in effect until 1996. Many of the victims were physically or cognitively disabled, but others suffered from mental illness, leprosy - now a curable affliction known as Hansen's disease - or simply had behavioural problems. The law, which states that "we seriously reflect and deeply apologise," promises to pay each victim 3.2 million yen ($29,000) in compensation. Also read: How World War I shaped the 20th century and beyond It was unanimously passed by Japan's upper house of parliament, after previously passing the more powerful lower house. According to the law, victims have five years to apply for the compensation, subject to approval by a board of experts. Japan's "Eugenics Protection Law" came into effect in 1948 as it struggled with food shortages and rebuilding a ravaged nation, and was only revoked in 1996. During that time an estimated 25,000 people were sterilised, with at least 16,500 not giving consent, which eugenics board could order if it signed off on the procedures after an often cursory review. Few records remain.

Japan passes law to compensate forced sterilisation victims

As the guns fell silent in 1918, World War I victors all agreed on one thing: Germany must pay.

How much was a matter of debate but there was never any doubt that the post-war settlement enshrined in the Treaty of Versailles was going to be punitive.

Germany did pay, but it was not alone. A century on, the world lives with the consequences of a peace accord that, even at the time, was criticised as making another war inevitable in Europe, a continent which had dominated the world for centuries.

Economist J.M. Keynes, then a British Treasury official, resigned rather than be associated with a treaty he denounced as "Carthaginian" in its harshness. French Marshal Ferdinand Foch judged it "not so much a peace as a 20-year armistice".

The "war to end all wars" turned out to be the exact opposite. By ensuring Germany's economic ruin and political humiliation, the post-war settlement provided fertile ground for the rise of Nazism and its ensuing horrors.

Beyond Germany, the slew of peace treaties redrew the map of Europe, carving up vanquished empires and creating as many future conflicts as new countries and borders from the Baltic States to Turkey, via Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

Famine, terror and the Cold War

Just as important, the war served as an incubator for the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Against a backdrop of desperate food shortages, military failure left the Tsarist state crippled and vulnerable to an assault by Lenin's Bolsheviks, who then established the Soviet Union as an authoritarian Communist state.

Disastrous agricultural policies resulted in more than three million people dying in the famine of the early 1930s, millions more under the Great Terror unleashed by Lenin's successor, Joseph Stalin.

By the mid-1930s, conditions were in place for the post-World War II division of Europe.

That in turn produced the Cold War and its associated splitting of the rest of the planet into Western or Soviet spheres of influence, and an unstable global equilibrium that helped fuel countless conflicts across the developing world.

While the political prestige of the main victors Britain and France was at a height in 1919, it did not hide the blossoming on the international stage of the United States, which would become the main economic, military and political power in the Western camp in the following decades.

Middle East overhaul 

World War I also left a lasting mark on the Middle East. By encouraging an Arab revolt, Britain helped precipitate the collapse of the Germany-allied Ottoman empire.

A secular Turkey emerged and Britain and France assumed post-war control of much of the Arab world.

By then Britain had also made clear, through the 1917 Balfour Declaration, its support for the principle of a Jewish state on land it had pledged to the Arabs.&nbsp;

Finally, the Ottoman empire's collapse also resulted in the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in what they steadfastly argue was a full-blown genocide.

A new social order

Events in Russia cast a long shadow over the rest of Europe, generating a fear of upheaval that helped accelerate reforms while also inspiring other revolutionaries, including the nascent fascist movement that was soon to seize power in Italy.

Worker uprisings in Germany and Hungary immediately after the war were crushed or collapsed internally.&nbsp;

But waves of militancy in other countries -- in the Fiat factories of Turin, Italy or the shipyards of Scotland's Red Clydeside -- delivered major advances in terms of working conditions and the rights of trade unions to represent their members.

More broadly the aftermath of World War I was a period of rapid social progress in much of the industrialised world. This was most notable in terms of women's right to vote, which, in the popular memory, is often seen as having been "earned" through female participation in war-related activities.

Less obvious positive legacies of a war which left millions maimed or traumatised were greater social acceptance of the disabled and the destigmatisation of mental illness.

The war also spurred new waves of creativity in the arts.

