Japan’s ultra conservative prime minister is set to seize more power after an exit poll had her securing a big majority in the country’s lower house.

Sanae Takaichi’s coalition is expected to win between 302 and 366 of the 465 seats in the chamber, national broadcaster NHK has predicted.

That is well above the 233 needed for a majority.

It comes after Ms Takaichi, 64, called a rare winter snap election, seeking to capitalise on her own high approval ratings.

Betting on herself, she pledged to secure a majority or step down.

A former heavy metal drummer, she says immigration and tourism has led to “foreigner fatigue” in Japan, and her nationalist rhetoric has stoked tensions with China.

She’s also anti-gay marriage and a vocal defender of traditional gender roles, and sees late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher as a role model.

Furthermore, her government plans to step away from Japan’s post-war pacifist principles, bolstering the military and lifting a ban on weapons exports.

Ms Takaichi became the nation’s first female prime minister in October, pledging to “work, work, work” and nurturing an upbeat image.

She’s won support among younger voters and her personal style has been praised by fans, with admirers now facing a nine-month wait to purchase her signature Hamano black bag.

Read more:
Japan’s drum-playing, Trump-hugging, China-provoking PM
Can Japan’s first female PM tighten her grip on power

She became prime minister after taking charge of the struggling Liberal Democratic Party, whose fortunes she is credited with transforming.

The party had grown accustomed to power, having governed almost continuously since its foundation in 1955, except for two brief windows – from 1993 to 1996, and from 2009 to 2012.

But it suffered setbacks in recent years, enduring its one of its worst electoral performances ever in 2024 amid a backdrop of a financial scandal and economic stagnation, and losing its majority in the lower house.

The lower house, or House of Representatives, is the stronger of the two chambers that comprise the National Diet – the Japanese equivalent of parliament.

A stronger hand there will empower Ms Takaichi to make progress on her right-wing agenda, including passing a record-setting 122.3 trillion yen (£565 billion) budget.

The Whitby Steampunk Weekend XIX draws to a close today (February 8).

The event centres around Whitby Pavilion in West Cliff but the whole weekend provided ample opportunities for photos with some of the town’s incredible landscapes adding to the atmosphere.

Recommended reading:

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What visitors are saying about this York event where thousands flock into city

Steampunk fans have been seen on the promenades above the North Sea and in the trading hall filled with stands.

photo by Garry Hornby – The Press Camera Club (Image: Garry Hornby)

The Press Camera Club member Garry Hornby captured the essence of this year’s event with a series of images.

Live musical acts have covered the weekend with special guest appearances from stars of television and other speakers.

Funds have also been raised for Whitby and Scarborough Dog Rescue from fashion shows.

photo by Garry Hornby – The Press Camera Club (Image: Garry Hornby)

Steampunk emerged in the 1980s as a tongue‑in‑cheek sci‑fi label, imagining Victorian steam power driving futuristic tech.

Said to have roots in the works of fiction from the likes of Jules Verne and HG Wells, it has grown into a global subculture spanning literature, fashion, festivals and DIY “retro‑futurist” engineering.

The Whitby event is thought to be one of the largest gatherings in the UK.

Join our club

Would you like to see your photographs in The Press and online?

More than 2,500 readers have joined The Press Camera Club, which launched in June 2017 and brings together talented photographers from across York and North and East Yorkshire to share their work, swap tips and take part in themed monthly prize competitions.

To join the free club, simply search for ‘The Press Camera Club’ on Facebook – we’d love to see what our region looks like through your lens.

We will feature pictures from our camera club in The Press and online regularly.

If you like seeing photos of York, please follow us on Instagram too @york.press.

He shared several tips about how to build up your savings

Martin Lewis has spoken about a DWP scheme that savers may want to consider. The consumer champion shared numerous tips on building up your savings during an episode of his BBC podcast.

He devoted much of the programme to discussing mortgage overpayments and whether this approach is preferable to depositing money into savings accounts. One listener enquired about what to do with a lump sum of £90,000 that they would soon receive. They were paying a relatively steep mortgage rate of 5.6 per cent and sought guidance on how to use the funds.

Mr Lewis’ general principle is that if your mortgage rate exceeds the top after-tax savings rate available, it may be wiser to overpay your mortgage rather than deposit cash into savings. Addressing the question, Mr Lewis initially said that “you cannot earn 5.6 percent in savings”.

