Lower house passes emergency budget

Japan's lower house of parliament passed an emergency budget on Saturday worth 4 trillion yen ($48.5 billion) for rebuilding after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, a downpayment on the country's biggest public works effort in six decades.
The budget is expected to pass into law on Monday when the upper house of parliament votes on it. Lawmakers in the opposition parties that control the upper house have said they will back the first round of spending to finance such work as clearing rubble in the disaster-stricken north-east and building temporary housing for those who have lost their homes.