Poetry was revived as an art form across the world; Dadaism, the avant-garde art movement, was born and led in turn to Surrealism; and jazz, brought to Europe by American soldiers, became the soundtrack for the escapism and innovation of the "roaring '20s".

As the guns fell silent in 1918, World War I victors all agreed on one thing: Germany must pay. How much was a matter of debate but there was never any doubt that the post-war settlement enshrined in the Treaty of Versailles was going to be punitive.

As the guns fell silent in 1918, World War I victors all agreed on one thing: Germany must pay. How much was a matter of debate but there was never any doubt that the post-war settlement enshrined in the Treaty of Versailles was going to be punitive. Germany did pay, but it was not alone. A century on, the world lives with the consequences of a peace accord that, even at the time, was criticised as making another war inevitable in Europe, a continent which had dominated the world for centuries. Economist J.M. Keynes, then a British Treasury official, resigned rather than be associated with a treaty he denounced as "Carthaginian" in its harshness. French Marshal Ferdinand Foch judged it "not so much a peace as a 20-year armistice". The "war to end all wars" turned out to be the exact opposite. By ensuring Germany's economic ruin and political humiliation, the post-war settlement provided fertile ground for the rise of Nazism and its ensuing horrors. Beyond Germany, the slew of peace treaties redrew the map of Europe, carving up vanquished empires and creating as many future conflicts as new countries and borders from the Baltic States to Turkey, via Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Famine, terror and the Cold War Just as important, the war served as an incubator for the 1917 Russian Revolution. Against a backdrop of desperate food shortages, military failure left the Tsarist state crippled and vulnerable to an assault by Lenin's Bolsheviks, who then established the Soviet Union as an authoritarian Communist state. Disastrous agricultural policies resulted in more than three million people dying in the famine of the early 1930s, millions more under the Great Terror unleashed by Lenin's successor, Joseph Stalin. By the mid-1930s, conditions were in place for the post-World War II division of Europe. That in turn produced the Cold War and its associated splitting of the rest of the planet into Western or Soviet spheres of influence, and an unstable global equilibrium that helped fuel countless conflicts across the developing world. While the political prestige of the main victors Britain and France was at a height in 1919, it did not hide the blossoming on the international stage of the United States, which would become the main economic, military and political power in the Western camp in the following decades. Middle East overhaul World War I also left a lasting mark on the Middle East. By encouraging an Arab revolt, Britain helped precipitate the collapse of the Germany-allied Ottoman empire. A secular Turkey emerged and Britain and France assumed post-war control of much of the Arab world. By then Britain had also made clear, through the 1917 Balfour Declaration, its support for the principle of a Jewish state on land it had pledged to the Arabs. Finally, the Ottoman empire's collapse also resulted in the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in what they steadfastly argue was a full-blown genocide. A new social order Events in Russia cast a long shadow over the rest of Europe, generating a fear of upheaval that helped accelerate reforms while also inspiring other revolutionaries, including the nascent fascist movement that was soon to seize power in Italy. Worker uprisings in Germany and Hungary immediately after the war were crushed or collapsed internally. But waves of militancy in other countries -- in the Fiat factories of Turin, Italy or the shipyards of Scotland's Red Clydeside -- delivered major advances in terms of working conditions and the rights of trade unions to represent their members. More broadly the aftermath of World War I was a period of rapid social progress in much of the industrialised world. This was most notable in terms of women's right to vote, which, in the popular memory, is often seen as having been "earned" through female participation in war-related activities. Less obvious positive legacies of a war which left millions maimed or traumatised were greater social acceptance of the disabled and the destigmatisation of mental illness. The war also spurred new waves of creativity in the arts. Poetry was revived as an art form across the world; Dadaism, the avant-garde art movement, was born and led in turn to Surrealism; and jazz, brought to Europe by American soldiers, became the soundtrack for the escapism and innovation of the "roaring '20s".

How World War I shaped the 20th century and beyond

PepsiCo's India-born former CEO Indra Nooyi has said she would cause a third World War if she joins politics as she is "too outspoken".

