Japan PM Ishiba to step down

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to resign to avoid a split within the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), broadcaster NHK has reported. The announcement on Sunday comes weeks after Ishiba denied reports he planned to step down over a historic defeat the LDP-led coalition suffered in a July election, saying he wanted to make sure the tariff deal struck with the United States was appropriately implemented. Since assuming his role last October, Ishiba has seen electoral losses wipe out his party’s majority in both houses of parliament, with a bruising electoral defeat in October leaving it with a minority in the more powerful lower house. The defeats have made it more difficult for Ishiba’s coalition to implement its...