Japan's prime minister Shigeru Ishiba has resigned after pressure from within his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the potential for a leadership vote against him.

Mr Ishiba, 68, who took office in October, had resisted demands - from mostly right-wing opponents within his own party for more than a month - to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July's parliamentary election.

He has overseen three election defeats: in the upper house in July, local polls in June, as well as in the lower house in October , when his party was mired in a political donations scandal that forced his predecessor to resign.

Support for his ruling coalition has also steadily eroded as his government struggled to improve Japan's sluggish economic growth and contain consumer price rises that fu

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