Asia Society, a non-profit organisation that focuses on educating the world about Asia, honoured 62-year-old Nooyi Tuesday with the 'Game Changer of the Year Award' in New York in recognition of her business achievements, humanitarian record and advocacy for women and girls around the world.

Asked if she would like to join US President Donald Trump's Cabinet now that she has stepped down as Pepsi CEO, Nooyi said, "Me and politics don't mix at all. I am too outspoken, I am not diplomatic. I don't even know what diplomacy is. I would cause a third World War. Don't do it".

Nooyi stepped down on October 2 as PepsiCo's CEO, after 12 years at the helm of the global beverage giant. PepsiCo's Board of Directors had in August announced that they unanimously elected Ramon Laguarta, 54, to succeed Nooyi as Chief Executive Officer.

Nooyi will remain Chairman until early 2019 to ensure a smooth and seamless transition.

After having worked 18 to 20 hours a day for the last 40 years, Nooyi said it was "liberating" to have a bit of free time.

"When I stepped down, I thought that it was going to be tough. For 40 years, I have done nothing but wake up at 4 am and figured out how to rush to work and work 18-20 hours a day," she said during the interaction.

Nooyi said a day after she stepped down, she realised that there was life beyond working.

"I am still a PepsiCo at heart but I am learning to step aside and realise that there is life beyond PepsiCo," she said.

Nooyi said she was looking forward to utilising her time writing and visiting as many countries as possible to talk about how to address issues of maintaining work-life balance.

She also plans to pursue several extra-curricular activities that she enjoyed but had to squeeze time for from her previous packed schedule. 
"I am told I need to go to sleep school to learn how to sleep...Learning how to sleep 6, 8 or 10 hours, play Tennis, I don't know how it's going to be but I know it is going to be fun," she said.

Nooyi, who has long advocated the need for finding solutions to help women strike a work-life balance, recalled her experience of how she incorporated the "Asian model" in her life to manage her career and bring up her daughters.

She also emphasised that this model needed to be "imported" to the west.

"I imported a quintessential Asian model to my life," she said.

Nooyi and her husband did not want to leave their kids with a day care worker and turned to their families in India for help, asking parents, in-laws, aunts and uncles, grandparents to stay with them in the US for 3 to 4 months to help supervise their children.

"We need to import that Asian model here. We need to have more multi-generational families living together. We need to have the older generation helping the young people supervise day-care facilities," she said.

Nooyi said there was a need to build communities where the older people and younger people can live together, enabling kids to learn the value of respect and wisdom.

"We need solutions to address the issue of work-life balance and co-opting the entire family is part of this solution," she said. 
Given that in the west the focus has been too much on the nuclear family, Nooyi said people have forgotten that the definition of family is much broader than the nuclear family.

"If we don't provide support system for families, I don't know how we are going to do it. Traditional Asian values need to be revived - the joint family, coming together of communities has to happen," she said.

The 2018 Asia Game Changer Awards were given to individuals and institutions who have broken barriers, defined courage, worked miracles, and in turn inspired their fellow citizens of the world.

Sharing lessons learnt through her experiences, Nooyi said that her mother's advice to "leave the crown in the garage" holds true. 
"Do not bring it in. If your husband wants to bring his crown in, that's just fine. That's crown. But don't take your crown in," she said, adding that some people may "hate" her for making such a remark.

"If you want to stay married, if you want to be a daughter, wife, mother, unfortunately the crown stays in the car. That is the unfortunate rule number one. Somebody has got to play the role of getting everybody together," she said.

Nooyi led a group of other revolutionary women as Asia Society's Game Changers, including the Afghan Girls Robotics Team who has made waves at international robotics competitions and Mira Rai, a record-shattering runner from a small village in Nepal, who is also an inspiration for millions of girls and young women.

Other recipients of this year's awards are the Thai rescuers who saved a dozen teenage soccer players in a flooded cave, the Japanese first responders who risked their lives following the tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima.

