Shinzo Abe on TIME magazine's latest cover: 'Rewrote Japan's place in the world'

TIME Magazine's tribute to the former Japanese premier. (Image credit: @TIME/Twitter)

TIME Magazine, with its latest cover, paid tribute to Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister and a leader of global repute. Abe, 67, was shot dead on July 8 while speaking at an election event in Nara city, leading to shock and outrage across the world.

TIME's cover story reflected on Shinzo Abe's defining impact on Japan. "Shinzo Abe Rewrote Japan's Place in the World. And Remained a Power Broker Until the Very End," the headline of the piece read.

Abe will be remembered for his efforts to revitalise Japan's economy, which achieved mixed success, and strengthening ties with the United States, India and Australia.

Leaders and citizens around the world mourned Abe, remembering the deep impact he had on an international level.

His assassination was a rare act, since Japan has strict gun laws.

Abe's assassin has been identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, who once served in the Japanese Navy.

The attacker, who is in his 40s, is believed to have killed Abe because of a belief that he had ties to an unidentified organisation, against which he held a grudge.

Yamagami fired at Abe twice from behind. He was able to come in close proximity to the leader even though his security team was present.

After the man fired at him, Abe collapsed, bleeding from the neck. He was airlifted to hospital in a state of cardiac arrest. Doctors did blood transfusions and tried to stop bleeding but could not save him.

 (With inputs from AFP)