However, he highlighted certain savings vehicles where this rate can be beaten. He mentioned in passing: “With the exception of a Help to Save if you’re on Universal Credit or a regular saver where you can put a couple of hundred quid a month in.”

The Help to Save scheme is worth a look if you’re receiving Universal Credit, as it provides a 50 per cent bonus on deposits. Through the scheme, you receive a 50p bonus for every £1 you deposit into the account over a four-year period.

You can contribute between £1 and £50 each month, meaning you can save up to £2,400 over four years, earning up to £1,200 in bonuses. Savers receive their bonuses across two stages, with the first payout arriving after the initial two years, calculated on the highest balance achieved during that period.

The second bonus comes at the conclusion of year four, determined by the highest balance reached in years three and four. When it comes to regular saver accounts, you can get rates of over 7 percent, but there are restrictions on monthly deposits.

Take Nationwide Building Society’s Flex Regular Saver, for instance, which offers 6.5 percent but caps monthly contributions at £200. By depositing the maximum amount, savers could pocket £84.50 annually in interest.

Currently, Zopa leads the market with its Regular Saver offering 7.1 percent, allowing customers to stash away up to £300 monthly. Financial experts are forecasting further cuts to the Bank of England’s base rate this year.

The rate presently stands at 3.75 per cent. The central bank opted to maintain this level in its most recent announcement.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn, racing on a badly injured left knee, crashed early in the Olympic downhill on Sunday and was taken off the course by a helicopter after the 41-year-old American received medical attention on the snow for long, anguished minutes.

Vonn lost control over the opening traverse after cutting the line too tight and was spun around in the air. She was heard screaming out after the crash as she was surrounded by medical personnel before she was strapped to a gurney and flown away by a helicopter, possibly ending the skier’s storied career. Her condition was not immediately known, with the U.S. Ski Team saying simply she would be evaluated.

Breezy Johnson, Vonn’s teammate, won gold and became only the second American woman to win the Olympic downhill after Vonn did it 16 years ago. The 30-year-old Johnson held off Emma Aicher of Germany and Italy’s Sofia Goggia on a bittersweet day for Team USA.

Vonn had family in the stands, including her father, Alan Kildow, who stared down at the ground while his daughter was being treated after just 13 seconds on the course. Others in the crowd, including rapper Snoop Dogg, watched quietly as the star skier was finally taken off the course she knows so well and holds a record 12 World Cup wins.

Vonn’s crash was “tragic, but it’s ski racing,” said Johan Eliasch, president of the Internationl Ski and Snowboard Federation.

“I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport,” he said, “because this race has been the talk of the games and it’s put our sport in the best possible light.”

All eyes had been on Vonn, the feel-good story heading into the Olympics. She had returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years, a remarkable decision given her age but she also had a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee, too. Many wondered how she would fare as she sought a gold medal to join the one she won in the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

The four-time overall World Cup champion stunned everyone by being a contender almost immediately. She came to the Olympics as the leader in the World Cup downhill standings and was a gold-medal favorite before her crash in Switzerland nine days ago, when she suffered her latest knee injury. In addition to a ruptured ACL, she also had a bone bruise and meniscus damage.

Still, no one counted her out even then. In truth, she has skied through injuries for three decades at the top of the sport. In 2006, ahead of the Turin Olympics, Vonn took a bad fall during downhill training and went to the hospital. She competed less than 48 hours later, racing in all four events she’d planned, with a top result of seventh in the super-G.

“It’s definitely weird,” she said then, “going from the hospital bed to the start gate.”

Cortina has always had many treasured memories for Vonn beyond the record wins. She is called the queen of Cortina, and the Olympia delle Tofana is a course that had always suited Vonn. She tested out the knee twice in downill training runs over the past three days before the awful crash on Sunday in clear, sunny conditions.

“This would be the best comeback I’ve done so far,” Vonn said before the race. “Definitely the most dramatic.”

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

From the outside, Elle Ward looked like the life and soul of the party; funny, outgoing and confident. But inside, she was crumbling.

