Japan PM Abe's ruling bloc maintains lead ahead of upper house election

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition has maintained its lead ahead of Sunday's upper house election, but uncertainty remains over whether it and like-minded forces will be able to retain the two-thirds majority needed to initiate the process of amending the Constitution, a Kyodo News survey showed Tuesday.Based on the nationwide telephone survey conducted through Tuesday and an analysis of information gathered by Kyodo News, Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito are expected to secure more than half of the 124 seats up for grabs, possibly around 7…READ FULL ARTICLE