Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday called a snap election, seeking a fresh term at the helm of the world’s third-largest economy as tensions with nearby North Korea reach fever-pitch. Surveys suggest voters approve of nationalist Abe’s hardline stance on North Korea, which fired two missiles over the country in the space of a month and has threatened to “sink” Japan. “The election, which is the core of democracy, should not be influenced by the threats of North Korea,” stressed Abe, 63. ‘Political vacuum’The winner of the expected snap election faces a daunting in-tray of challenges ranging from an unprecedented crisis with North Korea to reviving the once world-beating Japanese economy. He was the country’s youngest prime minister when he first won the top job aged 52.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 25, 2017 15:45 UTC