Noda voted in as Japan PM

JAPAN’S parliament voted in a new prime minister yesterday, perhaps the last and best chance for the ruling Democratic Party to begin pulling the country out of decades of stagnation.

Yoshihiko Noda, a 54-year-old former finance minister, is the sixth prime minister in five years.

While tackling myriad ills dogging the world’s third-biggest economy, he must unify warring factions in his own party and win over the opposition, which can block bills in parliament.