Japan approves record $56 billion defence budget

Japan approved Friday a record defence budget worth $56 billion for the next fiscal year, as tensions rise with China and North Korea. The 7.95 trillion yen ($56 billion) draft budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year was approved by the cabinet, in line with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's pledge to raise defence spending over the next few years. Japan has a pacifist post-war constitution, which limits its military capacity to ostensibly defensive measures.