Japan’s ruling coalition secures upper house majority

TOKYO — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition secured a majority in Japan’s upper house of parliament in elections Sunday but will not reach the supermajority needed to propose constitutional revisions, according public television.

NHK public television said shortly after midnight that Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito had won 69 seats in the upper house, with nine seats remaining. If Abe gained support from members of another conservative party and independents, it would make only 76 seats, short of 85 he would have needed, NHK said.

Abe’s ruling bloc already has a two-thirds majority in the lower house, but without such control of the upper chamber, he has a slim chance of achieving his goal of constitutional reform. In Florida: Two juveniles remained at large after authorities say they attacked staff members to escape a Florida detention center. Two others have been caught.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says the four staged a fight Saturday night inside their dorm and then overpowered staff members who came to break it up.

The four entered a control room, fought the staff members there and pushed buttons that opened the front door. They took a staff member’s keys, driving off in a vehicle.

The juveniles still atlarge are a 16-year-old who was jailed on charges of sexually assaulting a child under 12, and a 17-year-old who was charged with burglary.