Upper House polls: Abe seeks two-thirds majority

TOKYO (REUTERS) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday he aimed to get a two-thirds majority from his ruling bloc and like-minded opposition parties at an Upper House election this summer to enable him to revise the country's Constitution.

Mr Abe has made clear he wants to revise the US-drafted, pacifist Constitution, but formal amendment requires approval by two-thirds of both houses of Parliament and a majority in a referendum.

Najib 'recovering well' after growth removed

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a tweet he was recovering well yesterday, a day after he had a small benign growth removed from his right hand at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Bernama reported.

Datuk Seri Najib also thanked Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for wishing him a speedy recovery.

"I'm recovering well, thank you for the kind thoughts. See you soon," Mr Najib tweeted.

PAS unfazed by new opposition alliance's pact

KUALA SELANGOR (THE STAR/ANN) - Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) is unperturbed by the signing of a pact by new opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan, the Islamic opposition party's president, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said.

The alliance was formed last year by Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Democratic Action Party (DAP) and a PAS splinter party after PAS fell out with DAP.

The three parties signed a cooperation pact on Saturday.

"PAS is the most experienced party in Malaysia and has only grown stronger since it has been in existence during pre-independence days," Mr Hadi Awang told reporters yesterday.