hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. >> we start with the beijing olympics. china's capital is now the only city to host both a summer and winter games, but this time in the midst of a raging pandemic and with diplomatic tensions high across the globe. nhk met people in beijing to get their break. >> reporter: there's not much excitement on the ground outside china's national stadium. it is a very different scene in beijing compared to 14 years ago

when the summer games kicked off here. people have mixed feelings about hosting the olympics at such a difficult time for the world. >> translator: there's nothing to worry about because china has been strong against covid. there should be no problem because the government controls the infections very well. >> translator: considering the current situation, i think it is a waste of money and human resources. >> reporter: i'm a few hundred meters from the national stadium and the streets are very quiet here. the venue is sealed off from the public and the police have been blocking traffic since the morning for security reasons. just a few hours before the opening ceremony, these were the only signs of life along the bird's nest. people were taking their photos with statues of the olympic mascots. >> translator: i came here to see the great opening ceremony,

but i was disappointed because i can't see it. >> reporter: the pandemic has cast a big cloud over these olympics. the coronavirus situation in china is very stable compared to the rest of the world, but there have been several small clusters in parts of beijing over the past few weeks. some areas were sealed off under china's zero covid strategy. controversy over china's human rights issues is also overshadowing the games, but some like this woman are shrugging it off. >> translator: countries that have announced a boycott are afraid that china has risen to the world's top-level in a short period of time. >> reporter: on thursday china's president promised to deliver what he called a simple, safe and splendid olympics. xi jinping had wanted to make a big splash with these games to

enhance china's reputation at home and abroad, but the issues surrounding the games have scaled everything back. makita nakoa, nhk "newsline", beijing. and many nations will not send their top diplomats to beijing with the latest being india. a soldier involved in the deadly indian clash with troops took part in the torch relay. it published a photo of the torchbearer. >> it is indeed regrettable that the chinese side has chosen to liticize an ent like the olympics i wish to inform that our charge, the first of the indian

embassy had beijing will not be attending the opening or closing ceremony. >> territorial disputes long have been between the two countries. diplomatic boycotts are not the only way to throw cold water on the opening of the olympics. hundreds of human rights activists are protesting the game. >> no froo doeedom, no olympics. >> in new york about 150 people gathered thursday in front of the chinese consulate general. they said they're violating home rights in different regions. >> if they cannot have human rights they should not have the games, they should not host the olympics. >> demonstrators also gathered in switzerland where the headquarters of the international olympic games are located. protests took place in over 650

cities around the world. the competition is getting in full swing in beijing with figure skating one of the marquee events starting on friday. the first half of the men's singles, ice dance and pairs portion of the event was held on friday. america as nathan chen and japan's shoma finished top. in last place in germany whose campaign was derailed by the coronavirus. he and his partner were forced to withdraw from friday's pairs event as a result of his testing positive on friday. ukrainian skater also had to pull out of the men's single's portion. both germany and ukraine scored

zero points in respective categories. in skiing one of the medal favorites has tested positive. the olympic committee says jaja jarl riber tested positive in the athlete's village. he faces a race against time to compete in the first event on thursday. turkish president rerdogan to mediation tensions. >> translator: as i have emphasized before turkey is ready to do what it can to end the crisis between two friendly countries which are also neighbors in the black sea. i emphasize once again during

our talks today that we can happily host a summit at the leader's level or technical level. >> erdogan met with ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky on thursday. a key role in resolving the py crisis. turkey is a nato member and has strong economic relations with russia including the import of arms. erdogan expressed his intention to meet with russian president vladimir putin. zelensky said after the meeting they agreed to expand turkey's support, including the production of unmanned aerial vehicles in ukraine. now, the u.s. government says it has information russia is looking for a pretext to invade ukraine. state department spokesperson ned price says intelligence shows moscow has been plotting to create a fake video of an

attack by ukrainian troops. >> the united states has information that russia is planning to stage fabricated attacks by ukrainian military or intelligence forces as a pretext for a further invasion of ukraine. >> price said the plan involves a video with graphic scenes of false explosions, corps and actors pretending to grieve. he said it would be entirely fabricated by russian intelligence. defense department press secretary john kirby said they've seen similar activity by russia in the past. he suggested such actions are usually approved at the highest levels of the russian government. russia has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with ukraine. the administration of u.s. president joe biden earlier revealed intelligence showing russia had sent operatives into ukraine to create a pretext for invasion. it also warned russia is spreading disinformation through state and social media. shifting now to more diplomatic pressure against

myanmar's military hujunta. cambodia is currently chairing the association of southeast asian nations. the group failed to reach consensus on the move but agreed to invite only a nonpolitical representative. cambodia's foreign mintry cited a lack of progress on the five-point peace plan agreed to by asean and myanmar's military leader. it calls for immediate dialogue between all parties. a crackdown on pro-democracy protests has created widespread unrest. cambodia has been working to set up a meeting in february between all asean members. it seems to have suspended those measures. officials at the world health organization say europe could soon see some much-needed calm. the region is still battling a

