A Kawerau residential property and cash valued at nearly $420,000 has been forfeited to the Crown after a major police operation targeting meth supply in the township.Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Nick O’Brien of the Waikato/Bay…

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has reportedly collapsed bleeding after being shot while campaigning on a street in Nara, in the country's west.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK has reported Abe was shot and is suffering heart failure.

NHK reported Abe was rushed to a hospital, showing footage of a helicopter leaving from near the scene of the incident.

READ MORE: Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe shot while giving speech

Who is Shinzo Abe?

Shinzo Abe is a Japanese politician who was the longest-serving minister in the country's history.

He was briefly in office from 2006 to 2007 as Prime Minister but was forced to resign due to medical complications from ulcerative colitis.

Undeterred, he was once again elected in September 2012 and stayed in office until September 2020.

He resigned once again, citing health reasons.

What are Shinzo Abe's politics?

Abe is a conservative. He is a political blue blood who was groomed to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, former prime minister Nobusuke Kishi. 

His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a "normal" and "beautiful" nation with a stronger military and bigger role in international affairs.

His push to normalise Japan's defensive posture angered some parts of the population.

Supporters of Abe said that his legacy was a stronger US-Japan relationship that was meant to bolster Japan's defense capability. But Abe made enemies too by forcing his defense goals and other contentious issues through parliament, despite strong public opposition.

How old is Shinzo Abe?

Shinzo Abe is 67.

Does Shinzo Abe have family?

Yes. He is married to Akie Matsuzaki, the daughter of the president of a well-known Japanese chocolate factory.

The couple have no children.

Abe's brothers are also well connected in Japan.

His elder brother Hironobu Abe became the president of Mitsubishi Shoji Packaging Corporation, and his younger brother Nobuo Kishi is the senior vice-minister for foreign affairs.

Why was Shinzo Abe giving a speech in Nara?

Abe was in Nara campaigning ahead of Sunday's election for the parliament's upper house.

With wires.

James Church has been found dead the day before a verdict was due to be handed down over the alleged murder of his ex-lover a decade ago.

Church was charged in 2018 with allegedly murdering his 23-year-old ex-lover Leisl Smith in 2012, whose body has never been found.

Smith's car was found abandoned at Tuggerah railway station, on the NSW Central Coast, more than a month after she vanished from her nearby Wallarah home.

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Church denied murdering Smith.

After a lengthy murder trial in the NSW Supreme Court, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton due to deliver her verdict today.

The 51-year-old's body was discovered at a property near Bingara.

The court heard Church took his own life.

READ MORE: World's most famous UFO case won't go away 75 years later

Fullerton told Smith's family she can not hand down the verdict as planned because the accused had died.

"The law simply does not allow me to return a verdict," Fullerton said.

She acknowledged that will be difficult to accept.

Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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A review has found water in the Wellington region hasn’t been fluoridated properly for at least six years.The report, which has been made public this afternoon, said fluoridation for oral health was not a priority within Wellington…

Test your brains with the Herald’s afternoon quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz for the morning quiz tomorrow. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

Police have seized two motorbikes and issued 55 infringements after “unlawful and dangerous” driving exhibited at a funeral. Waitemāta District commander superintendent Naila Hassan said an operation was carried out after a…

Teaching parents technology tricks isn't easy, even for Nanoleaf CEO Gimmy Chu. 

"Where smart-lighting is today, I can't convince my mother to use (the app)," Chu admitted. 

"But if I can make it so that every time she walks through a hallway the light will be on just right – the way that she wants it – and turns off as soon as she isn't there any more, then I think I've solved the problem for her."

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That is a glimpse into the future of smart-lighting and Nanoleaf, which turns 10 next week. 

Looking back, Chu said "it's hard to believe we are where we are today".

Chu and his co-founders, Tom Rodinger and Christian Yan, met in college and designed a solar-powered vehicle.

"It actually raced around the world – including in Australia," he said. 

The co-founders parted ways for different jobs before reuniting with the goal of furthering their work on solar, until they started tinkering with lighting tech. 

"We realised we had created the world's most energy efficient light bulb," Chu said. 

"We figured everyone needs a light bulb. Let's just launch that first."

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Nanoleaf – with a headquarters in Toronto and offices in Paris, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Shenzhen – looks vastly different in 2022 compared to the company which posted its first product to Kickstarter in 2013. 

The NanoLight (later renamed Nanoleaf One) raised $250,000, smashing the original $20,000 goal. 

"We got lucky in the sense that we rode that wave on Kickstarter to actually start the company," Chu said.  

"It's much harder to do that today.

"Timing and luck has a lot to do with it, but we also put our hearts and souls into making our products as beautiful as possible."

The company's big break arrived in 2016 with the debut of Nanoleaf's Light Panels. 

Their modular, triangular, wall-mounted design caught the eyes of the world at CES. 

"It really caught the world by surprise," Chu said. 

"That was the product that helped us go mainstream.

"It was the first of its kind and people were really starting to question, why does light need to come from a light bulb?

"It's not about lighting, it's about a passion for developing technology."

Nanoleaf's next surprise will be revealed on July 14, the company's tenth birthday.

But far from resting on their laurels, Chu and his co-founders are looking to a future in automation.

"As long as we continue to outpace (our competitors) with innovation, then we'll let them nip at our heels," Chu joked. 

"If you're like me, I hate it when people leave the lights on when they leave the room.

"How do you remove that from someone's life and make it better?"

That vision needs intelligent algorithms and sensors built around Thread and Apple's new smart-home software standard, Matter. 

But Chu is confident his vision will win over the world and his mum. 

"As much as she is a fan of her products, it needs to benefit her life," Chu said. 

"These (ideas) are all part of the foundation that still needs to be built in order for the future of smart homes to prevail.

"We can do it on our own. We're really excited about it and hopefully we do it right.

"We can dream up ideas and we can actually build them. That's what excites us."

Nanoleaf will celebrate its 10th "Nanoversary" on July 14.