In Australia, Barnaby Joyce says he'll step down from his position as deputy prime minister and leader of the National Party next week. The 50-year-old has been embodied of late in a scandal over an extramarital affair he had with a former staff member. CGTN's Greg Navarro has more from Sydney.

After days of resisting the growing calls to resign, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce gave in to the overwhelming pressure.

BARNABY JOYCE AUSTRALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER "On Monday morning at the party room I will step down as the leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia."

That pressure began to intensify on the straight talking conservative politician earlier this month, when news broke of an extramarital affair with his former media staffer who is expecting his child. That led to the public scolding last week by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who stopped short of calling for Joyce to resign.

MALCOLM TURNBULL AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER "Barnaby has acknowledged his fault, his error, his grief about his conduct - he has to consider his own position."

Joyce has already survived one hit to his position late last year, when the country's high court ruled he was ineligible to serve as a member of Parliament because it was revealed that Joyce was a New Zealand citizen. He won his seat and the position of Deputy Prime Minister back in a by-election, and just last week appeared resolved in his refusal to resign.

BARNABY JOYCE AUSTRALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER "This was a personal issue, a personal issue that has been dragged into the public arena, and I don't believe people should be resigning in any job over personal issues."

But the media scrutiny continued and this week, an accusation of sexual harassment surfaced. Joyce, who had campaigned on family values, denied the allegation but said it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

BARNABY JOYCE AUSTRALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER "It's incredibly important that it be a circuit breaker not just for the parliament, but more importantly, that it be a circuit breaker for Vikki (Campion), it be a circuit breaker for my unborn child, it be a circuit breaker for my daughters and it be a circuit breaker for Nat (Natalie Joyce). It's got to stop, this has got to stop and it's not fair on them."

GREG NAVARRO SYDNEY "While Barnaby Joyce says he plans to step down as the nation's deputy prime minister, he has no plans to resign as a member of parliament."

That will ensure the government retains its slim 1 vote majority. But all of this is proving to be a great distraction for Turnbull, who is in the US for high level talks with President Donald Trump. Turnbull released a brief statement later on Friday thanking Barnaby Joyce for his service - but said little else. The National Party is expected to pick a new leader, once Joyce officially resigns on Monday. Greg Navarro, CGTN, Sydney.