Politics
Japan PM Ishiba resigns after series of bruising election losses
- Rising living costs stoke voter backlash.
- Financial markets shaken by political uncertainty.
- Fiscal dove Takaichi among possible successors.
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday he had decided to resign, ushering in a potentially lengthy period of policy paralysis at a shaky moment for the world’s fourth-largest economy.
Ishiba, 68, instructed his Liberal Democratic Party — which has governed Japan for almost all of the post-war era —to hold an emergency leadership race, he told a press conference, adding he would continue his duties until his successor was elected.
Since coming to power less than a year ago, Ishiba has overseen his ruling coalition lose its majorities in elections for both houses of parliament amid voter anger over rising living costs.
Until Sunday, he had refused calls to step down following the latest of those losses in July’s upper house vote.
He had focused instead on ironing out details of a trade deal with the United States on President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which have roiled Japan’s critical automotive industry and cast a shadow over weak growth.
“With Japan having signed the trade agreement and the president having signed the executive order, we have passed a key hurdle,” Ishiba said, his voice seeming to catch with emotion. “I would like to pass the baton to the next generation”.
Concern over political uncertainty led to a sell-off in Japan’s yen currency and its government bonds last week, with the yield on the 30-year bond hitting a record high on Wednesday.
Speculation over Ishiba’s fate was stoked by the LDP’s decision to schedule a vote for Monday on whether to hold an extraordinary leadership election.
Possible successors
While a fresh leadership race could add pain for an economy hit by US tariffs, markets are focusing more on the chance of Ishiba being replaced by an advocate of looser fiscal and monetary policy, such as LDP veteran Sanae Takaichi, who has criticised the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hikes.
Ishiba narrowly defeated Takaichi in last year’s LDP leadership run-off. Shinjiro Koizumi, the telegenic political scion who has gained prominence as Ishiba’s farm minister tasked with trying to cap soaring prices, is another possible successor.
“Given the political pressure mounting on Ishiba after the LDP’s repeated election losses, his resignation was inevitable,” said Kazutaka Maeda, economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute.
“As for potential successors, Koizumi and Takaichi are seen as the most likely candidates. While Koizumi is not expected to bring major changes, Takaichi’s stance on expansionary fiscal policy and her cautious approach to interest rate hikes could draw scrutiny from financial markets,” Maeda said.
Since the party does not have a majority in either house, it is not guaranteed that the next LDP president will become prime minister.
Whoever becomes the next leader may choose to call a snap election to seek a mandate, analysts said. While Japan’s opposition remains fractured, the far-right, anti-immigration Sanseito party made big gains in July’s upper house election, bringing once-fringe ideas into the political mainstream.
Nearly 55% of respondents to a poll by Kyodo news agency published on Sunday said there was no need to hold an early election.
Ishiba’s last act as premier will have been to finalise the trade deal with the US last week, under which Japan pledged $550 billion of investments in return for lower tariffs from US President Trump.
US forces staged the audacious rescue of an airman behind enemy lines after Iran downed his fighter jet, officials said on Sunday, resolving a crisis for President Donald Trump as he weighs escalating the war, now in its sixth week.
The airman rescued by special operations forces, who Trump said was a colonel, was the weapons-systems officer on the downed F-15, a US official told Reuters.
“Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History,” Trump said in a statement, adding that the airman was injured but “he will be just fine.”
The officer was the second of two crew members on the warplane that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defences. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said several aircraft were destroyed during the US rescue mission, Tasnim news agency reported.
Reuters reported on Friday that the first crew member had been retrieved, triggering a high-profile search by both Iran and the United States for the remaining airman.
Iranian officials had urged citizens to help find him, hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on February 28.
Trump has threatened to escalate the conflict in the coming days with attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure.
Had Iran captured the airman, the ensuing hostage crisis could have shifted American public perception of a conflict that opinion polls show was already unpopular.
Trump said the airman was rescued “in the treacherous mountains of Iran” in what he said was the first time in military memory that two US pilots had been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory.
The official told Reuters that as the weapons-systems officer was moved from near a mountain to a transport aircraft parked within Iran, US forces had to destroy at least one of the aircraft because it had malfunctioned.
