Japan ruling party sets date for leadership vote PM bound to win

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Friday set a date for a party leadership election that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is bound to win, effectively assuring him of staying leader of the world's third-largest economy. All seven factions within the party supported Abe and there were no signs he would face a contender in the Sept. 20 vote, the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's major daily, said. Abe's once-mighty public support started sliding after scholars told a parliamentary panel in June tha