Japan

PM Shinzo Abe has announced he is resigning after less than a year in office, saying Japan needed a new leader to “fight against terrorism.” Days earlier, Abe had staked his job on extending Japan’s naval support for the US-led mission in Afghanistan beyond a current November deadline. Meanwhile, development experts lament recent falls in Japanese foreign aid budgets, saying foreign aid benefits Japan’s interests in addition to helping millions out of poverty. Kiyoshi Kodera, Executive Secretary of the Development Committee, a joint ministerial panel of the World Bank and the IMF, said Japan has already slashed its foreign aid budget too much. (BBC, Kyodo News)