protests last month. Hundreds of people were forced to leave before the start of the protest organized by the Taksim Solidarity group of political parties and nongovernmental organizations opposed to the redevelopment. Police then intervened with water cannons to break up a crowd of several thousand marching along Istanbul ' s main pedestrian shopping street towards Taksim Square where the park is located. Clashes between police and protesters continued late into the evening in the Taksim area, with police firing repeated volleys of teargas at small pockets of demonstrators who fled down side streets. Shortly before midnight the park was once again opened to the public, even as isolated clashes continued on nearby streets. Police detained more than 80 people. One seriously wounded person suffered a brain hemorrhage and was being treated at a nearby hospital.
Asia Japan faces increasingly serious threats to its security from China and North Korea, a defense ministry report said and government politicians called for the military to beef up its ability to respond to such threats. The report was likely to prompt a sharp response from Beijing, whose ties with Tokyo are strained by a territorial row and remarks by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggesting he wants to cast Japan ' s wartime history in a less apologetic tone. " There are various issues and destabilizing factors in the security environment surrounding Japan, some of which are becoming increasingly tangible, acute and serious," the annual Japan defense white paper said. " China has attempted to change the status quo by force based on its own assertion, which is incompatible with the existing order of international law." Abe returned to power for a rare second term after his ruling bloc won a general election late last year, promising to revive the economy and strengthen Japan ' s defenses. He also wants to revise the post-World War Two pacifist constitution to legitimize the military, although winning support for contentious revisions is likely to take time. Japan is already bolstering its islands ' defense and this year raised its defense budget for the first time in 11 years. The military is conducting joint drills with the United States, its main security ally, and fortifying defenses against missile attacks, while the government is reviewing its mid-term defense policy. Japan plans to draw up a new defense plan by December, and Abe ' s Liberal Democratic Party( LDP) last month submitted to the government recommendations that included looking into acquiring the capability to attack enemy targets. Any sign that Japan is moving to obtain such capabilities could upset China and South Korea, where resentment against Japan ' s wartime aggression and colonization runs deep. The LDP also recommended that, in order to boost the defense of remote islands, the military should set up an amphibious Marines division equipped with tilt-rotor aircraft like the V-22 Osprey. Abe, whose LDP is expected to cement its grip on power in this month ' s upper house election, also wants to revise an interpretation of the constitution that bans using the right of collective self-defense, or aiding an ally under attack. A panel
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