Japan

Another All Black off to Japan

The Hurricanes No 9 confirmed on Monday he had signed with the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes club for the 2021 season.

Perenara would reportedly travel with the All Blacks to Australia on Sunday and then depart for Japan at the completion of the abbreviated Rugby Championship.

The 28-year-old, who had recently welcomed his first child alongside wife Greer, said the contract didn't necessarily mean the end of his playing days in New Zealand.

Typhoon Haishen: 200,000 ordered to evacuate as Japan braces for storm

Typhoon Haishen is expected to intensify on Sunday, bringing heavy rain, storm surges and winds of more than 160kmh.

It will move past Kyushu on Sunday, and is expected make landfall in South Korea on Monday.

It comes days after Typhoon Maysak, one of the strongest storms to hit the region in years.

The latest typhoon has led to the closure of factories, schools and businesses across western Japan. Hundreds of flights and train services have also been cancelled.

Japan's government will be holding an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday to address the storm.

Toshiba shuts the lid on laptops after 35 years

It means the firm no longer has a connection with making PCs or laptops.

Sharp bought 80 percent of Toshiba's personal computing arm in 2018 for $US36m ($NZ54m), and has now bought the remaining shares, Toshiba said in a statement.

Toshiba's first laptop, the T1100, launched in 1985. It weighed 4kg and worked with 3.5 inch floppy disks.

It was launched at first only in Europe with an annual sales target of 10,000 units, according to the Toshiba Science Museum website.

Many feared dead in Japan in flooded care home

Fourteen victims were found in the same flooded nursing home while the other was pulled from a landslide. The deaths have yet to be formally certified.

The authorities have ordered more than 200,000 to evacuate and 10,000 soldiers are being sent to help rescuers.

Heavy rain is predicted to continue overnight into Sunday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged people to be on "maximum alert".

The prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima have been worst hit.

Japan bank to buy ANZ Bank's UDC for $762m

Japan's Shinsei Bank is to buy UDC for $762 million, after an original deal to sell it to China's HNA Group for $660m was knocked back by the Overseas Investment Office in 2018.

ANZ had also toyed with floating UDC in a local share sale but reconsidered and last year decided to hold on to it.

"With a strong outlook for infrastructure and agriculture projects as the New Zealand economy rebuilds post-Covid-19, there is a significant role for UDC to play. As such, it needs an owner that can invest in and grow the business," chief executive Antonia Watson said.

Japan launches surprise fireworks to lift spirits amid pandemic

The shows were held at secret locations, each lasting five minutes from 20:00 local time (12:00 BST).

Organisers set a time limit for the displays to avoid crowds gathering.

Initially, they said the time and date of the event would not be revealed but later reversed course, deciding a sudden pyrotechnics show could cause distress to some.

Filling the skies with a burst of light, the fireworks lasted long enough for people who did not know about it in advance to view them from the street or their homes.

Japan to end Tokyo's state of emergency

Social distancing curbs were loosened for most of the country on 14 May as new infections fell, but the government had kept Tokyo and four other prefectures under watch.

Japan's economy minister told reporters on Monday local time the government had received approval from key advisers to remove the state of emergency for all remaining regions.

It would be the first time the country has been completely free from the state of emergency since it was first declared a month and a half ago.

State of emergency lifted in most of Japan

The order still applies in Tokyo, Osaka and on the northern island of Hokkaido, where new cases are emerging daily.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan's rate of infection had reduced to one seventh of the country's peak.

He urged the public to be vigilant, wear masks, and keep following distancing guidance.

"If possible, before 31 May, we would like to lift the state of emergency for the other regions as well," Mr Abe said.

Dan Carter has just confirmed his last game in Japan

The legendary out-half, who played 112 times for the All Blacks, turned 38 in March and fans will now wonder if the curtain has fallen on a stellar career where he featured for the Crusaders, Perpignan and Racing 92 before joining the Top League. 

UK lockdown extended while Japan declares national emergency

"We have just come too far, we've lost too many loved ones, we've already sacrificed far too much to ease up now, especially when we are beginning to see the evidence that our efforts are starting to pay off," Raab told reporters.

Raab is deputising while Prime Minister Boris Johnson recuperates from Covid-19 complications that nearly cost him his life.