US aircraft hit
The rescue effort, involving dozens of military aircraft, encountered fierce resistance from Iran.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search were hit by Iranian fire but escaped from Iranian airspace.
Separately, a pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft after it was hit over Kuwait and crashed, the officials said, though the extent of crew injuries was unclear.
“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” he said in his statement.
US air crews are trained in what to do if they go down behind enemy lines, measures known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, but few are fluent in Persian and face a challenge in staying undetected while seeking rescue.
The conflict has killed 13 US military service members, with more than 300 wounded, US Central Command said, adding no US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.
While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as being in tatters, they have repeatedly been able to hit US aircraft.
Reuters reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability. Until just over a week ago, the US could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about one-third of Iran’s missile arsenal.
The status of about another third was less clear, but bombings probably damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.
The US and Israeli war on Iran has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and hitting the global economy with soaring energy prices that are fueling fears of inflation.
- Rescue operation faced heavy Iranian resistance.
- US helicopters, A-10 aircraft hit during missions.
- War has driven up global energy prices, roiling markets.
WASHINGTON: US forces staged the audacious rescue of an airman behind enemy lines after Iran downed his fighter jet, officials said on Sunday, resolving a crisis for President Donald Trump as he weighs escalating the war, now in its sixth week.
The airman rescued by special operations forces, who Trump said was a colonel, was the weapons-systems officer on the downed F-15, a US official told Reuters.
“Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History,” Trump said in a statement, adding that the airman was injured but “he will be just fine.”
The officer was the second of two crew members on the warplane that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defences. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said several aircraft were destroyed during the US rescue mission, Tasnim news agency reported.
Reuters reported on Friday that the first crew member had been retrieved, triggering a high-profile search by both Iran and the United States for the remaining airman.
Iranian officials had urged citizens to help find him, hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on February 28.
Trump has threatened to escalate the conflict in the coming days with attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure.
Had Iran captured the airman, the ensuing hostage crisis could have shifted American public perception of a conflict that opinion polls show was already unpopular.
Trump said the airman was rescued “in the treacherous mountains of Iran” in what he said was the first time in military memory that two US pilots had been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory.
The official told Reuters that as the weapons-systems officer was moved from near a mountain to a transport aircraft parked within Iran, US forces had to destroy at least one of the aircraft because it had malfunctioned.
US aircraft hit
The rescue effort, involving dozens of military aircraft, encountered fierce resistance from Iran.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search were hit by Iranian fire but escaped from Iranian airspace.
Separately, a pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft after it was hit over Kuwait and crashed, the officials said, though the extent of crew injuries was unclear.
“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” he said in his statement.
US air crews are trained in what to do if they go down behind enemy lines, measures known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, but few are fluent in Persian and face a challenge in staying undetected while seeking rescue.
The conflict has killed 13 US military service members, with more than 300 wounded, US Central Command said, adding no US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.
While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as being in tatters, they have repeatedly been able to hit US aircraft.
Reuters reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability. Until just over a week ago, the US could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about one-third of Iran’s missile arsenal.
The status of about another third was less clear, but bombings probably damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.
The US and Israeli war on Iran has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and hitting the global economy with soaring energy prices that are fueling fears of inflation.
- Afshar supports Iran’s govt and its propaganda, says State Dept.
- Official says Afshar’s husband barred from entering US.
- Marco Rubio revoked their lawful permanent resident status.
US federal agents have detained the niece and grandniece of late Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their lawful permanent resident status, the State Department said on Saturday.
“Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the State Department said in a statement, saying also that Rubio revoked their green cards.
Soleimani was killed in a January 2020 US airstrike in Baghdad during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
The State Department said Afshar supported Iran’s government and its propaganda. It also said Afshar’s husband was barred from entering the US.
The detention came as the US-Israeli war against Iran entered its sixth week .
The State Department added that earlier this month, Rubio terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, the daughter of veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani, and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi. Ardeshir Larijani and Motamedi are no longer in the US and are barred from future entry, according to the State Department.
Ali Larijani, an architect of Iran’s security policy, was killed in mid-March by a US-Israeli air attack.
In his second term in office, Trump’s administration has stepped up deportation attempts against immigrants, calling them threats. Rights advocates have raised concerns about free speech and due process. Many immigrants detained by ICE have been released following court orders.
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