Japanese politicians blast crisis response

TOKYO - A heavyweight rival to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan from his ruling party on Friday publicly blasted the leader's handling of a nuclear crisis, as deepening rifts in the group threaten to stall policies after a March earthquake and tsunami.

The ruling party's image could also take a hit after the deputy head of its disaster task force was discovered to have been playing golf in the Philippines during national holidays this week despite the humanitarian and nuclear crises in Japan.

Kan is already under criticism for his response to the March 11 quake and tsunami that has killed 14,800 people, left some 11,000 missing and led to radiation leaks at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the northeast coast.