The Japan-US alliance has underwritten stability in North East Asia for more than half a century.

Japan - banned from retaining "war potential" by its pacifist constitution - subsidises a US troop presence. In return the US assumes responsibility for Japan's security.

The majority of the Japanese public support the status quo, despite localised tensions over US bases.

Yet there is concern that reliance on the US is both forcing involvement - albeit on a very small scale - in US-led conflicts and having too great an impact on taxpayers.

On the campaign trail, Mr Hatoyama took aim at these concerns, promising a more "autonomous" foreign strategy based on "equal" ties with the US.

He and his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) promised to end a highly contentious refuelling mission supporting US-led operations in Afghanistan.

He also pledged to re-examine both the conditions under which Japan hosts US troops and a 2006 realignment deal that would see Japan fund a replacement base in Okinawa and the transfer of 8,000 US marines to Guam.

The US voiced swift opposition. Washington had "no intention of renegotiating" the deal, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said a day after the election. A Pentagon spokesman later urged Japan to fulfil its "international responsibility" by continuing the Afghan mission.

Tomohiko Taniguchi, a foreign policy analyst and professor at Keio University, says that while he does not expect any major change overnight as a result of the new government, a "shaking of the foundation that has sustained the alliance" between the US and Japan is likely.

He says the Democrats' aim to reduce the cost of hosting US troops will be a problem, because it conflicts with Japan's ongoing need to incentivise their presence.

And he questions whether talk of "equality" with Washington is realistic - particularly given concerns over North Korea's nuclear belligerence and China's military build-up.

"Japan is not a nuclear nation and the nuclear umbrella can be provided only by the United States, so Japan cannot claim equal status," he says.

Nicholas Szechenyi, of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, says Mr Hatoyama needs to explain what he means by an equal relationship.

"If it means being proactive and sharing ideas with Washington about how they see the relationship evolving, that would be very welcome. But merely articulating grievances is not enough to jump-start the relationship for the future," he said.

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The Angolan authorities have sent some 25,000 people back to the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a UN-backed radio station.

A local official in south-eastern DR Congo told the AFP news agency that "thousands" of people had crossed the border in recent days.

Some of those expelled say all their goods were stolen.

Angola's ambassador to DR Congo said these were the latest expulsions of illegal migrants from mining areas.

Thousands of illegal diamond miners were deported from Angola in 2004, amid accusations of brutality.

Radio Okapi reports that local officials in the Congolese provinces of Katanga, East and West Kasai, are unable to cope with the influx.

Some 15,000 have arrived in Katanga and about 10,000 in the two Kasai provinces, the radio station said.

"I went and saw for myself. There is a massive and constant exodus, and humanitarian aid has not yet arrived there," acting West Kasai Governor Hubert Mbingho told Reuters news agency.

David Ntegwe from the UN refugee agency told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that a UN team had been sent to Katanga to see what the deportees needed, such as food, blankets or water.

Both countries have experienced many years of war, leading thousands of people to cross their common border.

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Correspondents say Mrs Merkel remains personally popular and has won plaudits for steady leadership during the economic downturn.

But Mr Steinmeier said that with the CDU support apparently ebbing, the race remained "wide open".

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He also warned that voting for a centre-right government would mean favouring the interests of business over those of the poor.

"A centre-right coalition like Frau Merkel wants will take us backwards to the 1990s - with a few people at the top getting tax cuts but the vast majority of us getting squeezed," he said.

"Help us to make sure that doesn't happen."

The campaign has been overshadowed by security concerns following a series of al-Qaeda messages warning Germany to pull some 4,200 troops out of Afghanistan.

All flights have been banned over the traditional Oktoberfest in Munich, and armed police are guarding airports, train stations and city centres across the country.

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