Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga to resign after surge in Covid cases

Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, is to step down after struggling to contain surging Covid-19 cases in the country.

Party sources told the Kyodo news agency he would not stand in a party leadership race in September, ahead of a general election slated for the following month.

He would have been all but assured of becoming prime minister for a second term because of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s majority in Japan’s lower house.