Exit polls in Japan after Sunday's election, just two days after former prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on the campaign trail, show a strong lead for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida — also from the LDP, vowed not to bow to violence after the killing on Friday. He pressed ahead with the campaign and voting as planned, saying everything would be done to ensure security.
The LDP and the Komeito party were likely to win between 69 to 83 seats out of the 125 contested in Sunday's vote, according to exit polls.
"Given that the coalition has gained a majority, going over their goal, and the four parties that want to revise the constitution also have gone over the needed number of seats, you can say that this is a huge victory for the LDP. It's a very good result for the Kishida government," said Shigenobu Tamura, a former member of the LDP and political analyst.
"There's a possibility that the impact of Abe's killing led to the victory of the LDP in hotly contested districts. They've also expanded their seats in proportional representation," he added.
Half the seats in Japan's upper house of parliament are contested every three years, with an extra vacant seat also up for grabs this time, for a total of 125 out of the 248-strong chamber.
Elections for seats in the upper house are typically seen as a referendum on the sitting government, and the latest opinion polls pointed to a strong showing for the ruling bloc led by Mr Kishida.
Although the motive for the killing was unclear, sympathy votes could bolster Mr Kishida, formerly a foreign minister under Abe. The prime minister is seeking a solid victory that could open the way for what has been dubbed a “golden three years” in which he need not face another national election.
The body of Shinzo Abe was returned to Tokyo on Saturday as mourners gathered in the western city of Nara to pay respects at the place where he was killed.
Mourners lowered their heads as a black hearse carrying Abe’s body arrived at his home in Tokyo’s residential area of Shibuya.
Hundreds of people queued to leave flowers on a table next to a photo of the former prime minister. Local officials moved some of the offerings to create space as more tributes arrived.
A night vigil will be held on Monday, with Abe's funeral scheduled for Tuesday, attended by close friends, Japanese media reported.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will to travel to Japan for a condolence visit on Monday, the State Department said. He was holding talks with Thai leaders in Bangkok on Sunday after attending the G20 meeting of foreign ministers in Indonesia.
Police arrested Tetsuya Yamagami, 41 and a former member of Japan’s navy, at the scene on suspicion of murder. They confiscated a home-made gun and said several other weapons were later found at his home.
Abe's death has raised questions about security for public figures in Japan, where politicians commonly make direct appeals to voters in public places during campaigning season.
Mr Kishida, who took office after Abe stepped down in 2020, returned to the campaign trail after making an emergency return to Tokyo on Friday.
Abe, 67, served twice as prime minister — for one year in 2006-2007 and then from 2012-2020. He stepped down both occasions citing health reasons.
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Sawt Assalam, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Foah, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Faiza, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: RB Dixie Honor, Antonio Fresu, Helal Al Alawi.
7.30pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Boerhan, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard.
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
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