Raed Saleh and the Syrian White Helmets, a global champion for "green cities" Wang Shi of China, Australia-based Iraqi pioneering surgeon who has brought new hope for amputees Munjed Al Muderis and the founders of Koolulam from Israel a musical phenomenon that aims to bridge the most difficult ethnic and religious divides are other recipents of the award.&nbsp;

PepsiCo's India-born former CEO Indra Nooyi has said she would cause a third World War if she joins politics as she is "too outspoken". Asia Society, a non-profit organisation that focuses on educating the world about Asia, honoured 62-year-old Nooyi Tuesday with the 'Game Changer of the Year Award' in New York in recognition of her business achievements, humanitarian record and advocacy for women and girls around the world.

PepsiCo's India-born former CEO Indra Nooyi has said she would cause a third World War if she joins politics as she is "too outspoken". Asia Society, a non-profit organisation that focuses on educating the world about Asia, honoured 62-year-old Nooyi Tuesday with the 'Game Changer of the Year Award' in New York in recognition of her business achievements, humanitarian record and advocacy for women and girls around the world. Asked if she would like to join US President Donald Trump's Cabinet now that she has stepped down as Pepsi CEO, Nooyi said, "Me and politics don't mix at all. I am too outspoken, I am not diplomatic. I don't even know what diplomacy is. I would cause a third World War. Don't do it". Nooyi stepped down on October 2 as PepsiCo's CEO, after 12 years at the helm of the global beverage giant. PepsiCo's Board of Directors had in August announced that they unanimously elected Ramon Laguarta, 54, to succeed Nooyi as Chief Executive Officer. Nooyi will remain Chairman until early 2019 to ensure a smooth and seamless transition. After having worked 18 to 20 hours a day for the last 40 years, Nooyi said it was "liberating" to have a bit of free time. "When I stepped down, I thought that it was going to be tough. For 40 years, I have done nothing but wake up at 4 am and figured out how to rush to work and work 18-20 hours a day," she said during the interaction. Nooyi said a day after she stepped down, she realised that there was life beyond working. "I am still a PepsiCo at heart but I am learning to step aside and realise that there is life beyond PepsiCo," she said. Nooyi said she was looking forward to utilising her time writing and visiting as many countries as possible to talk about how to address issues of maintaining work-life balance. She also plans to pursue several extra-curricular activities that she enjoyed but had to squeeze time for from her previous packed schedule. "I am told I need to go to sleep school to learn how to sleep...Learning how to sleep 6, 8 or 10 hours, play Tennis, I don't know how it's going to be but I know it is going to be fun," she said. Nooyi, who has long advocated the need for finding solutions to help women strike a work-life balance, recalled her experience of how she incorporated the "Asian model" in her life to manage her career and bring up her daughters. She also emphasised that this model needed to be "imported" to the west. "I imported a quintessential Asian model to my life," she said. Nooyi and her husband did not want to leave their kids with a day care worker and turned to their families in India for help, asking parents, in-laws, aunts and uncles, grandparents to stay with them in the US for 3 to 4 months to help supervise their children. "We need to import that Asian model here. We need to have more multi-generational families living together. We need to have the older generation helping the young people supervise day-care facilities," she said. Nooyi said there was a need to build communities where the older people and younger people can live together, enabling kids to learn the value of respect and wisdom. "We need solutions to address the issue of work-life balance and co-opting the entire family is part of this solution," she said. Given that in the west the focus has been too much on the nuclear family, Nooyi said people have forgotten that the definition of family is much broader than the nuclear family. "If we don't provide support system for families, I don't know how we are going to do it. Traditional Asian values need to be revived - the joint family, coming together of communities has to happen," she said. The 2018 Asia Game Changer Awards were given to individuals and institutions who have broken barriers, defined courage, worked miracles, and in turn inspired their fellow citizens of the world. Sharing lessons learnt through her experiences, Nooyi said that her mother's advice to "leave the crown in the garage" holds true. "Do not bring it in. If your husband wants to bring his crown in, that's just fine. That's crown. But don't take your crown in," she said, adding that some people may "hate" her for making such a remark. "If you want to stay married, if you want to be a daughter, wife, mother, unfortunately the crown stays in the car. That is the unfortunate rule number one. Somebody has got to play the role of getting everybody together," she said. Nooyi led a group of other revolutionary women as Asia Society's Game Changers, including the Afghan Girls Robotics Team who has made waves at international robotics competitions and Mira Rai, a record-shattering runner from a small village in Nepal, who is also an inspiration for millions of girls and young women. Other recipients of this year's awards are the Thai rescuers who saved a dozen teenage soccer players in a flooded cave, the Japanese first responders who risked their lives following the tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima. Raed Saleh and the Syrian White Helmets, a global champion for "green cities" Wang Shi of China, Australia-based Iraqi pioneering surgeon who has brought new hope for amputees Munjed Al Muderis and the founders of Koolulam from Israel a musical phenomenon that aims to bridge the most difficult ethnic and religious divides are other recipents of the award.

