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.
The ex-leader had no vital signs and was bleeding heavily, hospital officials say.
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.
Abe – in office in 2006-07 and 2012-20 – remains the country’s longest-serving PM and best-known 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.”
Source: BBC
