Rescuers yesterday tried to reach thousands left stranded after Japan suffered its most deadly typhoon damage in seven years.
Typhoon Talas, which brought heavy winds and rainfall to the country's southern areas on Saturday night, has killed at least 32 people and left 57 missing.
It struck almost six months after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the north-east of the country.
About 21,000 were killed or remain missing from the March disasters, which resulted in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Television pictures of the devastation caused by Talas showed scenes that echoed the horror of those after the March 11 tsunami, with neighbourhoods flooded and cars tossed around like children's toys.
Houses have been buried by mudslides, while bridges and railways have been torn apart.
At least 3,600 people remained cut off from rescue efforts yesterday after roads and bridges were damaged.
One village received more rainfall from the typhoon than the 1,528 millimetres Tokyo records in an average year.
With more than 750 members of Japan's military sent to the worst-hit prefectures, the country's new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, who only took office on Friday, insisted the authorities were sparing no effort in dealing with the crisis.
"We will do our best in saving lives and finding the missing," he said.
Police and firefighters also tried to reach those left stranded, in some cases pulling people out of their houses with ropes.
Many of the missing are thought likely to be buried by mud.
Amid the large-scale destruction, which officials said would take months to rebuild, were countless individual tragedies.
Among the most poignant was that suffered by Shinichi Teramoto, the mayor of a small town called Nachikatsuura in Wakayama, the worst-hit prefecture.
Rescuers found the body of his 24-year-old daughter, Saki Teramoto, who went missing on Saturday, a day before her engagement ceremony was due to be held.
Mr Teramoto's wife, Masako, 51, is still missing.
Mr Teramoto has continued to direct relief operations despite his bereavement, after the town saw much of its infrastructure damaged.
Seiji Yamamoto, an official in Wakayama prefecture, said "there are so many roads out it is hard to count them all".
"Hundreds of homes have been flooded," he added.
Nearly half a million people were ordered out of or advised to leave their homes ahead of the arrival of the typhoon, which caused greatest damage in the southern island of Shikoku and in southern parts of the main island, Honshu.
Yesterday, 100,000 people were still covered by evacuation advisories.
Talas - named after the Philippine word for "sharpness" - was downgraded to a tropical storm and on Sunday had moved off into the Sea of Japan. The death toll is likely to be the worst Japan has suffered from a typhoon since 2004, when Typhoon Tokage left 98 people dead or missing.
Parts of Japan are especially susceptible to flooding after heavy rainfall because of their hilly terrain, said Limin Zhang, a flooding specialist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
There are "really rapid and short rivers which ... run into areas [that] might be susceptible to flooding", he said.
Typhoon Talas struck just as Japan had was focusing on the possibility of natural disasters of a different kind. On Thursday, the country held its first nationwide earthquake drill since the earthquake and tsunami in March.
dbardsley@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
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The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Name: Peter Dicce
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Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
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Price: On request
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
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