Will cause third World War if I join politics: Indra Nooyi

The security situation facing Japan is the most perilous since World War Two because of North Korea&#39;s &quot;unacceptable&quot; provocations, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday and he vowed to bolster defences to protect the Japanese people.

Tension in the region has been rising, particularly since North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test in September, and then in November, said it had successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach all of the US&nbsp;mainland.

&quot;It is not an exaggeration to say that the security environment surrounding Japan is at its severest since World War Two. I will protect the people&#39;s lives and peaceful living in any situation,&quot; Abe told a New Year news conference.

Abe said Japan would take new steps to strengthen its defence posture but he did not go to specifics.

The government approved a record military budget last month, with defence outlays due to rise for a sixth year, increasing by 1.3 per cent to 5.19 trillion yen ($46 billion), with the biggest item 137 billion yen in reinforcing defences against North Korean ballistic missiles.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said this week the United States was hearing reports that North Korea might be preparing to fire another missile, and she warned it not to.

&quot;It is absolutely unacceptable that North Korea is trampling the strong desire of Japan and the rest of the international community for peaceful resolutions and continuing with its provocative behaviour,&quot; Abe said.

Abe has said he wants to amend Japan&#39;s pacifist constitution with the aim of loosening constraints on the military, although the public is divided over changes to the charter imposed after Japan&#39;s World War Two defeat.

War-renouncing Article 9 of the constitution, if read literally, bans the existence of standing armed forces, but has long been interpreted to allow a military for exclusively defensive purposes.

Abe said he wanted more debate on the issue. &quot;I would like this to be a year in which public debate over a constitutional revision will be deepened further,&quot; he said.

Abe&#39;s Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition retained its two-thirds &quot;super majority&quot; in parliament&#39;s lower house in an October 22 election, re-energising his push to revise the constitution.

Tension in the region has been rising, particularly since North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test in September, and then in November, said it had successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach all of the US?mainland

The security situation facing Japan is the most perilous since World War Two because of North Korea's "unacceptable" provocations, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday and he vowed to bolster defences to protect the Japanese people. Tension in the region has been rising, particularly since North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test in September, and then in November, said it had successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach all of the US mainland. "It is not an exaggeration to say that the security environment surrounding Japan is at its severest since World War Two. I will protect the people's lives and peaceful living in any situation," Abe told a New Year news conference. Abe said Japan would take new steps to strengthen its defence posture but he did not go to specifics. The government approved a record military budget last month, with defence outlays due to rise for a sixth year, increasing by 1.3 per cent to 5.19 trillion yen ($46 billion), with the biggest item 137 billion yen in reinforcing defences against North Korean ballistic missiles. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said this week the United States was hearing reports that North Korea might be preparing to fire another missile, and she warned it not to. "It is absolutely unacceptable that North Korea is trampling the strong desire of Japan and the rest of the international community for peaceful resolutions and continuing with its provocative behaviour," Abe said. Abe has said he wants to amend Japan's pacifist constitution with the aim of loosening constraints on the military, although the public is divided over changes to the charter imposed after Japan's World War Two defeat. War-renouncing Article 9 of the constitution, if read literally, bans the existence of standing armed forces, but has long been interpreted to allow a military for exclusively defensive purposes. Abe said he wanted more debate on the issue. "I would like this to be a year in which public debate over a constitutional revision will be deepened further," he said. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition retained its two-thirds "super majority" in parliament's lower house in an October 22 election, re-energising his push to revise the constitution.

Japan faces greatest danger since World War due to North Korea: PM Shinzo Abe

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