record coronavirus surge but experts see hope. the w.h.o.'s regional director pointed to three key elements. the dominant omicron variant is less severe, high vaccination rates and widespread iections e boosting immunity and spring weather should slow transmission. >> this context leaves us with a possibility of a long period of tranquillity and a much higher levelf population defense against any resurge in transmission, even with a more violent virulent. >> he called this a pandemic cease-fire that could lead to enduring peace. he says that possible future is relying on people acting to protect themselves and others. the news comes as much of europe looks to ease measures. >> translator: i can say it is time to open up sweden again. the reason for today's message is that while the pandemic is not over, it has entered an

entirely new phase. >> prime minister andersson says sweden will lift almost all restrictions on thursday. that means no limit on indoor activity or business hours. norway and denmark have made similar moves. the picture is less positive in brazil. the daily death toll from the coronavirus has topped 1,000 for the first time since august. health authorities confirmed a record of more than 298,000 new cases thursday. the death toll was 1,041. the surge is putting hospitals under extreme pressure. icu occupancy rates are above 80% in one-third of brazil's states. just over two-thirds of the population has been vaccinated but only around 20% have received a booster dose. the brazilian government is rushing to secure hospital beds and give booster shots to more people. and infections are rocketing in

south korea as well. health authorities there confirmed more than 27,000 new cases on thursday. that's nearly three times the figure confirmed ten days ago. the government is extending social restrictions for another two weeks. the measures were scheduled to end sunday. in other news, japanese police are pursuing a case against another website suspected of stealing content from popular manga. police in the prefecture have handed evidence against this website. it says the company posted detail descriptions of some issues of the martial arts comic. the website owner told police he knew he was doing something wrong but he thought it would be covered under fair use. japanese publisher sells access to the series through an app. the spoiler website appears to make its money through advertising. >> translator: these actions

significantly cut earnings. we have to take legal action against clearly malicious cases. >> the publisher says it has identified more than 300 spoiler websites. it is working with police to demand their content is scrubbed from the sites. ♪ ♪

switching gears to the weather, residents of madagascar in southeastern africa are bracing for another powerful system inching closer to the island nation. our meteorologist has more in our world weather report. >> hello there. last week tropical storm anna made landfall in madagascar, killing dozens of people. the next srm is already approaching the island. this one is much stronger than anna. it has been near reunion island dumping 1,418 millimeters of rain in 72 hours. by the way, this area holds the world record. it is the wettest place on earth. millimeters of rain in five

days. that's a world record. the system is likely to dump more heavy rainfall over reunion. meanwhile, the system is likely to make landfall in east central madagascar and continue to move across the island on sunday. about 400 millimeters of rain is likely in the area. there is good news. it is likely to turn to the south before reaching ma llawi d kn mozambique will see likely calmer situations. meanwhile, a lot of snowfall has been in the north, and also ice. 1.3 centimeters of ice accumulated in parts of west tennessee and oklahoma city saw minus 8.9 dree celsius, 20 degrees lower than avege for

this time of year. the area saw heavy snow, too. look at this video from oklahoma city. a major winter storm is pummelling the u.s. from the south to the north. oklahoma city had 8 centimeters of snow on thursday, making it the daily record. snow caused treacherous road conditions. hundreds of thousands of people were without power from texas to ohio. the winter storm will slam the eastern seaboard as we go into friday and temperatures would drop significantly on saturday in places like new york as well as washington, d.c. that's it for me. have a nice day. ♪

♪ that's all for now on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is

with geno thanh e ohtani so don away. ♪ ♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm gene ohtani. japan's exports surpassed the target of 1 trillion yen for the first time. the ministry says there was a year on year increase of over 24%. nearly $10.8 billion, setting a new record for the ninth year in a row. exports of scallops doubled while those of beef rose by 86% and 70% for whiskey.

the ministry says there's been an increase in exports to retailers and online sales outlets as more people eat at home during the coronavirus pandemic. demand for a wide range of foods increased as business at records pick up again in china and the u.s. food exports to china alone came to over $1.9 billion. that was followed closely by hong kong and the u.s. with about $1.46 billion. the japanese government hopes to raise the value of exports to 2 trillion yen by 2025 and to 5 trillion by 20 positive. it plans to encourage trade partners to drop restrictions. it will also support japanese producers hoping to export. a japanese government survey has determined that the country relies excessively on imports from china. japan received over half from a single country for over 2,600

