Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday punished 39 members over a political funds scandal, including urging two heavyweights to leave the party, aiming to put a line under a controversy that has dogged it since late last year.The decision by the LDP's disciplinary committee comes after some of its factions, including one previously led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, were found to have neglected to fully report revenue from fundraising parties for years, with hundreds of millions of yen passed back to members who had sold tickets to the events.Later in the day, Prime Min…READ FULL ARTICLE
