Exit polls indicate that Shinzo Abe has won a landslide victory in Sunday’s snap polls. The Japanese government coalition led by his Liberal Democratic Party swooped 312 seats, allowing it to retain a two thirds "super-majority" in the Japanese Diet. The main item on Abe’s agenda – now that he has a firm control of the parliament – is amending Article 9 of Japan’s pacifist constitution.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stormed to a landslide "super-majority" in snap Japanese elections, near complete projections showed Monday, with the hardline nationalist immediately pledging to "deal firmly" with North Korea.Abe's conservative coalition is on track to win at least 312 seats with only a handful left to call, according to public broadcaster NHK, giving him a coveted two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament.That will allow him to pursue his cheris

President Xi Jinping warned of “severe” challenges while laying out a road map to turn China into a leading global power by 2050, as he kicked off a twice-a-decade party gathering expected to cement his influence into the next decade.In a speech that ran for more than three hours on Wednesday, Xi declared victory over “many difficult, long overdue problems” since he took power in 2012.

North Korea warned that a nuclear war “may break out any moment” as the US and South Korea began one of the largest joint naval drills off both the east and west coasts of the peninsula.Kim In Ryong, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said on Monday that his nation had become a “full-fledged nuclear power which possesses the delivery means of various ranges” and warned that “the entire US mainland is within our firing range.” He also called North Korea “a responsible nucle

North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said Saturday, citing a government source.The US navy said Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state's weapons programme.The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.The Donga Ilbo

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday discussed "a range of options" with his national security team to respond to North Korea's recent missile and nuclear tests, his office said.The briefing by his defence secretary James Mattis and top military officer General Joseph Dunford "focused on a range of options to respond to any form of North Korean aggression or, if necessary, to prevent North Korea from threatening the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons,"

US President Donald Trump will host Singapore's prime minister in Washington later this month, the White House said Tuesday, with North Korea likely topping the agenda.In a statement announcing Lee Hsien Loong's October 23 White House visit, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the meeting would reaffirming ties with "one of America's closest partners in Asia for more than 50 years."Singapore has long positioned itself as something of a cultural and political t

Only a small amount of nerve agent – but more than enough to kill him – was found on the face of the North Korean leader's half-brother after he died in agony following an airport attack, a court heard Tuesday.Kim Jong-Nam had 0.2 milligrammes of VX per kilogramme of body weight on his facial skin, well above the typical lethal dosage, chemist Raja Subramaniam told the trial of two women accused of his murder.VX is so deadly it is listed by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruct

The UN has slapped a global port ban on four vessels found violating sanctions against North Korea, the head of an expert panel said Monday in what he described as an unprecedented move.The United States led a drive at the Security Council to impose two recent sets of sanctions to punish Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile tests."There are four vessels that have been designated by the committee. The designation doesn't mean an assets freeze or travel ban.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that "only one thing will work" with North Korea as he acknowledged the fact that diplomatic efforts in the past have consistently failed.