‘I could be in the middle of a conversation, looking like I’m having a good time. But in my head I am constantly asking if I’m doing it right, if these people even like me. I had a constant internal voice questioning everything,’ the mother-of-one from Orpington explains.

Elle, 28, struggled with self-harm, depression and poor self-esteem as a teenager, and often clashed with her parents. By her late twenties, juggling single motherhood and a demanding teaching job, she was dangerously low.

‘On the drive to work, I would be silently begging someone to crash into my car, so I wouldn’t have to do it myself,’ she tells Metro.

In October 2024, burnt out from work and depressed after the end of a long relationship, Elle decided she no longer wanted to live.

‘I was going off the rails. I was driving, taking recreational drugs every Friday and Saturday night. By Sunday I wasn’t a very nice person,’ she remembers. ‘My relationship with my parents was worse than ever. Everyone understandably thought I was selfish, but I was ill. I just felt – I can’t do this anymore.’

That week, without anyone knowing, Elle quietly said her goodbyes. She took her eight-year-old son on trips to the zoo, the amusement arcade and London, spent time with her grandparents, and had dinner with her parents.

‘I was at peace with ending my life. And it sounds strange, but it was probably the best I’d felt in such a long time,’ she recalls.

Elle doesn’t remember what happened after she kissed her parents goodnight and went up to her bedroom, but a chance visit from a neighbour saved her life and she was rushed to A&E. Two days later, she was transferred to a psychiatric ward in Sidcup.

Arriving at five in the morning, Elle was greeted by a man in a dress playing loud music in the communal area.

‘I was petrified, and not in the head space to speak to anyone,’ she explains. ‘For the first week, I was so scared. I didn’t think I belonged somewhere like that – but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.’

With her phone and toiletries confiscated, Elle was shown to her room, where everything was bolted to the floor. There, she stayed in bed for days.

‘I refused to talk to anyone and just lay on the plastic mattress staring at the ceiling. I didn’t shower, I didn’t eat. I might as well have been dead, because that is what it felt like,’ she admits.

One morning she woke to find another patient hiding in her room. ‘I heard a voice say, “You’re finally awake.” I didn’t know if it was real or a dream. Later, staff found him. I was terrified.’

Gradually, Elle began to talk to other patients. ‘A lot of the people were so nice. And so were the staff. I look back on it now as the best and worst six weeks of my life, because for the first time I was around people that understood. I didn’t have to hide anymore.

‘One man, who wore women’s leggings, a high-vis jacket and had no front teeth, turned out to be one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. If he hadn’t seen me, he’d get staff to check I was eating. I could kick myself for judging him.’

However, Elle says she was disappointed by the lack of professional support. Besides medication, she only saw a psychiatrist twice in six weeks and had no individual therapy. Promised activities were often cancelled due to staff shortages and she found group work to be useless.

As Christmas approached, the mum felt desperate to return home to her son and she was discharged. Once home, her suicidal feelings returned. 

‘I felt safe in hospital, but as soon as I’d come back, there was just everything at your fingertips. And no one can protect you from everything all the time.’

Elle was told she would see the home treatment team within 48 hours. However, she says that the appointment ‘was the most pointless 15 minutes of my life. A complete box-ticking exercise. I was then discharged from them and told I’d be picked up by the community mental health team within seven days.’

Weeks passed, then months – all with no support. Her mum desperately phoned services – her GP, the hospital, the home treatment team, the community mental health team – again and again, only to be passed from one team to another.

Eventually Elle received a letter containing a psychiatrist’s appointment in May. ‘I cried and told my mum – I don’t think I can last that long,’ she remembers. ‘We thought about private care but couldn’t afford it.’

At night, Elle would lay wide awake, her mind whirring. During the day she was too nervous to leave the house. ‘Everyone around me was on eggshells. I could just see the worry in their faces. It confirmed the idea in my head that I wasn’t really worth it,’ she says.

Sadly, Elle made further attempts on her life, but she stopped going to hospital, because, she says, ‘she didn’t see the point.’

It wasn’t until last August that Elle finally received meaningful help, when she received a referral to see an ‘absolutely brilliant’ NHS psychologist.

‘She follows me up, books appointments, and calls weekly to check in,’ explains Elle. ‘She treats me like a human being.’ 

