Japan fixes election date

The Japanese prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, has confirmed that a general election will be held on June the twenty-fifth next month.

Correspondents say Mr Mori has been under pressure to seek a mandate from the public since taking over as prime minister last month when his predecessor, Keizo Obuchi, suffered a stroke and later died.

Mr Obuchi's birthday has been chosen as the date for the election and the BBC Tokyo correspondent says the governing Liberal Democratic Party is banking on public sympathy to help it retain power.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service