Across Asia: Japan

Opposition head vote soon

Japan's main opposition party - Democratic Party - will vote on Saturday for a new leader to replace scandal-tainted Ichiro Ozawa, in a move likely to boost its fading poll ratings ahead of an election just months away.

For possible successors, analysts have focused on former party leader Katsuya Okada, 55, a soft-spoken former trade official with a "Mr Clean" image, and Yukio Hatoyama, 62, another ex-party chief.