The regular support has been invaluable and feeling stronger and stable, Elle has since begun sharing her experience online. She’s also heard from others who have been through the same and seen gaps in care, which inspired Elle to set up the charity What About Now, named after the question she asked when discharged with no follow up.

With the aim to create community spaces for people who feel isolated or unsupported, the charity’s main initiative, Chatty Corner, partners with local cafés in Bromley and Bexley where Elle sets aside time each week for anyone to drop in for companionship, a listening ear, practical advice or simply a safe place to talk. She hopes to expand the model nationally, building an inclusive network that makes support accessible regardless of income.

‘I don’t think anyone should be discharged from hospital into nothing. People deserve meaningful aftercare and more needs to be done to protect people when they are at their most vulnerable,’ the mum, who has written a book about her experience, adds.

‘I am much stronger now. I keep busy with my son and the charity. I still have bad days, but I feel the best I’ve felt in a long time. However, I am angry because I nearly died, and my little boy nearly lost his mum because I fell through the cracks. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.’

Metro has contacted Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust for comment.

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America skier Lindsey Vonn crashed at the Winter Olympics.

American skiing legend Lindsey Vonn has endured a devastating crash during the downhill event at the Winter Olympics.

The 41-year-old was representing Team USA despite battling a ruptured ACL in the lead-up to the Milan Cortina Games. The former Olympic champion had been tipped as a strong contender for the title before her earlier injury setback.

Vonn hung up her skis in 2019 but a partial knee replacement in 2024 paved the way for her return to competitive skiing. Her Olympic ambitions took a blow following a crash in late January.

However, she remained determined to compete and successfully completed her mandatory training runs earlier in the week. What could have been a remarkable comeback ultimately ended in heartbreak as Vonn lay still on the slope during the women’s downhill final.

She quickly received assistance and was airlifted to the hospital. The scene drew an emotional reaction from the BBC’s broadcast team.

“I actually feel guilty that I am this emotional,” said commentator Chemmy Alcott. “When we thought about the end of this story, we never thought and never believed that it would end in her in a clump at the side of the piece, not moving. What we saw is the top section is running very fast.

“The left-footer is really hard for healthy athletes. She is trying to throw herself down this, gunning for the podium. She doesn’t have a left knee, she drops her hip back and this is an absolute nightmare. It is an absolute nightmare.

“The whole world is watching and we wanted to see her come through the finish smiling, because she was fast, we wanted to see her take on this challenge, it is just really tough.”

The commentator added: “I feel so bad that I feel this way because her family and all over her team… it is so sad. We have to be realistic. The risk was really really high for her to take on the G-force of this downhill.

The risk she faced when you fall are double that. Her body will not be able to withstand that. The crowd here, everyone is feeling it. There is intermittent clapping and I think that is hope that she is going to get up.

“But then the screen comes on and we see all the medical staff around here. They have actually had to put on some background noise because it is quite uncomfortable.”

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IRAN’s top diplomat claimed today that enemies “fear” its atomic bomb, while refusing to stop the nuclear program which the country claims is “peaceful”.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refused to budge on nukes, despite growing US pressure for a deal to wind down their development.

Speaking to diplomats at a summit in Tehran, he said: “I believe the secret of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s power lies in its ability to stand against bullying, domination and pressures from others.

“They fear our atomic bomb, while we are not pursuing an atomic bomb.

“Our atomic bomb is the power to say no to the great powers.

“The secret of the Islamic Republic’s power is in the power to say no to the powers.”

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Araghchi insisted that he wasn’t intimidated by US President Donald Trump’s threats to “do a Venezuela” on Iran unless it agrees to a nukes deal.

Trump recently warned mullahs that the “consequences would be steep” if Iran did not back down.

He added that the US armada near Iran would “wait around awhile” as it did before last month’s raid on Caracas when Venezuelan tyrant Nicolas Maduro and his wife were snatched.

But Araghchi claimed that “military deployment in the region does not scare us”.

He said the blood-soaked regime will never stop enriching uranium, even if the US strikes Iran.

It comes as US special envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff visited huge aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln as it lies, poised to strike, in the Arabian sea.

Witkoff said the soldiers were “keeping us safe and upholding President Trump’s message of peace through strength”, as tensions rise in the region.

