Japanese prime minister averts a snap election

Japan's prime minister has apparently fought off calls for a snap election this summer, political analysts said. They said that before Yasuhiro Nakasone left for a Southeast Asian tour Saturday, he said he would not go for an election in the lower house that would have coincided with a scheduled election in the upper house. Apparently he gained the reluctant agreement of the influential Kakuei Tanaka, a former prime minister and current leader of the largest faction in Mr. Nakasone's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.