Japan’s main opposition Democratic Party has offered its “full support” to Yuriko Koike’s new political party, adding momentum to the Tokyo governor’s challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in next month’s general election. The DP leadership in a statement on Thursday said it would not field any candidates in the October 22 poll and would allow its members to run under Koike’s Party of Hope banner. Abe on Thursday dissolved parliament’s lower house for an election taking advantage of a fractious DP which has been wrought by internal strife over policy. (Reuters)