Japan's Shinzo Abe calls snap polls

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.

Mr Abe hopes to capitalise on a weak and fractured Opposition to sweep back into power, as polls show him regaining ground after a series of scandals. “I will dissolve the House of Representatives on September 28,” he told reporters, a precursor to a general election. 

Surveys suggest voters approve of nationalist Mr 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.