He wrote on X: “We thanked the sailors and Marines, observed live flight operations, and spoke with the pilot who downed an Iranian drone that approached the carrier without clear intent.

“Proud to stand with the men and women who defend our interests, deter our adversaries, and show the world what American readiness and resolve look like, on watch every day.”

Peace talks in Oman collapsed after supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s henchmen refused to co-operate after US military chief General Brad Cooper arrived unexpectedly.

Sources likened it to “conducting negotiations with a gun on the table”.

The US and Iran were still in peace talks at the time of Trump’s huge  surprise stealth bomber attack, which hit Iranian nuclear sites in June last year.

Trump is set to meet Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu this week to discuss progress on nuke talks.

It comes as brave Iranians told The Sun that the world has yet to “grasp the depth of catastrophe” of the regime’s bloody crackdown on protests.

Witnesses said the Ayatollah’s ruthless stooges gunned down children, burned bodies with acid, and broke the limbs of protesters.

The Prince and Princess of Wales reportedly stunned diners with an unexpected visit to a luxurious restaurant in the ‘ski capital of the world’ in the idyllic French Alps

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Prince William and Kate gave diners an unexpected treat when they popped into a lavish restaurant tucked away in the stunning French Alps. The Royal pair reportedly took a break at the Courchevel ski resort, nestled in the Tarentaise Valley.

A magnet for Michelin-starred establishments, Courchevel – called the “Saint Tropez of the slopes” or the “ski capital of the world” – has drawn in A-listers, having previously welcomed the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, the Beckhams, and Elton John.

Last month, the Prince and Princess of Wales were spotted at a mountainside eatery, with fellow guests whipping out their cameras as the Royal duo headed off.

A member of staff revealed to The Mail’s Harriet Kean: “They had a very nice time and were very polite.” Harriet also noted the future king and his wife looked “immaculate” kitted out in their skiing gear.

The encounter clearly left its mark on one particular diner, who gushed: “I couldn’t believe I was having lunch in the same restaurant as Kate and William. They looked adorable in their beanie hats.”

This wouldn’t mark the first occasion the Wales family have headed to the French Alps, with reports suggesting they initially visited back in 2016, bringing along their eldest youngsters.

Meanwhile, in what was described by a source as a “Middleton knees-up”, the family, which includes three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, were also said to have enjoyed a skiing holiday last year.

In other news, the young Prince George made headlines yesterday when a royal expert claimed that the second in line to the throne was faced with a “daunting” reality as he braces for a “testing year”.

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The 12-year-old prince will celebrate his thirteenth birthday on July 22 and is also preparing to start secondary school. Speaking to the Mirror, Royal commentator Jennie Bond said: “Certainly, as a family, the Waleses do have a complicated destiny.

“They can’t pretend that there is total equality between their three children because one of them is going to be the ultimate top dog – the King. And that obviously creates different issues for each child.”

She added: “For George, it must be daunting, but I think William and Catherine are intent on letting him just enjoy his childhood for as long as possible without worrying about the future.”

Jennie said Catherine was an “acknowledged expert” in the area of early years development, noting that she is “the most capable person” to deal with the children and “reassure them of their worth”.

During a reception for the Red Roses held at Windsor Castle, the Princess of Wales revealed an anecdote about her children playing rugby at home, humorously confessing that she does “not want to get tackled by George”.

She expressed: “Rugby is so accessible, Louis is playing touch rugby and it’s such a great game. Actually, they shouldn’t necessarily need to push boys and girls in particular sports too early.

“Obviously, as they get physically stronger – George now, if we play at home, I do not want to get tackled by George – but, up to a certain age, I think it’s great.”

Lindsey Vonn has suffered a devastating crash in the women’s downhill skiing final at the Winter Olympics.

The 41-year-old American ruptured her ACL in a crash at a World Cup race in Switzerland on 30 January but was determined to compete at the Olympics nevertheless.

Just 13 seconds into her final run in Cortina, northern Italy, on Sunday, Vonn crashed on the piste, having clipped a slalom flag while mid-air.

The Team USA athlete was heard screaming after the crash as she was surrounded by medical personnel.

She was then strapped to a gurney and flown to hospital by helicopter.

The severity of her injuries is not known.

Vonn was considered a medal hopeful despite her ruptured ACL and completed two impressive training runs earlier this week.

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