Strong turnout as Japanese head to polls

Lines at polling places spilled out into Tokyo streets Sunday as Japanese citizens showed up in droves to vote in a parliamentary election that is expected to yield a historic shift in political power. With fours hours left until polls closed, 41 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots. While the number is slightly lower than the last elections in 2005, absentee ballots were 162 percent higher this time round, officials said

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Disgruntled Japanese prepare to vote

The recession’s latest victim in Japan may not be corporate earnings but the political careers of the ruling party in the country’s parliament. This Sunday in Japan, voters go to the ballot box in what poll after poll shows will be a historic shift in political power, booting out the ruling party. The Liberal Democratic Party, or the LDP, has been in nearly continuous control of Japan’s parliament for more than five decades

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UK embassies: We can’t help you buy shoes

And now a public service announcement from the British foreign office: “The government views Hyundai Group’s joint statement with North Korea in a positive way, but it is at the nongovernmental level,” Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said. “For this agreement to be realized, the governments of South and North Korea need to reach a concrete agreement through dialogue.” A Hyundai subsidiary handles all tourism and business projects between the Koreas

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Japan’s PM under pressure after key vote lost

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is facing increasing pressure within his party to step aside before national elections after his party lost a key vote in Tokyo on Sunday. Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly as the opposition Democratic Party of Japan made the largest gains. The LDP won 38 seats, down from 48.

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Finally, a British Inquiry into the Iraq War

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair resisted public pressure for a comprehensive inquiry into the Iraq war. On June 15, his successor, Gordon Brown, raised the white flag, informing the House of Commons that he had ordered an inquiry even before British troops complete their withdrawal from Basra this summer. “Thanks to our efforts and those of our allies over six difficult years, a young democracy has replaced a vicious 30-year dictatorship,” said the Prime Minister.

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