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Sanae Takaichi makes history as Japan’s first female prime minister
Sanae Takaichi has been elected Japan’s prime minister by parliament, making her the first woman to hold the office.
The 64-year-old won a clear majority on Monday – 237 votes in the powerful Lower House and another 125 in the Upper House – as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
A staunch conservative and admirer of the late former British PM Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi takes over at a challenging economic moment as Japan grapples with rising cost-of-living and a frustrated public.
It’s also been an uncertain time for the world’s fourth-largest economy. She is the fourth PM in just five years, after her predecessors’ terms were cut short by plunging ratings and scandals.
Although she defeated four men to win the LDP race in early October, her path to the top job appeared to be blocked when the LDP’s long-time coalition partner, the Komeito party, withdrew support.
But a last-minute deal on Monday night with another opposition party – the right- leaning Japan Innovation Party (JIP), known as Ishin – saved her. She and the LDP will face voters next in 2028.
Meanwhile aside from domestic challenges, she faces tricky relationships abroad. South Korea, which had started to mend historically delicate ties with Japan, is wary because of her right-wing politics, which lean nationalist. And, like some of her predecessors, including the late former PM Shinzo Abe, she is seen as hawkish when it comes to an increasingly powerful China.
But the most important relationship is with the US and a test is around the corner – a meeting with US President Donald Trump next week.
While both sides have reached a tariff deal, Trump’s past comments questioning the value of a security treaty between them and demanding Tokyo pay more for defence have raised concerns – Takaichi must navigate these alongside an unpredictable US administration.
At the age of 64, Takaichi is no stranger to Japanese politics.
A known ally of Abe, she has held several ministerial roles over her career and has run for the PM job before.
She was elected LDP leader after former PM and LDP leader Shigeru Ishiba resigned following major losses in midterm elections.
Nicknamed the “Iron Lady” for her admiration of Thatcher, Takaichi is known for conservative views, including her opposition to same-sex marriage and a growing demand to allow married women to keep their maiden surnames.
This has made some young women sceptical of the significance of her win.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Wow, she’s the first female prime minister in Japanese history and that’s a great opportunity for women’s empowerment’,” said 21-year-old student Ayda Ogura.
“[But] if you look into her political beliefs and what she stands for, you realise that some of the things are very traditional. Instead of creating structural change, she rather perpetuates the patriarchal system.”
During her recent campaign she proposed expanded hospital services for women’s health and giving household support workers greater recognition.
She still has a major task ahead of her – to rebuild the trust of the public in the LDP.
The party has governed Japan for most of the past seven decades, but under Ishiba it lost its majority in the lower house for the first time in 15 years. Then it lost its majority in the upper house in July, amid public anger after a fundraising scandal.
In electing Takaichi, the LDP had hoped to win back conservative voters, many of whom had gravitated towards the far-right Sanseito party after being disillusioned with the usual options.
But first Takaichi has to turn her attention to public anger as prices continue to soar. An ongoing rice shortage, for example, has resulted in record prices for the Japanese staple.
Local media are reporting that she may apppoint Satsuki Katayama as finance minister, yet another historic first for a woman. Like Takaichi, Katayama too is a protege of Abe.
While concern over Japan’s rising debt and lacklustre growth has been worrying investors, her win seemed to offer some optimism to the markets.
[BBC]
US President Donald Trump has withdrawn an invite for Canada to join his newly constituted Board of Peace, in the latest spat between the North American neighbours.
“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining,” Trump said on Truth Social in a post addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Carney made headlines this week warning of a “rupture” in the US-led global order. Ottawa also said it would not pay to join Trump’s new body.
The board, which gives Trump wide decision-making powers as chairman, is being billed by the US as a new international organisation for resolving conflicts.
Trump did not give a reason in Thursday evening’s post as to why he had decided to revoke Canada’s offer.
Carney’s office did not immediately respond. The prime minster had indicated last week he would accept Trump’s invite on principle.
But Ottawa had indicated in recent days that it would not pay the $1bn (£740m) membership fee which Trump has said permanent members will be asked to pay to help fund the board.
His Board of Peace was originally thought to be aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and oversee reconstruction.
[BBC]
Two people have died and several are feared buried after landslides in New Zealand’s North Island.
The deaths were reported at Welcome Bay, while rescue workers are still searching through rubble at a different site in a popular campground on Mount Maunganui.
There are no “signs of life”, authorities said, adding that they have a “rough idea” of how many people are missing but are waiting for an exact figure. They provided no other details except that the group includes “at least one young girl”.
