Nationalist Shinzo Abe, a proponent of a tight alliance with the US and a more assertive military, won election as Japan’s new prime minister today, scoring comfortable majorities in both houses.

Japan has dispatched ships and planes to monitor North Korea amid regional jitters about a possible long-range missile launch.

Optimism that three Japanese civilians held hostage in Iraq would be quickly released evaporated today, when Tokyo’s top government spokesman backtracked on an earlier statement and said authorities were no longer confident about their safety.

Japan has opened an emergency office at its diplomatic mission in Jordan to co-ordinate rescue efforts for its three citizens taken hostage in neighbouring Iraq, a Japanese Embassy official said today.