News Headlines - 22 October 2017

▽Abe to push reform of Japan's pacifist constitution after election win

Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party-led (LDP) coalition won a combined 312 seats, keeping its two-thirds “super majority” in the 465-member lower house, local media said.
A hefty win raises the likelihood that Abe, who took office in December 2012, will secure a third three-year term as LDP leader next September and go on to become Japan’s longest-serving premier. It also means his “Abenomics” growth strategy centered on the hyper-easy monetary policy will likely continue.

▽Labour demands changes to Brexit repeal bill - BBC News

Sir Keir Starmer wants six changes to the bill, which aims to transfer EU legislation into British law.
If these are not accepted Labour will back Tory rebels in an attempt to force a vote on the final EU deal, he said.

▽Why Soviet prison tattoos are popular - BBC News

The Gulag prison system of the Soviet Union produced a tattoo culture with dark, political and religious themes.
Badges of pride for the hardest in society, they became commonplace throughout the criminal fraternity.

▽Élysée puddle: Macron's dog Nemo filmed urinating in president's office | The Guardian

But two-year-old Nemo brought a whole new meaning to the term presidential leaks this weekend when he cocked his leg for a long and abundant wee against an ornamental fireplace in Macron’s gilded office during a filmed meeting between the president and junior ministers.

▽Unsent letter from Titanic passenger sets auction record

The selling price for the document, believed to be one of the last letters written before the ocean liner hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic, surpassed expectations.
British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son had predicted the item would go for ￡60,000 to ￡80,000 ($79,000 to $106,000). The identity of the buyer, who outbid rivals on Saturday with a ￡120,000 ($166,000) offer, wasn't disclosed.