Obama, Abe pay surprise visit to Lincoln monument

President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid a surprise visit to the Lincoln Memorial on Monday. The visit, which had not been announced by the White House, comes a day ahead of Abe's official visit to Washington. The two leaders stood in the sun beside the monument to US president Abraham Lincoln, on the National Mall, a grassy esplanade that stretches over to Congress. "This is an opportunity before the formal events tomorrow to spend time together one-on-one at