items, 1 thourn,100 came from c. the study found that the united states and germany has more diverse sources. china was a dominant supplier for 590 items in the u.s. and 250 in germany. the survey gives a breakdown by product type. 99% of all laptops and tablet computers shipped to japan came from china. the rate for cellphones was 86% and 62% for computer parts. the cabinet office says japan's heavy dependence on chinese goods leaves it vulnerable to supply and transportation disruptions in that country. the maker of cup noolds instant ramen says it is going to raise prices on many of its products in japan. nissin food product site higher costs of wheat and other materials as well as transportation. prices will go up by as much as 12% on around 180 noodle-based

items in june. they account for 70% of nissin's product line-up. the company said it tried to shave costs as much as possible through streamlining and productivity improvements but it says the efforts have not been enough to absorb the higher cost and price rises are the only option. the hikes will be the first in three years on nissin's cup noodle products. the japanese government is considering a request from the u.s. to allow some imports of liquified natural gas to go to europe. the white house wants to prevent disruptions to europe's supply amid tensions surrounding ukraine. europe gets natural gas from russia through pipelines. the u.s. and its european allies have suggested it will impose sanctions if russia invades ukraine. some analysts say it could prompt russia to reduce supplies to europe.

this was said. >> translator: japan began importing lng about 50 years ago and has been leading the market as an importer. with that background in mind we will look to ways to contribute to the international community. >> he also says the contribution must be made in a way that will not affect the daily lives of japanese people during this cold winter. america's two biggest automakers have reported robust earnings for last year as demand recovers from the impact of the pandemic. ford motor returned to the black, posting a net profit of nearly $18 billion, and general motor's net income rose more than 55% to hit $10 billion. but challenges remain. a global semiconductor shortage produces the automakers to reduce production last year.

they both expect the difficulty to obtaining chips to continue. they plan to build factory factories in the united states where evs are not as popular as they are in europe. the top five tech giants in the u.s. posted net profits in 2021. but facebook's company was the one one to see a slow down in earnings growth. apple booked a record net profit of more than $34 billion for the october to december period, up 20% from a year earlier. google parental pta bet also reported its largest-ever net income, coming in at over $20 billion. that was a 35% increase. microsoft's net profit was 21% higher. amazon's net income doubled to a record $14 billion. meta platforms, formerly known as facebook, saw just over $10 billion in net income for the quarter, down 8% year on year

and the first quarterly decline in two-and-a-half years. the company cited the new app that makes it difficult to distribute ads tailored to users. let's take a look at what is happening in the week ahead. countries will be reporting data affected by the covid-19 pandemic and especially the omicron variant. starting in china, the caixin purchasing managers index for january will be released on monday. the private sector survey reading was 53.1 in december, remaining above the 50 point mark that separates growth from contraction. the services sector has been slower to recover from the pandemic than manufacturing. analysts say it is more vulnerable to sporadic covid-19

outbreaks and anti-virus measures with leisure and tourism businesses hurt the most. on the same day indonesia will release annual gdp numbers for 2021 in the october through december quarter. it is the first annual contraction since 1998. the country struggled to contain the covid-19 outbreak and suffered the highest cases and death toll in the region. gdp grew 3.5% in the july to september period, a sharp decrease from the previous quarter, but indonesia's finance minister said the fourth quarter number will be around 5% as domestic consumption and production are back at pre-pandemic levels. also on monday, the german federal statistics office will release the production index for december. industrial output declined by 0.2% in november, although it jumped almost 3% in october. experts say the german economy

has struggled to overcome the persistent bottlenecks in supply chains and restrictions introduced to contain a fourth coronavirus wave driven by the omicron variant. on wednesday toyota motor will report earnings for the three months through december. the japanese auto giant posted record sales and net profit for the first half of the country fiscal year. toyota's group sales for the april to september period came to about $135 billion and net profit was over $13 billion. it benefited from a rebound in vehicle demand even as a global chip shortage forced it to cut production. toy ate au upgraded its net profit forecast for the fiscal year through march from $20 billion to $21.8 billion, but executives said it was mostly due to the effects of weaker yen. they warned that rising raw material costs may squeeze

annual earnings. finally on thursday we will get the latest u.s. inflation figures with the release of the consumer price index for january. inflation is running at the highest level in nearly 40 years. the index rose 7% in december from a year earlier. a shortage of workers has forced businesses to increase wages and to pass on the higher costs to customers. at the same time government stimulus packages have provided many americans with extra cash, driving up demand. the federal reserve has signalled that it may raise interest rates as early as march to tame inflation. all right. let's have a look at the markets. ♪

and from the "newsline biz" team in tokyo, i'm gene ohtani. thanks very much for joining us. ' ♪

>> hello again. u.s. is deploying thousands of extra american troops to eastern europe. 2000 soldiers will head to poland and germany. the pentagon says it sends a signal to russia who has been massing troops on ukraine's border. >> we do not know if russia has made a final decision to further invade ukraine. but it clearly has that capability.