Japan braces for gridlock after ruling party loss

Japan's ruling party faced the prospect of political gridlock Monday as bad losses in weekend parliamentary elections undermine its attempts to reduce the ballooning budget deficit and revive growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Half of the 242 seats in the upper house of parliament were up for grabs Sunday. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan won only 44 seats _ far below its stated goal of 54 _ while opposition parties made major gains.

That leaves the Democrats and their tiny coalition partner with 110 seats in the chamber, well below their majority of 122 before the vote. The conservative Liberal Democratic Party won 51 seats, bringing its …