
OKINAWA Governor Denny Tamaki called for Japan’s government to block construction of a new US military base and for the abolition of nuclear weapons as he marked the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa today.
The US amphibious assault on Okinawa lasted from April 1 to June 23 1945 and was among the second world war’s bloodiest battles, killing around 300,000 people including 150,000 civilians, around half the island’s population at the time.
Mr Tamaki said Okinawans’ thoughts turned to the suffering of Ukrainians facing Russian invasion as they remembered the victims of the huge ground battle, saying Japan should work to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide and renounce war so it would “never again become a battlefield.”

Morning Star editor BEN CHACKO reports from the start of Kunming’s Belt and Road media forum, where 200 journalists from 71 countries celebrated a new openness and optimism, forged by China’s enormous contribution to global development

Morning Star editor BEN CHACKO reports on TUC Congress discussions on how to confront the far right and rebuild the left’s appeal to workers