The same urban renewal is happening in other parts of Washington

Abe, who also heads the LDP, is set to provisionally dissolve the lower chamber of Japan's bicameral system of parliament on Sept 28, as this is when the extraordinary Diet session will be convened, according to LDP sources close to the matterHowever, the prime minister has the authority to dissolve the lower chamber and call a general election at will

This scenario would see official campaigning for the national poll kick off on Oct 10, with voters thereafter casting their ballots on Oct 22A lower house election must be held by December 2018 as this is when the four-year terms of current lower house lawmakers expireIf Abe goes ahead with his plan to call a snap election, then three by-elections that have been slated to take place on Oct 22 would be replaced by the general election

The opposition camp, however, has criticized Abe's move to call a snap election, with some accusing him of merely trying to escape from the influence-peddling scandals he is currently implicated in and engineering his stay in power"Nikai on Tuesday, during a meeting of ruling LDP executives reportedly conveyed Abe's intentions and relayed the party's determination to get all of its candidates fielded in the race

Prior to Abe's departure Monday for a five-day trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Abe told Nikai during a meeting that he "will decide on the timing of the snap election after returning from the UN General Assembly on Friday

Abe last dissolved the lower house of parliament in November 2014 and thereafter led the ruling coalition to a sweeping victory in the following election in December"We deem the Belt and Road Initiative as positive," Lee said Saturday in an interview with Xinhuanet, Xinhua's official website, noting that China's continuous economic growth has made China an increasingly larger and more important part in the international system

SINGAPORE -- Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said that the Belt and Road Initiative of China is positive to the world since it can help further integrate China into regional and international economic systems while boosting growth in other countries" In his opinion, the Initiative can help China make more and better contributions to global economic and trade cooperation as well as the international relations

One option is to hold a snap election on Oct 22, when three by-elections are scheduled, the sources saidTOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering calling a snap election for as early as next month to take advantage of his improved approval ratings and disarray in the main opposition party, government and ruling party sources said on Sunday