In Japan, Prime Minister Taro Aso has announced that national elections will be held on 30 August. Mr Aso, who will dissolve parliament next week, hopes the elections will lead his country out of its long-running political crisis.

Last weekend, Mr Aso's Liberal Democratic Party suffered a major defeat in Tokyo's local elections. The conservative LDP and its junior coalition partner lost their majority in the Tokyo assembly, which means that the opposition Democratic Party of Japan has now become the biggest party.

The loss has increased pressure on 68-year-old Mr Aso to resign. However, political analysts say his departure will not help the LDP regain power. The Tokyo elections are seen as an important indicator of the outcome of national elections and the LDP's recent loss in them would tend to suggest that its chances of national success are slim

Except for one brief ten-month period, the LDP has been in power in Japan for 50 years. But it is now seriously divided and Mr Aso is very unpopular. He is Japan's third prime minister since the popular Junichiro Koizumi left office in 2006.

Photo of Taro Aso from Wikimedia Commons