A powerful typhoon was bearing down on Japan on Saturday, a day ahead of national elections, with experts predicting severe winds and heavy rains as the country goes to the polls.
Super typhoon Lan, described as "very large" and "very strong" by Japan's meteorological agency, was packing gusts up to 252 kilometres per hour on Saturday above Pacific waters south of Japan.
As Lan drew closer, voters on remote southern islands in the path of the storm cast their ballots early for Sunday's election.
The joint typhoon warning centre of the US navy called it a super typhoon.
The Japanese meteorological agency said Lan would move just east of Okinawa on Sunday before grazing the country's coastal areas, possibly directly hitting Tokyo or surrounding regions on Monday morning.
Meteorologists expect strong winds and heavy rain across much of Japan on Sunday.
Regardless of weather, national surveys have largely predicted that the ruling bloc, led by prime minister Shinzo Abe, is likely to claim a landslide victory.
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Read more:
[ Two dead, three missing in Japan as powerful typhoon rips through country ]
[ Japan disaster minister resigns after earthquake gaffe sparks outrage ]
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Mr Abe has called on voters to cast their ballots early to avoid bad weather.
Turnout has declined to below 60 per cent in the last two general elections. The last vote in December 2014 saw a record-low rate of 52.66 per cent.
On Saturday, Mr Abe vowed to protect the Japanese people as he wrapped up an election campaign dominated by threats from North Korea.
The predicted landslide victory for Mr Abe and his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) would him a fresh mandate for his hardline stance on North Korea and his "Abenomics" growth strategy.
Mr Abe's coalition is on track to win around 300 seats in the 465-seat lower house of parliament, according to a projection published by the Nikkei daily newspaper.
If the polls are correct, 63-year-old Mr Abe is on course to be the longest-serving premier in post-war Japan, the world's third-biggest economy and key US ally in Asia.
"It has been a very tough election," Mr Abe told crowds that braved the rain in central Japan, as Lan barrelled towards the country.
"The ruling bloc … is the one that can protect people's lives and defend our happy way of life," he said, in a clear reference to North Korea, which has threatened to "sink" Japan into the sea and fired two missiles over the country.
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Read more: World leaders react in alarm as North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan
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Mr Abe has stuck to a hawkish stance on North Korea, stressing that maximum pressure should be exerted on the regime and backing the US line that "all options" are on the table.
Throughout the short 12-day campaign, the premier has railed against Pyongyang, telling a crowd recently: "At a time like this … we cannot waver. Everyone, we must not yield to the threat of North Korea!"
Mr Abe enjoys only lukewarm public support but the weak and fragmented opposition has been unable to make inroads into his poll lead during the campaign.
The two main opposition parties — the "Party of Hope" created by the media-savvy Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike and the new centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party — are trailing far behind, predicted to win around 50 seats each.
"You must not stick to the status quo of flaccid politics, which has failed to carry out drastic and necessary reforms," Ms Koike said in a last-ditch appeal to voters on Saturday.
"If we do not use this opportunity [to oust Abe], major reforms that are truly needed will be delayed," she said.
Aside from North Korea, many voters regard the economy and reforming the costly social security system as their priority concerns, as Abe has not quite fully revived the once world-beating Japanese economy after five years in power.
Mr Abe says his trademark "Abenomics" strategy of ultra-loose monetary policy and big fiscal spending is the best way to pep up the economy, which is weighed down by debt and struggling with deflation.
He has also pledged to use part of the proceeds from a planned sales tax hike to fund free childcare in a bid to get more women into the workplace.
Ms Koike wants to scrap the tax hike, arguing it would throttle a recovery that has seen Japan's longest stretch of growth in a decade.
But after a blaze of publicity when Ms Koike created her new "Party of Hope", the bubble appears to have burst for the popular 65-year-old former newscaster, partly because she declined to run herself for prime minister.
"Every party has to have, to be credible, a candidate for prime minister and she would have been it but then she walked away and it is a ship that suddenly has no captain," said Michael Cucek, an adjunct professor at Temple University's Japan campus.
Another brand-new party, the centre-left Constitutional Democrats, appears to have some momentum going into the poll, however, and could do better than expected.
DUNE: PART TWO
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothee Chamalet, Zendaya, Austin Butler
Rating: 5/5
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company Profile
Name: Takestep
Started: March 2018
Founders: Mohamed Khashaba, Mohamed Abdallah, Mohamed Adel Wafiq and Ayman Taha
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: health technology
Employees: 11 full time and 22 part time
Investment stage: pre-Series A
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
Fight card
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) v Rey Nacionales (PHI)
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROM) v Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR)
Catch 74kg
Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) v Omar Hussein (JOR)
Strawweight (Female)
Weronika Zygmunt (POL) v Seo Ye-dam (KOR)
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) v Walid Laidi (ALG)
Lightweight
Leandro Martins (BRA) v Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW)
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) v Sofiane Benchohra (ALG)
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR)
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Glen Ranillo (PHI)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Aidan Aguilera (AUS)
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) Sasha Palatnikov (HKG)
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR)
MATCH SCHEDULE
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)
Liverpool v Roma
Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)
Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
Changing visa rules
For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.
Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.
It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.
The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.
The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
PSG's line up
GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)
Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)
Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)
Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)
Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)