The landslides were triggered by heavy rains over the last few days, which led to flooding and power outages across the North Island. One minister said the east coast resembled “a war zone”.
New Zealand is “heavy with grief” after the “profound tragedy” caused by recent weather, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on X.
Footage from the campsite on Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano, shows a huge slip near the base of the volcanic dome, as rescuers and sniffer dogs comb through crushed caravans and flattened tents.
Authorities said that the search would continue through the night. “This is a complex and high-risk environment, and our teams are working to achieve the best possible outcome while keeping everyone safe,” said Megan Stiffler, the deputy national commander for the Urban Search and Rescue team,
The extinct volcano is a sacred Māori site and one of the most popular campgrounds in New Zealand, with a local holiday website describing it as a “slice of paradise”. But it has been repeatedly hit by landslides in recent years.
“I heard this huge tree crack and all this dirt come off, and then I looked behind me and there’s this huge landslide coming down,” Australian tourist Sonny Worrall told local broadcaster TVNZ.
“I’m still shaking from it now… I turned around and had to jump out of my seat and just run,”he added. He saw it happen while swimming in a hot pool.
Hiker Mark Tangney told the New Zealand Herald he heard people screaming from under the rubble. “So I just parked up and ran to help… We could hear people screaming: ‘Help us, help us, get us out of here’,” he said.
Those calls persisted for about half an hour and then went silent, Tangney said.
A surf club in another part of Mount Maunganui has been evacuated following fears of more landslides.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Bay of Plenty where Mount Maunganui sits, and various parts of the North Island, including Northland, Coromandel, Tairāwhiti and Hauraki.
Several areas reported their wettest days on record on Thursday. Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, for example, received three months worth of rain within a day, according to local media.
Some 8,000 people were without power as of Thursday morning, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported.
The wife of a man who was swept away in the Mahurangi River is holding out hope that he will survive.
“I know his personality is strong, wise,” she told RNZ, adding that he was a fisherman back home in Kiribati and knew how to swim and dive.
The man, 47, was driving to work with their nephew when the car they were in fell into the river.
He had pushed the nephew towards a branch so the nephew could hoist himself onto land; but the older man did not manage get back up himself, according to the report.
“It’s been a very big event for us as a country, really hitting almost our entire eastern seaboard of the North Island,” said Minister for Emergency Management Mark Mitchell.
“The good news is that everyone responded really quickly, and there was time to get prepared. That helps to mitigate and create a very strong response,” he told RNZ.
December to February are typically the sunnier months in New Zealand but in recent years heavy rains and storms have become more frequent.
In February 2023, parts of the island were devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle, which is to date the costliest cyclone to hit the Southern Hemisphere, with damage amounting to NZ$13.5bn ($7.9bn; £5.9bn).
This week’s flooding has added to the toll for the local communities that are still rebuilding.
[BBC]
Following a difficult Ashes tour, what is left of Bazball ran into an old-fashioned spin-bowling choke in Colombo. There were glimmers of brilliance from England in a chase of 272. But four Sri Lanka spinners, sharing six wickets between them, won through comfortably in the end.
Despite measured 60s from both Joe Root and Ben Duckett, England fell 19 runs short, their run rate having stayed below five an over for the majority of the run-chase. And so England, who had made attacking batting their brand for several years now, delivered the kind of insipid batting performance reminiscent of their woes in South Asia in decades gone by.
The likes of Dunit Wellalage and Jeffrey Vandersay would prosper on a dry Khettarama track, but it was Sri Lanka’s sensible batting that had laid the groundwork for this victory. Kusal Mendis’ 93 not out off 117 was the backbone of the innings, with Janith Liyanage punching out a helpful 46, and Wellalage producing the finishing fillip, hitting 25 not out off 12 balls.
Their 271 for 6 was merely a good total, rather than an imposing one. But then Khettarama is a notoriously difficult venue at which to chase. Though Jamie Overton’s late hitting gave England a sliver of hope, Sri Lanka had the match mostly trussed up at 40 overs, England needing to score at more than 10 an over at that stage, with four wickets in hand.
Overton could still potentially have stolen victory in the final over, off which England needed 20. But he turned down a single first ball, and then holed out trying to clear the infield off the next one.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 271 for 6 in 50 overs (Kusal Mendis 93*, Janith Liyanage 46; Adil Rashid 3-44) beat England 252 in 49.2 overs (Ben Duckett 62, Joe Root 61, Jamie Overton 34; Pramod Madushan 3-39, Dunith Wellalage 2-41, Jeffrey Vandersay 2-39 ) by 19 runs
[Cricinfo]
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