Japan military seeks record budget amid regional threats

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Defense Ministry is seeking a record-high budget of nearly 5.5 trillion yen ($55 billion) for fiscal 2021 to fund more purchases of costly American stealth fighters and expand its capability to counter possible threats in both cyber and outer space. The budget request made public Wednesday is the the first under new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and would be an 8% increase from the current year, signaling a continuation of his hawkish predecessor Shinzo Abe&rsquo